Deposit, balance, delivery: what order to ask for the money in

Getting paid is not a question of firmness. It is a question of order. A freelancer who asks for the money at the right moment almost never has to chase; a freelancer who delivers first and invoices afterwards spends the end of every month writing polite messages.

The deposit: at the order, not later

A deposit asked for at the order is obvious to everybody. The same deposit asked for a week later, after you have already started, becomes a conversation.

Thirty per cent is the norm, and it defends itself. Kept as one payment line per instalment, it covers the time you commit before showing anything, and it does exactly what a deposit is for: it turns an intention into a commitment. A client who has paid thirty per cent answers your questions. A client who has paid nothing might.

For a small job, or with a new client, fifty per cent is reasonable. Beyond that you are asking the client to fund you, and they will feel it.

The balance: at delivery, never after

This is where it is won or lost, and where most freelancers make life hard for themselves.

If the balance is due after the client has collected their work, you have no leverage left. The file is on their machine, the site is live, the photos are in their gallery. All they owe you is goodwill, and goodwill runs on a forty-five-day cycle.

If the balance is due at the moment they collect their work, there is no chasing, because there is no delay. They pay and they collect, in the same movement. This is not suspicion: it is how roughly everything else they buy already works.

Showing without handing over

The objection is always the same: "my client wants to see it before paying". It is legitimate, and it commits you to nothing.

A client can see the result without having it. A low-resolution image, a watermarked mock-up, a preview gallery, a site on a staging address. They see what they are buying, they sign off, they pay, and they receive the usable files.

That is the most important point in this article: delivery is the only leverage that actually works, and it works without ever raising your voice.

Extras are billed when they are asked for

The third creative direction, the extra revision, the additional page. Bill them the moment the client asks, never in the final balance.

Two reasons. First: at that moment they want the thing, and they agree to it without discussion. Second: a balance that has grown forty per cent above the quote is an invoice that gets disputed, even when every line is justified. The client is not disputing the amount, they are disputing the surprise.

What it looks like in practice

1. At the order: a thirty per cent deposit, with the brief going out at the same time.
2. During: every extra asked for becomes a line that gets paid straight away.
3. At sign-off: the balance, with the work visible but not yet collectable.
4. On payment: the delivery opens and the client downloads.

None of these steps needs chasing, because none of them lets the client walk away with something without having paid.

What Kalepio does with it

Every job carries its own payment lines: a deposit, a balance, an extra, as many as it takes. The payment link goes out in the conversation, and the money arrives straight into your own Stripe account, because you are the merchant, not us.

And the delivery knows how to wait. You choose what opens it: your green light, or the payment. In the second case the client sees that it is ready, pays, and collects a second later, with nothing for you to do.

For the part that comes before, the one that decides whether the job starts well: what to ask, trade by trade.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage should you take as a deposit?

Thirty per cent is the norm and defends itself. Fifty is reasonable on a small job or with a new client; beyond that you are asking the client to fund you.

When should you ask a client for the balance?

At the moment they collect their work, never after. A balance due after delivery has no leverage behind it; a balance due at delivery needs no chasing, because there is no delay.

Can you show the work before being paid?

Yes, and it is what makes the rule above acceptable. A low-resolution image, a watermarked mock-up or a staging address all show what the client is buying without handing it over.

How do you bill an extra request?

At the moment it is asked for, never in the final balance. Right then the client wants the thing and agrees to it; a final invoice forty per cent above the quote gets disputed even when every line is justified.