Skimmer Billing FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Skimmer Billing
What is Skimmer Billing?
Skimmer’s billing feature is an easy, modern, and streamlined payments acceptance experience designed specifically for pool service businesses. You can generate invoices that seamlessly integrate with the data already in Skimmer allowing you to quickly bill for service, repairs, parts, and materials.
Easily email invoices to your customers and accept online credit card or bank account payments. Customers can opt into auto-pay, making it easy for you to automatically collect payments for recurring pool service either per stop or flat-monthly fee, with or without chemicals
How do I get started?
Skimmer Billing is available for all Skimmer subscribers. Learn how to setup and use Skimmer Billing by visiting the Skimmer Billing Tutorials Page.
What can you do with Skimmer Billing?
- Generate invoices for completed pool service, dosages, installed items, and work orders
- Bill all customers, customers by tag, or specific customers in just a few steps
- Quickly review and adjust invoice details such as names, descriptions, rates, and taxables for invoice line items, and exclude any items not to be billed
- Generate and bulk email invoices with an embedded payment link for customers, allowing customers to view a detailed online invoice
- Accept payments from credit/debit cards, digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, or US bank accounts
- Allow customers to opt into AutoPay for recurring pool service from an invoice, or opt a customer in from Skimmer on their behalf
- Securely store multiple payment methods on file, and designate the method of choice for AutoPay
- Automatically send payment receipt confirmations for any successful payment
- View status and balance of all invoices and payments in real-time from the invoice and payments dashboards including dollars due, overdue, outstanding, in draft, expected, and received
- Add offline payments for cash & check, and manually create invoices for one-off needs
- Configure how pool service, dosages, installed items, and work order line items are generated by default
- Create tax rates and tax groups and bulk apply those to service locations
- Customize your invoice and payment receipt email templates
- Generate reports on all invoices sent, paid, outstanding, all payments, payouts, and tax liabilities
Coming soon:
- Automatically generate and email recurring invoices
- Advanced alerts and notifications
- Enhanced reporting, exports, and imports
How does Skimmer Billing Compare to QuickBooks Online?
Skimmer Billing gives you the ability to generate, process, and track invoices and accept payments without the use of third-party billing software. Your customers can pay via Google Pay, Apple Pay, ACH, and credit or debit card. You customers can also opt for AutoPay for routine services. Invoices have the look and feel of Skimmer's service emails, giving your customers a consistent experience for service and billing.
How secure is my customers' payment information?
Skimmer’s online payment form uses multiple layers of security to protect sensitive payment information. Your customers' payment credentials are encrypted and tokenized by Stripe to help ensure that unauthorized parties do not gain access to sensitive payment information.
How much does it cost?
Skimmer Billing is included with every Skimmer subscription. There are no setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden charges.
Processing fees are a fixed percentage of each transaction so you only pay for the service when you use it.
- For credit and debit cards: 2.9% + $0.25 per transaction (additional 0.5% for keyed or recurring transactions)
- For bank draft (ACH) payments: 1% + $0.25 per transaction (capped at $10 per transaction)
Where can I learn how to use Skimmer Billing features?
We have created a number of tutorial videos, which can be found here in our Videos section. If, after viewing the videos, you have further questions, you can reach out to our Support team via email (support@getskimmer.com) or phone (480-718-2158).
Can Skimmer Billing calculate and include taxes in my invoices?
Yes, it can! Check out this tutorial video to learn how you can set up and apply tax settings to your customer invoices.
How do I know what tax rate to use?
Some states and taxing authorities may require you to charge taxes where the service is performed. We encourage you to check with your specific taxing authorities to understand tax rules or consult with a tax accountant. If you would like to look up a tax rate for a customer's address, check out the free Avalara Sales Tax Calculator and Rate Lookup Tool.
Which user accounts in my company have access to Skimmer Billing?
The Owner account has full access to everything. Admin accounts have access to everything except the Stripe onboarding form. Techs do not have access to Skimmer Billing.
Can I bill ahead for service but bill in arrears for chemical dosages?
While Skimmer Billing is not specifically set up to do this automatically, there is a method you can use to accomplish it manually. Please keep in mind that the process would need to be done manually each month (the dates below are meant to be examples, and the process can be applied to any months). Also note that if you're billing per stop, and you bill ahead for four stops but only end up performing three (as an example), you'll need to balance that out with your client.
February 1
1 - Create a manual invoice for the “future” service to occur in February.
2 - Create a line item.
3 - Name the item “February Service.” Per stop = enter rate and estimated quantity of stops. Per month = enter rate and quantity. 1
4 - Send the invoice.
5 - Perform the service in February.
March 1 (The following month AND for any existing customers, take the following steps):
1 - Run the invoice generator for service in February.
2 - Generator finds February service.
3 - Edit the pool service line item as “March Service” even though it’s February’s service.
4 - Uncheck "include dates in description."
5 - Treat the chemicals as-is.
What is Stripe's role in payment processing with Skimmer Billing?
Stripe provides the underlying technology and infrastructure that enables secure card processing and storage. When you set up payments, you’ll go to a Stripe form to enter the required information about your company and verify your identity. You won't need to go back to Stripe after that except for to update information as needed. By setting up payments, you’ll be agreeing to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement. Although Skimmer is initiating and managing the transactions, funds are not flowing through Skimmer itself. That is handled by Stripe.
Can I use my own Stripe account?
You can’t use an existing Stripe account because this system uses a custom connect Stripe integration.
Why do I need my customer’s email to set up ACH?
The end customer needs to provide an email in the sense that the pool pro (you!) has to email the invoice in order for the customer to access the link to save ACH Info.
Can customers update their card information or do we have to do it?
Customers can update their own card information. However, if they’re on Autopay, you’ll have to uncheck the Autopay option for them first.
Can I pass on credit card fees?
Regarding credit card fees, we recommend baking in the credit card fees to your existing pricing, as the legality of passing on credit card fees varies from state to state and various jurisdictions. However, we are exploring the possibility of bulk adding a single line item to a batch of invoices.