WindowBossPro Blog — Running a Window Cleaning Business

Unbilled Extras: The Screens and Hard Water a Window Cleaning Business Does for Free

It happens on almost every crew. The homeowner meets the tech at the door: “While you're here, could you get the screens too?” The tech, wanting to be helpful, says sure. Twenty minutes later the screens are clean, the customer is happy, and the invoice says exactly what it said before. Multiply that by a season and the free work adds up to real money.

The Most Common Leak

Profit Leaks in a Window Cleaning Business and How to Plug Them listed unbilled extras first because it is the leak almost every window cleaning business has. It is also one of the easiest to fix, because the problem is not the customer refusing to pay. The problem is that nobody wrote it down.

Why Extras Go Unbilled

• No price on the list. If the tech does not know what screens cost, they will not charge for them. They will do them for free or not at all.
• The job card does not show the extras. The tech cannot tell whether screens were sold or are being added on site.
• Adding to the job is awkward. If adding a line takes a phone call to the office, it will not happen at 4pm on a busy day.
• Techs feel uncomfortable charging. Many techs do not want to be the one who mentions money.
• The owner gives it away. Owners who do extras for free train their crews to do the same.

Put Every Extra on the Service List

The first fix is simple: every extra has a price. Screens per screen, tracks per window, hard-water removal per window or per job, story add-ons, interior add-ons. If you offer gutters or other services, they go on the list too. The prices are your call; the point is that they exist and everyone knows them.

In WindowBossPro, estimates are built from your service list, so a customer who approves an estimate with screens and hard water gets those services scheduled and billed. Approved estimates become scheduled services without anyone retyping them.

Show the Extras on the Job Card

The tech needs to know, before they start, what was sold. Each job in WindowBossPro carries its window details: the window count, stories, sides and extras such as screens, tracks and hard-water removal. They show under the address on the lists and on the tech's phone, as a line like “28 windows · 2-story · Inside & Outside · Screens.”

That line does two jobs. The tech does every extra that was sold, so the customer never pays for screens that were not cleaned. And the tech knows that anything not on the line is new work.

A Simple Rule for On-Site Requests

Write a procedure for the “while you're here” moment, and teach it to every tech:

1. Say yes, happily, and mention the price from the service list: “Sure, screens are $4 each, I can do them now.”
2. Make sure the extra gets added to the job before tapping Complete, either by the tech or by a quick text to the office.
3. Take before and after photos of the extra work in the tech app.

Mentioning the price is what makes this work. Customers who ask for extras expect to pay for them. Most are surprised when they are not charged, and some assume the extras were not actually done.

Bill When the Job Is Done

Extras slip most when invoicing happens days later. By Friday nobody remembers who asked for screens on Tuesday. When the tech taps Complete, WindowBossPro creates the invoice with line items and sales tax, and can charge the card on file right away. The extras are billed while everyone still remembers them.

For commercial accounts on Monthly billing, extras done at any location go on that month's single statement, labeled with the address, so the property manager sees exactly where the extra work happened.

When to Give Something Away

There are good reasons to do small extras for free: a long-time customer, a recovery after a mistake, a gesture that earns a referral. That is fine, as long as it is a decision and not an accident. Some owners add the extra to the invoice and then mark it as no charge, so the customer sees the value they received.

Check It Weekly

Spot-check a few completed jobs each week. Compare the photos with the invoice. If photos show clean screens and the invoice has no screen line, talk to the tech. Most of the time it is a habit problem, and a habit fixes quickly once someone notices.

The next leak is quieter but often larger: recurring visits that never happen. It is covered in Missed Recurring Visits: The Quiet Revenue Loss in a Window Cleaning Business.

Charge for the Work You Do

Extras are some of the best-paid minutes of the day, because the van and ladder are already there. Price them, show them, and bill them on completion. For the service list, job cards and billing behind it, see the window cleaning business software page.