How to send a deposit invoice

Once your client accepts the quote, the deposit invoice can go out at once: either automatically, the moment they accept, or by you, with one button. Either way it's emailed with the PDF attached and your bank details on it.

Who can do this: a Director, a Supreme Technician or an Ops Admin. Only a Director or a Supreme Technician can switch the automatic deposit on or off.

Before you start

• Your bank details. Add the account name, sort code and account number in Settings › Company, under Payments. They print on every invoice as Payment details, with the invoice number as the reference.
• VAT. Tell ArchplanAI whether you're VAT-registered. The setup asks you this, and you must choose yes or no to carry on. To check or change it, go to Settings › Company, under Documents and tax. In VAT registration, choose VAT-registered: new documents charge the rate below (and set the rate) or Not VAT-registered: new documents charge no VAT, then press Save settings.

Send it by hand

1. When the client has accepted, the job shows Quote Accepted. Press Deposit invoice on its card, in the project list or on the project page.
2. In Generate deposit invoice, pick 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% (your firm's usual figure is marked "firm default"), or type your own percentage.
3. Check the figures: the quote, the deposit and the balance left, before VAT, and the deposit including VAT.
4. Press Generate & send 50% deposit invoice (with the percentage you picked; it reads Generate 50% deposit invoice if the client has no email address). The invoice is issued, emailed to your client with the PDF attached, and the job moves to Invoice Sent.

Or have it go automatically

1. Go to Settings › Billing, to Client invoicing.
2. Switch on Auto-raise the deposit invoice on quote acceptance.
3. Set your Default deposit, as a percentage (100 means the full amount upfront), and press Save.

From then on, the moment a client accepts (from their link, or when you accept for them), the deposit invoice is raised at that percentage and emailed to them. Firms that joined from 18 September 2026 start with this switched on at 50%.

It only goes out automatically if your sort code and account number are saved and you've answered the VAT question. If either is missing, the client's acceptance still counts, but no invoice is raised: send it by hand instead, and fill in what's missing so the next one goes on its own.

What your client gets

An email whose first line names the deposit invoice and the amount due, with the invoice attached as a PDF and a link to view it online. The email ends with the date and time it was sent. The invoice shows the deposit, the VAT if you charge it, the amount due, and your Payment details: account name, sort code, account number, and the invoice number to use as the reference.

Good to know

• No email address for the client? The invoice is still issued, and the job's row says "deposit invoice issued, not emailed (no client email)". Add their email address, then send it from the project page.
• Wrong percentage? While the invoice is unpaid, Revise deposit % changes it, keeps the same invoice number, and emails the revised invoice. (If your VAT rate has changed since the invoice was issued, issue a credit note and a new invoice instead.)
• Accepting for your client? If the automatic deposit is on, the box tells you so, and the button reads Accept and send deposit invoice.
• When the money arrives, mark it paid: see "Record a payment and send the receipt". The job then moves to Confirmed, and the survey can be booked.

Next: "Record a payment and send the receipt".