Docket's billing is built to be flexible so it can support whatever billing processes your business uses. Whether you collect payment before you drop off a dumpster or invoice clients at the end of the month, Docket can help you automate and manage it.
That flexibility, though, means there are a handful of decisions for you to make and various settings for you to configure before your billing workflows run the way you want them to in Docket.
This guide covers what to set up, why each piece matters, and links you to the step-by-step instructions for each area. You don't need to do everything at once; work through the sections at your own pace in the order that makes sense for your business.
TIP: If you're currently onboarding a new Docket account, let your Implementation Project Manager know if you have any questions about our recommendations and settings below.
Before You Start
Here are a few things to know before you continue:
- We recommend that only the Account Owner(s) or main Office Admin(s) set up or change the settings covered in this article.
- This article is designed to orient you and link you to the right how-to resources, so it doesn't include step-by-step setup instructions. Follow the linked articles at your own pace and in the order listed.
- Some sections in this article may not apply to your business, so skip any that aren't relevant to how you operate.
Understand Your Billing Scenarios and Choose Your Billing Method
Before you configure a single setting, it helps to know which of Docket's two billing approaches fits your business or whether you need both.
Docket supports two billing methods:
- Invoices (In Advance)
- Charges (In Arrears)
Which one you use depends on when you collect payment from your clients.
If you collect payment before or at the time of drop off (In Advance), you’ll use the invoicing method. An invoice is created right away and sent to the client so they can pay before service is performed.
TIP: This is the typical setup for residential and one-time contractor jobs.
If you bill clients at the end of a rental period/upon pick up (In Arrears), you’ll use the charges method. Docket tracks each service as a charge in the background, like an open tab, until you’re ready to compile them into a single invoice to send to your client.
TIP: This is the typical setup for commercial and industrial clients on net terms.
The table below maps the most common client types to each billing method. Keep in mind that these are only examples, so your actual client types and the way you work with them may look different. Docket is flexible enough to mix and match these factors however your business needs.
Client Type |
Payment Timing |
Invoice Frequency |
Signature Required? |
| Residential / Retail | Before service | Per job (one invoice per service) | Yes |
| Contractor (One-Time) | Before service | Per job | Yes |
| Commercial / Industrial | After service (net terms) | Bulk billing (weekly, monthly, or by service address) | One-time agreement |
| Contractor (Recurring) | After service (net terms) | Bulk billing (weekly, monthly, or by service address) | One-time agreement |
TIP: You can set up different billing methods for different client types so a mix of Advance (pre-paying an invoice) and Arrears (net terms paid post-service) clients in your account isn't a problem.
Configure Dumpster Management Billing Settings
Once you’ve chosen your default billing method, the Dumpster Management settings area is where you’ll configure everything that surrounds it like your fees, your terms and conditions, and how Docket handles billing issues when they come up.
There are two sections in Dumpster Management that cover billing:
- Billing
- Billing Issues
You'll find a brief explanation of each section's settings below, along with links to how-to articles for you to use as you configure each setting that's relevant to your business.
Billing
The Billing section is where you’ll select your primary billing method (Invoices, Charges, or Both) as well as any fees you charge and how you send your T&Cs to clients.
Click here to learn more about each setting in this section.
The most important settings to configure here for your billing workflows are:
- Billing Options: It sets your default billing method (Invoice, Charge, or Both) and controls which task types trigger billing.
- Billing Options by Client Type: It lets you override the default for specific client types, like setting commercial clients to Charges (In Arrears) while keeping residential clients on Invoices (In Advance).
- Rental Agreement: If you send your terms and conditions as a separate document at task creation that must be signed, set that up here.
- Terms & Conditions: If you prefer to include your T&Cs at the bottom of every invoice instead of as a separate document, paste them in here. Paying the invoice is the client's agreement to the T&Cs.
TIP: You only need to set up a Rental Agreement OR Terms & Conditions. Setting up both means your clients will receive the same information twice.
Billing Issues
The Billing Issues section is where you’ll tell Docket how to handle situations where a rental runs longer than expected or a client’s weight goes over the limit.
These settings protect your revenue by making sure Docket tracks and flags those situations automatically instead of letting them fall through the cracks.
Click here to learn more about each setting in this section.
The most important settings to configure here for your billing workflows are:
- Enable Billing Issues: It turns on Docket’s ability to track billing issues across your account. We strongly recommend leaving this on.
- Automatically Create Charges for Billing Issues: It tells Docket to create a charge automatically whenever a billing issue comes up, like a day or weight overage. We strongly recommend turning this on.
- Rental Length Overage Calculation: It controls when Docket starts counting an overage. We strongly recommend switching this from “Actual” to “Anytime During Pick Up Day” to give your drivers flexibility.
Configure Billing Settings
The Billing Settings area is separate from Dumpster Management and covers account-wide billing behavior that applies regardless of which billing method you use.
Think of this as the layer that controls how invoices look, how payment terms work, and what happens when clients pay or don’t pay.
Billing Settings has 5 sections: General, Charge, Estimate, Invoice, and PO.
Click here to learn more about each section's settings.
Only 3 of the sections immediately apply to your billing workflows. You'll find a brief explanation of what each one covers below.
General
The General section is where you’ll configure tax groups, optional fees like convenience fees or fuel surcharges, and a few account-level preferences.
Click here to learn more about each setting in this section.
The most important settings to configure here for your billing workflows are:
- Tax Group: Set up your tax rate(s) here so they're available to apply to invoices and estimates.
- Default Apply Taxes: Once your tax groups are set up, turn this on so the appropriate tax rate applies automatically to every new invoice and estimate.
- Client Balance Hold Threshold Amount: Set the maximum unpaid balance you'll allow before putting a client's account on hold. Docket will flag when a client hits that threshold and block new task creation for them.
Charge
The Charge section only applies if you’re using the charges (In Arrears) billing method. It controls how Docket handles charges related to Exchange and Dump and Return (D&R) tasks.
Click here to learn more about each setting in this section.
The most important settings to configure here for your billing workflows are:
- Assigning Invoices to Exchange and D&R Tasks: Tells Docket whether the compiled invoice for an Exchange or D&R should be associated with the Pick Up or Drop Off task.
- Mark Exchange and D&R Charges as Rental Completed: We strongly recommend turning this on. It automatically tracks charges when the associated task is marked Complete, making it easier to see what's ready to bill.
Invoice
The Invoice section covers settings that apply to all invoices, regardless of billing method.
Click here to learn more about each setting in this section.
The most important settings to configure here for your billing workflows are:
- Payment Terms (Days): It sets how many days a client has before an invoice is marked overdue. For In Advance clients, set this to 0. For In Arrears (net terms) clients, set it to match your agreements (Net 15, Net 30, etc...).
- Signature Required: It controls whether clients must sign and accept your terms before paying an invoice. If you’ve set up different client types, you can configure this per type.
- Require Delete Reason AND Require Void Reason: We strongly recommend turning both of these on to maintain a clean paper trail.
- Can Edit Sent Invoice: We strongly recommend turning this off. Editing an invoice after it’s been sent causes issues with your accounting records and with your QuickBooks Online (QBO) sync if you've set that up.
Set Up Your Client Types and Pricing Types
Client types are labels you create and assign to each client in your account, like “Residential,” “Commercial,” or “Contractor.”
They’re worth setting up before you start adding clients because they control several billing behaviors automatically which saves your team a lot of manual work down the line.
Pricing types are labels you create and assign to clients whose invoices should pull in a specific set of prices from your pricing matrix.
They're worth setting up before you start adding clients because they let Docket automatically apply the right pricing for a client without your team having to look anything up.
Click here to learn more about client and pricing types.
Once you’ve created client types, you can use them to customize:
- Which billing method applies to that type of client (Invoices or Charges).
- Whether they have any special pricing.
- Which terms and conditions appear on their invoices.
- Whether a signature is required before they can pay.
- Which tax group applies to their invoices.
For example, you might set up Residential clients to use the Invoice method with a signature required while Commercial clients use the Charge method with a one-time rental agreement instead.
Once those client types exist, Docket handles the rest automatically every time a task or invoice is created for that client.
TIP: Client types also show up on task cards on the Dispatch page and in the mobile app, giving your team a quick visual cue about how to handle each job.
Once you've created pricing types, you can assign them to individual client profiles or to specific service addresses so Docket automatically pulls in the correct pricing from your matrix every time an invoice is created.
Set Up Your Pricing Model(s)
With your billing method, settings, and client/pricing types in place, you’re ready to set up your pricing.
There are two ways to set up your pricing in Docket:
- Using Billing Templates.
- Using a Pricing Matrix.
Which one you use depends on how complex your pricing is.
Click here for a comparison of both methods.
Billing templates are the simpler option. They’re a good fit if your pricing is straightforward and charges flat rates by dumpster size, with or without a handful of standard fees.
Click here for an overview of billing templates.
A pricing matrix is the more advanced option. It’s designed for businesses with pricing that varies by location, client type, material type, rental length, and/or other factors. The matrix lets Docket automatically pull in the right price for each task based on those variables.
Click here for an overview of a pricing matrix.
Please Note: A few settings in your account must be configured before your pricing model will work correctly. Please click here to see all the pricing-related settings to configure.
Put It All Together
Once everything above is configured, your account is ready to handle client billing the way your business actually works.
Here’s what that looks like in practice for each billing scenario:
Billing in Advance
Billing in advance means your client pays before or at the time of service which is the most common setup for residential drop offs and one-time contractor jobs.
When a task is created for a pre-pay client, Docket automatically opens the invoice editor so your team can create and send the invoice right away.
If the client has a card on file and you’re using DocketPay, you can collect payment at the same time.
The client receives the invoice, signs your terms and conditions (if required), and pays.
Once payment is confirmed, the dumpster is dropped off and the rental begins.
If the rental runs over the agreed period, Docket tracks the overages and creates a billing issue for you to review so nothing falls through the cracks.
Billing in Arrears
Billing in arrears means your client pays after service which the most common setup for commercial accounts and contractors on net terms who have multiple services over the course of a month.
When a task is created for a net terms client, Docket tracks the service as a charge in the background instead of opening the invoice editor.
As the rental continues, any additional services like exchanges, dump and returns, and extended rental days add another charge to that client’s running tab.
When you’re ready to bill, you compile all the relevant charges for that client into a single invoice.
Docket pulls them together for your team so they're not hunting through individual tasks.
You send the invoice and the client pays by the due date you've set.
If anything is flagged as a billing issue along the way, like a weight or day overage, Docket’s Billing Issues tracker keeps a running list so your team can resolve them before the invoice goes out.
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!