DumpsterBossPro Blog — Roll-Off Dispatch

From Completed Haul to Paid Invoice: Closing the Loop After Roll-Off Dispatch

A roll-off job is not done when the can comes off the truck at the landfill. It is done when the invoice is paid. In between, there are extra rental days, overweight tons, sales tax and a customer who may or may not pay on time.

Switching to software, from Moving Roll-Off Dispatch From a Whiteboard and Spreadsheet to Software, is mostly about dispatch. This guide is about what happens after the driver taps complete.

Everything Starts on the Job

The invoice is built from the job. That means the job has to be right: the size, the delivery and pickup dates, days included and daily rate, and the scale-ticket weight in tons. In DumpsterBossPro, extra days past the included days are added to the invoice automatically, and tons over the included weight are billed per ton.

If the job is wrong, the invoice is wrong. Dispatch accuracy and billing accuracy are the same thing.

This is why many companies have the driver confirm the size and unit number when completing a job, not just the weight. If the wrong size is on the job, the price may be wrong too. A quick look at those details before tapping complete prevents most billing corrections.

A good end-of-job check for the driver is short: right size and unit number, correct dates, weight entered for anything that went to the scale, and a photo of the placement or the pull. Thirty seconds at the truck saves a lot of time in the office.

Sales Tax and Line Items

Sales tax is applied on the invoice. Any other charges your company uses — a relocate fee, a charge for a specific item, a trip fee for a failed delivery — should go on the job so they reach the invoice. Tax rules vary by location, so set them up to match your requirements.

Quotes approved online carry their pricing forward, so the customer sees what they agreed to.

Failed trips deserve a clear policy. If a driver arrives and cannot set or pull the can because of a blocked drive or a locked gate, does the customer pay a trip fee? Decide in advance, tell customers at intake and put the charge on the job when it happens.

Card on File and Auto-Billing

For homeowners, collecting a card at booking is the simplest path. With a card on file, the invoice can be charged when the job is complete. Auto-billing removes the step of someone remembering to run it.

Customers can also pay online and see their invoices in the customer app, along with their card on file.

For larger jobs or new commercial customers, a card on file may not be the right fit. In those cases, decide the payment terms at intake and note them on the account so dispatch and billing are working from the same expectations.

Contractor Accounts Monthly

Contractor and commercial accounts are often billed monthly on one invoice. Every delivery, swap, pickup, extra day and overweight charge for the month across all their sites comes together on one bill. That suits how most contractors pay and makes it easier for them to approve.

Make sure each job has the right site under the account so the contractor can match charges to projects.

Monthly billing only works if the jobs are right all month long. A swap at the wrong site or a missing weight from the first week is hard to sort out on the last day of the month. Checking contractor jobs weekly keeps the monthly invoice clean.

Payment Follow-Ups

Some invoices will not get paid on the first try. Payment follow-ups remind customers automatically, so the office is not making awkward calls for every late bill. Reports show unpaid invoices so you can see which accounts need a personal call.

A customer with an unpaid invoice who calls for another delivery is a good moment to bring it up kindly before dispatching.

Look at who is late, not just how much is late. A homeowner who forgot is a different conversation from a contractor who is always slow. Reports help you see the pattern, and the pattern tells you who needs a card on file or different terms next time.

Close the Loop Every Day

At the end of each day, check that completed jobs have their weights and dates, and that invoices have gone out. A daily habit beats a monthly scramble.

When something does go wrong on an invoice, fix the job, not just the invoice. If the size or weight was wrong, correcting it on the job keeps your records and reports accurate, which matters for planning as much as for billing.

Next in the series is which roll-off dispatch reports to review every week. For an overview of dispatch and billing together, visit the DumpsterBossPro roll-off dispatch software page.