Does BCTM have a monthly bill or subscription?

No. BCTM is $0 per month with no subscription and no per-user seats. Contractors pay only a per-transaction fee when a customer pays them electronically by card or ACH. Creating and sending invoices, sending estimates, and messaging customers are all free.

Can I choose who pays the card processing fee on each invoice?

Yes. On any invoice the contractor can decide whether the customer covers the card processing fee or the contractor absorbs it. Passing the fee to the customer is optional and jurisdiction-aware: BCTM follows US federal card-network rules and state or territory surcharge regulations, so debit and prepaid cards are never surcharged and jurisdictions that restrict surcharging switch automatically to absorb-fee or cash-discount treatment.

How fast do contractors get paid on BCTM?

The same day. BCTM supports instant payouts to the contractor’s bank account when they want them, so contractors skip the check float and the multi-day ACH hold on card revenue.

Is BCTM Platform free to use?

Yes. Creating and sending invoices, estimates, and messages is free. Contractors only pay a per-transaction fee when a customer pays them by card or ACH. There is no monthly bill.

What card processing fees does BCTM charge?

Card payments cost 3.9% + $0.30 per transaction: a 1% BCTM fee plus Stripe processing of 2.9% + $0.30. This is optional on the customer side: the contractor can pass the fee to the customer on any invoice where state and federal surcharge rules allow, or absorb it themselves.

Can I use BCTM offline?

Yes. BCTM is an installable Progressive Web App (PWA) that works offline and syncs your changes when you reconnect.

How do my customers pay an invoice?

You share a secure invoice link. Customers pay online by card through a Stripe-powered checkout. No account required.

What languages does BCTM support?

BCTM is available in 14 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Hindi.

Does BCTM have a point of sale?

Yes. BCTM includes a web-based point of sale at /pos that pairs with a Stripe Terminal card reader for in-person card payments. It uses the same invoice and ledger as online payments.

Can I scan a paper receipt into an invoice?

Yes. Take a photo of the receipt or supplier invoice and BCTM extracts the vendor, date, line items, quantities, and prices with AI. You review the result before saving.

Can I dictate an invoice by voice?

Yes. BCTM supports voice-to-invoice: describe the job out loud and BCTM turns your dictation into invoice line items you can edit before sending.

Does BCTM accept ACH bank payments?

Yes. Customers can pay by ACH bank transfer as a flat-fee alternative to card processing, which saves money on larger invoices.

Can I pass the card processing fee on to my customer?

Yes, on any invoice where state and federal surcharge rules allow. Passing the fee is optional and per-invoice: the contractor decides for each invoice whether the customer covers the processing fee or the contractor absorbs it. BCTM applies the per-state rule automatically at checkout, and switches to absorb-fee or cash-discount treatment in jurisdictions that restrict surcharging.

Can I send estimates and quotes with BCTM?

Yes. BCTM handles both estimates (quotes) and invoices. Send an estimate to your customer, and when they accept it, convert it to an invoice with one tap. The line items, pricing, tax, and customer info carry over automatically.

Can I message customers from an estimate or invoice?

Yes. Every sent estimate and invoice has a two-way message thread. You can ask questions, share updates, or clarify scope right on the document. Your customer replies from their phone without creating a BCTM account, and both sides see the full history. New replies show up on your dashboard as an unread badge.

What trades and contractors is BCTM built for?

BCTM is built for every service-based trade: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing, siding, framing, carpentry, drywall, painting, flooring, tile, insulation, concrete, landscaping, snow removal, pressure washing, junk removal, pest control, security, networking, automation, auto repair, auto detailing, appliance repair, welding, cleaning, interior design, general contracting, handyman services, and any other service business. If you invoice for services or materials, BCTM works for you.

BCTM Blog

Free Invoice for Plumbers: Bill the Job Before You Leave the Driveway

Most plumbers lose money between the wrench and the deposit - not because the work was wrong, but because the invoice sat in a truck console for three days before anyone typed it up. If you are searching for a free invoice for plumbers, you are probably tired of carbon-copy pads, a shoebox of stubs, or a spreadsheet you have to email yourself at midnight. BCTM gives you a free invoice for plumbers that you fill out on your phone at the curb, with parts, labor, and tax already itemized, and a payment link the homeowner can tap the moment you hit send.

Why paper invoices cost plumbers real money

A paper invoice pad feels free, but it is not. Every job that sits in the truck until Friday is a job that gets paid a week later than it should. Every faded carbon copy is a dispute waiting to happen when a customer says "I never got a total for that." And every invoice you retype into QuickBooks at night is unpaid admin time on top of a full day of jobs.

The real cost of a paper-based system is not the pad - it is the float. Plumbers who invoice same-day get paid roughly twice as fast as plumbers who batch invoices at the end of the week, simply because the customer is still thinking about the leak, the water heater, or the clog when the bill lands.

What a free invoice for plumbers should actually include

A plumbing invoice is not a generic invoice. It needs to separate diagnostic time from repair labor, call out parts and fixtures by name (so a homeowner is not surprised by a $40 wax ring line item), and show whether you are billing flat-rate or time-and-materials.

Job address and a short description of the work performed
Itemized parts (fixtures, valves, fittings) separate from labor hours
Emergency / after-hours rate disclosed as its own line, not buried in the total
Warranty terms on the repair, if you offer one
A clear total with tax, and a way to pay right from the invoice

How BCTM works for plumbers, specifically

BCTM is built for trades that quote and bill from the field, and plumbing is one of the core use cases. You can draft an invoice on your phone before you are back in the truck, pull recurring parts and flat-rate services from your price book so a water heater swap or drain cleaning is two taps instead of retyping, and send the customer a secure link by text.

If the job started as a quote - say, a repipe estimate you walked through with the homeowner - you can send that as an estimate first from the [Estimates](/estimates) page, and once they approve it, convert it straight into an invoice with one tap. Nothing gets re-entered, so the parts list and labor hours you already itemized carry straight over.

Customers can ask questions about the invoice - "is this the emergency rate or the standard rate?" - directly in the two-way thread on [customer messaging](/customer-messaging), so you are not fielding that as a separate phone call while you are on the next job.

Getting paid without chasing checks

The point of a free invoice for plumbers is not just the invoice - it is what happens after you send it. A PDF emailed from a spreadsheet still requires the homeowner to write a check or call you with a card number. BCTM invoices include a payment link, so the customer pays online by card the moment they open it, and you see the payment hit your dashboard instead of guessing whether the mail is slow.

BCTM does not charge a monthly fee to create and send invoices. You only pay a small per-transaction fee when a customer actually pays you by card - see the full breakdown on the [fees](/fees) page - so a slow month never costs you a subscription on top of it.

A simple plumbing invoice workflow you can start today

Step one: finish the job and open BCTM on your phone before you pull out of the driveway. Step two: add the parts and labor lines - pull repeat items like "toilet install" or "drain snake, main line" from your price book if you have set one up. Step three: send the invoice by text; the customer opens a secure link on any phone with no app or account needed. Step four: get notified the moment it is paid, and follow up with an automatic reminder if it sits unpaid for a few days.

Frequently asked questions

Is BCTM really a free invoice for plumbers, or is there a catch?+

Creating and sending invoices is completely free - there is no monthly subscription. You only pay a per-transaction fee (3.9% + $0.30) when a customer actually pays you by card, or a flat ACH fee for bank transfers. If a customer pays by cash or check, BCTM costs you nothing.

Can I itemize parts and labor separately on a plumbing invoice?+

Yes. Each invoice supports multiple line items, so you can list fixtures and parts separately from labor hours and any emergency or after-hours rate, giving the homeowner a transparent breakdown instead of one lump total.

Can I send a quote first and turn it into an invoice later?+

Yes. Send an estimate from the estimates page, and once the customer accepts it, convert it into an invoice with one tap. All the parts, labor, and pricing carry over automatically.

Do my customers need to download an app to pay a plumbing invoice?+

No. You send a secure link by text or email, and the customer opens and pays it in any mobile browser. No account or app download is required on their end.

Can I use this invoice app from my truck without service?+

Yes. BCTM is an installable Progressive Web App that works offline. You can draft an invoice with no signal and it will sync and send as soon as you are back in coverage.

Ready to send your first invoice?

Free to send. Pay only when you get paid.

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