Nobody should front three weeks of labor and materials on a handshake. On any job big enough to hurt if the customer walks, a deposit is not optional. It filters out non-serious buyers, funds your first material order, and spreads your risk across the life of the project.
And yet most small operations still send one flat invoice at the end, because their invoicing tool only knows how to do one flat invoice. Here is how to do it properly.
Pick a deposit structure that matches the job
There is no single right number, but there are common patterns:
- Percent up front: 25 to 50 percent at booking is standard for contractors, photographers, and event work. Big enough to commit the client, small enough that nobody blinks.
- Fixed amount: a flat figure that covers your materials order, useful when the material cost is the real risk.
- Progress draws: on long projects, bill a deposit at signing and additional draws at milestones, with the balance on completion.
Put it in writing before the work starts
The deposit terms belong on the estimate the client approves: the percent or amount, when it is due, and whether it is refundable. When the client signs off on the estimate, they are signing off on the payment schedule too. Surprising a client with payment terms after the work starts is how disputes begin.
Invoice the deposit as its own document
A deposit should be a real invoice, not a text message asking for money. A proper deposit invoice references the contract total, states what percent it represents, and gives the client a normal way to pay it. That paper trail matters if things ever go sideways.
In WrkOrdr, converting an approved estimate to an invoice now asks what you want to bill: the full remaining balance, a deposit by percent, or a deposit by amount. The deposit goes out as its own invoice, and the estimate tracks how much of the contract has been billed so far.
Keep the tax math clean
Here is the part that trips people up. If you charge sales tax, the tax belongs on the work, calculated once. If you tax the deposit and then tax the full amount on the final invoice, you have double-charged tax on the deposit portion, and your quarterly filing will be wrong.
The clean pattern: the deposit invoice is a payment on account with no tax line. The final invoice shows the full job with tax on the complete subtotal, then credits the deposits already invoiced so the balance due is right. WrkOrdr does exactly this automatically when you bill the remaining balance on a contract.
Chase the deposit like it is the job
A signed estimate with no deposit paid is not a booked job. Do not order materials, do not block the calendar, until the deposit clears. Make that your rule and say it out loud to clients: the deposit is what holds the date. Serious clients respect it. The other kind were going to be a problem anyway.