What's the best way for a mobile detailing business to take card payments on-site?
Send the invoice with a click-to-pay link by text once the job's finished — the customer pays by card or ACH directly from their phone, with no card reader or terminal required on your end.
Because Stripe Connect processes the payment behind the link, you don't need to purchase or carry separate card-reading hardware. This works the same whether you're in a client's driveway or a dealership lot.
How do I quote a detailing package with add-ons?
Build the estimate from price book items for the base package plus any add-ons (pet hair removal, ceramic coating, engine bay), so the total reflects exactly what the customer selected.
Package-and-add-on pricing is the standard structure in detailing, and keeping each tier and add-on as its own price book line item avoids under- or over-charging when combinations vary from customer to customer.
How do I bill a fleet or dealership detailing contract differently from a one-time customer?
Set fleet or dealership contracts up as recurring invoices on whatever schedule the contract calls for, while individual walk-up customers go through the standard one-off estimate-to-invoice flow.
Fleet and dealership work is typically higher-volume and billed on a regular cadence, which recurring invoicing automates, separate from the per-vehicle quoting used for individual residential customers.
Can a mobile detailer accept partial payment for a large ceramic coating job?
Yes — partial and split payments are supported, which is useful for higher-ticket services like ceramic coating that some customers pay in installments.
Ceramic coating and paint correction jobs can run into the high hundreds or thousands of dollars, well above a standard wash-and-detail, so some detailers offer a deposit-plus-balance structure similar to other trades' progress billing.
How fast do I get paid after a customer pays for a mobile detail online?
The customer's payment is confirmed immediately when they pay through the link; the funds land in your connected bank account on Stripe's standard payout schedule, typically within a few business days.
This distinction matters for planning cash flow — the invoice shows as paid right away, but the actual deposit into your bank account follows Stripe's normal payout timing rather than being instant. It's still a large improvement over the broader pattern in trade-adjacent services businesses, where average Days Sales Outstanding runs 83 days industry-wide (Level — Construction Cash Flow Crisis in Numbers).
Should a mobile detailer charge sales tax on services?
Whether detailing services are taxable varies by state, so this should be confirmed with your state's department of revenue or a CPA rather than assumed.
You can set a tax rate on your invoices once you know your state's rule, but BCTM doesn't determine whether detailing services are taxable in your jurisdiction. This is general information, not legal or tax advice — check with a licensed attorney or CPA in your state before relying on it.
How do I text a customer their detailing invoice and payment link?
Once the customer has given SMS consent, you can send the invoice by text with the click-to-pay link included, right after finishing the job.
This fits well with the on-site, driveway-based nature of mobile detailing, since the customer can pay from their phone without needing to be at a computer. This is general information, not legal or tax advice — check with a licensed attorney or CPA in your state before relying on it.