Who you buy from, and how it's billed
Bins are billed by the bin, tipping by the tonne and the waste type, and the excavators and trucks that fill them by the hour. A tip's rates can change partway through a job, and a load can be billed by the load when you agreed by the tonne: both are easy to pay without seeing.
- Bin and waste companies
- Skip and hook lift bins per bin, by size and waste type, usually with a set number of days on site and a weight allowance.
- Tips and resource recovery centres
- Tipping by the tonne off the weighbridge, priced by waste type: mixed waste, concrete and brick, green waste and clean fill.
- Asbestos disposal
- Asbestos waste taken to facilities licensed to accept it, usually billed by the tonne.
- Plant hire
- Excavators with hammers, shears or grabs, skid steers and water carts, wet or dry, by the hour or the day, with floats to get them to site.
- Cartage
- Tippers and truck-and-dogs by the hour or by the load.
What CostCode checks, and from when
Anything it can't check yet shows as Unverified, with the reason. It's never marked as fine. Why a line is unverified
From your first invoice
The same invoice twice, GST over ten per cent, or no ABN on a tax invoice.
One delivery docket on two invoices
Checked, for you onlyWhere the docket number is printed on the line, a docket already billed on an earlier invoice from the same supplier holds the invoice for you to look at. It's never put to the supplier: a credit and a re-issue carry the same docket too.
Once a supplier has billed you a few times
A price up on what you've paid before, once there are three earlier prices. Kept between you and CostCode.
Once your prices are in
Import each supplier's price list from a spreadsheet or a PDF, or let CostCode suggest one from invoices you've already uploaded, for you to confirm.
Tipping above the agreed rate per tonne
CheckedEach line against the price list in force on the invoice date, and held when it's at least $25 and 3% over, with the difference worked out on every tonne billed.A tip's new rates billed before they start
CheckedLoad the new price list with the date it starts. An invoice dated before then is still checked against the old rates, so the new ones can't arrive early.Tipping billed per load when you agreed per tonne
CheckedHeld as billed in a different unit, with both shown. CostCode doesn't work out what a load weighs.Bins above the agreed price, and delivery on top
CheckedA bin on your price list is checked like any line, by size and waste type. Delivery or pick-up billed apart from the bin is checked against the charge you agreed, and with nothing agreed shows as Unverified, with the reason.Excavator hours billed against a day rate
Asks you firstHours and days are both time, and CostCode won't guess how many hours your day rate covers, so the line shows as Unverified, asking what the rate is per. Billed by the hour against an hourly rate, it's checked.Fuel levies and waiting time above what you agreed
CheckedChecked against the charge you agreed: flat, per unit, or a share of the goods. With nothing agreed, the line shows as Unverified, with the reason.
A worked example, made up
Sample Resource Recovery (made up)
SAMPLE-6390
Held$540.68
| Item | Amount | Your prices |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed construction and demolition waste, tipping38.62 T × $262.00 | $10,118.44 | Above the agreed rate$540.68 over |
| Above the agreed rate. Agreed $248.00 per tonne on the price list from 1 Jul 2025 | ||
38.62 tonnes at $262.00 against an agreed $248.00 per tonne is $540.68 over (5.65%). That's at least $25 and 3%, the default floors, so the invoice is held.
The supplier's new price list, at $262.00 per tonne, starts on 1 Jul 2026. This invoice is dated 29 Jun 2026.
Without the start date, the tip's new rate on an invoice raised a few days early would look right. With it, the line is checked against the rate that applied on the invoice date, and the gap is charged on every tonne.
At the same price on 1.6 tonnes, the line would be $22.40 over (5.65%): more than 3% but under $25, so it wouldn't be held.
What CostCode doesn't check
- Tonnes or waste type billed against what was tipped. CostCode doesn't read weighbridge dockets or waste records, so the tonnes billed, and whether a load billed as mixed waste was mixed, are yours to check.
- Loads billed against your truck counts.
- How asbestos was removed and disposed of, or the paperwork that records it. CostCode checks the price billed for disposal, nothing more.
- What a scrap metal buyer pays you for steel and other salvage.
- Plant hours against your plant dockets or timesheets.
Questions
Can CostCode check tipping fees?
Yes, against the rate per tonne you agreed for each waste type, on the price list in force on the invoice date. It checks the rate, not the tonnes: those are on the weighbridge docket, which CostCode doesn't read.
What happens when the tip puts its rates up?
Load the new price list with the date it starts. Invoices dated before then are checked against the old rates, and invoices dated from then against the new ones. CostCode doesn't track tip or levy rates itself.
Does CostCode check asbestos disposal?
Only the price. A disposal line is checked against the rate you agreed, like any other line. How the asbestos was removed and disposed of, and the paperwork that records it, are outside what CostCode reads.
Read next
- Delivery docket template and register
- How to check plant and equipment hire invoices
- Dry hire vs wet hire: what's included and how each is billed
- What to do when a supplier puts its prices up
- Checking freight, delivery and other charges on supplier invoices
- Importing a price list
- Supplier invoice checking software
Other trades
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