Deposits

You can ask for a deposit when you quote a job. When the customer accepts the quote and pays the deposit, it comes off the final invoice automatically.

Asking for a deposit

When you write a quote, choose the deposit: none, a percentage, or a fixed amount. A fixed deposit never goes above the price of the option the customer picks.

When the customer accepts, two things are created:

• a draft job for the work, and
• a deposit invoice for the deposit amount, including GST.

Send the deposit invoice like any other. The customer can pay it with the pay link, or you can record a payment by hand. Until it is paid, the job can still go ahead; you decide whether to wait.

The final invoice

Once the job is complete, create the invoice as normal. The deposit invoice does not block this.

For every deposit on the job that has been paid, the final invoice gets a line called Less deposit paid (INV-...). It is a negative amount, so the total on the final invoice is what the customer still owes. You can see the line on the invoice sheet under Items, on the PDF, and on the customer's pay page. The pay page's balance matches.

This also applies to an invoice you create by hand for the job, as long as it is still a draft.

GST

The deposit invoice is a tax invoice and already charged GST on the deposit. If the final invoice charged GST on the whole price as well, that GST would be counted twice.

So the credit line takes off the GST-inclusive amount, split into the part before GST and the GST part in the same proportions as the deposit invoice. The final invoice's subtotal, GST and total all show the amounts after the deposit. Between the two invoices, GST adds up to the GST on the whole job, once. The PDF explains this in a line under the totals.

Your accounting package gets the credit as a negative sales line with the deposit's tax rate. In Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB it nets off the deposit like any other line. If you map accounts by line type, deposit_credit is the type to map.

If the deposit was not paid in full

Only money that has actually been received is credited. If the deposit invoice is part paid, the final invoice credits that part, and the office is notified that the rest is still owed. Either chase the rest or void the deposit invoice so the customer is not billed for it as well.

If the deposit has not been paid at all, nothing is credited. If it is paid after the final invoice was created, and the final invoice is still a draft, void it and create it again and the credit is added. An invoice that has already been sent is not changed.

If the deposit is more than the job

The credit never takes the invoice below zero. The extra is flagged to the office, who can refund it or leave it on the customer's account.

Refunds

If you refund a deposit that has already been credited:

• on a draft final invoice, the credit is removed or reduced for you;
• on a sent final invoice, the office is notified so you can issue a credit note or adjustment.

Credited once

A deposit is only credited on one live invoice. Regenerating a draft replaces its own credit line rather than adding another. If you void a final invoice, the deposit is free to credit on its replacement.