Quote billing modes

Every quote has a billing mode that controls what happens when the client clicks Accept. There are five to pick from. This page explains each one, when to use it, and what the client and your bank account experience.

The five modes at a glance

The default is Deposit + draft for most service businesses. Override per quote or change the default in Pricing → Rules.

Deposit only

What happens on accept:

1. Client accepts the quote.
2. Stripe invoice for the deposit fires immediately.
3. Client gets an invoice email + Pay-Now link.
4. A Project is auto-created with budget = quote total.

What happens after:

• You do the work, log time against the project (if hourly), or just deliver.
• When you're ready to bill the balance, you create a new invoice manually from the client workspace.

Use this when:

• You're collecting a setup fee or retainer with no fixed deliverable to bill against later.
• The balance might be variable (e.g., open-ended consulting).
• Your contract spells out balance billing separately from the quote.

Bill in full now

What happens on accept:

1. Client accepts.
2. Single Stripe invoice for the full quote total fires immediately.
3. Client gets the invoice email + Pay-Now link.
4. Project created with budget = quote total.

What happens after:

• Nothing automatic. The full amount is invoiced; you do the work; client pays once.

Use this when:

• Small jobs where collecting the full amount up front is normal.
• You want zero invoicing follow-up after acceptance.

Draft for completion

What happens on accept:

1. Client accepts.
2. No invoice fires yet. A draft invoice is created in Stripe in "draft" status. Your client doesn't see it.
3. Project created with budget = quote total.

What happens after:

• You do the work, track time, log expenses, etc.
• When the project's done, open the contract page and click Finalize & send. The draft becomes a live invoice and goes to the client.

Use this when:

• Time-and-materials work where the final number depends on actual hours.
• Projects with discoverable scope where the quote is a not-to-exceed budget.

Deposit + draft

What happens on accept:

1. Client accepts.
2. Deposit invoice fires immediately (deposit % of the quote total).
3. Balance invoice is created as a Stripe draft. The client doesn't see it yet.
4. Project created with budget = quote total.

What happens after:

• Client pays the deposit.
• You do the work, log time, etc.
• When done, open the contract page and click Finalize & send on the balance draft. It goes live and the client gets the email.

Use this when:

• Standard project work where you want to lock the client in with a deposit but only collect the balance after delivery.

This is the default for most service businesses.

Deposit + progress payments

What happens on accept:

1. Client accepts.
2. Deposit invoice fires immediately (deposit % of the quote total).
3. Project created with budget = quote total.

What happens after:

• Client pays the deposit.
• As stages of the work complete, open the contract page and bill any percentage of the remaining balance: 20% when framing is done, another 30% after inspection, whatever fits the job. Each progress payment fires a live Stripe invoice right away.
• The contract page always shows what's been billed and what remains.
• When the job is done, the completion invoice settles exactly the outstanding balance. Progress payments already collected are credited automatically so the client is never billed twice.

Use this when:

• Large jobs billed in stages tied to milestones or inspections.
• You want money coming in as the work progresses, not just at the start and end.

Where the deposit % comes from

For modes that include a deposit, the deposit % is taken from (in order):

1. The per-quote override you set in the composer.
2. The org default in Pricing → Rules.
3. 25% fallback.

The deposit is calculated against the required subtotal (excluding optional line items the client didn't opt into).

Recurring rows

Quote line items can be monthly or annual. They don't count toward the one-time quote total or the deposit base. They appear in their own "Ongoing services" section on the quote, and how they bill depends on who collects the money:

• Billed by you (retainers, care plans, your own monthly services): the first month (or first year, for annual rows) is collected the moment the client accepts, on the same invoice as the deposit. After that, monthly rows bill automatically every month. Annual rows renew manually, and you get a reminder about 30 days before the anniversary.
• Paid to the provider directly (hosting, domain renewals, AI usage, and other costs from outside companies): these appear on the quote as estimates under "Estimated provider costs, not part of this quote." You never bill or collect them. Once the service is set up in the client's name, the client pays that provider.

Changing the mode after sending

You can't change the billing mode on a sent quote. If you need to switch, void the quote and send a new one with the correct mode.