Deposit invoices: one document, two payments
“Can you take half up front?” is the most reasonable question in business, and the one most invoicing tools answer badly.
Three weeks' work and materials you have to buy before you start. You want half up front. Most people do not ask, and the reason usually is not pride — it is that asking means raising a second invoice, explaining to the customer which one to pay, and remembering to send the other one later.
It does not have to work like that.
A deposit is one invoice, not two
The cleanest arrangement is a single invoice for the full job that asks for the deposit now and states the balance underneath. The customer sees one document, one job, two numbers, and no ambiguity about which one to pay today.
What matters is that the figure is the same everywhere: on the email, on the page they open, on the reminder, and on whatever payment is raised. A document that says €2,000 and a payment screen that says €9,550 is how a customer decides to ring you instead of paying.
Then the receipt becomes the ask
When the deposit clears, the amount owed becomes the balance. On a well-built invoice the receipt for the deposit is what asks for the rest — same document, now showing what is left, with a way to pay it. Not a second invoice sitting in your drafts folder waiting to be remembered.
What it means for your VAT
This is where the basis you file on decides the answer, and the two are genuinely different.
| Basis | When the VAT falls due |
|---|---|
| Invoice basis | On the whole invoice, when you issue it. The deposit is irrelevant to the timing — issuing a €9,550 invoice puts all of its VAT into that period even if you have collected €2,000 of it. |
| Cash receipts basis | As the money arrives. The deposit carries the VAT of the portion of the invoice it settles; the balance carries the rest, whenever it lands. |
Worked example. A €9,550 invoice carrying €1,785 of VAT at 23%, with a €2,000 deposit paid in July and the balance in September.
- Invoice basis: the full €1,785 falls into the period you issued the invoice.
- Cash receipts basis: roughly €374 in July–August and the remaining €1,411 in September–October, in proportion to what each payment settled.
Which of those is right for you is a question about your registration, not about the invoice. Ask your accountant once and it is settled for good.
Deposits and the reverse charge
If the job is a construction supply to a principal contractor, the invoice carries no VAT at all — deposit or no deposit — and the document still has to say why. That is covered in reverse charge invoices.
The practical checklist
- One invoice for the full job, not two.
- The deposit stated as what is due now, with the total and the balance beside it.
- The same figure on the email, the page and any reminder.
- A way for the customer to pay it without creating an account.
- When it clears, the balance becomes the ask automatically.
This is a plain-English summary, not tax advice. Revenue's guidance on VAT returns and on the cash receipts basis is the authority, and your accountant knows which basis you are on.
Kayment sizes the deposit everywhere from one place
The email, the page your customer opens, the reminder and the payment itself all take their figure from the same calculation, so they cannot disagree. When the deposit clears, the receipt becomes the ask for the balance with a pay button on it. The customer pays by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or straight from their bank, with no account to create.
See how it works