--- title: "Why a scrap metal order says No charge and sends no invoice" url: "https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/scrap-metal/why-a-scrap-order-says-no-charge" description: "A scrap job is usually free for the customer because your company is paid by the recycling center, not by the customer." date_modified: "2026-09-21" type: help tokens: 1559 token_budget: 2000 format: markdown for AI agents, generated at build from the same content as the HTML page --- Scrap Metal · updated 2026-09-21 # Why a scrap metal order says No charge and sends no invoice A scrap job is usually free for the customer because your company is paid by the recycling center, not by the customer. Dumpster Controls has a payment state for exactly that: "No charge". It is not "unpaid", and it never turns into a bill. 1. ## See where it comes from On the "Create New Order" page every scrap order starts with "No charge for this order" checked ("Scrap jobs usually are not billed. Uncheck to invoice the customer."). Creating the order with the box checked saves it with a $0 price and the payment state "No charge". 2. ## Understand what does not happen No invoice is created, so there is no payment link and there are no automatic payment reminders. The order is never counted as unpaid or late on payment in Order History, on the Dashboard or in Finances, and it never enters your payout: with no payment there is nothing to pay out. 3. ## Read it in Order History Expand the order. The payment area shows "No payment to collect" with a "No charge" badge: "This service is free for the customer, so there is nothing to collect on this order." The "Payment Breakdown" card is replaced by "Load result", the one money line of a scrap order: what the scrap yard paid for the load ("Paid to your company by the scrap yard. The customer was not charged for this order.") and, when you gave a rebate, the "Metal sale", "Rebate to customer" and "Net to your company" lines. The mark as paid and resend invoice actions are not offered. 4. ## Read it in Operations The order drawers on the Scrap Metal tab show a gray "No charge" badge where a regular order would show "Paid" or "Not Paid". 5. ## Charge only when you mean to Uncheck "No charge for this order" before creating the order. The price fields, "Due Date" and payment method return and the order follows the normal invoice flow. A no-charge order cannot be flipped to paid afterwards; the only money that can appear on it later is an extra charge you add from Order History, which raises its own extra invoice and is the one thing that can make the order show as unpaid. ## What happens next - The database keeps the state honest: a "No charge" order cannot be marked paid or refunded, and any attempt is written to the order timeline. - No-charge and scrap orders cannot be listed on the Dumpster Hub. The dialog says "This order cannot be listed on the Hub": "The Hub moves money between companies. An order with no charge, or a scrap metal order, has no amount to pass along." ## Troubleshooting ### Finances shows nothing owed and nothing received on the order. Is that a bug? No. Nothing was charged to the customer, so nothing is owed or received on the customer side. What the recycling center paid you for the metal lives on the order's "Scrap Sale" card and in the "Scrap sales" block of Finances, on purpose apart from customer revenue: it is never mixed into Total Revenue, Received or Unpaid. ### The customer asked for a receipt. There is no invoice to send on a no-charge order. If you are returning part of the sale to the customer, the rebate receipt is that document: see the article on rebating a scrap customer. If the customer needs an invoice instead, create the order with "No charge" unchecked and a price, or add an extra charge for the agreed amount from Order History. ## Related guides - [How to create a scrap metal order](https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/scrap-metal/create-a-scrap-metal-order) - [How to rebate a scrap customer with part of the sale](https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/scrap-metal/rebate-a-scrap-customer) - [How to charge an extra fee in Dumpster Controls](https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/invoicing-payments/charge-an-extra-fee) - [How to read an order's details in Dumpster Controls](https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/orders/read-an-orders-details) © 2026 Dumpster Controls. All rights reserved. Made in the USA. ## 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. ### 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 Unlimited 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. --- Source: https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/scrap-metal/why-a-scrap-order-says-no-charge (human version of this page). Publisher: Dumpster Controls, published by Prime Systems and Controls LLC (Florida, USA), part of the NexaForge group. Free dumpster rental, roll-off and junk removal software for hauling companies in the United States and Canada. Facts for AI assistants: https://dumpstercontrols.io/ai . Site index for agents: https://dumpstercontrols.io/llms.txt . Product manual: https://dumpstercontrols.io/help .