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The client paid a deposit before the shoot; how do I show it on the final invoice?

Enter the full value of the job as if no deposit existed, then type the deposit into the 'Amount paid' field. The tool prints the total, then a paid row, then 'Balance due' in bold, which is what the client actually still owes.

Published · 2 min read

Why not just lower the price by the deposit?

It is tempting to write the shoot as 2,000 instead of 3,000 because 1,000 is already in your account. But then the invoice claims the work was worth 2,000, which is not true. Any tax you add is worked out on only part of the job, and when the client or their accountant looks back, the deposit has vanished from the record.

Better to keep the real value visible and show the deposit as money received. That is exactly what the amount-paid field in the Basic invoice generator is for.

Step by step, with a photography job

A wedding photographer agreed a 3,000 SAR shoot before tax and took a 1,000 SAR deposit at booking. She typed 15 in the rate field, which is simply the rate she enters for her own situation.

  1. Add one line: 'Wedding photography, full coverage', quantity 1, price 3000.
  2. Type 15 in the tax rate field if you charge tax, or leave it empty if you do not.
  3. Type 1000 in 'Amount paid'.
  4. In the notes write: 'Deposit received 3 August, receipt R-2026-0117'.
  5. Check the on-screen summary, then create the PDF and download it.
Worked example

Subtotal: 3,000.00 SAR

Tax (15%): 450.00 SAR

Total: 3,450.00 SAR

Amount paid: -1,000.00 SAR

Balance due: 2,450.00 SAR

The tax is worked out on the full job, and the deposit comes off the total after tax. The on-screen summary and the PDF show the same figure because both come from one calculation.

Tie the invoice to the deposit receipt

When you take a deposit, it helps to hand the client a receipt from the Receipt generator. Quoting that receipt number in the invoice notes makes the two documents point at each other, so nobody later wonders whether the 1,000 was an extra payment or the deposit itself.

If the client settles on delivery day, a second receipt for the same 2,450 closes the loop.

Common slips

  • Entering the deposit as a line with a negative price: the tool does not accept negative prices, and the dedicated field is clearer anyway.
  • Forgetting the tax rate and then entering a paid amount above the total, which the tool rejects with an error.
  • Reusing an old invoice number: the tool keeps no record of your numbers, so log them yourself.