Send the invoice as a text with a pay link the minute you mark the job done, so the customer can pay from the couch while you load the truck. Line items should match the estimate, the notes line should carry your pre-existing conditions and photo link, and the bottom should ask for a review and next year's date. If you pass the card fee on, put it on the estimate, not the invoice.
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When Nobody Is Home to Pay You
"What if the customer isn't home at the time of the wash?"
TopGun, PressureWashingResource forum, Mar 2019
The template's "Pay by text link" row is built for that situation, and a Markate user named CFH gave a short answer in the same thread.
"I just send them invoice via e-mail with an online credit card option"
CFH, PressureWashingResource forum, 2019
He says he usually hears back within 24 hours and calls if three days pass with nothing paid. The template's text-link row does the same job by text, and its check row says where to leave one when nobody's home.
What Goes in a Pressure Washing Invoice Template
Match the invoice to your estimate line for line, with the estimate number printed at the top. Size and rate sit beside each amount, so a customer who agreed to an 800 sq ft driveway sees 800 sq ft on the bill. If the house turned out bigger than the phone quote, the new size shows and nobody asks why the number moved.
| Block | What's in the template |
|---|---|
| Header | Business name, address, phone, email, license number if your state requires one, insurance carrier, and the invoice, service and due dates. |
| Bill to | Customer, service address, billing address, and a PO or account number field for commercial jobs. |
| Line items | Service, description, size, rate and amount. The sample rows are a 2,400 sq ft house wash, an 800 sq ft driveway and walkway, and 180 linear ft of gutter brightening. |
| Totals | Subtotal, discount, sales tax if it applies, total, deposit received and balance due. |
| How to pay | Pay by text link, card, ACH, check, and when it's due, with an optional late fee. |
| Job notes | Pre-existing conditions photographed before the work, plus the before-and-after photo link. |
| Bottom | Thank you, a Google review link and a "book your next cleaning" line. |
Who Pays the Card Fee
Owners split on this one. Nashvillewash, after years on Square, decided he was done absorbing it.
"After several years of square I got tired of paying 3.5% fees so I let the customer know in advance"
Nashvillewash, PressureWashingResource forum, Jan 2022
Pushback came in the same thread. JAtkinson said passing fees on "doesn't sit well with people in general in my experience", and Jake_Lambert wrote that "Checks are just so much easier; no fees and mobile deposit."
| Example invoice | Card fee at 3.3% + 30¢ | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| House wash, $250 | $8.55 | $241.45 |
| House and driveway, $400 | $13.50 | $386.50 |
Invoice amounts are examples. The rate is what Square lists for invoice card payments on its Free plan, October 2026.
The card row has an optional processing-fee line and a note that ACH and checks carry none. Keep it only if the customer read it on the estimate first. Otherwise price the fee into the job and delete the line.
The Review and Rebook Lines at the Bottom
The closing block thanks the customer, links your Google review page and offers to hold a spot for the next cleaning. It sits on the invoice because that lands right after the job, the cheapest moment to ask. Cinder, a window cleaner, described his routine as "I carry an iPad with me and at the end if the job I schedule the next cleaning." He says it "has greatly increased repeat business" (Mar 2022). The rebooking page has the texts that follow up.
Job Notes, so the Photos Travel With the Bill
The notes box lists the pre-existing conditions you found and links the before-and-after photos, which matters most when nobody was home to see the result. One customer in an Aug 2020 thread answered overspray on a tomato plant with "I will be withholding payment for the moment." An invoice that already shows the conditions and the photos answers that better than a phone call does. The pre-job photo checklist covers what to shoot, and the damage claims page covers complaints.
Word File or Invoicing App
The Word file can't collect a payment. Any pay link has to come from whatever processes your cards. Square Invoices is the cheap route, with a $0 Free plan before fees. QuoteIQ puts card and ACH on every plan from Essentials at $29.99/mo, bills processing fees separately and carries a deposit from the estimate over to the invoice (as listed on each vendor's pricing page, October 2026). At a few jobs a week the file does the job if you save it as a PDF and text it with your payment link.
Questions Owners Ask
Do I need a deposit before a house wash?
In the threads we read, owners mostly collect when the job is done, and deposits come up more on big commercial work. The template has a deposit line for when you take one.
How long should I wait before chasing an unpaid invoice?
CFH, the Markate user above, calls after three days with nothing paid. Put your own due date and late fee in the "When" row so the customer has read it before you call.
Do I charge sales tax on a pressure washing invoice?
That depends on your state, so ask your accountant or your state revenue department. The template has a tax line you can fill in or delete.
Sources
- PressureWashingResource, "How to handle payment", Mar 13, 2019: TopGun's question; CFH's answer and timing (timing paraphrased).
- PressureWashingResource, "Square vs Venmo for Markate", Jan 11, 2022: Nashvillewash; JAtkinson and Jake_Lambert replying in the same thread.
- PressureWashingResource, "Reviving plants or just replace", Aug 14, 2020: payment withheld over a plant.
- Window Cleaning Resource, "How should I remind customers to schedule", Mar 17, 2022: Cinder on booking the next cleaning on site.
- Square, "Invoices pricing", read Oct 12, 2026: Free plan card rate of 3.3% + 30¢.
- QuoteIQ, "Pricing", read Oct 12, 2026: Essentials price; card and ACH on every plan; processing fees separate; deposit carries over to the invoice.