This tutorial will show you where you can change the Down Payment percentage on a Proposal, and how invoicing works once that first invoice needs to go out.
Note: SynkedUP doesn't have a separate "down-payment invoice" type — every invoice works the same way. The down payment percentage on the proposal just controls the amount of the first invoice if you have it auto-submitted on approval. Any invoice after that (progress or final) is created and billed the same way.
Note: Down payments can only be collected on quoted pricing proposals (fixed-price or unit-price). Time & Materials (T&M) jobs don't have a quoted amount at the proposal stage, so the down payment / Auto-Submit Down-Payment Invoice option isn't available on T&M jobs today. We're building support for this and will update this article when it ships.
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: every invoice — including the first one, whether or not it was auto-submitted as a down payment — is billed the same way. If the job is taxable, the invoice will include its share of sales tax when it's generated. The same is true for any invoices that follow.
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 on that first invoice; 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 first one — 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 if you want the first invoice created and sent automatically the moment the customer approves the proposal. 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:
If you didn't auto-submit the first invoice when the customer approved the proposal (or you're creating any invoice after that), here's how — every invoice, first or otherwise, is created the same way:
Step 1:
Go to Estimates and select your Job.
Step 2:
Click on the Invoicing tab.
Step 3:
Click Create Invoice.
Step 4:
Now set the amount you want to bill, one of two ways:
If the job has an approved proposal with a payment schedule, select that schedule at the top of the screen — SynkedUP fills in the amount for you.
Otherwise, turn on the toggles for the Workareas you want to bill and click the Amount box for each one to manually enter the dollar amount you want your customer to pay.
Then click the blue Create Invoice button.
This generates the invoice for your customer with the amount you chose — whether it's the first invoice on the job or a later one.
If you have any questions, drop them in the blue chat box!