Scrap Metal · updated 2026-09-21

How to rebate a scrap customer with part of the sale

Some scrap customers get a share of what the recycling center paid for their metal. "Rebate to customer" on the order issues a numbered receipt with a link, records the rebate as an expense of that order, and keeps the sale, the rebate and the net visible in the P&L and in Finances. One active rebate per order; void it to redo.

Before you start

Scrap Metal turned on for your company (Settings, Company, "Business lines").
A company admin, supervisor or dispatcher account. Drivers do not see the section.
The scrap yard ticket recorded on the order (by the driver at the scrap yard, or by the office on the "Scrap Sale" card). Without a sale the section says "Record the scrap sale first. The rebate is a share of that sale."
A customer on the order. The receipt is issued in the customer's name.

## Open the order in Order History
Open Order History, find the scrap order (the "Scrap Metal" filter card helps) and expand it. Below the "Scrap Sale" card sits "Rebate to customer": "Return part of what the scrap yard paid for this customer's metal. It is recorded as an expense of this order and lowers its profit."
## Choose a fixed amount or a percent of the sale
Pick "Percent of the sale" or "Fixed amount" and type the number. The preview updates as you type ("33% of $150.00 = $50.00", or "$50.00 of a $150.00 sale"). The base is the live total of the ticket lines on the order. A percent is rounded to the cent, half up. The rebate has to be above zero and can never exceed the sale: the form shows "The rebate cannot be more than the scrap sale" and will not submit.
## Decide whether the customer sees the ticket photo
"Include the scrap yard ticket photo on the receipt" starts unchecked. Tick it only if you want the customer to see the buyer, the ticket number and the ticket photo; the warning under the box says exactly that. With or without the photo, the receipt already shows the sale total and its lines (material, weight, amount), so the customer can see how the rebate was computed.
## Add a note and, if it is already paid, the payment details
"Note to the customer" is printed on the receipt. "Payment details (optional)" takes the payment method (cash, check, Zelle, wire transfer, ACH, card or other), a reference such as "Check #1042", the "Paid on" date and a photo of the proof, which stays private to your company. "Leave it empty to issue the receipt now and mark it as paid later." The receipt is a commitment, not a proof of payment, and it never tells the customer the rebate is pending.
## Issue the receipt
Click "Issue rebate receipt". The toast reads "Rebate RB-0001 recorded": numbers run in sequence per company and are never reused. In the same moment the order gets an expense line "Rebate to customer" in its Operational Costs, its timeline gets an entry, and the section flips to the receipt view: number, amount, the share of the sale ("33.33% of the $150.00 sale"), a status pill and the buttons "Copy link", "Download", "Send" and "Void".
## Hand the receipt to the customer
"Copy link" copies the public link (dumpstercontrols.io/rebate?token=...). "Download" opens the printable version in a new tab and starts the print dialog, so you can save it as a PDF; that opening is not counted as a customer view. "Send" opens "Send rebate receipt" with the customer's email and phone, the same channels as an invoice: email, text message, extra recipients and a copy to your admin. The customer opens a page titled "REBATE RECEIPT" with the amount under "Rebate to you", the sale lines, "Metal sale total", the rebate line, the payment line when you filled one in, your note, and a "Download / Print PDF" button.
## Read the status and mark it paid
The pill reads "Created" when issued, "Sent" after the first send (with a "Sent 2x" chip counting sends) and "Viewed" once the customer opens the link (with a "Viewed" chip). Under the amount you see "Paid by Check on Sep 21, 2026 (Check #1042)" or "Not paid yet" with a "Mark as paid" button that asks for the method, reference, date and proof. Payment details can be added later; the amount of the rebate cannot change.
## Void it when you need to redo it
"Void" asks "Void this rebate?": "The expense leaves this order and the receipt link shows it as voided. Number RB-0001 is not reused." Add a reason if you like and confirm. The expense line is removed from the order, the profit goes back up, the customer's link now shows a red "Voided rebate" banner, and the section returns to the form so you can issue a new receipt (the next number, RB-0002). Voided receipts stay listed under "Voided rebates" with their links.

What happens next

The rebate is an expense of the order everywhere the app counts money: the order's "Operational Costs" list it as "Rebate to customer" (with no edit or delete on that row: use Void), the "Load result" card shows "Metal sale", "Rebate to customer" and "Net to your company", the Orders P&L lowers the order's profit and its drawer shows "Rebate to customer" under both Revenue (as "Net from this load") and Costs, and Finances and the Dashboard add "Rebates to customers: $X (already counted in Expenses)" under the "Scrap sales" block, so you do not subtract it twice.
The public receipt shows only what the customer needs: your company's public contact, the customer's name, the order number and service address, the sale lines, the rebate and the payment line. The customer's email and phone, your proof of payment, the driver and any internal note never appear. The ticket buyer, ticket number and photo appear only when you included them.
QuickBooks: the scrap sale itself is not exported. The rebate is, as a Purchase with the customer as the vendor, like any other order cost, and voiding it after export raises the usual sync log alert instead of silently touching your books.

Troubleshooting

I do not see "Rebate to customer" on the order.

Three things have to be true: the Scrap Metal line is on in Settings, the order is a scrap metal order, and you are signed in as an admin, supervisor or dispatcher. If the section shows but only says "Record the scrap sale first", add the scrap yard ticket on the "Scrap Sale" card above it.

The form says "This order already has an active rebate".

There is one active rebate per order. Void the current one (its number is kept in the history) and issue a new receipt with the right amount.

I sent the receipt and then the ticket changed.

The receipt keeps the sale as it was when you issued it, and the amount cannot be edited. Void the rebate, and issue a new one from the corrected sale; the new link shows the new numbers and the old link shows a voided banner.

"Send" says sending is not available.

The sending service was not reachable. "Copy link" and "Download" still work, so you can paste the link into your own email or text, and try "Send" again later. Sends are limited to 50 per hour per company.

Can the customer see my margin?

The receipt shows the sale total and the rebate, so yes, the customer can work out the difference. A share of the sale only makes sense when the sale is visible, which is why the receipt prints it. What the customer never sees unless you tick the box is the buyer, the ticket number and the ticket photo; your proof of payment and internal data never appear at all.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Dumpster Controls really free?

Yes. The software is free: 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. An optional Unlimited plan at $169 per month lowers that to 2.99% plus $0.30. 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.

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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 Unlimited plan is billed month to month.

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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.