The Billing section at the top of your Dumpster Management settings is where you’ll set up your primary billing method, any fees you may charge, and your rental agreement, among other things.
Before You Start
Here are a few things to know before you continue:
- We recommend that only the Account Owner(s) or Admin(s) set up or change the settings covered in this article.
- Some of the settings covered in this article have dependencies, meaning other settings elsewhere in your Docket account have to be configured in order for certain settings to appear under Dumpster Management: Billing.
- There is no "Save Settings" button in the top right corner; Docket auto-saves your changes on this page.
Navigate to Dumpster Management: Billing
To access the Billing section of your Dumpster Management settings, just follow the instructions below:
- Click on “Account” in the bottom left corner.
- Click on “Settings” at the top.
- Click on “View” on the Dumpster Management card.
- Click to expand the Billing section.
Dumpster Management: Billing Directory
This section of your settings contain your account-wide billing options that Docket uses to automate and streamline your client billing and invoicing.
Billing Options
This setting defaults to INVOICE at the top.
This setting defaults to ALL TASK TYPES EXCEPT PICK UP at the bottom.
This setting controls how Docket tracks charges that need to be paid and when you’ll be prompted to create invoices to send to your clients.
Invoice vs. Charge
If you bill clients In Advance, before or upon drop-off, you'll want to select Invoice here. This tells Docket to show you the Invoice editor immediately after task creation so you can create an invoice and send it to the client as soon as possible.
If you bill clients In Arrears, upon or after pick-up, you'll want to select Charge here. This tells Docket to keep track of all individual charges this client incurs, similar to an open bar tab. When you're ready to bill your client, you can easily compile all the relevant individual charges into an invoice and send it to your client for payment.
Please Note: While you technically can use both methods at the same time, we don't recommend it otherwise you'll end up double-billing your clients.
Task Types
You'll use Docket's different task types to determine when a charge is tracked and when the invoice editor appears.
If a task type is selected here (indicated by the dark blue highlight), that tells Docket there is an associated cost the client needs to pay for.
For example, if you bill In Advance you'll probably want to select the Drop Off task type because that's going to have a cost associated with it, but not Pick Up.
If you bill In Arrears you'll probably want to select the Pick Up task type because that's going to have a cost associated with it, but not Drop Off.
If you charge clients for Exchanges, D&Rs, or any of the other task types, make sure those are selected as well so Docket can help you manage the billing for those too.
Billing Options By Client Type
This setting DOESN'T APPEAR by default.
You'll only see this setting if you’ve added Client Types to your Docket account.
If you've added Client Types, this setting MATCHES your general Billing Options setting (covered above) by default.
This setting allows you to set up certain types of clients on a different billing method that's different from your default Billing Options covered above.
For example, let’s say that you normally bill in advance, but have a special arrangement for trusted Commercial-type clients. Those clients might be billed in arrears on a monthly basis because they usually have dumpsters for longer periods of time and require frequent servicing.
To do this, you can create a Commercial client type elsewhere in your account and then set up their default billing method as Charge instead of Invoice in this setting for the specific task types you bill them for.
Delivery Fees
This setting is OFF by default.
This setting allows you to set up a flat dollar amount that can be manually or automatically added as a fee to a client's invoice.
When you toggle on the Show Delivery Fee setting, you'll see all its related sub-settings. In order to set up and use Delivery Fees, this main toggle must be turned on.
Default Apply Delivery Fee:
Turning this on tells Docket to automatically apply your delivery fee to each Dumpster Task you create (and by extension, any Charges or Invoices).
Default Delivery Fee Amount:
This is the dollar amount you'll see Docket automatically add to the Dumpster Task you create, but you can edit the amount before saving the task, if needed.
Delivery Fee Name:
This is the name of your surcharge that appears on a client's invoice.
Tax Delivery Fee:
If your local/state government requires you to collect tax on any fees you charge your clients, we recommend turning this on.
Apply on Exchange:
By default, Docket will apply your delivery fee to Exchange tasks.
Apply on Dump and Return:
By default, Docket will apply your delivery fee to Dump and Return tasks.
Apply on Live Load:
By default, Docket will apply your delivery fee to Live Load tasks.
Extra Day Fee Name
This setting is BLANK by default.
If you charge a fee for extra days (also known as “day overages”), this setting allows you to customize the name that appears on the invoice clients see.
Fuel Surcharges
This setting is OFF by default.
This setting allows you to set up a flat dollar amount or per-mile amount that can be manually or automatically added as a fee to a client's invoice.
This setting contains two of Docket's three fuel surcharge options; the third option exists under Billing Settings: General.
When you toggle on the Show Fuel Surcharge setting, you'll see all its related sub-settings. In order to set up and use Fuel Surcharges, this main toggle must be turned on.
Default Apply Fuel Surcharge:
Turning this on tells Docket to automatically apply your fuel surcharge to each Dumpster Task you create (and by extension, any Charges or Invoices).
Calculation Type:
Docket gives you two options for fuel surcharges: a fixed dollar amount or a dynamic per-mile dollar amount based on a specific location, like your yard.
Fixed
If you charge a flat rate for fuel surcharges regardless of distance traveled, select this option.
Default Fuel Surcharge Amount:
This is the dollar amount you'll see Docket automatically add to the Dumpster Task you create, but you can edit the amount before saving the task, if needed.
Distance
If you charge a per-mile fuel surcharge, select this option. select the starting address, enter the number of miles Docket should start calculating a surcharge from, and enter your default dollar amount per mile.
Starting Distance:
This field controls how many miles from your selected address a client is allowed before you start charging them for extra distance.
For example, adding '10' here allows your clients 10 miles from your selected address before they're charged.
Default Fuel Surcharge Amount Per Mile:
Add the per-mile dollar amount you charge clients for.
For example, adding '3' here tells Docket to charge $3 for every extra mile over your Starting Distance.
Edit Address:
When you first turn the Fuel Surcharge setting on and select 'Distance', the address area will be blank. You'll need to click this button and enter the starting address you want Docket to use when calculating fuel surcharges.
Fuel Surcharge Name:
This is the name of your surcharge that appears on a client's invoice.
Tax Fuel Surcharge:
If your local/state government requires you to collect tax on any fees you charge your clients, we recommend turning this on.
Apply on Exchange:
By default, Docket will apply your fuel surcharge to Exchange tasks.
Apply on Dump and Return
By default, Docket will apply your fuel surcharge to Dump and Return tasks.
Relocation Fee Amount
This setting is set to $0 and OFF by default.
This setting allows you to set up a flat dollar amount that’ll be automatically applied as a fee to invoices or charges related to Relocation tasks.
Tax Relocation Fee:
If your local/state government requires you to collect tax on any fees you charge your clients, we recommend turning this on.
Rental Agreement
This setting is OFF by default.
This setting allows you to send your terms and conditions to clients as a separate document not connected to an invoice or estimate. If you want to include your terms and conditions on estimates/invoices, you'll need to set that up under the Terms and Conditions setting (covered below).
Please Note: In order to use this setting you must first upload a PDF version of your terms and conditions into the Documents section of your Docket account.
After a PDF version of your T&Cs is added to Docket, you’ll be able to select the document from this drop-down list. This will be the default document Docket sends to your clients when a Dumpster task is created.
Include Rental Agreement with New Rental (Drop Off & Live Load):
By default, Docket will send your T&Cs to clients once a new Drop Off or Live Load task is created.
Apply on Dump and Return:
By default, Docket won’t send your T&Cs to clients once a Dump and Return task is created.
Apply on Exchange:
By default, Docket won’t send your T&Cs to clients once an Exchange task is created.
TIP: You only need to set up this Rental Agreement option or the Terms & Conditions option below, not both. You can if you’d like, but your clients will end up receiving the information twice.
Sales Rep
This setting is OFF by default.
If your business uses sales reps to bring in new clients, this setting allows you to show which sales rep is associated with a clients on tasks you create for them.
For example, let’s say that John Smith was the sales rep that won us Greenhouse Construction as a clients. Turning this setting on will add John Smith as the sales rep for every task we create for Greenhouse Construction.
Assign to Logged In Employee:
Turning this setting on means that Docket will assume the sales rep is the employee who creates a task for the client at any point after turning this setting on.
Set Invoice Date as Service Date
This setting is ON by default.
This setting allows you to choose what date you want your invoice to default to.
If you bill in advance, we suggest selecting Drop Off so that the scheduled date of your drop-off task is what appears on the invoice you send to your clients.
If you bill in arrears, we suggest selecting Pick Up so that the scheduled date of your pick-up task is what appears on the invoice you send to your clients.
Terms & Conditions
This setting is BLANK by default.
This setting controls whether your terms and conditions appear at the bottom of every estimate or invoice you send to your clients.
This is different from the Rental Agreement setting (covered above) because it’s automatically included in every estimate or invoice you send to your clients and isn’t sent as a separate document upon task creation.
TIP: You only need to set up the Rental Agreement option or this Terms & Conditions option, not both. You can if you’d like, but your clients will end up receiving the information twice.
In order to set this up, just copy your existing T&Cs and paste it into this field. You can also type straight into the field if you don’t have any existing T&Cs to copy.
Please Note: At this time, there isn’t a way to include links in this field for clients to click on from their invoice.
If you have different T&Cs between estimates and invoices, or you want your T&Cs to appear at the bottom of both estimates and invoices, you'll need to first click on "Estimate" and then type/paste in your T&Cs. Next, you'll need to click "Invoice" and type/paste in your T&Cs.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@yourdocket.com!