Invoicing and Payments Software for Mobile Detailing Businesses

Blue Collar Trade Manager lets a mobile detailer quote a package-based job — interior, exterior, full detail, ceramic coating — from a price book, send the invoice the moment the vehicle's done, and collect card or ACH payment on the customer's driveway through a click-to-pay link.

How it works

  1. 1

    Build or reuse an estimate

    Create an estimate for the detail job from scratch or pull line items straight from your mobile detailing price book, then send it for approval by text or email.

  2. 2

    Get it approved

    The customer reviews and approves the estimate online or by replying to a text — no printing, no in-person signature required.

  3. 3

    Convert to an invoice

    Turn the approved estimate into an invoice in one step, so line items, pricing, and job details carry over without retyping anything.

  4. 4

    Send a click-to-pay link

    The invoice goes out with a public click-to-pay link so the customer can pay by card or ACH from their phone, without creating an account.

  5. 5

    Let reminders do the follow-up

    If the invoice sits unpaid, automated payment reminders go out on a schedule you set, instead of you having to remember to chase it.

  6. 6

    Track it in reports

    Paid, unpaid, and overdue invoices roll up into reports so you can see outstanding balances across every customer at a glance.

What usually goes wrong in mobile detailing

Package-based pricing needs to stay consistent across vehicle types and add-ons

Detailing is usually sold in tiers — basic wash, full interior/exterior, ceramic coating — with add-ons like pet hair removal or engine bay cleaning. Price book items for each package and add-on keep quoting consistent, whether you're pricing a sedan or a client's boat.

You need to take payment on-site without carrying a card terminal

Mobile detailers work in driveways and parking lots, not a storefront with a countertop card reader. A click-to-pay link sent by text lets the customer pay by card or ACH from their own phone the moment the vehicle's finished, with no hardware needed on your end.

Fleet and dealership clients need recurring, higher-volume billing

A dealership or fleet detailing contract is a different animal than a one-off residential wash — recurring service, higher volume, and often net-terms billing. Recurring invoicing covers scheduled fleet contracts, distinct from the one-off estimate-to-invoice flow used for individual customers.

Weather and no-show customers disrupt a route-based schedule

A rained-out day or a no-show pushes the whole day's route around. Tracking each job's invoice status in reports helps you see quickly which stops from a disrupted day still need to be billed or rescheduled.

Questions mobile detailing contractors ask

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.

What BCTM costs

$0/mo — no subscription and no per-user seats. Card payments: 3.9% + $0.30 (1% BCTM platform fee + 2.9% + $0.30 Stripe). ACH bank payments: 1.8% (1% BCTM platform fee + 0.8% Stripe, Stripe portion capped at $5.00). Cash and check: no fees. Full fee breakdown.

Invoice the job, not the paperwork

No subscription. You pay a per-transaction fee only when a customer pays you.

Start free