How much deposit should you ask for? (and how to make it painless)

What a deposit really does

A deposit is not distrust — it is commitment symmetry. You block dates and buy materials; the client commits cash. Clients who refuse any deposit are statistically the ones who cancel the Friday before.

The right amount by job type

• Small jobs (under ~$500): usually none — invoice on completion.
• Standard jobs: 30 % is the widely accepted norm.
• Material-heavy jobs (kitchen, heat pump, custom windows): 40–50 %, framed as "covers the equipment order".
• Long projects: 30 % + progress payments at milestones, so no single invoice is scary.

Check your local rules: some jurisdictions cap consumer deposits or regulate how they must be held.

The wording that works

Put it on the estimate, not in a conversation:

Payment terms: 30 % deposit on acceptance ($1,140), balance due on completion. Work is scheduled once the deposit is received.

That last sentence is the lever: scheduling is the thing clients want — tie it to the deposit and the deposit stops being a negotiation.

Track it like a pro

An untracked deposit becomes an accounting mess at invoice time ("did I count the $1,140?"). The invoice must show: total, deposit received with its date, balance due.

Pro Speak Artisan records deposits (default 30 %, adjustable), shows "deposit received / balance due" on the invoice, and flips it to paid automatically when the balance is settled. More cash-flow guides.