For contract accounts, invoicing shouldn’t be something you remember to do. I set up recurring invoices in QuickBooks that match each contract, same amount, same schedule, going out automatically with the site, the service period, and the terms right on the invoice. When an invoice matches what the building manager expects and references what their own paperwork calls the job, it moves through their approval process faster, and that’s kind of an underrated lever. Half of getting paid on time is making your invoice easy to approve.
One-time work rides alongside, the deep cleans, the floor work, the move-outs, invoiced as they happen and tagged to the same customer so the account’s full history lives in one place.
The report at the center of this is the aging report, which is really just a list of who owes you money and how long they’ve owed it, sorted into buckets like current, 30 days, 60 days, and past that. I keep it current and I look at it with you, because the pattern matters more than any single invoice. A good account that slipped one month is a nudge. An account that lives permanently in the 60-day bucket is information about the account, and honestly sometimes about whether the contract is worth renewing at that price.
One-time work rides alongside, the deep cleans, the floor work, the move-outs, invoiced as they happen and tagged to the same customer so the account’s full history lives in one place.
Chasing payment is the part owners hate, so the system does most of it. Payment reminders go out automatically on a schedule, polite and consistent, before things are late and after. The consistency is the point, right, because accounts learn whether your invoices can sit. When something needs an actual human follow-up, you’ll know exactly which account, which invoice, and what’s already been sent, instead of trying to reconstruct it from memory in the truck.
Invoices that go out on time every time. A number for what’s outstanding that you actually trust. Slow payers handled by a process instead of by your evenings. And because every invoice is tagged to its customer and site, the receivables work feeds straight into the bigger picture, which contracts pay well and pay on time, and which ones only look good on paper. That’s the version of the books that helps you decide things.
Receivables is one piece of the full bookkeeping service I run for cleaning companies.
If you want to talk about your setup, reach out here and tell me a little about your contracts. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Hope this helped.