Deposit / need more money

[gnubler]

On bigger jobs I request a 50% deposit with balance due upon completion or delivery. Sometimes in the interim the customer will add on or change items that I update on the original invoice. If it's a small amount (say under $500) I don't worry about it, but there's times when enough is added on that I want more money upfront. If a customer is paying with credit card this can be resolved pretty easily. Bigger check paying/ACH customers where payments go through an accounting department gets more complicated and can screw up scheduling and workflow.

How do you handle this?

 

[Gino]

On the original quote, you line item any additional costs will be added at the end, but if it's an extreme upcharge, you will need to revise your quote and request more deposit to cover your additional costs.

 

[gnubler]

Sounds simple enough. I'm really wanting to upgrade to Quickbooks, this is one of the reasons why. I currently use Square for invoicing and it's not smart enough to update the totals when changes are made to an invoice after a deposit has been entered. I end up having to hand write the balances due on printed invoices. Tacky.

 

[JBurton]

Yeah, for us, stuff like EMC's end up exceeding the 50% deposit, so they get treated to a particular deposit amount to cover that cost as well as the installation .
If the customer is adding enough to eat away the deposit, I'd tell them they'll need to issue a new po and deposit, and we'll either invoice these things separately, or we can lump them together into one invoice.

 

[gnubler]

On the opposite end of things, I occasionally get a customer who decides to pay an invoice total upfront when I really only want a deposit. Often an installation will be shorter/longer than estimated so I adjust the final labor costs post-install. With Square, once a total is paid you can no longer edit that invoice. Turns into more work for me having to generate and send out a second invoice for the same job.

 

[White Haus]

On the opposite end of things, I occasionally get a customer who decides to pay an invoice total upfront when I really only want a deposit. Often an installation will be shorter/longer than estimated so I adjust the final labor costs post-install. With Square, once a total is paid you can no longer edit that invoice. Turns into more work for me having to generate and send out a second invoice for the same job.

Kind of a side note, but this might be the time to commit to your quoted prices. We very rarely adjust invoices after jobs are done - the quoted price is what the customer pays unless there is a major unforeseen catastrophe.

I don't like getting billed anything different than what was originally agreed upon and I know our customers don't either.

If you get it done faster, then it's a bonus for you. If you get it done slower, time to revisit how you estimate jobs or if there are ways to improve that process.

 

[Stacey K]

I have had a couple customers who demand an exact price upfront. There are a few jobs where if I'm removing vinyl or something sketchy - I don't want to commit to an exact price. Be careful that you estimate these high enough because they are often trying to lock you into a lower price.

One lady orders small stuff and she is constantly asking me for an EXACT price to the penny. It drives me insane. I always tell her, it will be $25-50 and she just won't let it go. I kinda feel like if a few bucks is going to break you then you have zero business ordering things. This last time it was for a few words of vinyl like 8"x18" - she wasn't sure on the wording yet or the type of vinyl. I said under $50. that was not good enough. I finally said, "Would it be Ok if I don't give you an exact price? It's going to take me longer to figure out the estimate than it is to do the job but I can charge you $50 if you want." It ended up being a little under $50 because it was black vinyl with literally like 8 words block type. This is the kind of job I do NOT give exact quotes for. It's small and the price is the price! I enter my time in, the materials and add my profit = price. simple. done.

 

[Gino]

That's why it

I have had a couple customers who demand an exact price upfront. There are a few jobs where if I'm removing vinyl or something sketchy - I don't want to commit to an exact price. Be careful that you estimate these high enough because they are often trying to lock you into a lower price.

One lady orders small stuff and she is constantly asking me for an EXACT price to the penny. It drives me insane. I always tell her, it will be $25-50 and she just won't let it go. I kinda feel like if a few bucks is going to break you then you have zero business ordering things. This last time it was for a few words of vinyl like 8"x18" - she wasn't sure on the wording yet or the type of vinyl. I said under $50. that was not good enough. I finally said, "Would it be Ok if I don't give you an exact price? It's going to take me longer to figure out the estimate than it is to do the job but I can charge you $50 if you want." It ended up being a little under $50 because it was black vinyl with literally like 8 words block type. This is the kind of job I do NOT give exact quotes for. It's small and the price is the price! I enter my time in, the materials and add my profit = price. simple. done.

That's why it's always good to have on your policy poster real big in your counter area............ SHOP MINIMUM.............. $125.00 + tx Now, you can either point to it and she'll go away, or you can break your policy and say I'll do it for 1/2 that price and gang it in with something else.

 

[ColorCrest]

Sometimes in the interim the customer will add on or change items that I update on the original invoice.

The business process of producing custom made products is a bit more complex and the right software can make things less so. Typically, change orders might happen to work orders but not invoices. Invoices are basically the last step in the process. Although most sign order software has a sort of proxy invoice, one typically exports billing data to a bookkeeper / accountant-preferred software such as QuickBooks, etc.

Change orders can be problematic, so much so that sometimes even Salesforce transactions are (were?) often outsourced to special third party solutions. Consider if modern and automated order / fulfillment operations are in play, change orders are mostly not possible at all. The customer is required to cancel and re-order anew. So, not entirely a surprise to customers nowadays.

Sure, small shops can easily change or update simple invoices. However, a thorough SOP has been in place for a very long time, already.



Also, really discern the differences between estimates, quotes, and invoices. In some cases of installs, maybe leave that particular order separate from the sign order.

 

[EbmerStorm]

When dealing with bigger check/ACH payments and potential disruptions to scheduling and workflow, consider offering flexible payment plans for larger projects. Breaking down payments into smaller, more manageable chunks can ease the financial burden on the client and reduce the likelihood of payment delays. Also, you should clearly outline your payment terms in the contract, specifying the initial deposit.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Quickbooks handles this just fine. I used to use Square but if I remember correctly I couldn't do deposits easily and invoice the rest. Or maybe it was a limit with bids. Wave let me do bids but I ran into a limitation with them as well. Finally moved to QB and it did everything I needed. A few of my big clients don't like changing invoices once they are in their system, so I just write new invoices for what's different.

 

[Graphic Extremes]

The business process of producing custom made products is a bit more complex and the right software can make things less so. Typically, change orders might happen to work orders but not invoices. Invoices are basically the last step in the process. Although most sign order software has a sort of proxy invoice, one typically exports billing data to a bookkeeper / accountant-preferred software such as QuickBooks, etc.

Change orders can be problematic, so much so that sometimes even Salesforce transactions are (were?) often outsourced to special third party solutions. Consider if modern and automated order / fulfillment operations are in play, change orders are mostly not possible at all. The customer is required to cancel and re-order anew. So, not entirely a surprise to customers nowadays.

Sure, small shops can easily change or update simple invoices. However, a thorough SOP has been in place for a very long time, already.

View attachment 167570

Also, really discern the differences between estimates, quotes, and invoices. In some cases of installs, maybe leave that particular order separate from the sign order.

What software is that screen shot from?

 

[hybriddesign]

We used to use Quickbooks but are slowly transitioning to Printavo as our apparel side is growing and that's what Printavo is based around. Shop organization and billing for apparel printing.

Printavo does a great job keeping track of payments and lets people put in a 50% deposit and keeps track of things like additions and changes and applies it seamlessly to their final balance payment. There are other areas where it's clunky but in all it works really well.

BUT it's $399 a month...

Tai

 

[White Haus]

When dealing with bigger check/ACH payments and potential disruptions to scheduling and workflow, consider offering flexible payment plans for larger projects. Breaking down payments into smaller, more manageable chunks can ease the financial burden on the client and reduce the likelihood of payment delays. Also, you should clearly outline your payment terms in the contract, specifying the initial deposit. On a lighter note, if you're looking for a quick and enjoyable way to earn some extra income during your downtime, you can check out some bingo apps. These apps can not only add a fun twist to your leisure moments but also offer a chance to score some extra cash while playing an exciting game.

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