Skip to content
InstaQuote
← All answers

How do I take a deposit before starting a job?

The short answer

Ask for the deposit on the quote itself. State a clear percentage, commonly 20 to 50%, higher when you're buying a lot of materials up front. Then let the customer pay it by card the moment they accept. InstaQuote puts the deposit on the quote, takes it when they accept, and books the job into your calendar.

A deposit does two things. It covers your materials up front, and it shows the customer is serious before you commit your time. The easier it is to pay, the more often you'll actually get it.

Put the amount and the terms on the quote, so there's no awkward chat later. Let them pay on the spot, not by a bank transfer they'll forget. Card payment when they accept is the difference between a deposit you chase and one that just lands.

With InstaQuote, accepting the quote and paying the deposit are the same tap. Once you've connected payouts in Settings, the customer pays the deposit by card as they accept. The moment it's paid, the app books the job into your next free days (where a statutory cancellation period applies, the app accounts for it when it books) and tells you and the customer. If the date doesn't suit them, they can move it themselves.

InstaQuote does this part for you. The quote prices itself from your rates, the deposit books the job in, the invoice goes when you tap Job done, and the late payer gets chased in your name. None of the ten trade apps we checked says its deposit books the job in. 7 days free, cancel in two taps.

Price a job in your trade, free

A typical job, priced from the app's own price book. Change it to yours and send it as a real quote. No signing up to try it.

Related questions

How much deposit should a tradesperson ask for?

It varies, but 20 to 50% is common. Go toward the higher end when you're buying a lot of materials up front, and lower for jobs that are mostly labour. The key is to state it clearly on the quote.

What's the easiest way to collect a deposit?

Let the customer pay by card the moment they accept the quote. InstaQuote takes the deposit when they accept and then books the job in, so you're not chasing a bank transfer.

More answers

How do I chase late-paying customers?What should a professional quote include?Is there an app that books the job in when the deposit is paid?How do I get paid faster as a tradesperson?

Built on the tools, not in a boardroom

Tom, plaster still on his top, shaking a customer's hand in front of his van

I'm Tom. Ten years in the trade, and every quote done sat in the van on the drive. If that's you, keep reading.

Tom · Founder · InstaQuote Ltd

I started in the trade at 17. Ten years in, the work was fine. It was everything after the work.

Every night I'd pull up at home and sit in the van on the drive, because the quotes and the invoices and the chasing had to be done before I went in. Every night. And the better the quotes were, the more people rang, so it never got smaller. I was starting to hate a trade I'd loved since I was 17.

If you've ever sat outside your own house doing paperwork, you know.

I tried every system going. Every one made a quote, then left me in the van doing the rest.

So I came off the tools and spent 18 months building the thing that didn't exist. Every step I used to do on that drive, built in so it happens without you. The quote prices itself from your rates. The deposit books the job. The invoice goes when you tap Job done. The late payer gets chased. VAT and CIS worked out.

Two things we found in no other trade app we checked: the deposit on your quote books the job and the customer moves the date themselves, and your bank statement gets matched with the tax to put aside shown.

It's new. Price a real job on it, 7 days free. If it's not quicker than what you do now, bin it and tell me why.

What I want is simple: you out of the van and in the house, paid properly and on time, and back in love with the trade you picked.

Want your prices set up with you? Reply to the welcome email and I'll ring you.

  • InstaQuote Ltd
  • Co. No. 17224118
  • Registered in England & Wales
  • ICO ZC153382
  • Payments on Stripe, we never see a card number
  • Data never sold
  • VAT, CIS & reverse charge the HMRC way

The whole job

The same job, before and after.

You shouldn't have to do any of this. After you send the quote, the only thing you do is tap Job done. The deposit, the booking, the invoice and the chasing are handled.

  1. 01Quoting

    NowQuote typed up after tea. Sent as a PDF. No reply for a week.

    With InstaQuoteQuote priced from your saved rates in seconds. Sent straight away. The customer accepts on their phone.

  2. 02Customer acceptance & deposit

    NowDeposit asked for by text. Paid when they remember.

    With InstaQuoteThe quote is accepted and the deposit is paid on the same screen, by card.

  3. 03Invoices & payment chasing

    NowInvoice done on Sunday. Paid a month late after two awkward calls.

    With InstaQuoteTap Job done and the invoice goes out. Late payers get reminders in your name that stop when they pay.

  4. 04VAT, CIS & totals

    NowVAT and CIS added up at the kitchen table, twice, to be sure.

    With InstaQuoteVAT, CIS and job totals worked out on every quote and invoice, the HMRC way, with the figure shown.

Why us, not the others

Six things no other trade app we checked does.

Every app we checked does quotes, invoices, the diary, VAT and CIS. So do we. These six are on top, and none of the ten says it does them.

  1. The deposit books the job.

    No more chasing a date. They pick it, they move it, you turn up.

  2. Your bank statement, matched to your invoices.

    Upload it and every payment is matched to the invoice it paid. No surprise tax bill: what to put aside is shown as the year goes.

  3. Download everything, even after you cancel.

    Your work is yours, not ours. Five of the ten say on their own sites that they lock you out or delete it.

  4. One tap splits labour and materials.

    No more working out the itemised version at the kitchen table. Your merchant's prices, your markup.

  5. Your own certificates, with reminders.

    Gas Safe, NICEIC, CSCS, insurance, the lot on file. You're told before one runs out, never after.

  6. Ask ChatGPT or Claude what's on today.

    Make a key in Settings, paste it into ChatGPT or Claude once, and ask "who owes me?". It can read your account and never change it.

Checked on their own websites, 18 to 26 September 2026, and ServiceM8 again on 3 October, and all ten again on 12 October 2026: Tradify, Powered Now, Fergus, ServiceM8, Jobber, Commusoft, YourTradebase, QuickPrice, VoxTrade and PriceUp. Where their site says nothing, we say "not found", never "they don't". See it app by app.

Our word

No catches.

  • 7 days genuinely free.

    Your 7 free days start when you do. At the end of the free week you pick a plan, or the account pauses with nothing deleted. No InstaQuote charge during the trial.

  • No sales call to see the price.

    Every plan is published in pounds on the pricing page.

  • No minimum term. Cancel when you want.

    Cancel from Settings in a couple of taps. No notice period, no phone call, no form.

  • Take your data with you.

    Export your customers, quotes, invoices, photos and receipts in one file, on any plan, even after you've cancelled.

  • No InstaQuote fee on your card payments.

    Take a deposit or an invoice by card and InstaQuote adds nothing. Stripe's own card rate still applies, the same as anywhere.

  • Not quicker than what you do now? Cancel.

    Price a real job on it in your free week. If it isn't quicker, cancel in a couple of taps and tell us why, so we fix it.

Not ready to sign up? Take the price list instead.

Your trade's starter price list, free. No spam.

Every common job in your trade, its unit and a realistic starting price, on one page you can print or keep on your phone. They are starting points to adjust, not a rate card.

We use your address to send the list and, if you ticked the box, the odd tip. Nothing else, and we never sell it. Privacy.

Get your
Sunday nights back.

Price a real job on it. Build the quote from your rates, send it, and watch the deposit, the booking and the chaser run themselves. If it isn't quicker than what you do now, cancel in a couple of taps and tell us why.

Free with your membershipANNA

An ANNA business account

Plus MTD for Self Assessment free for a year, for sole traders

Start 7 days free

£0 to InstaQuote during the trial. Then from £47/month only if you choose to continue.