Take a deposit before you start the work

A deposit pays for the materials and time you commit before the job is done, and shows the customer is serious. In easySales you invoice the deposit from the quotation, and the final invoice takes it off for you.

How to do it

1. Agree the deposit in the quotation and finalise it. Only an Open or Accepted quotation can be invoiced.
2. Select Raise invoice. Under What to invoice, choose Deposit, then Percentage or Amount (before tax), and select Create invoice.
3. Check the draft, issue it and send the PDF. Order materials or book the team once the money arrives.
4. When the customer pays, select Record payment on the deposit invoice.
5. When the work is done, select Raise invoice again and choose Remaining. The default Deposit deduction, Deduct all of it on the invoice that completes the quotation, adds a “Less: deposit” line naming the deposit invoice.

If the money arrives before you have invoiced it, record a receipt on the account with no invoices ticked and choose Prepayment. Where your tax settings make tax due on receipt, easySales issues a deposit tax invoice for it. Otherwise the money waits on the account, and you use it on the final invoice with Allocate to invoices. See Deposits and prepayments.

Why it helps

A deposit invoice has its own number, so the customer’s accounts team pays it like any other bill, and you can see at a glance whether it is paid. Because the final invoice deducts it, the invoices add up to the quotation’s total with tax, and nobody works out the balance by hand.

Example

Lim & Co quotes Harbour Café SGD 8,000.00 before tax, at GST 9%, for a counter and shelving, with a 30% deposit.

• Deposit invoice: 30% × 8,000.00 = 2,400.00, plus GST 216.00, SGD 2,616.00.
• Final invoice, Remaining: 8,000.00 less the 2,400.00 deposit = 5,600.00, plus GST 504.00, SGD 6,104.00.

The café pays 2,616.00 + 6,104.00 = SGD 8,720.00, which is 8,000.00 plus 9% GST.

Common questions

• Can I still change the quotation after issuing the deposit invoice? No. Issuing the first invoice raised from a quotation locks it for good, even if that invoice is later cancelled. Revise the quotation before you issue the deposit.
• What if the customer never pays the deposit? Do not start the work. If the job is off, cancel the deposit invoice: easySales issues a credit note for the whole amount. See Cancel an invoice.
• Can I take the deposit off a little on each invoice instead? Yes. On each progress claim, choose Deduct in proportion to this claim under Deposit deduction.

Related

• Raise an invoice
• Deposits and prepayments
• Deposits and progress claims
• Close the deal