Money under the mat, in the app and "I'll transfer it"
Number 4 leaves cash in an envelope under a plant pot. Number 6 pays by card when you knock. Number 8 says "I'll send it over tonight" and does, usually. Number 10 is out, so you put a note through the door with your bank details. Number 12 pays every three cleans, in one go, and you have to remember where they are up to.
By the end of the day you have a pocket of cash, a card reader history, a note in your phone about number 8 and a banking app full of transfers with references like "windows" and "Mrs P". At the weekend you try to tick off the notebook. Some houses you are sure have paid. Some you are not.
Every house pays differently, and the notebook can't keep up
Window cleaning is one of the few trades where payment is collected at hundreds of homes on a rolling cycle. Each customer picks their own way to pay, and a round has all of them at once.
- Cash left out is not always there, or is short, or is for two cleans.
- Card payments on the doorstep are not linked to which clean they covered.
- Bank transfers arrive with references that do not match any customer name.
- Customers who pay every few cleans need a running balance.
- Nothing shows a customer's balance at a glance while you are standing at their door.
The cost of not knowing who has paid
The obvious cost is money you never collect because nobody noticed a customer had not paid for three cleans. The other is awkwardness: asking a customer for money they already paid, which damages a good relationship. And the weekend reconciliation is hours of unpaid time that gets longer as the round grows.
Payment records attached to every clean
We build payment tracking into your round records, either in the round management app you use if it supports payments properly, or as a light app built around your customer list.
- Each customer has a preferred payment method and a running balance: cleans done minus payments received.
- When you mark a house as cleaned, the balance goes up. When cash is found, card taken or a payment recorded, it goes down.
- Card payments are taken through a reader or payment link that passes the customer reference, using a provider such as SumUp or Stripe, so they land against the right customer.
- Bank transfers are read from your bank feed or accounting software and matched by amount, reference and name, with anything uncertain put in a short list for you to confirm.
- Customers who owe money get a polite text with a payment link after the clean, at the intervals you choose.
- At any house you can see on your phone whether they are paid up, in credit or owe for a previous clean.
| Payment habit | Notebook | Payment records |
|---|---|---|
| Cash under the mat | Ticked if you remember | Recorded against the clean |
| Card at the door | Separate card reader history | Linked to the customer |
| "I'll transfer it" | A note in your phone | Matched from the bank feed |
| Pays every few cleans | Mental arithmetic | Running balance |
| Forgot to pay | Noticed months later | Reminder text after the clean |
Knowing the balance at every door
The weekend tick-off disappears. At each house you know if there is anything owing, so you can mention it politely or leave it to the automatic reminder. Transfers match themselves most of the time. And when you hand the books to your accountant, the takings add up.
On a normal day, you clean, tap the house as done, pick up the cash or take the card, and move on. The balance takes care of itself.
Is this how your payments work?
- You spend time each week ticking off who has paid.
- Bank transfers arrive with references you cannot match.
- Some customers owe for several cleans before you notice.
- You have asked a customer for money they had already paid.
- You could not say your total outstanding right now.