Before I joined Carbonset I ran billing for a roofing company in Nassau, and the deposit question came up on every job over five figures. Owners tend to pick a number once and never look at it again. It is worth looking at, because the deposit does three different jobs, and the right number depends on which one matters most for the work.
What a deposit is for
- It covers materials you have to buy before the job starts: a panel, cabinets, a special-order door.
- It holds a date on your calendar, so a customer who signs and then goes quiet doesn't cost you a crew-week.
- It turns a yes into a commitment. A signed quote with money behind it rarely gets cancelled.
The math on a $12,960 job
Take quote 001047, the Better option at $12,960.00. Here is what the customer pays up front, and what collecting it costs you, at each percentage.
| Deposit | Customer pays now | Card fee | Bank transfer fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% | $3,888.00 | $113.05 | $10.00 |
| 50% | $6,480.00 | $188.22 | $10.00 |
| Fixed | $500.00 | $14.80 | $5.00 |
Card fees are 2.9% plus 30 cents. Bank transfers are 1%, capped at $10. On a big deposit the difference is real money, which is why many shops mention bank transfer in the quote note on jobs over $5,000.
How to pick
If materials are most of the cost and you buy them before the job, a deposit that covers them is reasonable, often 50%. If the job is mostly labor, 30% holds the date without making the customer feel they are paying for work that hasn't started. For small repairs, a fixed amount is simpler to explain than a percentage.
You can set the deposit per quote, and per option. A Best option with a generator interlock may deserve a bigger deposit than Good.
Some states cap deposits on home improvement contracts as a share of the price. Check your state's rules before you raise the number.
When a deposit comes back
Jobs get cancelled: a house sale falls through, a landlord says no. Decide your refund terms before the first one happens and put them in your quote terms. Carbonset lets you refund from the quote page, in full or in part, and the refund goes to your accounting software with the rest of the job.
If you haven't looked at your deposit since you set up your price book, look at it this month. The right number is the one that covers your risk and still lets the customer say yes on the couch at 9 pm.