HOW DO DEPOSITS AND
PROGRESS PAYMENTS WORK?
Most contractors bill the same way on every job: a deposit, a few progress payments, and a final. JobTread can set that up once so you are not building invoices from scratch every time.
SET UP A PAYMENT SCHEDULE
- Open the proposal (any customer order works, including change orders and selections).
- In the document settings, click the Payment Schedule tab and click Add Scheduled Invoice for each payment. Give each one a name and an invoice template.
- Set each one as a percentage, a fixed amount, or the remaining balance.
- For the first payment, usually the deposit, turn on Send on Order Approval. Only the first payment has this option.
Save time on every job: in Settings → Document Templates, open your proposal template and add the schedule on its Payment Schedule tab. Every proposal made from that template starts with it, ready to adjust.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CUSTOMER SIGNS
If you turned on auto-send, the first invoice, usually the deposit, goes out as soon as the customer approves. Every other payment is created as a draft invoice and stays a draft until you review and send it. Nothing else goes out on its own.
TIE A PAYMENT TO THE SCHEDULE
You can link any scheduled payment to a task on the job schedule, like “Rough-in complete”. When that task is marked complete, JobTread notifies you to review and send that invoice. It is a reminder, not an automatic send.
THE CUSTOMER PAID A DIFFERENT AMOUNT
If a customer pays less than the invoice, the invoice stays open for the rest. If you take payments through Stripe and want customers to be able to pay part of an invoice online, turn on Allow Partial Payments on the invoice. To make it the default, turn it on in your invoice template under Settings → Document Templates. When it is off, customers paying online have to pay the full invoice.
The fix: for a check, cash or anything paid outside JobTread, open the invoice and click Record Payment. Enter the real amount and date. The balance updates, and the invoice switches to Paid once it is paid in full.
TAKING DEPOSITS BEFORE THE PROPOSAL
If you collect a deposit before the job is fully estimated, add a Deposit line to the budget and invoice it on its own. Leave the deposit off the proposal, so it is not charged twice. On the next invoice, include the Deposit line as a negative amount. That credits it and lowers what the customer owes, for example $30,000 minus a $10,000 deposit leaves $20,000 due.
ONLINE PAYMENTS AND FEES
With the Stripe integration, customers can pay invoices online by card, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay or Google Pay. JobTread lists Stripe’s fees as 2.95% plus 30 cents per card payment and 1% plus $1 per ACH payment, capped at $15. On a $2,000 invoice, that is $59.30 by card or $15 by ACH. Check JobTread’s Stripe page for current rates before you set prices.
You choose card, ACH or both on each invoice. If you are connected to QuickBooks Online, you can also show its Pay Now button on invoices.
QUICK CHECKLIST
| What you see | What is going on | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The deposit invoice did not go out | Auto-send was not turned on for the first payment | Turn on Send on Order Approval |
| Progress invoices are sitting in Draft | Only the first payment can send itself | Review and send each draft when the work is done |
| You forget to bill at milestones | Payments are not linked to schedule tasks | Link each payment to the task that triggers it |
| A short payment left the invoice open | The invoice still has a balance | Record what was paid; the rest stays due |
| Customers cannot pay part online | Partial payments are off on that invoice | With Stripe, turn on Allow Partial Payments |
| You set up the same schedule every job | The schedule lives on each proposal | Save it in your proposal template |
COMMON QUESTIONS
Can every progress invoice send itself?
No. Only the first payment can send automatically when the proposal is approved. The rest wait as drafts so you can check them before they go out.
Can I hide the payment table on the proposal?
Yes. The schedule shows as a table under the total, and you can turn the table off and still use the schedule to create the invoices.
Who can send a proposal with a payment schedule?
Someone whose role allows creating and sending invoices.
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