How to invoice the remaining balance after a deposit

The final invoice is the one a client reads most carefully, because it is the one that closes the job. If it shows only a number, they have to dig out the quote and the deposit receipt to check it. If it shows the whole price, what has already been paid and what is left, they can check it in the time it takes to read it.

What the final invoice has to show

  • The full value of the work, line by line, as agreed in the quote or estimate
  • Every payment already received, each with its date or the number of the invoice it settled
  • The balance due, stated once and clearly, with its own due date
  • Anything that changed since the quote, as its own line, so an extra is never hidden inside the total

Show the deduction rather than doing it in your head. A final invoice for the balance alone is arithmetically right and practically unreadable: the client's accounts team cannot match it to the quote, and a figure nobody can match is a figure that waits.

Writing it, step by step

  1. Start from the agreed price

    Copy the line items from the quote or estimate the client accepted, so the two documents line up line for line.

  2. Add what changed

    Approved extras and agreed reductions go in as their own lines, never folded into an existing one.

  3. Subtract what was paid

    Show the deposit and any part payments below the total as amounts already received, so the total and the balance are both visible.

  4. Give the balance its own terms

    Payment terms on the balance run from the date of this invoice, not from the date of the deposit.

  5. Give it its own number

    The final invoice is a new document in your sequence, not an edited copy of the deposit invoice.

When the job grew or shrank

Most arguments about a final invoice are about the difference between it and the quote. Record changes as they are agreed, with a short change order, and the final invoice only has to repeat what is already in writing.

If you have not taken a deposit yet, that is where this starts: how much to ask for, and how to word it, is its own guide on asking a client for a deposit.

How BillingHub handles it

Enter what the client has already paid in the invoice's amount paid field and set its status to Deposit paid or Partial; the document then prints the total, a Paid to date line, and the amount still due in its own box, so the client sees all three without asking. Turning the accepted estimate into the invoice keeps the line items identical to what they agreed to.

Make the final invoice

Common questions

Should the final invoice show the deposit?
Yes. Show the full price, then the deposit as an amount already paid, then the balance. An invoice for the balance alone cannot be checked against the quote.
Does the final invoice need a new invoice number?
Yes. It is a separate document in your numbering sequence, issued on its own date, even though it refers to the same job as the deposit invoice.
When are payment terms counted from on a final invoice?
From the date of the final invoice. The deposit had its own terms, which ended when it was paid.

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