PortaPottyBossPro Blog — Event Rentals & Booking

Invoicing Event Porta Potty Rentals: Deposit, Balance and Extra Days on One Clear Bill

The event is over, the units are back in the yard and the customer is happy. Now comes the part that decides whether the job was profitable: the final bill. An event invoice that is clear, accurate and paid quickly closes the job cleanly. One that is confusing or late turns a happy customer into an annoyed one.

The Last Step of Every Event

A great event, a quick review and a referral, as covered in Reviews and Referrals After an Event Porta Potty Rental, all depend on the final bill matching what the customer expected. Event customers rarely rent equipment, so surprises on the invoice upset them more than they would upset a contractor who sees invoices every week.

Build the Invoice From the Job

When the driver completes the pickup in the driver app, the invoice can be created from the job. The lines come from the approved estimate and any changes along the way, so the office is not retyping the event from memory.

A typical event invoice has lines like:

• Standard units by quantity
• ADA accessible units
• Hand wash stations
• Deluxe flushing units or a restroom trailer
• Delivery and pickup
• Service visits during the event
• Add-ons from the week of the event
• Extra rental days

Each line is clear, so the customer can match it to what they booked.

Use the same names on the invoice that you used on the estimate. If the estimate said "Hand Wash Station" and the invoice says "HWS rental," a first-time customer may not connect the two. Consistent line names come naturally when both are built from the same service list, and they make the invoice easy to check against the quote.

Extra Rental Days Bill Themselves

Rental tracking records the delivered date, the picked-up date, the days included and a per-day rate after that. If the host asked you to leave the units until Wednesday instead of Monday, the office lists show the extra days, and they are added to the invoice automatically as "Extra rental days." Nobody has to remember to add them, and the customer can see exactly why the total went up.

Deposits on the Final Bill

If you took a deposit at booking, as covered in Deposits and Card on File When Booking Event Porta Potties, make sure the final invoice shows it. A customer who paid a deposit in March and sees the full amount again in June will call the office, and rightly so. A clear line for the deposit already paid prevents that call.

Sales Tax Per Site

Events happen in different towns and counties, sometimes with different tax rates. Invoices in PortaPottyBossPro carry sales tax per site, so a wedding in one county and a festival in another are each taxed according to how you set up that site. For nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations, set the site up as your accountant advises.

Getting Paid

With a card on file, the card can be charged when the pickup is completed. The customer sees the invoice and receipt in the customer app. If they prefer to pay a different way, they can pay online from the customer app.

For customers without a card on file, send the invoice right away while the event is fresh. Past-due follow-up reminds them if it slips, so the office is not keeping a list of who owes what.

Send the invoice the same day as the pickup if you can. An event customer who gets the bill while the event is still on their mind pays it quickly. An invoice that arrives three weeks later, after the excitement is gone, tends to sit at the bottom of the pile, and the customer may have forgotten the add-on they asked for on Thursday.

Accounts Billed Monthly

Some event customers rent often: a venue that orders units for several events a month, an event company, a fairgrounds. Setting them to Monthly billing gives them one statement each month covering every job at every site, with each line labeled by site address. They pay once, and you do not chase a dozen small invoices.

Currency and Location

PortaPottyBossPro works in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and bills customers in their own currency. If you serve events near a border, or run operations in more than one country, each customer is billed in the currency that fits.

Close It Out Cleanly

A good event invoice is sent quickly, explains itself and gets paid without a phone call. That last impression is what the customer remembers when they plan next year's event. For more on how billing fits into event rentals, visit the event porta potty rental software page.