Taking payments on the job, before you drive away.

Why later is costly

An invoice sent later gives the customer control when they’re least motivated: the problem is resolved and the van has left.

Most people pay. The cost lies with the few who don’t, and in what chasing them costs: the reminder, the second reminder, the awkward call, and the small percentage that is never recovered. For a one-van operation, that admin falls on the person who fitted the tyres.

Taking payments on the job eliminates the whole issue. The customer is there, satisfied, and has just seen the work done, making it the easiest moment to ask for payment.

What truly works on a driveway

The practical challenges are signal, weather, and doing it in under a minute while holding a phone with cold hands.

• Card on a phone or small reader, covering most customers and settling quickly.
• A payment link sent via message, handy when the customer isn’t the car owner.
• Bank transfer, fine if you can confirm it’s arrived, not just shown on a screen.
• Cash still has its place, raising its own reconciliation and safety issues.
• Stored details for account and fleet customers, with terms agreed in advance.

Be cautious with transfers seen only on someone else’s phone. A pending screen isn’t an arrival, and that difference has cost many their jobs.

Quote it to avoid payment surprises.

Most payment awkwardness stems from the booking, not the moment itself.

A customer given the total fitted price upfront expects to pay that and reaches for a card without prompting. One quoted a tyre price, then hit with fitting, valve, balance, and disposal is having a different conversation, making payment a negotiation.

Stating when payment is expected is part of the quote. 'On completion' is standard, feeling abrupt only if it’s unannounced at the end.

Deposits for jobs that warrant them.

A mobile operation carries risks: arriving at a job to find no one home or a customer who’s changed their mind.

A deposit at booking removes most of that, and is easiest to defend when stock is bought specifically for the job. For common sizes on the van, it's harder to justify and costs you bookings, so the fair split is based on whether the stock was purchased for that customer.

If you do take one, explain what happens if they cancel before they pay. A deposit with clear terms is accepted; one explained later leads to complaints.

Reconcile on the same day.

Payments taken on the job are easy to accept but hard to track, especially over a week with multiple drivers.

The issue is rarely theft; it's a job marked complete with no payment recorded, indistinguishable from an unpaid job a month later. Multiply that by a few each week, and accounts stop reflecting reality.

Matching payments to jobs the same day, not at month-end, keeps things honest. It's also the only way to spot patterns early, rather than finding a gap at quarter-end.

Account customers have a different agreement.

Trade, fleet, and repeat customers expect terms, which is a legitimate exception, not a process failure.

What matters is that it’s an agreement, not a drift: agreed in advance, with limits, written terms, and checks on ageing rather than totals. A customer who pays reliably at sixty days is fine; one whose balance grows monthly is a hidden risk.

The key distinction is that terms are deliberately extended to customers who have earned them; everyone else pays on the job. Blurring that boundary leads to a mobile business funding its customers.