Livery yard bills

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Greylegs

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I am now on a small private yard on an assisted DIY deal which is working out pretty well. The YO charges a monthly amount, plus a further small fee for parking the trailer, and to that we add small extra charges for additional services such as turning out, feeding, changing rugs etc on an "as and when" basis. We have a price list so we know what these extra service cost. However, at the end pf the month, the YO leaves it entirely to us to work out how much we owe her and to transfer our rent etc into her account. This means we have to keep a monthly note of "extras", add them up and pay the total every month. My old yard issued us with printed accounts worked out the last penny for livery services, bedding etc as used.

So, just a general musing on how other people pay their bills? I'm always a bit nervous in case I forget something and cause an upset ....
 
I run a very small yard and do assisted DIY or part livery and to be honest I think life is too short to be messing about with the odd £ or two for popping on a rug or giving a feed so I do a set rate and as long as no one takes the p*** it all works out well, I charge extra for clipping and exercising, the current DIY's provide their own feed, hay and bedding, part everything is included apart from supplements, so I have nothing to add on most months, they usually pay for clipping and exercising at the end of the week or when I next see them.
 
Could you not have a book where everyone writes down what they want/ have had?
Your yard owner is already very trusting, so I can't see that it would be abused.
 
It's my experience that for the vast majority of people, if you treat them like adults, they will behave as adults. This is already showing as you are far more aware of not amusing the trust placed in you then if you were being monitored. I put notes on the main calendar at home as a reminder which works for me.
 
I get an itemised bill of my YM each month for any extras I owe her based on the yard diary (where everything gets written down). With all the goodwill in the world, life gets busy & I would struggle to keep tabs on it if I had to keep the running total myself - I have a rough idea, obviously though.
 
On a friends yard they have similar set up but YO has several white/chalk boards and they are divided up into different horses, and the owners write on this board what services they need in the week,
and then YO at end of week will tot it up and write under horses name how much is due, any disputes are quickly sorted . It's worked for years with only the odd livery taking the p*** once or twice..
 
This sounds like the same set up as me, except my YO bills us - I usually have a rough idea as I do have the same extras on the server days even month. Write it in your diary.
 
Also on assisted livery with extra services. I get itemised bill but also do spreadsheet to keep track. Usually tallies & any discrepancies had been in my favour. I do tell them but normally let me off by being honest. I do it as haven't got good memory so is then easy to pay when bill comes.
 
We have a flat rate we pay a month for stable and grazing.

Hay money is given to YO and she orders it for us through her supplier to be delivered.

We also have round bales in the field, YO keeps a track of how many we have used in that months, splits it between how many horses have used it and tells us at the end of the month how much is due (only ever £5 or so).

School lights are £2 a time, this is a new charge so I am going to bring up a year planner for people to write down when they have used the lights to keep track of a bit easier. If people take the pee YO will know as she knows how much it costs to run the yard minus the lights in the school.

We are a purely DIY yard.
 
I pay my DIY monthly livery by standing order, but keep a spreadsheet of extras. Our yard often works on people helping each other out so I tend to tot up at the end of the month what genuine extras I've had and transfer the cash.
 
I get an itemised bill.
In your shoes, OP, I'd hang a calendar outside my stable and scribble down any extras as & when they are needed, then you have a record to work from.

Agree that most people will do the right thing :)
 
I have an A4 sheet with a turnout chart on it for all of the ad hoc extras per week. I tally these up at the end of the week and then do a monthly bill for customers. Lots of customers keep a record so we can cross reference if there are any discrepancies. I find it works well.
 
I keep a mental note of additional services and then at the end of the month I tot up what I owe on top of the basic livery charge and pay be cheque.
 
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