EZ Lawn Biller User Manual

1. Getting Started

In one sentence: What EZ Lawn Biller does, how to set it up the first time, and what you're looking at when you log in.

Who needs this: Everyone

Where to find it: The Dashboard — the first screen after you log in.

1.1 What is EZ Lawn Biller?

EZ Lawn Biller runs the whole of your lawn care business from one place. It was built by lawn care professionals with over 70 years of combined experience in the trade.

Here's what it covers:

• Customers & Locations — every customer and every address you service, in one list.
• Schedule & Routes — plan the week and cut down driving time.
• Billing & Payments — bill customers automatically and take cards, bank payments, and PayPal.
• Mobile app — your technicians get a step-by-step job on their phone, with photos.
• Inventory — track supplies from the warehouse to the truck to the lawn.
• Payroll — work out technician pay by the hour, by the stop, or by the job.
• Reports — see your revenue, your tax numbers, and how the team is doing.
• QuickBooks — keep your books up to date without typing anything twice.
• Customer portal — customers can see their bills, pay online, and read their lawn service reports any time.

Every feature is included. What you pay depends on how many locations you service in a month — see Section 18.

1.2 Setup wizard — your first 30 minutes

The first time you log in, a 6-step setup wizard walks you through the essentials. You can come back to it any time from Settings > Setup Wizard.

Step 1 — Company profile

1. Enter your company name, address, phone, and email.
2. Pick your timezone. Every schedule and billing date uses it, so get this one right.
3. Choose how you bill:
   • Per-Service — a bill goes out each time a job is finished.
   • Monthly Statement — everything for the month goes onto one bill.

Step 2 — Payment settings

1. Connect Stripe to take card payments.
2. Connect PayPal as well, if you want to.
3. Choose Test Mode while you're learning, or Live Mode to take real money.

You can skip this and set it up later under Settings > Company.

Step 3 — Customer portal

Turn the customer portal on or off, and decide whether customers can manage their own saved cards.

Step 4 — lawn service reports

Choose whether customers get an email after every lawn service, and what goes in it: the technician's name, the address, photos, and the Service summary.

Step 5 — Email

Set up the email account your messages are sent from, and the footer that goes at the bottom of every one.

Step 6 — Your first technician

Create your first technician. They get an email telling them how to log in to the phone app.

When the wizard is done, you're ready to add customers, set up your services, and start scheduling.

Watch out: the timezone in Step 1 affects every date in the system. Changing it later is possible but confusing, because past dates shift.

1.3 Finding your way around

The Dashboard is the first thing you see. It gives you today's numbers at a glance:

There's a search bar at the top for jumping straight to a customer, and a New On-Demand Customer button for booking a one-off job in one go — see Section 8.

The menu down the left takes you everywhere else:

You may not see all of these. The menu only shows what your role allows. An office staff member with billing access won't see Pay Total unless their role includes it — that's normal, not a fault. See Section 3.

2. Company Settings

Access your company settings from the Settings menu in the sidebar. Settings are organized into tabs: Technicians, Recurring Billing, Company, and Integrations. Most of the settings described below are found under the Company tab.

2.1 Company Profile

This is where you configure your business identity:

• Company Name — displayed on invoices, statements, and the customer portal.
• Address — your business address, shown on PDFs and communications.
• Phone & Email — primary contact info for your business.
• Timezone — all scheduling, billing dates, and timestamps use this timezone. Choose your local timezone (e.g., "America/Phoenix" for Arizona).
• Logo — upload your company logo. It appears on invoices, statements, PDFs, and the customer portal.
• Brand Color — customizes the portal and PDF accent color to match your brand.

2.2 Payment Gateways (Stripe & PayPal)

EZ Lawn Biller integrates with Stripe and PayPal to process customer payments.

Connecting Stripe:

1. Go to Settings > Company and scroll to the Payments section.
2. Enter your Stripe API keys (publishable key and secret key).
3. Toggle between Test Mode and Live Mode.
   • Use Test Mode during setup to verify everything works without charging real cards.
   • Switch to Live Mode when you're ready to accept real payments.

Connecting PayPal:

1. In the same Payments tab, enter your PayPal credentials.
2. PayPal supports both one-time payments and vault-based recurring payments.

Gateway Order: If you have both Stripe and PayPal active, you can set the preferred order for autopay attempts.

Important: Keep your gateway in Test Mode while you're learning the system. Switch to Live Mode only when you're ready to process real payments.

2.3 Customer Portal Settings

The Customer Portal gives your customers 24/7 self-service access to their account:

• Enable/Disable Portal — toggle portal access for all customers.
• Payment Method Management — allow customers to save, update, or remove their payment methods.
• Show Login on Statements — include a portal login link on PDF statements.

More details on the portal in Section 13.

2.4 Communication Settings (Email & SMS)

Email (SMTP):

• Configure your SMTP server for outbound emails (statement delivery, visit reports, password resets).
• Set your From Name and From Email.
• Add custom email footer text that appears at the bottom of every email.

SMS:

• SMS messaging uses Twilio. Enter your Twilio Account SID, Auth Token, and sending phone number.
• Once configured, you can send text messages to customers and enable SMS appointment reminders.

2.5 Visit Report Settings

Visit reports are automatic email summaries sent to customers after each service visit. Configure:

• Enable/Disable visit report emails.
• Include Technician Name — show which technician performed the service.
• Include Service Address — show the location address in the report.
• Include Photos — attach service photos taken by the technician.
• Opt-Out Default — whether new customers are opted in or out by default.

Customers can unsubscribe from visit report emails at any time via a link in the email.

2.6 Late Fee Configuration

Automate late fees for overdue invoices:

• Enable/Disable late fees.
• Fee Type:
  • Flat — a fixed dollar amount (e.g., $15.00).
  • Percentage — a percentage of the outstanding balance (e.g., 5%).
• Fee Maximum — cap the late fee at a maximum amount.
• Grace Period — number of days after the due date before the late fee is applied (e.g., 15 days).

Late fees are automatically posted as financial transactions on the customer's ledger.

2.7 Billing Method (Per-Service vs. Monthly Statement)

This is one of the most important settings for your lawn care business. It determines how your customers are billed.

Per-Service Mode:

• An invoice is created each time a service is completed.
• Best for companies that bill on a per-visit basis or want immediate billing.
• Each completed service generates its own invoice and charge.

Monthly Statement (Per-Period) Mode:

• All charges in a month are collected into a single monthly statement.
• The statement period is anchored to a configurable Statement Day (e.g., the 1st of each month).
• At the end of each period, a statement is generated with all charges, payments, and credits.
• Best for companies that send monthly bills.

Choose the mode that matches how your customers expect to be billed. You can set this in Settings > Company under "Invoicing Method."

3. Managing Your Team

3.1 Adding Staff & Technicians

Technicians are managed under Settings > Technicians tab. Office staff and roles are managed under the Staff menu in the sidebar.

Adding a Technician:

1. Go to Settings > Technicians and click Add Technician.
2. Enter their name, email, and phone number.
3. They'll receive an email with instructions to set up their mobile app password.
4. Once they log in to the mobile app, they'll need to accept the Terms of Service.

Adding Office Staff:

1. Go to Staff in the sidebar.
2. Click Invite Staff Member.
3. Enter their name and email.
4. Assign them a Role (see section 3.2).
5. They'll receive a login link via email.

3.2 Roles & Permissions

EZ Lawn Biller comes with six built-in roles that cover most lawn care businesses:

Custom Roles: You can create custom roles with any combination of permissions. Go to Staff > Roles to define roles tailored to your company's structure.

Key Permission Areas:

• Customers (view, create, edit, delete)
• Billing (view statements, issue credits, issue charges)
• Scheduling (view, manage, optimize routes)
• Inventory (view, manage stock)
• Payroll (view, run payroll)
• Reports (view all reports)
• Settings (company, gateways, portal, communications, integrations)
• Messaging (view, send)

3.3 Technician Profiles & Work Schedules

Each technician has a profile that controls their scheduling and routing:

Home Base Address:

• Enter the technician's starting location (home or office). Route optimization uses this as the start and end point for their daily route.

Work Schedule (Per Weekday):

• Set start and end times for each day of the week (Monday through Sunday).
• Leave a day blank to indicate the technician is off that day.
• Set break windows (e.g., lunch from 12:00–12:30) so the optimizer respects breaks.
• Set break flexibility — how many minutes the break can shift to accommodate routing.

Capacity Limits:

• Max Jobs Per Day — prevents the optimizer from overloading a technician.
• Max Travel Distance — maximum miles the technician should drive in a day.
• Max Drive Time — maximum minutes of driving time per day.

Service Qualifications:

• Assign which Recurring Billing Items a technician is qualified to perform. The scheduler will only assign services to qualified technicians.

Color Code:

• Each technician is assigned a color that appears on the scheduling calendar and route map for easy identification.

3.4 Staff Impersonation (Support Tool)

Admins and managers can impersonate any staff member or customer to see exactly what they see. This is useful for:

• Troubleshooting — "I can't find the billing section" → impersonate them and check their permissions.
• Training — walk a new hire through the interface from their perspective.
• Customer support — see the customer portal as a specific customer sees it.

To impersonate, go to the staff or customer list and click the impersonate button next to their name. Click Stop Impersonating in the top bar to return to your own account.

4. Customer Management

4.1 Adding a Customer

Navigate to Customers in the sidebar and click Add Customer.

Required Information:

• Name — the customer's full name (or business name).
• Email — their primary email address (used for invoices, statements, and portal access).

Optional Information:

• Secondary email address
• Phone number(s) — you can add multiple phone numbers with types (mobile, home, office)
• General notes
• Statement delivery preference (email or print)
• Autopay opt-in setting

After creating a customer, you'll add their service location(s) and set up a subscription.

4.2 Customer Locations

A customer can have multiple service locations (e.g., a homeowner with a primary residence and a vacation property, or a property manager with several addresses).

Adding a Location:

1. Open the customer's profile.
2. Click Add Location.
3. Enter the address (street, city, state, zip code).
4. The system automatically geocodes the address (converts it to GPS coordinates) for route mapping.
5. Add optional service instructions (e.g., "Gate code: 1234", "Dog in backyard", "Equipment is behind the shed").

Service Windows: For each location, you can set allowed service times per day of the week:

• Monday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• Tuesday: closed
• Wednesday: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• etc.

This ensures the route optimizer only schedules visits during allowed hours. Leave a day empty if the location cannot be serviced that day.

Billing Address: Mark one location as the billing address. This appears on invoices and statements.

4.3 Contact Information & Notes

Phone Numbers:

• Add multiple phone numbers per customer.
• Mark one as primary.
• Indicate which numbers allow SMS (for text notifications).

Notification Emails:

• Add additional email addresses to receive copies of invoices, statements, and payment confirmations (useful for property managers, spouses, or accountants).

Customer Notes:

• Add free-form notes to a customer's account.
• Pin important notes so they always appear at the top.
• Notes are visible to all staff with customer access but are never shown to the customer.

4.4 Customer Info Page

Clicking on a customer's name opens their Customer Info Page — a comprehensive view of everything related to that customer, organized into tabs:

• Details — name, email, phone numbers, addresses, locations, notes, and notification preferences.
• Billing — a tab with its own sub-sections:
  • Billing History — all financial transactions (charges, payments, credits, fees).
  • Recurring Billing — active, paused, and canceled subscriptions.
  • Statements — monthly statements with opening/closing balances.
  • Charge / Payment / Credit — quick actions to post charges, record payments, or issue credits directly.
  • Status — current account status and payment method details.
• Services — history of all service visits (completed, pending, missed).
• Messages — communication history (emails and SMS sent).
• Passwords — manage customer portal access and reset credentials.

This is your one-stop view for everything about a customer.

5. Service Catalog

In one sentence: The list of services you sell — the repeating ones, the one-off jobs, and what the technician is asked to do on each.

Who needs this: Owner, Office

You may not see this if: your role doesn't include managing the catalog.

Where to find it: Settings > Recurring Billing and Settings > One-time Services

Set this up once and you stop rebuilding the same service for every customer. Your account already comes with a starter catalog, so nothing here starts from an empty page.

5.1 Repeating services

A repeating service is one a customer is signed up for on a schedule — the weekly or monthly work that makes up most of your round. In the app these are called Recurring Billing Items.

To create one, go to Settings > Recurring Billing and click New:

Watch out: only one of a customer's services can be the one that puts stops on the calendar. That's the service the technician actually drives to. The others are billing only.

5.2 Service types

A service type is the category a service belongs to. It sets the default length of the job and the colour it shows in on the calendar, so you can read the week at a glance.

There is no separate Service Types tab. You edit types inside the service form — open a Recurring Billing Item, and the Service Type field lets you pick, add, or edit one on the spot.

Watch out: deleting a type that services are still using is blocked. Move those services to another type first.

5.3 One-time services

A one-time service is a job you sell once — no schedule, no repeating charge. These live under Settings > One-time Services.

Each one carries its own price, how long it takes, and its own colour on the calendar, so a one-off job is easy to spot among the regular round.

Your account starts with a set of common jobs for your trade. They're listed in Section 8, along with how to sell one.

5.4 Checklists — what the technician is asked

Every service can carry a checklist: what the technician fills in on their phone during the lawn service. It's also what feeds the customer's lawn service report.

To set one up:

1. Open the service.
2. Click the checklist icon on its row.
3. Add the items you want recorded.
4. Mark each one required or optional. Required items must be filled in before the technician can finish the job.

Checklists come already filled in, and they differ by the kind of job:

• Repeating services get the standard checklist for your trade. For a lawn that's which areas were serviced, the mowing height, any treatment applied, and notes.
• One-time services get a checklist matched to that particular job. An aeration job asks about the aeration, not the mowing height.

Here's what your starter repeating service asks for:

If you edit a checklist and want the original back, use Restore default. It brings back the checklist for that job, not a generic one.

5.5 Inventory checklists

You can also tell a service which supplies it normally uses — for example, "Fertilizer — 2 lb". When the technician finishes the job, that stock comes off the truck automatically. See Section 11.

5.6 Packages

Note: Packages are not available yet. When they are, they'll let you bundle several services and sell them as one.

6. Subscriptions

Subscriptions are the core of your recurring revenue. A subscription links a customer + location to one or more service templates with a recurring billing schedule.

6.1 Creating a Subscription

Quick Subscription Wizard:

1. Navigate to Customers and open a customer's profile.
2. Click Add Subscription.
3. Select the Service Location.
4. Choose a Recurring Billing Item.
5. Confirm the price, billing frequency, and start date.
6. Optionally assign a payment method for autopay.
7. Click Create.

The subscription is now Active. If the service template has scheduled visits, services will be generated and appear in the scheduling calendar.

6.2 Subscription Lifecycle (Active, Paused, Canceled)

A subscription moves through these states:

Active → Paused → Active (resumed)
Active → Pending Cancellation → Canceled
Active → Scheduled Pause → Paused

To pause a subscription: Open the subscription and click Pause. Optionally set a resume date so it reactivates automatically.

To cancel a subscription: Click Cancel and provide a reason. You can set a termination date (e.g., end of the current billing period) so the customer receives service through their paid period. Future pending services are automatically canceled.

6.3 Billing Frequencies

EZ Lawn Biller supports a wide range of billing frequencies:

The billing frequency is set on the Recurring Billing Item but can be overridden per subscription if needed.

6.4 Proration

When a customer starts (or stops) mid-billing-period, proration determines how the first or last charge is calculated:

Example: A $120/month subscription starting on the 15th:

• None → Customer is charged $120 for the partial month.
• Daily → Customer is charged ~$60 (roughly half the month, calculated by day).
• Weekly → Customer is charged based on the number of full weeks remaining.
• Next Month → No charge until the 1st of the next month.

6.5 Auto-Pause & Auto-Resume

You can configure the system to automatically manage overdue subscriptions:

Auto-Pause (Settings > Company):

• Enable automatic pausing of subscriptions when customers are overdue.
• Grace Days — number of days past due before pausing (e.g., 30 days).
• Minimum Overdue Amount — only pause if the balance exceeds this threshold.
• Notify Customer — send an email when their subscription is paused.

Auto-Resume:

• Enable automatic resuming when payment catches up.
• Resume Threshold — the balance must drop below this amount to resume.
• Resume Delay — wait this many days after payment before resuming (avoids reactivating from a partial payment).
• Notify Customer — send an email when their subscription resumes.

7. Scheduling & Route Optimization

Scheduling is where you plan which technician visits which lawn on which day.

7.1 How Scheduling Works

The scheduling system is built around weekly route plans:

1. Services are generated from active subscriptions (e.g., a weekly subscription creates a service for each week).
2. Services land in the scheduling calendar as unassigned stops.
3. You (or the optimizer) assign each service to a technician and a day of the week.
4. The plan is activated, and technicians see their schedule in the mobile app.

7.2 The Weekly Calendar View

The scheduling page shows a week-at-a-glance calendar:

• Columns represent days of the week (Monday through Friday, or Monday through Sunday).
• Rows represent technicians.
• Service chips represent individual service stops — each chip shows the customer name, location, and service type.
• Color coding matches the technician's assigned color.

Use the week navigation arrows to move between weeks. You can also jump to any specific week using the date picker.

7.3 Draft vs. Active Plans

EZ Lawn Biller uses a Draft → Active workflow to prevent accidental changes from reaching technicians:

Draft Plan:

• Your "scratch pad" for making changes.
• Drag services around, reassign technicians, reorder stops — nothing is visible to technicians yet.
• You can have one Draft and one Active plan for the same week simultaneously.

Active Plan:

• The "live" plan that technicians see in their mobile app.
• Once you're satisfied with your Draft, click Activate (also called "Finalize") to make it live.
• The previous Active plan is archived for historical reference.

This two-step process ensures you can plan and adjust without disrupting technicians who are already in the field.

7.4 Assigning Services to Technicians & Days

Manual Assignment:

• Drag and drop a service chip from one day/technician to another.
• Click a service chip to open a popover where you can:
  • Change the assigned technician
  • Change the assigned day
  • Change the stop order (position in the route)
  • Lock the stop (prevent the optimizer from moving it)

Overflow Queue:

• Services that haven't been assigned to a technician appear in the Overflow area.
• Drag them from overflow into a technician's day to assign them.

7.5 Route Optimization

The route optimizer automatically arranges service stops to minimize drive time and balance workloads.

Running the Optimizer:

1. Open the scheduling page and switch to your Draft plan.
2. Click Optimize (or open the Optimizer panel).
3. Choose an optimization mode:
   • Single Split Route — optimizes stop order for each technician independently.
   • Equal Distribution — distributes stops evenly across technicians.
   • Concentrate — groups nearby stops on the same technician to minimize travel.
   • Even Out Workload — balances the number of stops per technician per day.
4. Click Run. The optimizer calculates the best arrangement and updates the Draft plan.
5. Review the results on the calendar and map.
6. If satisfied, Activate the plan.

Locked Stops: If you want to keep a specific service on a specific day/technician (e.g., a customer who only allows service on Tuesdays), lock that stop before running the optimizer. The optimizer will respect locked stops and work around them.

Optimization Respects:

• Technician work schedules (start/end times, break windows)
• Technician capacity limits (max jobs, max miles, max drive time)
• Location service windows (allowed service hours per day)
• Technician qualifications (only assigns qualified techs)
• Locked stops (doesn't move them)

7.6 The Route Map

Click the Map view to see all service stops plotted on an interactive map:

• Each stop is a colored pin matching the technician's color.
• Click a pin to see customer name, address, and service details.
• The map shows the route path connecting stops in order.
• Use this view to visually verify that routes make geographic sense and identify any outliers.

You can view the map for a specific day and technician to see their individual route.

7.7 Mid-Week Changes

Things change — a customer calls to reschedule, a technician calls in sick, or a new one-time service needs to be added.

Making mid-week changes:

1. Open the scheduling page.
2. Create a new Draft for the current week (or edit the existing Draft).
3. Make your changes (move services, reassign technicians, add/remove stops).
4. Activate the updated plan.
5. Changes are pushed to technicians' mobile apps in real time.

Technicians will see the updated schedule immediately — no need to refresh or re-login.

8. One-Off Jobs & On-Demand Customers

In one sentence: Sell and schedule a single job for someone who isn't on a regular lawn service plan.

Who needs this: Owner, Office

You may not see this if: your role doesn't include adding customers or selling services.

Where to find it: Dashboard > New On-Demand Customer, or Customers > + New Customer

Not every job is a repeating one. Someone calls, wants one lawn job done, and may never call again. An on-demand customer is built for exactly that: you take their details, sell the job, and put it on the calendar in one go — without setting up a recurring plan you'd only have to cancel later.

8.1 Creating an on-demand customer

1. On the Dashboard, click New On-Demand Customer.
2. Fill in the customer's name, address, phone, and email.
3. Pick the job from the one-time services list (see Section 5).
4. Pick the technician and the date.
5. Click Save.

The customer, the job, and the calendar stop are all created together.

Watch out: the technician field is required. The job has to belong to someone, or it won't appear on anyone's route.

8.2 If the email already exists

If you type an email that another customer already uses, the form doesn't just refuse it. It offers to use that existing customer instead, so you add the new job to the person already in your system rather than creating a duplicate.

Take that offer whenever it's really the same person. Duplicates split someone's history across two records, and the billing gets confusing fast.

8.3 How on-demand customers show up in your lists

On-demand customers appear in your customer list with the status On-demand, and that status is included in the default filter — so they're visible without you changing anything.

8.4 Marking the job done from the office

You don't have to wait for the technician to close the job on their phone. Open the service row and choose Mark completed. Useful when a job was finished but not recorded, or when you're tidying up at the end of the week.

8.5 The jobs you start with

Your account comes with a starter list of common one-off jobs, so the list isn't empty on day one:

Watch out: those prices are examples, not recommendations. Change them to your own prices before you sell anything. You can also rename or delete any of them.

If you delete one by mistake, Settings > Add starter services puts the missing ones back without touching the jobs you've already set up or renamed.

8.6 What the technician is asked on their phone

Each starter job has its own checklist, matched to that job — a drain job doesn't ask for the weekly readings:

You can edit any of these, and Restore default brings back that job's own checklist.

8.7 What this costs you

A one-off job counts the customer's location toward your plan for that month. See Section 18 for the full picture.

10. Billing & Payments

10.1 How Billing Works

The billing system operates on a ledger model. Every financial event creates an immutable financial transaction on the customer's ledger:

• Service charges (positive — customer owes more)
• Payments received (negative — customer owes less)
• Credits (negative — customer owes less)
• Late fees (positive — customer owes more)
• Refunds (negative — reduces a previous payment)
• Sales tax (positive — added to charges)

The customer's current balance is the sum of all their financial transactions. A positive balance means they owe money; a negative balance means they have a credit.

10.2 Invoices

In Per-Service Mode:

• An invoice is automatically generated when a service is completed and charged.
• Each invoice has a unique number (e.g., INV-2026-0042), line items, subtotal, tax, and total.
• Invoices can be downloaded as PDF or viewed in the customer portal.

In Monthly Statement Mode:

• Invoices are generated from closed monthly statements (see Section 8.3).

Invoice Status:

• Draft — created but not yet sent.
• Open — sent to the customer, awaiting payment.
• Paid — full payment received.
• Partial — a partial payment has been applied, but a balance remains.
• Overdue — past the due date with an outstanding balance.
• Refunded — the invoice payment has been refunded.
• Cancelled — the invoice has been voided.

10.3 Statements (Monthly Mode)

If you're using the Monthly Statement billing method:

1. Each statement covers a period (e.g., March 1–31).
2. During the period, all completed services, credits, payments, and fees are recorded as financial transactions.
3. At the end of the period, the statement is closed with:
   • Opening balance (carried from previous statement)
   • All transactions for the period
   • Closing balance
4. The statement can be:
   • Emailed to the customer automatically.
   • Downloaded as PDF.
   • Viewed in the customer portal.

Statement Day: Set the anchor day of the month for statements and due dates (1–28). Configure this in Settings > Company.

Statement Integrity: Each statement has a cryptographic signature to ensure transaction data hasn't been altered.

10.4 Autopay

Autopay automatically charges a customer's saved payment method when an invoice is due.

Enabling Autopay for a Customer:

1. The customer saves a payment method (credit card or bank account) — either through the portal or you can add it on their behalf.
2. The customer opts in to autopay.
3. Mark one payment method as the default autopay method.
4. When an invoice is due, the system automatically charges the default method.

Autopay Retry Schedule: If a payment fails (e.g., declined card), the system retries according to your configured retry schedule. For example:

• Retry 1: 3 days after failure
• Retry 2: 7 days after failure
• Retry 3: 14 days after failure

After all retries are exhausted, the system can optionally disable autopay for that customer and send a notification.

10.5 Manual Payments

You can record payments made outside the system:

1. Open the customer's billing tab.
2. Click Record Payment.
3. Enter the amount, date, and payment method:
   • Cash
   • Check (enter check number)
   • Venmo
   • Wire transfer
   • Other
4. The payment is posted to the customer's ledger and reduces their balance.

10.6 Credits & Debits

Issuing a Credit:

• Use credits for adjustments, goodwill discounts, or promotional offers.
• Open the customer's info page, go to the Billing tab, then click the Credit sub-tab.
• Enter the amount, reason, and description.
• The credit is posted as a negative transaction, reducing the customer's balance.

Issuing a Debit (Manual Charge):

• Use debits for one-time charges outside of regular services (e.g., repair charges, supply fees, service call fees).
• Open the customer's info page, go to the Billing tab, then click the Charge sub-tab.
• Enter the amount, customer, and description.
• The charge is posted as a positive transaction, increasing the customer's balance.

Confirmation Thresholds: To prevent accidental large credits or refunds, you can set a confirmation threshold (e.g., require confirmation for credits over $500) in Settings.

10.7 Refunds

To refund a payment:

1. Open the customer's billing tab and find the payment.
2. Click Refund.
3. Enter the refund amount (full or partial).
4. Select a reason: Duplicate, Service Not Rendered, Goodwill, Pricing Error, or Other.
5. Add optional notes.
6. The refund is processed through the original payment gateway and recorded on the ledger.

10.8 Late Fees

If late fees are enabled (see Section 2.6), they are automatically applied when:

1. An invoice is past its due date.
2. The grace period has elapsed (e.g., 15 days after due date).
3. The invoice still has an outstanding balance.

Late fees appear as a separate Late Fee transaction on the customer's ledger. The fee amount depends on your configuration (flat amount or percentage of balance, with an optional maximum cap).

Per-Subscription Override: You can override the late fee grace period on individual subscriptions. For example, give a long-standing customer a longer grace period without changing the company-wide default.

10.9 Failed Payments & Retry Logic

When an autopay charge fails:

1. The payment is recorded with a Failed status.
2. The customer's autopay failure count is incremented.
3. The system schedules a retry based on your retry schedule (Settings > Company, Payments section).
4. If configured, the customer receives a notification about the failed payment.
5. If all retries are exhausted:
   • Autopay can be automatically disabled for the customer.
   • An admin alert is generated so your team is aware.
   • The subscription may be auto-paused if you've enabled that feature.

11. Inventory Management

Track your supplies from the moment you buy them to the moment they're used on a lawn.

The Inventory page is organized into four tabs: Stock, Reports, Activity, and Catalog.

11.1 Setting Up Your Inventory Catalog

Navigate to Inventory > Catalog to define your inventory items.

Creating an Inventory Item:

Common units include: gallons, ounces, pounds, liters, tablets, bags, or custom units.

11.2 Inventory Locations & Truck Stock

The Stock tab shows current inventory levels tracked by location:

• Warehouse/Office — your main stock location.
• Truck Stock — each technician's truck is a separate inventory location.

This lets you see exactly what chemicals are on each truck and what's in the warehouse.

11.3 Stock Movements & Activity

Adding Stock (Receiving):

• Record purchases or deliveries by adding stock to a location.
• Enter the quantity and cost per unit.

Transferring Between Locations:

• Move inventory from warehouse to truck (or truck to truck).

Manual Adjustments:

• Use adjustments for breakage, spillage, miscounts, or returns.

All movements are recorded in the Activity tab with timestamps and user attribution.

11.4 Auto-Deduction on Service Completion

When a technician completes a service visit, inventory is automatically deducted from their truck stock based on:

• The Inventory Checklist attached to the Recurring Billing Item (default amounts).
• Any adjustment the technician makes on their phone (for example, they used more than usual).

This ensures your inventory counts stay accurate without manual entry.

11.5 Inventory Reports

The Reports tab within the Inventory page provides:

Use these reports to:

• Identify technicians using significantly more chemicals than their peers (possible waste).
• Plan purchasing based on usage trends.
• Track the cost per lawn, so you can see which work actually makes money.

12. The Mobile App (Technician Experience)

The EZ Lawn Biller app is available for iPhone and Android. It walks the technician through each stop, one step at a time.

12.1 Installing & Logging In

1. Download the EZ Lawn Biller app from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android).
2. Open the app and enter the email and password provided by your manager (sent via email invite).
3. On first login, accept the Terms of Service.
4. The app will load your schedule.

12.2 Viewing the Daily Schedule

The home screen shows your daily schedule — a list of all service stops for the day in route order:

Each stop card shows:

• Customer name
• Address
• Service type (for example, Weekly Mowing)
• Gate code / service instructions
• Phone number (tap to call)
• Distance to the stop from your current location

Use the calendar picker at the top to view past or future schedules. Changes made by the office (rescheduled stops, new assignments) appear in real time.

12.3 Starting & Completing a Service Visit

Starting a Visit:

1. Arrive at the customer's location.
2. Tap Begin Visit.
3. The app records:
   • Your GPS location (compared to the service address for verification).
   • The timestamp.
   • The technician name.

During the Visit:

• Log chemical readings (Section 10.4).
• Capture photos (Section 10.5).
• Complete the checklist (Section 10.6).
• Record any inventory usage (chemicals consumed).
• Add optional service notes (e.g., "Filter needs replacement next visit").

Completing a Visit:

1. Ensure all required checklist items are checked.
2. Ensure the minimum number of photos has been captured (if configured).
3. Tap Complete Visit.
4. The app records your GPS location and timestamp again.
5. The service is marked as complete in the system.
6. If configured, a visit report is automatically emailed to the customer.

12.4 Chemical Readings

At each stop the technician records the Service summary. This is what the standard checklist asks for:

Number entries such as mowing height have a sensible range, and the app rejects anything outside it, so a slipped decimal point gets caught at the lawn rather than in the office.

Whatever the technician enters is saved to the customer's history and appears on their lawn service report.

Watch out: these are the questions on the standard repeating service. A one-off job asks its own set — see Section 5.

12.5 Photo Capture

Photos provide proof of service and protect against disputes:

• Photos must be captured in real time using the camera — gallery uploads are not allowed.
• Each photo is automatically watermarked with:
  • Date and time
  • Technician name
  • GPS coordinates
• Photos appear in the customer's visit report and are accessible from the admin portal.
• A minimum number of photos can be required before a visit can be completed (configurable per Recurring Billing Item).

12.6 Checklists in the Field

If the Recurring Billing Item has a checklist, it appears on the visit screen:

• Required items (marked with an asterisk) must be checked before the visit can be completed.
• Optional items can be skipped.
• This ensures every technician follows the same process consistently.

12.7 Offline Mode

The mobile app works offline. If a technician loses cell signal (common in rural areas or behind thick walls):

• The schedule is still visible.
• Visits can be started and completed.
• Photos, readings, and checklists are saved locally.
• When the connection returns, everything syncs automatically.

No data is lost — technicians can work uninterrupted.

13. Customer Portal

13.1 Enabling the Portal

The Customer Portal is enabled in Settings > Company under the Portal section. Once enabled, your customers can access a self-service portal branded with your company logo and colors.

13.2 How Customers Access the Portal

Customers don't need to remember a password. Access is via Magic Login Links:

1. The customer receives an email (e.g., a statement, invoice, or visit report).
2. The email contains a secure link that logs them in automatically.
3. The link is cryptographically signed and time-limited for security.

Alternatively, customers can use the Claim flow to set up first-time access if they haven't received a magic link yet.

13.3 What Customers Can Do

The customer portal currently provides:

Customers also receive visit reports via email after each service (if enabled). These reports contain photos, chemical readings, and technician notes, and can be viewed through a secure link in the email.

The portal reduces support calls by letting customers check their balance and billing history on their own — "How much do I owe?" "When was my last payment?"

13.4 Admin Impersonation (See What They See)

From any customer's profile, click View Portal to see the portal exactly as that customer sees it. This is invaluable for:

• Answering customer questions ("I don't see my invoice" → check their portal view).
• Verifying that billing information is displaying correctly.
• Walking a customer through the portal over the phone.

14. Messaging & Notifications

14.1 Email Notifications

EZ Lawn Biller sends these emails on its own:

14.2 SMS Messaging

With Twilio configured, you can:

• Send individual texts to customers from their profile.
• Send bulk messages to groups of customers.
• Appointment reminders — automatic SMS reminders before scheduled service.
• View complete message logs showing all sent messages and delivery status.

Navigate to Messaging in the sidebar to access the messaging center.

14.3 Visit Reports

Visit reports are automated emails sent to customers after each service visit. They include:

• Date and time of service
• Technician name (optional)
• Service address (optional)
• The Service summary
• Service checklist completion
• Photos taken during the visit (optional)
• Service notes from the technician

Customers can unsubscribe from visit reports via a link in the email. You can see and manage opt-out status from the customer's profile.

14.4 Statement Emails

When using Monthly Statement billing mode, statements can be automatically emailed to customers when the period closes. Configure this toggle in Settings > Company or directly from the Statements page.

Statement emails include:

• The statement period (e.g., March 1–31, 2026)
• Opening and closing balance
• A summary of charges, payments, and credits
• A link to the customer portal to view details or make a payment
• An attached PDF statement (optional)

15. Payroll

EZ Lawn Biller includes a built-in payroll calculator. It computes technician earnings — you then use those totals to run actual payroll through your payroll provider (e.g., Gusto, ADP, QuickBooks Payroll).

15.1 Technician Pay Profiles

Each technician has a Pay Profile that defines how they're compensated:

A technician can have multiple earning types (e.g., hourly base + per-stop bonus). The system tracks rate history so past periods are calculated at the rate that was active at that time.

15.2 Running Payroll

1. Navigate to Pay Total in the sidebar.
2. Click Run Payroll.
3. Select the pay period (weekly, biweekly, or monthly).
4. The system calculates earnings for each technician based on:
   • Completed services during the period
   • Their pay profile rates
   • Hours worked (if hourly)
5. Review the calculated amounts.
6. Approve and finalize the payroll run.

15.3 Pay Statements & PDF Export

After running payroll:

• Each technician gets a Pay Statement showing:
  • Earnings breakdown by type (hourly, per-stop, per-service)
  • Services completed
  • Total earnings for the period
• Statements are available as PDF downloads.
• Technicians can view their own pay statements from the mobile app or web portal.

Use the calculated totals to process actual payroll through your external payroll provider.

16. Reports & Analytics

Navigate to Reports in the sidebar to access all available reports. Reports support date filtering and customer filtering.

The Reports page is organized into tabs. Each tab is permission-gated — you'll only see the reports your role has access to.

16.1 Financial Reports

16.2 Operational Reports

16.3 Tax Reports

The Sales Tax report shows total sales tax collected broken down by period, making it simple to remit the correct amount when filing.

17. QuickBooks Integration

Sync your EZ Lawn Biller data with QuickBooks Online to keep your accounting up to date.

17.1 Connecting Your QuickBooks Account

1. Go to Settings > Integrations > QuickBooks Connection.
2. Click Connect to QuickBooks.
3. You'll be redirected to Intuit's login page — sign in with your QuickBooks credentials.
4. Give EZ Lawn Biller permission to reach your QuickBooks data.
5. You come back to EZ Lawn Biller and see that the connection is on.

The connection uses official Intuit OAuth — your QuickBooks password is never stored in EZ Lawn Biller.

17.2 What Gets Synced

Data flows one way — from EZ Lawn Biller into QuickBooks:

Sync Options:

• Auto-sync — entities are automatically exported to QuickBooks as they are created.
• Manual export — bulk export entities from the Export Dashboard.

17.3 Export Dashboard

The QuickBooks Export Dashboard shows:

• Exported — entities successfully synced to QB.
• Pending — entities queued for export.
• Skipped — entities intentionally excluded.
• Failed — entities that failed to export (with error details).

Click on any failed entity to see the error message and retry the export.

17.4 Troubleshooting Sync Errors

18. What Counts Toward Your Plan

In one sentence: Your plan is measured in locations used per month — this explains what makes a location count.

Who needs this: Owner

You may not see this if: you're not an owner or account admin.

Where to find it: Settings > Manage EZ Lawn Biller Plan

18.1 The short version

You are billed on how many locations you actually used in a month — not how many customer records you happen to have stored. A customer sitting in your list with nothing happening does not count.

18.2 What makes a location count

A location counts for the month if any of these happen:

• A lawn service is scheduled or completed at it.
• A one-off job is booked at it (see Section 8).
• Any money moves for the customer who owns it — a charge, a payment, a credit, or a refund.

Each location counts once in a month, no matter how many times it's serviced. A weekly customer costs the same as a monthly one.

18.3 What does not count

• Customers with no activity that month.
• Canceled or paused customers, while they stay that way.
• Extra contacts, notes, or files on a customer you're already counting.

18.4 Seeing your usage

Settings > Manage EZ Lawn Biller Plan shows the current month's count and what you're on track for. Check it before adding a large batch of customers so there are no surprises.

Watch out: booking a one-off job for a brand-new customer counts that location for the month, even if the job is later canceled. Book it when you're reasonably sure it's happening.

19. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I switch between Per-Service and Monthly Statement billing? A: Yes, but this is a company-wide setting that affects all customers. We recommend choosing one method at setup and sticking with it. Contact support if you need to change.

Q: What happens to a customer's data when I cancel their subscription? A: All historical data (services, payments, invoices, readings) is preserved permanently. The subscription is marked as canceled, but nothing is deleted. You can view the full history at any time.

Q: Can a customer have multiple subscriptions? A: Yes. A customer can have separate subscriptions for different locations or different service types. Each subscription has its own billing schedule.

Q: How do technicians get their schedule updates? A: Changes to the Active plan are pushed to the mobile app in real time. Technicians see updates immediately without needing to refresh or re-login.

Q: Can I import my existing customers from another system? A: Yes. EZ Lawn Biller can bring your data across from other lawn care software. Contact support and they'll handle the import for you — typically completed within 1-2 business days at no charge.

Q: What if my technician's phone dies mid-route? A: Any data captured before the phone died is saved locally. When the phone powers back on and reconnects, it syncs automatically. No data is lost.

Q: Can customers pay with cash or check? A: Yes. You can record manual payments for cash, check, Venmo, wire transfer, or any other offline method. The payment is posted to their ledger and reduces their balance.

Q: How do I handle a customer who overpaid? A: The overpayment creates a negative balance (credit) on their account. This credit is automatically applied toward their next invoice. You can also issue a refund if the customer prefers.

Q: Can I use the system in Test Mode before going live? A: Absolutely. Keep your payment gateways in Test Mode while learning the system. Test everything — create customers, subscriptions, generate invoices, process test payments. Switch to Live Mode when you're confident.

Q: How do I handle seasonal customers who only want service part of the year? A: Use the Pause feature with a scheduled resume date. For example, pause the subscription on November 1 and set it to resume on March 1. The customer won't be charged during the paused period, and service automatically resumes in the spring.

20. Glossary

In one sentence: Plain-English meanings for every word this manual and the app use.

Who needs this: Everyone

Where to find it: Here — no screen needed.

Words are listed the way you'll see them on screen.

Autopay — EZ Lawn Biller charging a saved card automatically when a bill is due, so nobody has to remember.

Checklist — the list of steps and readings a technician fills in on their phone during a lawn service. Different jobs have different checklists.

Service summary — what the technician records after a lawn service: areas serviced, mowing height, any treatment applied. It appears on the customer's visit report.

Credit — money put onto a customer's account, reducing what they owe. The opposite of a charge.

Draft plan — a week's schedule you're still editing. Customers and technicians don't see it until you make it active.

Job — one piece of work at one place on one day. A job may be part of a repeating plan, or a one-off.

Late fee — an extra charge added automatically when a bill goes unpaid past its grace period.

Location — one address you service. A customer can own more than one. Locations are what your plan is measured in — see Section 18.

One-time service — a job you sell once, not on a repeating schedule. For example, a One-time Mow or a Spring Cleanup.

On-demand customer — someone added for a single job rather than a repeating plan. See Section 8.

Package — several services bundled and sold together as one item.

Proration — charging part of a normal price because the customer started or stopped partway through a billing period.

Route — the order a technician drives their stops in for a day.

Service template — a saved service with its price, how long it takes, and its checklist, so you don't rebuild it for every customer.

Statement — one monthly bill listing everything a customer owed, paid, and was credited during the period.

Stop — one visit on a technician's route for the day.

Subscription — a repeating service a customer is signed up for, with a price and a frequency.

Technician — the person doing the work in the field, using the EZ Lawn Biller app on their phone.

Visit report — the email a customer receives after a lawn service, showing what was done.

21. Getting Help

In one sentence: How to reach a real person when something isn't working.

Who needs this: Everyone

Where to find it: ezlawnbiller.com/contact/

21.1 Ways to reach us

Our support team includes lawn care veterans who understand your business — not generic agents reading from a script. Billing question, routing problem, help setting up your services: ask.

21.2 Moving your data from other software

Switching from another system? We move your data across for free. Send us your export files and we'll bring over your customers, their services, and their history — usually within 1–2 working days.

Start that at ezlawnbiller.com/contact/.

21.3 Help getting set up

If you'd rather not work through the setup wizard alone, we'll walk you through it on the phone. Ask when you get in touch.

EZ Lawn Biller is a product of Superior Point Inc. Built by lawn care professionals, for lawn care professionals.