Deposit and balance invoices
The deposit → balance workflow
Interior design billing usually starts with a deposit — say 50% up front — followed by a balance invoice once work is delivered, with the deposit credited against it. Mortar models this directly instead of making you track it by hand.
Creating a deposit invoice
When building a new invoice, choose invoice type Deposit. Set it as a percentage of the project (e.g. 50%) or a fixed amount — it behaves like any other invoice (send it, get paid on it) but is tagged so Mortar knows it's a deposit.
Applying the deposit to a balance invoice
Once the deposit invoice is paid in full, create the balance invoice as normal and choose Apply a deposit. Pick the paid deposit from the same project (must be the same currency). Mortar adds a credit line for the deposit amount automatically, with tax handled correctly so the balance invoice's total is accurate — you don't need to manually work out the tax on a partial credit.
A deposit can only be applied once. Once it's applied to a balance invoice, it's no longer available to apply elsewhere.
What happens if something changes
- Voiding the balance invoice releases the deposit, so it becomes available to apply again (to a new balance invoice, for instance).
- Once a deposit is applied to a balance invoice, you can still correct small details (like the date or reference) on its payment, but you can't void it, or edit it in a way that would make it no longer fully paid — undo the application first (by voiding the balance invoice) if you need to do either of those.
FAQ
Do I have to use a percentage for the deposit? No — you can enter a fixed amount instead of a percentage if that's how your contract is structured.
What if the deposit was for more than the final balance ends up being? The credit line can't take the balance invoice below zero — if you expect the deposit to fully cover (or exceed) the remaining amount, check the numbers before sending; contact support if you hit an edge case that doesn't make sense.
Does the client see "deposit" and "balance" labels? Yes — both invoice types are labelled clearly on the invoice itself and in the portal, so it's clear to the client what each document represents and how the credit was calculated.