This tutorial will show you where you can change the Down Payment percentage on a Proposal and an Invoice.
Watch this video tutorial for a how-to:
How Sales Tax Works on a Down Payment
On the proposal: the proposal shows a single Estimated Tax line for the entire job. Tax is not broken down by payment or by work area on the proposal itself.
On the invoice: a down-payment invoice is a regular invoice. If the job is taxable, the down-payment invoice will include its share of sales tax when it's generated. The same is true for any progress and final invoices that follow — each one includes the tax portion tied to what it's billing.
So the down-payment percentage is applied to the pre-tax subtotal, but the invoice your customer actually pays will include tax. The percentage controls how much of the job gets billed now; tax follows along with it automatically when the invoice is created.
Reducing Customer Confusion
Because the proposal shows one estimated-tax line for the whole job rather than splitting tax per payment, some customers assume the percentage they see on the proposal is the full dollar amount they'll pay at that stage. A short note on the proposal — either in the work area Description or in a cover email — clears this up. Suggested wording:
"The proposal shows one estimated-tax line for the full job. Each invoice you receive — including the down-payment invoice — will include its share of sales tax when it's generated."
Step by Step to Create a Proposal:
Step 1:
Go to Estimates and select your Estimate.
Step 2:
Click on the printer icon button to generate the Reports popup.
Step 3:
Select Customer Proposal and hit Select.
Step 4:
Turn on the toggles for the Workareas you want to include in the Proposal. Turn on the toggle to Auto-Submit Down-Payment Invoice. Then, to adjust the down payment percentage, click on the box that has the amount. Change the percentage (not the dollar amount) to the number that you want.
Then hit Send for Review.
Step by Step to Create an Invoice:
Step 1:
If you did not automatically submit an invoice when the Customer approved the Estimate, here's how to adjust the Down Payment in an invoice.
Go to Estimates and select your Estimate.
Step 2:
Click on the Invoicing tab.
Step 3:
Click on the green Create Down-Payment Invoice button.
Step 4:
Turn on the toggles for your selected Workareas and then click on the Amount box. Enter the amount (in dollars) that you want your Customer to pay.
Then click the blue Create Invoice button.
This will generate your Down Payment Invoice for your Customer with the amount you chose.
If you have any questions, drop them in the blue chat box!