Sales - Issuing a Deposit Invoice After Quote Acceptance

Confirm acceptance in writing. Capture the billing contact name and email, and any customer PO number required by their accounts payable team before raising the deposit invoice.

Raise the deposit invoice referencing the accepted quote number. State the deposit as a single named line item with a clear description. Set a specific calendar due date, not a payment period.

Send the invoice directly to the billing contact - not the quote approver, who is often a different person. Confirm any cost centre reference or PO number required for the customer's accounts payable to process payment.

Log a follow-up reminder for 3 working days after the send date. If unpaid by day 3, follow up by phone or WhatsApp. Do not wait until the due date to make first contact.

Do not release the job to the operations queue or raise any supplier purchase orders until deposit payment is confirmed. Costs should not be committed before the customer has committed.

On receipt of payment, mark the deposit invoice as paid, update the job record, and formally release the job to the operations or production queue.

On the final invoice, deduct the deposit as a named credit line item referencing the original deposit invoice number and amount paid. Sync to accounting software.

Jobs are released to production before the deposit is paid, committing supplier costs before the customer has financially committed.

Deposit invoices are sent to the quote approver rather than the accounts payable contact, causing payment delays of days or weeks.

The deposit is not deducted on the final invoice, triggering an overpayment dispute after the job has already been closed.