Repeat Booking Billing & Invoicing

When you set up a repeat booking, you choose how you want to bill the client for their recurring visits. Some pet care businesses prefer to invoice after each walk, others bill weekly, and others send one invoice at the end of the month. Scritches supports all three approaches.

You configure billing during Step 4 of the booking wizard when creating a repeat, and you can update it later from the repeat's detail page.

Billing Strategies

Per Visit creates a separate invoice for each visit as it's generated. This is the simplest option and works well for clients who pay after each walk or drop-in. Each time a new visit is created, its invoice is ready to go.

For example, if you walk the Johnson family's golden retriever every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they'll get three separate invoices each week, one for each visit.

Weekly groups all visits from Monday through Sunday into one invoice. At the end of each week, Scritches bundles that week's visits together automatically. This is popular with businesses that have clients booking multiple visits per week and want to cut down on invoice volume.

For example, if you do three walks and two drop-in visits for the same client in one week, they'll receive a single invoice the following Monday with all five visits listed.

Monthly groups all visits in a calendar month into one invoice. At the end of each month, every visit from that month is combined into a single invoice. Many pet care businesses prefer this because it matches how their clients expect to be billed, similar to a utility or subscription.

For example, a client who books daily lunchtime walks for their dog gets one invoice at the beginning of next month covering all 20+ visits from the previous month.

Invoice Date Settings

Below the billing strategy selection, you'll find additional date settings that control when invoices are issued and when payment is due.

Issue Date determines the date printed on the invoice:

• On invoice creation: The invoice is dated when Scritches creates it (default).

• First booking date in period: The invoice is dated to match the first visit in the billing period.

• Last booking date in period: The invoice is dated to match the last visit in the billing period.

Due Date determines when payment is expected:

• First booking date: Payment is due on the date of the first visit in the period.

• Last booking date: Payment is due on the date of the last visit in the period.

• Fixed days after issue date: Payment is due a set number of days after the invoice is issued. When you select this option, a "Days After Issue Date" field appears where you can enter the number of days (for example, 14 for net-14 terms).

These settings apply to all invoices generated by this repeat. You don't need to configure them for each visit individually.

How Grouped Invoices Are Created

For Weekly and Monthly billing strategies, Scritches automatically creates invoices when a billing period wraps up. This happens overnight, so invoices are ready for you each morning.

Here's how it works:

• Weekly: An invoice is created on Monday for the previous Monday through Sunday period. If your client had visits on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, all three are bundled into one invoice on the following Monday.

• Monthly: An invoice is created on the first of the month for the previous month's visits. If your client had 12 visits in March, all 12 appear on one invoice created on April 1.

Invoices are only created once a period is fully over. The current week or current month stays open so new visits can still be added to it.

Per Visit invoices work differently. They're created right away with each visit, so there's no grouping involved.

Surcharges on Repeat Visits

Weekend and holiday surcharges are calculated on each visit when it's generated, exactly the same as one-time bookings. If a repeat visit falls on a Saturday, it gets your Saturday surcharge. If it falls on a holiday you've configured, it gets the holiday rate.

Extra pet surcharges are also applied based on the number of pets on the repeat booking.

These surcharges appear on the visit's invoice like they would for any other booking.

Changing Billing Settings

You can update a repeat's billing strategy and invoice date settings from the repeat detail page at any time. Changes apply to future invoices only. Visits that have already been invoiced are not affected.

For example, if you switch a client from Per Visit to Monthly billing, their existing per-visit invoices stay as they are, and new visits going forward will be grouped into monthly invoices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I send invoices automatically? The invoice is created automatically based on your billing strategy. You can then send invoices manually or use your existing invoice workflows to deliver them to clients.

What happens to invoices when I cancel a visit? If the visit had a Per Visit invoice that hasn't been paid, the invoice is automatically cleaned up. For Weekly or Monthly invoices, the cancelled visit is excluded from the next billing period's invoice.

Can different repeat bookings for the same client use different billing strategies? Yes. Each repeat booking has its own billing configuration. You might bill a morning walk client per visit but bill their afternoon drop-in monthly.

When exactly are weekly invoices created? Weekly invoices are created overnight on Monday, covering the previous Monday through Sunday period.

What if I pause a repeat mid-week? Any visits that already happened during the week are still invoiced when the period closes. Pausing only prevents new visits from being generated.

Can I manually create an invoice for a repeat visit instead? Per Visit invoices are created automatically with each visit. For Weekly and Monthly strategies, invoices are created when the billing period closes. If you need to invoice sooner, you can create a manual invoice and assign the visits to it.