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When starting up should you only take go cardless payments ?

If you can do lots of add ons plus windows at the start, then gocardless only for windows. Because if they dont sign up you can do add ons and advertise for them. 

I find almost everyone here signs up no issue now, we have made it  common knowledge in fife though. A few companies all using it now so that helps us all. 

 
I have just started accepting go cardless. I have been using paypal for any customers I cant get in for quite a few years. But the charges for paypal, are high IMO.

I would be over the moon if all my customers just paid by direct debit. But you do need some cash on hand for certain things like petrol etc. I loose 2% in bank charges for all cash debited then withdrawn. So my bank charges would also increase if all customers paid DD.

If I was just starting out, I would tell customers its prefered that they pay by DD, but they can pay by cash. 

Once your a bit busier you can change that policy.

 
I have just started accepting go cardless. I have been using paypal for any customers I cant get in for quite a few years. But the charges for paypal, are high IMO.

I would be over the moon if all my customers just paid by direct debit. But you do need some cash on hand for certain things like petrol etc. I loose 2% in bank charges for all cash debited then withdrawn. So my bank charges would also increase if all customers paid DD.

If I was just starting out, I would tell customers its prefered that they pay by DD, but they can pay by cash. 

Once your a bit busier you can change that policy.
Check out Santander Business Account £7.50 month no cheque or cash deposit or withdrawal fees. no BACS or DD fees

Pay cash in at any PO straight into your card. free envelope to post cheques to clearing centre.

80% of my customers pay BACS the rest cash, a few cheques and one DD.

BACS domestic customers usually settle that week or at latest pay day

Business customers average 54 Debtor days.

Lots of people get on well with gocardless but at 2%+20p per transaction I think its steep.

On a 50K turnover that's £1200 - £1300 year, would fund a nice week away for 2.

 
Check out Santander Business Account £7.50 month no cheque or cash deposit or withdrawal fees. no BACS or DD fees

Pay cash in at any PO straight into your card. free envelope to post cheques to clearing centre.

80% of my customers pay BACS the rest cash, a few cheques and one DD.

BACS domestic customers usually settle that week or at latest pay day

Business customers average 54 Debtor days.

Lots of people get on well with gocardless but at 2%+20p per transaction I think its steep.

On a 50K turnover that's £1200 - £1300 year, would fund a nice week away for 2.
It's the cash flow and time saved gocardless offers us. Zero chasing up anyone so I can argue that gives me extra time to work longer hours or do hobbies more instead of chase up doors (if a big round that's going to happen) 

Also perfectly seamless cash flow in the bank 5 days after the cleans. No waiting. Its worth the tax hit 100%. I've been there with bank and paypal and its never close to great cash flow month by month 

 
So basically is it worth having only go cardless customers in the long term,  creating a round that runs smoothly , ? 


Basically the answer is yes.  I started in January, the only problem I have had is with a cash customer who eventually I managed to get hold of by going round to the house, after ignoring my calls, texts, I went round and got hold of them, it was awkward but at the end of the day they owed me money and the next clean was due, they transferred the money there and then but I said that in future it's direct debit, never heard from them again.  Prior to that they were out a lot of the time and were catching up with the payment at the next clean.  Non of that would have happened if they were on GC, had I signed them up at the beginning they might still be on my books now.

The only people I have on cash now are 70+, anybody else it's direct debit or bank transfer, but bank transfer is a last resort, I don't offer it.

Older people tend to be in and don't like direct debit so cash is ok.  If they're out they're really good and leave it in a safe spot.  Although I have one lady in her late 70's who is on GC, I think it's a good option for her as I think she has dementia so I think her relatives check over everything financial for her, GC is excellent for this, cash they would be non the wiser.

Honestly though, direct debit is so easy, I don't know why anybody goes back collecting cash, waste of time, fuel and can create awkward situations where they haven't paid for the last clean with the next clean due. 

I'm going to try and work out how to sign them up on the doorstep.  A lot of people agree to a clean but then you go home, log on to the pc and send them the link via email and await their response, this delay allows them a cooling off period and it's the most likely time that they decide to change their minds.  Green-pro mentioned about signing them up on the doorstep and this is what I want to work out how to do.

Once they're on DD you don't have any problems.  I've not had anybody cancel once they're on DD.

 
Basically the answer is yes.  I started in January, the only problem I have had is with a cash customer who eventually I managed to get hold of by going round to the house, after ignoring my calls, texts, I went round and got hold of them, it was awkward but at the end of the day they owed me money and the next clean was due, they transferred the money there and then but I said that in future it's direct debit, never heard from them again.  Prior to that they were out a lot of the time and were catching up with the payment at the next clean.  Non of that would have happened if they were on GC, had I signed them up at the beginning they might still be on my books now.

The only people I have on cash now are 70+, anybody else it's direct debit or bank transfer, but bank transfer is a last resort, I don't offer it.

Older people tend to be in and don't like direct debit so cash is ok.  If they're out they're really good and leave it in a safe spot.  Although I have one lady in her late 70's who is on GC, I think it's a good option for her as I think she has dementia so I think her relatives check over everything financial for her, GC is excellent for this, cash they would be non the wiser.

Honestly though, direct debit is so easy, I don't know why anybody goes back collecting cash, waste of time, fuel and can create awkward situations where they haven't paid for the last clean with the next clean due. 

I'm going to try and work out how to sign them up on the doorstep.  A lot of people agree to a clean but then you go home, log on to the pc and send them the link via email and await their response, this delay allows them a cooling off period and it's the most likely time that they decide to change their minds.  Green-pro mentioned about signing them up on the doorstep and this is what I want to work out how to do.

Once they're on DD you don't have any problems.  I've not had anybody cancel once they're on DD.
Google gocardless ways to sign customers up. There is a page on their site dedicated to this exact thing.  Ps hi Chris34 from Chris33

 
Google gocardless ways to sign customers up. There is a page on their site dedicated to this exact thing.  Ps hi Chris34 from Chris33


Ha ha, I hadn't noticed the name thing, lol.  

I did look on there a while ago and didn't find anything, I'll have another look.  If I can get them on the doorstep and then say 'right, your booked for next Thursday' then I don't think they would be as likely to back out.

 
Ha ha, I hadn't noticed the name thing, lol.  

I did look on there a while ago and didn't find anything, I'll have another look.  If I can get them on the doorstep and then say 'right, your booked for next Thursday' then I don't think they would be as likely to back out.
Easiest is link to sign up on ways to pay page looks more legit to them but what u suggest is what I would consider a back up plan mate 

 
Easiest is link to sign up on ways to pay page looks more legit to them but what u suggest is what I would consider a back up plan mate 


Think I've figured out how to do it.

Send yourself the link to your own email address, open the email and click 'activate' this then brings up the empty boxes the customer needs to fill in, it includes a box for their email address, hand them your phone and get them to fill it in, once they click 'set up direct debit' I presume they will then be sent a confirmation email meaning they would be non the wiser, it would look all normal to them.  

Not sure of the legalities of it but I can't see why not.  I mean when you go to a shop and buy a phone on a contract you're asked to fill out a direct debit form there and then, so it's only like doing that but on a digital screen.

 
Lots of people get on well with gocardless but at 2%+20p per transaction I think its steep.

On a 50K turnover that's £1200 - £1300 year, would fund a nice week away for 2.
I don't pay 2% + 20p per transaction and never have, the charges are 1%  per transaction capped at 20p, it would cost you around £40 each month to collect 4k a month via GC

 
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i try and get all my customers to pay by BACS these days,over half of them pay this way,the rest are cash on the day or card payments at time of clean(contactless or chip and pin) or i take a payment over the phone for the odd customer,i also have a few on standing orders and a few cheques!(although these are dwindling all the time)....

i dont get charged for any payment method apart from card payments(17p every £10).....

i dont do any evening collecting anymore...ive finally sacked it off after 26 years!

if i was starting from scratch i probably would do gocardless but i cant be bothered at the moment.my round and debts list is manageable as a one man band...id think if i was employing then gocardless would be the way forward to keep a better cashflow for paying staff etc

my debt list can be anywhere between £500-£1500 at any one time...im not in a dire financial position where i need the money right away(i dont live hand to mouth anymore)so im not bothered....i just see it as "money in the bank"...it all comes in eventually......

 
I don't pay 2% + 20p per transaction and never have, the charges are 1%  per transaction capped at 20p, it would cost you around £40 each month to collect 4k a month via GC
Thanks for that, I did have another look at GC in light of your comment. 1% with a minimum charge of 20p and a max charge of £2.00 for the standard tariff is not over the odds, if it reduces admin time. Do you use it purely for domestic customers?

 
Thanks for that, I did have another look at GC in light of your comment. 1% with a minimum charge of 20p and a max charge of £2.00 for the standard tariff is not over the odds, if it reduces admin time. Do you use it purely for domestic customers?
299 domestic jobs on GC, I did have one commercial job on GC as I knew the finance manager and she saw it as one less invoice to get paid manually, I only don't have it now as I passed the job due to early starts as I prefer not to be out the door till after 8am 

 
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Although I'd use gocardless and have offered it to people who constantly forget to pay (these are genuine people who I know and are not skint or anything, just forgetful. I have had them say they'll sign up, but never have done), I don't think it's the answer everyone is saying it is, a **** payer will be a **** payer, a cheeky one off clean when they tell you that it's a regular service they're after will still be the same, the skint until payday will still be the same and the window cleaner will be at the bottom of bill priority list. The customer has 5 days to decline/cancel this transaction, and if they're bank accounts empty it won't go through anyway! I think it's a good option, but it's not the holy grail. Ideal probably for big, multi van operations I'd of thought. 

Most of mine do a bank transfer, then cash and then cheques. I have a card machine, but it's never been used yet. The cheques are easy, just pay them in with my phone (there's only a few a week) and cash I can pop to the local post office that's in a petrol station with easy parking and open until 8pm and pay it into my bank account, which instantly goes into my account. No fees whatsoever on any of these options. The only ones I'd enforce GC on would be the constant late payers who have to be reminded all the time, but these for me are few and far between luckily.ive never collected and never will, the customer knows this from the start, they have enough options on how to pay, so they're happy. 

 
Although I'd use gocardless and have offered it to people who constantly forget to pay (these are genuine people who I know and are not skint or anything, just forgetful. I have had them say they'll sign up, but never have done), I don't think it's the answer everyone is saying it is, a **** payer will be a **** payer, a cheeky one off clean when they tell you that it's a regular service they're after will still be the same, the skint until payday will still be the same and the window cleaner will be at the bottom of bill priority list. The customer has 5 days to decline/cancel this transaction, and if they're bank accounts empty it won't go through anyway! I think it's a good option, but it's not the holy grail. Ideal probably for big, multi van operations I'd of thought. 

Most of mine do a bank transfer, then cash and then cheques. I have a card machine, but it's never been used yet. The cheques are easy, just pay them in with my phone (there's only a few a week) and cash I can pop to the local post office that's in a petrol station with easy parking and open until 8pm and pay it into my bank account, which instantly goes into my account. No fees whatsoever on any of these options. The only ones I'd enforce GC on would be the constant late payers who have to be reminded all the time, but these for me are few and far between luckily.ive never collected and never will, the customer knows this from the start, they have enough options on how to pay, so they're happy. 


I understand what you're saying.  The thing with GC though is that you're the one in control of the payment.  With bank transfer, you're sat there waiting for them to pay, with GC it's you who is in full control over the timing of the payment, there is no checking your bank account all the time trying to work out who has paid.

I have one customer who has had their GC payment fail twice, the first time I hadn't noticed and she contacted me to let me know and apologised and asked me to take it again, so I did and it went through.  Second time I noticed on the day it happened and sent her a text, she again apologised and just asked me to put it through again, I did and got paid.  This customer lives in a 2 bed terraced and it's only a £15 job so it doesn't really bother me.

Nobody has cancelled the direct debit though.  It's a complete non issue with GC, so don't worry about that.

I've probably missed out on customers due to insisting on direct debit, but the customers I've got on it have been excellent with the payments.  So I think it actually filters out the messers (with the exception of the 70+ cash payers).

One thing I tell all customers is that I manually process the payment after the clean, never before, and that the payment typically takes 3 days to leave their account.  They get a text the day before the clean so in essence that's like a heads up for them that the direct debit will be coming out in the next 3 or 4 days.

Also, I don't leave processing the direct debit for more than a day after the clean.  I think it's good to be prompt and efficient, I wouldn't like to be having a direct debit go out of my account at any point, I like to have an idea of when it will be going out of my account, so I make sure I'm predictable and reliable with it.

 
Although I'd use gocardless and have offered it to people who constantly forget to pay (these are genuine people who I know and are not skint or anything, just forgetful. I have had them say they'll sign up, but never have done), I don't think it's the answer everyone is saying it is, a **** payer will be a **** payer, a cheeky one off clean when they tell you that it's a regular service they're after will still be the same, the skint until payday will still be the same and the window cleaner will be at the bottom of bill priority list. The customer has 5 days to decline/cancel this transaction, and if they're bank accounts empty it won't go through anyway! I think it's a good option, but it's not the holy grail. Ideal probably for big, multi van operations I'd of thought. 

Most of mine do a bank transfer, then cash and then cheques. I have a card machine, but it's never been used yet. The cheques are easy, just pay them in with my phone (there's only a few a week) and cash I can pop to the local post office that's in a petrol station with easy parking and open until 8pm and pay it into my bank account, which instantly goes into my account. No fees whatsoever on any of these options. The only ones I'd enforce GC on would be the constant late payers who have to be reminded all the time, but these for me are few and far between luckily.ive never collected and never will, the customer knows this from the start, they have enough options on how to pay, so they're happy. 
I am a sole trader and as mentioned above I have 299 clients on GC I started using GC around April 2014 the cheeky one offs and ones who really don't want a regular service won't bother to sign up, with me they have to sign up before the first clean commences, no GC, no window clean, the slow payer issues etc all eliminated thanks to GC. 

Years ago people would say what if they cease trading and other mumbo jumbo, GC have grown so much these past 4-5 years from being just in the UK to Europe then Austrailia and now America and collect £10 billion globally, this is a solid payment option for businesses of all sizes. 

Times are a changing I live in a town were there used to multiple banks there now isn't any, digital/electronic straight forward payment options are constantly increasing and this will extend to regular service providers like ourselves, for me I have 100's of houses on new build estates with busy professional people on my rounds, what they want plus the up and coming generations is hassle free, I don't really need to lift a finger payment methods or ideally also don't need to remember to pay, all utility bills are direct debit, so we shouldn't be any different. 

 
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