The dry cleaning billing process: rate cards, advances and balances

A rate card is a grid: garments down the side, services across the top. Each filled cell is a price your counter can quote without thinking.

• Garments: shirt, trousers, kurta, saree, blouse, suit (2 and 3 piece), sherwani, lehenga, blanket, curtain and so on.
• Services: dry clean, wash and iron, wash and fold, steam press only, starch, saree polish.
• Only sensible pairs: nobody starches a blanket. An empty cell simply means that service is not offered for that garment.
• Normal and urgent rate for each pair, so faster work is charged consistently.
• Per piece or per KG: per piece for anything cleaned or pressed individually, per KG for bulk wash-and-fold and household laundry.
• Separate rows for heavy work, such as an embellished saree, instead of negotiating at the counter.

For example, KIWIKIT's starting rate card prices a shirt dry clean at ₹60, with urgent rates set at about one and a half times normal. These are starting points to replace with your own prices, which you should review once or twice a year rather than change on the spot.

The customer should leave the counter knowing three things: what it will cost, when it will be ready and what they have paid.

• Quote line by line from the rate card and say the total.
• If something may cost more, such as stain treatment or a repair, say so and note it rather than adding it silently later.
• Take an advance on high-value orders, urgent orders and new customers. For example, some shops ask for half the estimate on bridal wear.
• Record the advance with its payment mode and give a receipt immediately.

Quote at intake, bill on completion. By the time the work is done you know whether a service was added, a garment withdrawn or something could not be cleaned, so the bill reflects what was actually done.

Part-payments are normal. A customer may pay part of the balance at pickup and the rest later, or split it between cash and UPI. Record each payment as its own receipt against the order, with its own mode. Never net payments in your head or on the back of a slip.

For regular credit customers such as salons, guest houses or families who settle monthly, set a credit limit and a number of credit days, and keep their balance in a ledger rather than in a pile of slips.

These are where money leaks quietly. Decide in advance who can do each one, and require a reason every time.

• Discounts: set a limit for counter staff; anything above it goes to the owner.
• Write-offs: a small shortfall you accept should be closed as a discount with a reason, not left as a balance nobody will collect.
• Cancellations: decide a cancellation charge for work already done and refund the rest of the advance.
• Refunds and voids: a refund returns money; a void corrects a receipt entered by mistake. Keep both with the owner or manager.

• Mention the balance when you tell the customer the order is ready, so pickup and payment happen together.
• Sort dues by age. A balance from last week needs a reminder; one from three months ago needs a call from the owner.
• Keep reminders short and factual: order number, amount and how to pay by UPI.
• Pause further credit for customers past their limit until they clear it.
• Write down your policy on releasing ready orders before full payment, so staff apply it the same way every time.

1. Pull today's collections by payment mode.
2. Count cash and subtract the opening float. It should equal cash received minus cash refunds and cash paid out.
3. Match UPI with the payment app and card with the terminal settlement.
4. Record every difference with a reason, and have the owner or manager sign off.

A receipt should show your shop name, address and phone, GSTIN if you are registered, order number, date, promise date, each garment with its rate, total, amount paid and balance, plus your terms, for example how long you hold uncollected orders.

If you note garment condition at intake, keep it on the customer's copy as well. It is part of the same record as the price, and it settles most damage disputes. See how to stop losing garments for what to check.

In KIWIKIT the order is the bill, so nothing is copied from a slip into a separate book:

• Rates fill from your rate card, with normal and urgent rates per garment and service, in pieces or KG with decimals. The express flag adds no automatic surcharge, so the urgent rate is how you charge more.
• An advance with its payment mode is taken at intake and a receipt is created automatically. Order discounts can be a percentage or a fixed amount.
• The bill is generated when the last garment is done, or manually if you prefer, and editing is locked once billed.
• Payments can be cash, UPI, card, bank transfer, cheque or other, with several receipts per order. Receipts can be voided with a reason, and refunds recorded.
• A short payment can be written off as a discount or kept outstanding with a reason. Cancellations take a cancellation charge and create a refund receipt.
• Receivables with ageing, the customer ledger and WhatsApp payment reminders help you follow up dues, and the daily receipt summary nets refunds per payment mode for the cash-up.
• Bills print on 58 mm or 80 mm thermal printers or A4 and A5, including Marathi templates. Your GSTIN prints on bills; KIWIKIT does not calculate GST.

See dry cleaner billing software and the billing features for details.