Collecting payments from clients

[Omatech]

Hi guys,


I am going to limit my on-site visits because we are expecting a baby very soon and I am going to be hiring contractors for work. I am very confused about collecting payments. I am concerned when it comes to cash payemnts from clients or the techs lieing to me for example, they could have been at a job site for 3 hours and say they were there for 2 hours and take the rest of the money. I currently take cash or credit card true paypal. Should I give the clients discount if they pay through paypal? I would like to know how you guys handle this issue. I guess iam being paranoid. Also, I will be offering remote services. How do you charge for that? get credit card number in advance and then bill them? since we are not there physically. I have not done any remote or telephone tech support.

thanks

 

[tkrabec]

Trust but verify. Have your techs turn in their hours and then send the customers an invoice marked paid, showing the amounts the tech reported. It then takes your tech and customer lieing for you to be ripped off.

 

[NeutronTech]

Just have the tech fill out a bill that lists the hours on it, and have the customer sign it. Then you'd have paper proof of how many hours. I always list mine as an item. Here's I fill it out for a 3 hour job.

 

[Mushin]

Hi guys,


I am going to limit my on-site visits because we are expecting a baby very soon and I am going to be hiring contractors for work. I am very confused about collecting payments. I am concerned when it comes to cash payemnts from clients or the techs lieing to me for example, they could have been at a job site for 3 hours and say they were there for 2 hours and take the rest of the money. I currently take cash or credit card true paypal. Should I give the clients discount if they pay through paypal? I would like to know how you guys handle this issue. I guess iam being paranoid. Also, I will be offering remote services. How do you charge for that? get credit card number in advance and then bill them? since we are not there physically. I have not done any remote or telephone tech support.

thanks

This all comes down to the processes you have in place and the documentation to go along with each service call. Flat rate pay and flat rate pricing works well for contractors in this type of situation. If you are hourly pay and hourly rate they you have a bit more room for problems.

Additionally in your independant contractor agreement you should have it stated that they agreee to warranty the work for x days AND that they will go back on site to fix the original problem if it is a true warranty repair. Failure to correct issues will result in non-payment.

A good pre-service assessment form with an estimate is to your advantage and it gives the client the opportunity to review your terms of service. A work order with a signed approval of the repair cost and signature confirming the completion of the job is also a must.

Some other tips. Since you are using contract labor you do not have to pay for travel time and expenses. This means that you can pass that cost along to the contractor. This is probably ideal becasue of the ability to "milk the clock" for travel time.

If you are booking multiple appointments in a day you can verify travel time by incorporation a time in and time out section on each work order that the client signs off on. (Also helps will hourls billing) If they leave one place and drive direction to the next that is 15 minutes away but it takes 45 minutes then you should raise the question immediately with the contracor without accusing them of anything. Just be on top of it from the beginning.

Take some serrious up front time to actually plan out this segment of your business in detail as it will help you down the road if you take on employees. Essentially... document everything such as procedures, payment acceptance policy, what you pay the contractor for and what you don't.

Some other considerations... will you provide parts or will they? If they do how soon will you reimberse them? How often will you make payment to the contractor? How will you address no shows by the client? How will you address no shows by the contractor? and on and on....

 

[Omatech]

Trust but verify. Have your techs turn in their hours and then send the customers an invoice marked paid, showing the amounts the tech reported. It then takes your tech and customer lieing for you to be ripped off.

Thanks, I think i am a bit too paranoid.

 

[Omatech]

Thanks Mushin, I will definately get a contractor agreement and a client agreement form. I do not charge travel time. I charge hourly. Do I have to give travel time? When I have worked as a contractor I never charged travel time. What is a good option? paying a good hourly rate or flat rate. I do not want to pay flat rate like I see on onfroce lol. I want to attract the reliable technicians and be fair. I charge 99.99 for residential and 119.99 for commerial. So is 70-75 paying too much? For contractor agreement and client agreement is there a site where I can purchase these forms or should I see my lawyer to draft one.

This all comes down to the processes you have in place and the documentation to go along with each service call. Flat rate pay and flat rate pricing works well for contractors in this type of situation. If you are hourly pay and hourly rate they you have a bit more room for problems.

Additionally in your independant contractor agreement you should have it stated that they agreee to warranty the work for x days AND that they will go back on site to fix the original problem if it is a true warranty repair. Failure to correct issues will result in non-payment.

A good pre-service assessment form with an estimate is to your advantage and it gives the client the opportunity to review your terms of service. A work order with a signed approval of the repair cost and signature confirming the completion of the job is also a must.

Some other tips. Since you are using contract labor you do not have to pay for travel time and expenses. This means that you can pass that cost along to the contractor. This is probably ideal becasue of the ability to "milk the clock" for travel time.

If you are booking multiple appointments in a day you can verify travel time by incorporation a time in and time out section on each work order that the client signs off on. (Also helps will hourls billing) If they leave one place and drive direction to the next that is 15 minutes away but it takes 45 minutes then you should raise the question immediately with the contracor without accusing them of anything. Just be on top of it from the beginning.

Take some serrious up front time to actually plan out this segment of your business in detail as it will help you down the road if you take on employees. Essentially... document everything such as procedures, payment acceptance policy, what you pay the contractor for and what you don't.

Some other considerations... will you provide parts or will they? If they do how soon will you reimberse them? How often will you make payment to the contractor? How will you address no shows by the client? How will you address no shows by the contractor? and on and on....

 

[Omatech]

Thanks, I have a form for the tech to take to customer and bill them by email. if it is on account or send the bill as "PAID"

Just have the tech fill out a bill that lists the hours on it, and have the customer sign it. Then you'd have paper proof of how many hours. I always list mine as an item. Here's I fill it out for a 3 hour job.