TowingBossPro Blog — Invoicing & Payments

Invoicing Police and Municipal Tows Under the Right Account

Police and municipal tows come with rules, paperwork and a payer who is often not the agency that called you. Get the organization wrong and you end up with unpaid storage, confused owners and an agency that's unhappy with your records.

Getting it right starts with knowing who you're billing for each type of call.

Know Who Pays for Each Type of Call

Like the club calls in Keeping Motor Club Calls Straight on Your Own Books, agency calls need clear records. For many police-directed tows, the vehicle owner pays at release. For municipal vehicles or certain city work, the agency itself may pay. Your agreement with each agency, and your local rules, determine which is which.

Write it down for every type of call the agency sends. The office should never have to guess whether to send an invoice to the city or wait for the owner.

TowingBossPro doesn't connect to police rotation systems, so calls are entered in your own system, the same way any other call is.

Agency relationships are often long-term and valuable, and your records reflect on your company. A tow company with clean, fast answers to agency questions tends to keep that work.

Keep Calls Under the Agency Account

Set up each police department or municipal agency as a commercial account. Every call they request is logged under that account, even when the owner will be the one paying.

That gives you a full history for each agency: how many calls, what kind, and what happened to each vehicle. When the agency asks for a report or a specific record, you can find it quickly.

It also helps when a vehicle owner asks why their car was towed. The call shows which agency requested it.

If an agency sends different types of calls, such as accident tows, impounds and abandoned vehicles, note the type in the call. Different types often have different payers and storage rules.

Document Every Call Thoroughly

Agency tows are the most likely to be reviewed later, by the agency, the owner or someone else. Capture the pickup location, drop-off, vehicle details including plate and VIN, the requesting officer or reference number in the notes, and photos of the vehicle.

Photos at pickup are especially important. They show the vehicle's condition before you touched it, which protects you from damage claims.

Notes about the scene, such as waiting time or cleanup, support any charges your local rules permit.

Train drivers to treat agency calls as the ones most likely to be read by someone else. Clear, factual notes without opinions or guesses are what you want an agency reviewer or an owner's attorney to see.

Storage on Agency Tows

Many agency tows end up in storage, sometimes on a hold. The storage start date and daily rate go on the call, and storage days are added to the invoice. When the vehicle is released, the total is ready.

Holds can last a long time. Review vehicles on hold regularly so you know what's accumulating and when the agency is likely to release them.

Storage rates and rules for agency tows are often set by local ordinance or the agency agreement. Follow those exactly.

When a hold is lifted, update the call right away and contact the owner if your rules allow. Every day between release and pickup is another storage day, and owners are more likely to pay a smaller total quickly.

Billing the Agency Directly

When the agency is the payer, invoice it promptly with all the details its accounts payable office will need: date, location, vehicle, reference number and itemized charges. Government offices often have strict processes, and missing information can delay payment for weeks.

Track those invoices under the agency account so you can see what's outstanding. Automated follow-ups can remind them, but for government payers, knowing the right contact person is often what moves payment along.

Keep copies of everything. Government payments may be audited, and a complete record makes that painless.

Find out early whether the agency needs a purchase order, a specific invoice format or a particular reference number. Government payers often reject invoices outright if anything is missing, and the delay is yours to absorb.

Reviewing Agency Work

Look at each agency's calls monthly: how many tows, how many vehicles released and paid, how many still in storage and how much the agency itself owes. That tells you whether the work is paying off.

Police and municipal tows are a big part of many tow businesses. Keeping them organized protects your relationship with the agency and your cash flow. See how accounts, storage and invoices fit together on the towing invoicing software page.