Deposits and payment schedules for contractors

How do I ask for a deposit on an estimate?

Pick it once in Settings → Default deposit: None, 10%, 20%, 25%, 30% or 50%. Every new estimate starts with that deposit in its Payment plan, due when the customer accepts, and you can change it on any estimate to another percentage or a flat dollar amount.

The plan prints under the totals with each payment worked out to the cent, and the last row, On completion, is whatever is left. Your customer sees the same plan on the page where they sign.

Can I set up a payment schedule for a bigger job?

Yes, with as many payments as the job needs. Tap Add a payment, then choose When: Deposit (one per estimate), When materials are delivered, or Stage payment for a milestone you name, like “Rough-in inspection passed”. Give each one a Percent of the total or an Amount.

If the payments add up to more than the total, the plan asks you to lower one.

How much of a deposit can a contractor ask for?

It depends on the state, and Quotebird applies the limit where the job is: the job address, else the customer’s address, else yours. It lowers the deposit by itself in California and Nevada ($1,000 or 10% of the price, whichever is less), Maryland and Tennessee (a third), Maine on work over $3,000 (a third), Pennsylvania over $5,000 (a third plus special-order materials) and Massachusetts (a third, or the special-order materials if they cost more). The plan then reads Lowered from the amount you asked, and the difference moves to completion.

Some states get a note instead of a cap. In Florida, a deposit over 10% brings a reminder of the permit and start-of-work deadlines it sets off. New York jobs carry a note about keeping payments before completion in escrow, and New York roofing, gutter and siding work takes no deposit at all. In DC, home improvement of $300 or more takes no deposit through the app. Where Quotebird has no rule for the state, as in Texas, the deposit is what you set.

How do I get paid for materials when the deposit is capped?

Bill them on delivery. When a cap has lowered your deposit, a button under the plan offers to add the estimate’s materials as a payment When materials are delivered, with the amount filled in. In Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, mark an item Special order and it can count toward the deposit itself.

How does the customer pay each stage?

From a link. If you take cards with Stripe, the deposit invoice is issued the moment the customer signs the estimate, and they can pay it on the same page; without Stripe, you invoice the deposit yourself.

For the later stages, open the signed estimate: under Invoices, each payment still to bill has its own row, Materials delivered or Mark as done, with its amount. Tap it when the stage is reached and the invoice opens filled in, ready to send. At the end, Final invoice bills the whole job less the stage invoices you’ve already sent, so the customer pays only what’s left.