ask for a deposit before starting work
How to Ask for a Material Deposit (And Protect Cash Flow)
Funding a customer's materials out of your own pocket is one of the fastest ways for a new tradie to go skint. You shell out £2,000 on a consumer unit and cable, the job slips a fortnight, and suddenly your own bills are due with nothing in the account. Asking for a deposit isn't cheeky, it's standard practice, and most reasonable customers expect it. The skill is in how you ask, not whether you should. Done right, it protects your cash flow and barely raises an eyebrow.
Here's when to ask, how much, and exactly what to say.
When a deposit is fair to take
You don't need one on a 30-quid call-out. Take a deposit when your own money is genuinely on the line.
- Jobs with significant upfront material costs (units, boilers, bathrooms)
- Special-order or bespoke items you can't return
- Larger projects that tie up your time for weeks
- New customers with no track record of paying you
How much to ask for
Match the deposit to the materials, not to the whole job. A deposit covering your material outlay (or a clean 25-50% on bigger jobs) is easy to justify because it's clearly not profit, it's the cost of the stuff going into their home. That framing is what makes it land.
Timing matters
Put the deposit terms in the quote from the start. A deposit mentioned upfront is a condition; a deposit sprung after they've said yes feels like a bait-and-switch. Get it on the quote and it's just part of the deal.
Copy-paste deposit request
Keep it warm, clear and matter-of-fact. Here's a message you can send word-for-word once they've approved the quote.
Hi [Name], Thanks for accepting the quote, glad to be doing the job for you. To get booked in, I take a deposit of [£amount] to cover the materials, which I'll order in once it's received. This goes straight towards your total, it's not an extra charge. The balance of [£amount] is due on completion. Here's the deposit invoice [link/details]. As soon as that's settled I'll lock in your date and get the materials ordered. Any questions, just shout. Cheers, [Your name]
Where new tradies get this wrong
Deposits go sideways for a handful of avoidable reasons.
- Not asking at all. Funding materials yourself feels generous until a job stalls and you're out of pocket. A deposit isn't distrust, it's basic cash-flow protection.
- Asking after the customer's committed. Drop it in the quote, not in a sheepish text a week later. Late asks read as dodgy and erode the trust you'd built.
- Taking it with no paper trail. A vague 'pop us some cash over' invites disputes. Send a proper deposit invoice so the amount, date and what it covers are all on record.
Stage your payments automatically
The cleanest way to handle this is to stop treating deposits as awkward one-offs. Quotato has integrated milestone invoicing, so you set a deposit and a balance (or stage payments on bigger jobs) right inside the quote, and the deposit invoice goes out the moment they accept.
The customer sees the structure from the start, the amounts are documented, and you're never funding someone else's materials on your own credit card. Your cash comes in when the work, and the spending, actually happens. That's how you keep the account healthy through a busy run.
Ask for the deposit. Put it in writing. Protect your cash flow like the business depends on it, because it does.
Set deposits and stage payments so your cash flow stays healthy.
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