Customers · updated 2026-10-16

How to change a customer's type in Dumpster Controls

Created a customer as residential when they are really a commercial account, or a contractor that should be a broker? Change the type from the customer drawer and fill in the fields of the new profile. Past orders and invoices stay exactly as they were.

## Open "Change type"
On the Customers page, click the customer to open the drawer. In the "Overview" tab, find the "Customer type" section ("Created with the wrong type? Change it here and fill in the fields of the new profile.") and click "Change type". Only the owner, admins and supervisors see this button.
## Pick the new type
The "Change customer type" window opens with the same four cards as a new customer: "Residential", "Contractor", "Broker" and "Commercial". The customer's current type is greyed out and tagged "Current". Click the type you want.
## Read what changes before you save
A box under the cards shows "Checking what changes..." and then tells you what happens to billing: "Billing stays per order: each order is paid on its own.", "Billing stays on account.", or "This customer will be billed on account: orders go on a periodic statement instead of being charged one by one." It also warns you when something else changes: online booking on your website stops accepting the customer's email, how many orders are in progress, how many customer portal accesses will be removed, open service agreement links, and saved documents that stop showing.
## Fill in the new profile
The contact details come filled in with what the customer already has; change only what you need. Contractor, commercial and broker need a "Company Name". Under "More details (optional)" you see the fields of the new type, already filled with the values the customer had in the old profile, such as billing email, payment terms and AP contact. The street address is not required here.
## Set up the account (commercial and broker)
When the change opens an account, the "Commercial account details" section appears: "Account status", "Credit limit" and the "Billing cycle and terms" box, then "Job sites, prices and documents". It works exactly like creating a commercial customer. If the customer was billed on account before, the terms saved back then come back filled in.
## Confirm and save
When the customer is about to be billed on account, turn on "I understand this customer will stay billed on account." Then click "Change type". A message confirms "<name> is now <type>." and the drawer reopens with the new type. A customer billed on account now has the "Account" and "Statements" tabs.

What happens next

Past orders and invoices keep their amounts and how they were billed. When the change opens an account, orders already in progress keep their per order invoice, with the payment link and reminders; extras, extensions and swaps added to them afterwards go on the account statement.
Payments recorded before the account was opened never show as account credit in the "Account" tab.
The customer portal is only for commercial customers and for customers billed on account that are not brokers. When the new type has no portal, its accesses are removed; to give access again later, invite the people again from the customer portal card.
The "Revenue by customer type" chart in Finances groups past orders by the current type.

Troubleshooting

I do not see the "Change type" button.

Only the owner, admins and supervisors see it. It is also not available while you are viewing another company.

It says the customer is billed on account and cannot become residential.

In this version, a customer billed on account cannot go back to residential or to per order billing. You can still change it between "Contractor", "Commercial" and "Broker", and billing stays on account. That is why opening an account asks you to confirm first.

It says "Commercial accounts are turned off for your company."

A commercial customer is always billed on account, so the type needs commercial accounts turned on for your company. If the customer should keep paying each order on its own, pick "Contractor".

It says "This customer was changed in another window."

Someone changed the customer's type or billing while your window was open. Close the window, open the customer again and repeat the change.

The check failed with "Could not change the type. Try again."

Click "Try again" under the message. If it keeps failing, close the window and open the customer again.

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Is Dumpster Controls really free?

Yes. The entire app is free for any company at any fleet size: dispatch, online booking, the driver app, invoicing, the Tresha AI assistant and every other feature, with no monthly fee, no trial period and no credit card to sign up. The only cost on the free plan is optional card processing when a customer pays by card through the platform: 2.99% plus $3.99 per transaction on the free plan. The entire app is free; an optional $169 per month plan lowers that to 2.99% plus $0.30 and adds a Sponsored spotlight in the public company directory. Prices as published on dumpstercontrols.io/pricing on 2026-09-23.

Do you charge per driver, per truck or per order?

No. There is no per-driver, per-truck, per-user or per-order fee, and no order limit. A company with one truck and a company with twenty pay the same for the software: nothing.

Is there a contract?

No. There is no contract, no minimum term and no setup fee. You create the account yourself, and on the free plan there is nothing to cancel because nothing is billed. The optional $169 lower card rate plan is billed month to month.

Which countries and languages are supported?

Dumpster Controls serves hauling companies in the United States and Canada. The app interface and the Tresha AI assistant are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The public pages, such as the blog, the help center and the landfill finder, are in English.

How do I switch from another dumpster software?

Create a free account at dumpstercontrols.io/login, with no sales call and no credit card. Then import your customers from a CSV file using the template provided in the app; past orders can also be imported from a CSV. Container sizes and pricing are set up in Settings. The landfill database, with 1,750 active US and Canadian landfills as counted on 2026-10-01, is already loaded, so disposal sites do not need to be typed in. Step-by-step guides are at dumpstercontrols.io/help.