Deposit invoice: how to bill a booking retainer

What a clear deposit invoice includes

• Label the line "Booking deposit — Autumn brand shoot" (not just "Deposit").
• Amount and % if the contract says 30% or 50%.
• What it secures: date held, kickoff, or first milestone.
• Balance due later: "Balance of US$X invoiced after delivery" in Notes.
• Refund / kill rules summarized in Notes (point at the signed contract).

Wording that AP understands

Situation	Line description	Notes blurb
Creative booking	50% booking deposit — Acme product stills 12 Oct	Deposit applies to final invoice. Balance due on delivery. Kill fee per contract §4.
Dev milestone	Kickoff deposit — Phase 1 discovery	Non-refundable after kickoff call on 5 Oct. Balance per SOW schedule.
Retainer advance	November retainer (billed in advance)	Covers Nov 1–30. Unused hours do not roll unless agreed in writing.

After the deposit is paid

1. Mark the deposit invoice Paid in the app.
2. When the job finishes, create the balance invoice: full price minus deposit (two lines: "Project total" and "Less deposit INV-00xx").
3. Keep both PDFs; AP often asks for the pair.

What Kitebill does not do

No payment links, no automatic "request deposit" buttons, no escrow. You list how to pay; the client pays outside the app. For late balances see late fee invoices and overdue tracking.

Make a deposit PDF now

Open the free generator, amount the deposit as a single line, put balance terms in Notes, Print/Save as PDF. Free plan or Pro US$29 once for unlimited clients.