Customer settlements for movers: Give money back the right way.
Sometimes nothing was damaged and you still give a customer money back: the crew was slow, the travel time ran long, or they complained. A settlement does it properly. The customer signs a Settlement and Release on their phone, you pay it and record how, and it comes off the order's total for profit and commissions as its own line.
- signature on the customer's phone, no printer
- 1signature on the customer's phone, no printer
- steps: Draft, Sent, Signed, Paid
- 4steps: Draft, Sent, Signed, Paid
- lost track of: it has its own line on the order
- 0lost track of: it has its own line on the order
Order RES-1168 · Dana Whitfield · Local Move
Settlement
Amount to give back
$150.00
Reason
Notes
The crew arrived 90 minutes into the window. Agreed on the phone with Dana to give back one hour of travel time.
The reason and the notes are for your office only; the customer's form never shows them.
Included in every plan, with no add-on fee. A settlement is separate from damage claims, and it needs the Settlements permission, which everyone who manages claims has until an administrator changes it.
What is a settlement in moving software?
A settlement is money a moving company gives a customer back when nothing was damaged, for example for travel time, slow movers or a complaint. In MoveBoard the office makes the settlement on the order, the customer signs a Settlement and Release on their phone, the office pays it and records how, and the amount comes off the order's total as its own line.
What it fixes
Settlements, from the complaint to the payout.
A refund for a long travel time is a number typed into a payment, with nothing to show why or that the customer agreed.
Every settlement has the amount, the reason, your notes and a Settlement and Release the customer signed.
Money given back vanishes into the order's total, so profit and the salesperson's commission look wrong.
A paid settlement is its own Settlements line on the Profit card and on payroll, and commissions are worked out on the total less the settlement.
A goodwill refund after a bad review is promised on the phone and forgotten.
The customer signs, you get a Pay settlement task, and the order's log records every step.
How it works
Offer, sign, pay, screen by screen.
01 / Make it, send it, sign it
An amount and a reason, signed in a minute.
Open the order and press Settlement in the window's top strip, next to Claims. Type the Amount to give back, pick the Reason (Travel time, Crew speed, Service complaint or Other) and write what happened; the reason and the notes are for your office only. Then tick Email, Text or both and press Send to sign. The customer gets your company's short link and opens the Settlement and Release with your logo and contact, filled in with their name, the order number, the move date, where they moved from and to, and the amount. They type their full name, sign in the box and press Accept & sign. The time, their device and their address on the internet are saved with the signature.
- Notes are needed when the reason is Other, and the box has the AI sparkle and the microphone
- The order needs an email address, a phone number, or both
- No printer, no scanning, no paper in a truck
- Send again sends the same link again
- The signed PDF is saved in the order's documents, and the order's log has a line
HHarbor & Pine Moving
Settlement
and Release
By signing, the customer accepts the amount as full and final settlement of any claims related to the move.
Type your full name
Dana Whitfield
Sign here
02 / Pay it, record it
You pay it, MoveBoard keeps the books.
Once it is signed you get a task, Pay settlement, with its bell. MoveBoard never pays a settlement by itself: you give the money back, then Record the payout: Refund to card, Check, Bank transfer, Zelle, Cash or Other, with the date and a reference. Paid in two ways? Press Another way. A refund you already made in Payments can be picked, so it never shows as a balance due.
- The ways have to add up to the settlement
- Cancel any time before it is paid; a canceled settlement stays on the order with its note
- A paid settlement can't be canceled: it is money already given back
Order RES-1168 · Settlement ST-0007
Record the payout
03 / Where the money shows
Its own line, not a mystery in the total.
A Paid settlement comes off the order's total exactly like claims settled. The Profit card has a Settlements step, and payroll and commissions are worked out on the total less the settlement, with Settlements as its own line beside Claims settled in a commission's What's included. The closing's Quote Details shows it beside the figures, and reports that read the closing's total, and Export data, include it.
- A draft, sent, signed-but-unpaid or canceled settlement changes nothing
- Press Update payroll from closing to pay on the new total
- Ed answers: which settlements are not signed, which wait to be paid, how much you gave back
Order RES-1168 · Settlement ST-0007
Profit
Profit
Closing total$2,640.00
Claims settled$0.00
Settlements−$150.00
Revenue$2,490.00
Your words
Your release, in your words.
Each branch writes its own form in Settings › Documents & bill of lading › Settlements. Click the words to change them and use Variable to put in the customer's name, the order number, the move date, from and to, the amount, your company's name and phone, or today's date. Preview with a sample settlement shows it the way the customer will see it.
Until you change it, the form is a general release: the customer accepts the amount as full and final settlement of any and all claims related to the move.
“Time relief, organization, all in one location of client files!”
By the numbers
1
Signature closes it
The customer signs the Settlement and Release on their phone, and the signed PDF goes into the order's documents.
What is a settlement in MoveBoard?
Money you give a customer back when nothing was damaged, for example for travel time, slow movers or a complaint. You make it on the order, the customer signs a Settlement and Release on their phone, you pay it and record how, and it comes off the order's total as its own Settlements line.
How is a settlement different from a damage claim?
A claim is about damaged or lost items, with the customer's list and your offer. A settlement has no items: it is an amount and a reason. It has its own permission and its own signed release, and it is separate from claims.
How does the customer sign?
You press Send to sign and pick email, text or both. The customer gets your company's short link, opens the Settlement and Release on their phone, types their full name, signs in the box and presses Accept & sign. No printer is needed.
Does MoveBoard pay the customer?
No. You give the money back yourself, by a refund in Payments, a check, cash or another way, and then Record the payout. That is when the settlement becomes Paid and the task is done.
What does the customer see?
The release with your logo and contact, their name, the order number, the move date, from and to, and the amount. The reason and your notes are for your office only; the customer's form never shows them.
Does a settlement change profit and commissions?
Once it is Paid, yes. It comes off the order's total as its own Settlements step on the Profit card, and payroll and commissions are worked out on the total less the settlement, with Settlements as its own line. Before that, a draft or an unpaid settlement changes nothing.
Can I cancel a settlement?
Any time before it is paid. Press Cancel, write why, and it stays on the order with its note; the customer's link then says it is no longer available. A paid settlement can't be canceled.
Who can make settlements, and does it cost extra?
Anyone with the Settlements permission in the Claims card of Users & permissions; everyone who manages claims has it until an administrator changes it. Settlements are included in every MoveBoard plan, with no add-on fee.
Works with
Settlements hand the work to the next screen.
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