“I've cleaned sixty houses this week and I still don't know who's paid.”
Window cleaning software that keeps the round turning. Without taking your evenings.
The round reschedules itself when it rains, customers pay after every clean without you knocking, and new houses slot in without a Sunday night rebuild.
I'm Daniel Andrews, Managing Partner of a law firm in East Sussex with two offices and around 30 people. Now I set up the admin behind window cleaning rounds, worked alone or with a mate, so the round stops eating your evenings.
A typical evening, after a day on the round
- 6pmWho's paid?Cash in the van, a few bank transfers, and three “I'll pay next time” notes
- 7pmRebuilding the weekRain lost you Tuesday afternoon, so every day after it slides along
- 8pmTexting tomorrow's customersSide gate unlocked, please, and could the car move off the drive
- 9pmFitting in the new streetFive enquiries from one road, and working out which round they join
- 10pmLights out, still owed for AugustKnocking on doors for money is Saturday's job again
The glass is the easy part
It's keeping the round in step, and getting paid for it, that eats your week.
“One wet week and my four-weekly round is out of step for a month.”
“Saturday mornings go on knocking doors for money, not on my family.”
“I'm owed small amounts by lots of people, and chasing each one feels petty.”
“I check my ladders every morning, but I've never written a single check down.”
A round you can't step away from is a job
You went self-employed to be your own boss: outdoors, your own hours, nobody checking your timesheet. But a round never lets up. Miss a week and it takes a month to catch up, and the money only arrives if you knock for it.
If the round lives in your head and a paper book, it can't run without you. However busy it is, you've built a job, not a business. My Trades page explains the same idea across other trades.
Let's build the business version instead. See where the time goes, put the repeat work on systems, and spend the hours you win back on the business. For a round, that means every customer's cycle, price, access notes and payment method in one system. Rain days follow a rule, payment arrives after each clean, and a helper could run Wednesday from a phone.
What should window cleaning software do for a one-person round?
It should run the round for you. That means each customer's cycle and price, a daily list in your running order, missed cleans that move along after rain, texts before you arrive, payment collected after each clean, a clear list of who owes what, and a simple way to slot new customers into the right round.
| Job | How it often works now | Set up properly |
|---|---|---|
| New customers | Leaflet replies and doorstep chats noted on scraps. | An online form takes the address and house type. It suggests the round that passes nearest and a first clean date. |
| Pricing | Worked out at the door, then forgotten. | Your price for each house type is saved. Extras like conservatories are added in one tap. |
| The round | A paper book, or a spreadsheet rebuilt on Sundays. | Each customer repeats on their own cycle. The day's list is in the order you drive it. |
| Rain days | Everything after the rain reshuffled in your head. | Missed cleans move to the next free slot, and each customer affected gets a text. |
| Getting paid | Cash, envelopes through the door and a list of who owes. | Payment is taken after each clean by the customer's chosen method and marked off automatically. |
| Safety records | Ladder checks done, never written down. | A short pre-use checklist on your phone each morning, saved with the date. |
What safety rules apply to window cleaners working at height?
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 set out an order to follow: avoid working at height where you reasonably can, prevent falls where you can't, and reduce the distance and consequences if a fall could still happen. HSE's own example is using extendable tools from ground level so nobody climbs a ladder.
The Regulations apply to employers and to anyone controlling work at height, so they bite the day you take someone on. For sole traders, HSE says health and safety law applies if you employ anyone, even temporarily, or if your work could put others at risk. HSE's checklist asks whether you work outside and whether your equipment could hurt someone, which is worth thinking through for a ladder on a customer's drive.
HSE's ladder guidance is practical. The person using a ladder should give it a pre-use check at the start of the working day, and again if something changes, such as the ladder being dropped. If a task would keep you on a leaning ladder for more than 30 minutes at a time, HSE recommends other equipment.
There's a money rule too. If you collect by Direct Debit, the scheme's rules say customers are told about any change to the amount, date or frequency, normally 10 working days ahead, unless you've agreed otherwise. If you keep a card on file, get the customer's clear agreement to charge it after each clean, and follow your payment provider's terms.
- A daily ladder pre-use checklist on your phone, dated and saved.
- Notes on each property that matter at height, like a sloping drive or a conservatory roof.
- Payment notices sent automatically when a price or cycle changes.
- Renewal reminders for insurance, and for employers' liability insurance once you take someone on.
Please note: this is general information from official sources, not legal or safety advice. A checklist on your phone supports safe working; it doesn't replace it. For your own situation, read HSE's guidance or speak to a qualified adviser.
Want a round that reshuffles itself and gets you paid after every clean? Let's talk it through.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat I'd set up first for a window cleaner
Money first, then the round. A busy round that doesn't get paid is hard work for nothing.
Get paid after every clean
Pick the methods you'll accept: card on file, direct debit, a payment link by text, or cash marked in the app. Mark the clean done and the payment follows.
Put the round in one place
Import your spreadsheet or book: cycle, price, access notes and payment method for each house. The day's list comes up in your running order.
Decide your rain rules once
Choose what happens on a washed-out day: push everything back, or slot missed houses into gaps. The app does the shuffling and texts customers.
Grow without the Sunday rebuild
A booking form that checks which round a street is on and offers the next date. A review request follows each new customer's first clean.
How do I choose window cleaning round software?
Pick one built around rounds rather than one-off jobs. It should handle a different cycle per house, rain-day rescheduling, route order, payment after each clean and a clear list of who owes what. Check it works one-handed on a phone at the door, connects to your accounts, and lets you export your customers.
- Cycles per customer: four-weekly, eight-weekly, monthly or one-off.
- A proper “owed” view, including part payments and money paid in advance.
- The payment options your customers already use, from direct debit to a payment link.
- Connects to your accounting software, ready for Making Tax Digital.
Examples, not recommendations: Squeegee, RoundWiz and CleanerPlanner are all built for round-based cleaning businesses and serve UK customers. I earn no commission from any of them, and I'll tell you if a simpler set-up would do.
Why a law firm Managing Partner?
Because I know what it's like when the work never lets up. For years I worked 60 to 70 hours a week, often until 2am. Putting my firm on systems changed that, and it's now four to five times the size it was when I started.
One of those systems is a live dashboard I built, fed straight from our case management system, so nobody adds figures up by hand. A round needs the same thing on a smaller scale: knowing who owes what without totting it up at night.
Twenty years in BNI, alongside local business owners, has shown me how small firms really run. Saturdays matter to me too: I'm a dad of two and a football coach. Read more about me, or my guide to chasing unpaid invoices.
Other trades I help
PlumbingPlumbers
Call-outs answered, quotes built from your price list, parts matched to jobs and notifications tracked, so the van isn't your evening office.
For plumbers
ElectricalElectricians
Certificates written up on site, EICR recalls sent to landlords, remedials quoted and invoices chased, so testing days don't become writing-up nights.
For electricians
BuildingBuilders
Quotes, variations, subbies and the monthly CIS return, set up so the office side of a building firm stops eating your evenings.
For builders
Gas and heatingGas and heating engineers
Every landlord check and boiler service on one due-date list, records sent from site, and boiler quotes followed up, so winter weekends stay yours.
For gas and heating engineers
LocksmithingLocksmiths
Lockouts caught while you're mid-job, key and job records kept straight, and the invoice sent before you've left the doorstep.
For locksmiths
GardeningLandscape gardeners
For gardeners and landscapers juggling a maintenance round, bigger landscaping quotes and green waste records through a long summer of late nights.
For landscape gardenersQuestions from window cleaners
What's the difference between window cleaning software and a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet stores the round; software runs it. It knows when each house is due, moves missed cleans after rain, texts customers, takes payment and shows who owes. If you rebuild your spreadsheet every Sunday, that's the sign to switch.
What happens to my round if it rains all week?
Set the rule once. Missed cleans can queue for the next free slot or the next dry day, with a message to each customer affected. You decide how far a clean can slip before it waits for the next cycle, so the round doesn't snowball.
Can I take on a helper without everything going wrong?
Yes, if the round is written down first: access notes, prices, cycles and how each house likes things done. Then a helper can run a day from their phone. Remember the work at height duties and insurance that come with employing someone.
Do you work with window cleaners across East Sussex?
Yes. I'm based in Eastbourne and work across East Sussex, from Bexhill, Hastings and Battle to Hailsham, Polegate and Seaford, plus Brighton and the Kent border. We can talk by video or meet in person.
Clean windows by day, clear evenings after
Book a free 30-minute call. Talk me through your round and how customers pay, and you'll get my honest view of the first thing to change. No jargon and no hard sell.