PlumbingBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Billing Yearly Water Heater Flush Plans Without Chasing Anyone

A yearly water heater flush plan is one of the steadiest things a residential plumbing company can sell. The homeowner gets a tank flushed of sediment, a T&P valve test, an anode rod check and a once-over of the rest of the plumbing. You get a visit on the calendar every year and a chance to spot problems before they become emergencies. The only way it goes wrong is if billing turns into a yearly chase.

Plans Are Recurring Billing

Setting up tax correctly, covered in Sales Tax on Plumbing Parts and Labor: Setting It Up on Your Invoices, matters most on work you bill again and again. Flush plans are exactly that kind of work.

Step One: Sign-Up With a Card

The cleanest flush plans start with a card on file. PlumbingBossPro gives you two ways to sign customers up:

• Website sign-up form. The form captures the card and lands in Form Responses. One click converts it into a client.
• The customer app. Existing customers can sign up for services and see the pricing you set, such as a yearly flush plan at $129 a visit.

Techs can mention the plan at the end of any visit to a house with a tank water heater: “We do a yearly flush plan. You can sign up in our app, and we'll take care of reminding you.”

Step Two: The Visit Comes Due on Its Own

Recurring work in PlumbingBossPro is set by minimum days between visits. A yearly flush is 365. After each visit, the next one comes due on the Waiting List on its own when the time comes — a live map and list of every visit that is due, with pins colored by status: not due yet, due now, or overdue past a 7-day grace.

No one has to keep a list of who is due in March. The office looks at the Waiting List, groups the due flushes by area, and puts them on the dispatch board. Many shops give one van the water heaters and maintenance, and keep another on repairs and drains.

Step Three: The Tech Does the Flush and the Checklist

On the visit, the tech sees the water heater on the job card — type, fuel, brand, model, size, year installed and location — because it is saved on the house. They flush the tank, test the T&P valve, check the anode rod and work through the inspection checklist in the tech app: water pressure, water heater temperature, venting, visible leaks, toilets, faucets and supply lines, drains, hose bibs and more, with readings like sediment drained and water heater age.

The office can print a Plumbing Inspection Report for the homeowner. That report is a big part of why customers renew. It shows them what they paid for.

Step Four: Charge at Completion

When the tech taps Complete, the invoice is created and the card on file can be charged. The invoice says what it was: “Yearly water heater flush plan visit — flush, T&P valve test, anode rod check, plumbing inspection.” Sales tax is added the way you set it up.

Nobody sends a separate bill. Nobody calls to ask for payment. The homeowner gets an invoice, a report and a clean water heater on the same day.

Findings Turn Into Estimates, Not Surprise Lines

Flush visits often turn up other work: a T&P valve that will not reseat, a worn anode rod, high water pressure, a leaking supply line under a sink. Do not add those to the plan invoice on the spot unless the customer agreed. Note them in the recommendations, mark the condition (Good, Needs attention or Repair recommended), and send an estimate the customer can approve online. Once approved, it becomes its own scheduled job and its own invoice.

Keeping the plan invoice clean protects the plan. Customers who sign up for a flush plan and get a surprise repair charge tend not to renew.

Keeping the Plan Running Year After Year

A few habits keep flush plans billing smoothly:

• Check cards before visits. Expired cards are the main reason plan charges fail. A text a few days ahead asking the customer to update their card in the customer app saves a decline.
• Turn on reminders. Customers choose alerts: the night before, when they are next, and when the tech arrives. A customer who knows you are coming leaves the garage open.
• Do not let visits go overdue. The Waiting List shows overdue pins. A plan visit that slides months late feels like a plan you are not keeping.

The same approach works for softener service, backflow tests and other recurring work. Restaurants on grease-line jetting are billed differently, on one monthly statement, as covered in Restaurant Plumbing Accounts: Billing Grease-Line Jetting Monthly. For the whole billing picture, see the plumbing invoicing software page.