FREE INVOICE GENERATOR / THE JOURNAL

How to show a deposit and remaining balance

A worked example of a project invoice with a confirmed deposit, a clear total and a remaining balance.

Start with the whole agreed project

A deposit is a payment towards a project, not automatically a discount. If your agreement is for a fixed project price, your final invoice can show the work at that price and separately account for money already received. Check the format and timing required for your own business; this example explains the tool’s arithmetic.

A simple example

Suppose the agreed project price is USD 2,000 and the customer has already paid USD 500. This example has no tax or discount. The remaining balance is USD 1,500, not another USD 2,000.

Project design and delivery      USD 2,000.00
Invoice total                    USD 2,000.00
Payment already received          USD 500.00
Amount due                       USD 1,500.00

Put the deposit in the payment field

Add the full project as your line item. Open Items and enter 500 in Payment already received. Do not also add a negative deposit line or a 500 discount: that would subtract it twice or incorrectly reduce the price of the work. Add the deposit date and reference to the notes if useful.

Keep the record connected

Include a recognizable project reference, the due date for the balance and the payment instructions. Save a version before sending. If a deposit document already exists, keep it in your own records and reference it so both documents can be reconciled.

A receipt records only money received

A full-project invoice and a deposit receipt are different records. For a USD 500 deposit receipt, show USD 500 as received and reference the project or invoice. Do not use a full-value converted receipt to acknowledge a smaller payment. This app does not verify transactions or update related documents automatically.

Ready to put it into practice?

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A LITTLE HELP WITH THE PAPERWORK

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