Card on File for Handymen: Getting Paid Before You Leave the Driveway
Small Invoices Are the Hardest to Collect
A $1,800 deck repair gets paid. A $115 toilet repair sits in someone's email for six weeks. Small invoices are a big share of handyman revenue, and chasing them costs more than they're worth.
How It Works
The customer saves a card once, through a secure link, the customer app or the estimate approval. When the tech taps Complete, the invoice is created and the card can be charged right away.
Asking for It
Most customers don't mind when it's framed as convenience: "We keep a card on file so you don't have to deal with an invoice. You get a receipt by email when the work is done." Ask at booking, not at the door.
When to Charge
Some handymen charge on completion; others charge on a schedule. Either way, the customer gets the invoice with the work listed, so there are no surprises.
Declines
Cards expire and get declined. When a charge fails, the customer gets a notice to update the card, and payment follow-ups keep going until it's paid.
Keep Reading
Next in this series: Online Service Requests: Letting Customers Send Their List From Your Website. Before that came The Customer App: What Your Handyman Customers See. For the full picture, go back to the handyman software overview.
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