Plan a project with phased payments

Agree on the work and payment timing#

Use Phased project when a one-time project price will be paid at approval or at agreed delivery milestones. You need quote editing access, the customer’s details, agreed prices, delivery criteria and reviewed agreement wording. Publishing and sending the quote remain separate decisions.

A payment schedule records the agreed terms. It does not track whether a phase has been completed, charge the customer or activate recurring billing. Creating an invoice requires the separate billing review and access described in the accepted-quote invoice guide.

Choose the project type and prices#

1. Open Quotes and select New quote. Choose or enter the customer, then continue to Services & pricing.
2. Under What kind of quote is this?, choose Phased project. Select Add service to open the picker, then add services from your saved library, the available QuickBooks catalog or Add custom service.
3. For each implementation service, set Price & billing to One-time price. Enter its full price and quantity, then review discounts and tax. Paying that price in installments does not make the service recurring.
4. Keep genuinely recurring work at its intended frequency. Those prices are separate from the implementation payment schedule. Continue to Delivery phases.

Describe the delivery phases#

Delivery phases describe the work. They do not add charges to the service prices. Distinguish delivering work from the customer accepting it when you write the completion criteria.

1. Select Add delivery phase. Enter Phase name, What will be delivered and How completion is confirmed.
2. Use Done editing phase after reviewing the scope and criteria. Add the remaining phases in delivery order.
3. Use Move earlier or Move later to correct the sequence. After reordering or removing a phase, review the payments and ongoing-service start conditions that refer to it.

Divide the implementation price into payments#

For example, a fictional $10,000 implementation could have a $4,000 deposit upon approval and $6,000 after all implementation is complete. Those two payments divide the $10,000 price; they do not add another $10,000 charge.

1. In Payments, choose Full payment upon approval, Deposit and remaining balance, Payments by phase or Build a custom schedule. These are starting points; review every generated payment. Replacing an existing schedule asks for confirmation.
2. Select Edit payment. Give the payment a clear name and choose Fixed amount or Percentage of implementation total. Enter the agreed amount.
3. Set Event that makes it due to quote approval, a phase beginning, phase delivery, customer acceptance of a phase or completion of all implementation. Select the phase when the event requires one.
4. Choose Work this payment funds. It can fund a different phase from the event that makes it due. For project-wide work, describe Work covered. If payment must precede a later phase, choose that phase under Must be paid before another phase starts (optional).
5. Review the generated payment sentence, add any necessary clarification and select Done editing payment. Use Add payment for additional installments.
6. Check Implementation total, Scheduled payments and Still to allocate. The payments must equal the full implementation price, including discounts and tax. Resolve any excess allocation before continuing.

Set when ongoing services begin#

If the quote includes recurring services, Ongoing services appears after Payments. Its prices and frequencies come from Services & pricing and are excluded from the implementation payment total.

The agreed billing period and commitment begin together at the selected event. This sets the contract terms; recurring billing still needs to be managed separately.

1. For each recurring service, choose When does this service begin?: after a phase is delivered, after the customer accepts a phase or after all implementation is complete.
2. Select the relevant phase where needed, then enter Commitment length (months). Review the summary for the price, frequency, start event and commitment.
3. Continue to Terms & agreements. Check renewal and cancellation terms against each service’s agreed commitment, and review the attached agreements.

Review the complete offer before sharing#

1. On Review, compare Total implementation price, Due upon approval and Remaining scheduled payments. Read each phase, payment trigger and ongoing-service commitment as the customer will see it.
2. Use the Edit links to correct earlier sections. Resolve every readiness item before saving or publishing.
3. Select Save & continue to delivery for a new quote. Reopen it and check the saved schedule. Activate & copy approval link and Email quote are separate delivery actions.
4. After acceptance, use View acceptance proof to check the saved schedule and accepted terms. For later agreed changes, use the available amendment workflow rather than trying to change the accepted offer.

Invoice an accepted payment when it is ready#

On the accepted quote, inspect After acceptance first. Any enabled automation handles only the approval payment invoice for a phased project, and leaves that invoice unsent. Later payments require a separate review; recurring services remain separate.

When Payment invoices is available, select Review / create invoice beside the intended payment. Approval payments share one initial invoice. For a later payment, confirm that its accepted trigger has actually been met before preparing the invoice. This confirmation authorizes that invoice; it does not record project completion.

Follow the accepted-quote invoice guide to check the customer, dates, Items and exact payment amount, then approve creation. Creating the invoice does not send it or charge the customer. Reuse the customer and company already confirmed for the quote.

Resolve an incomplete schedule#

• No implementation total: check that the project service uses One-time price. Recurring prices cannot fund the project payment schedule.
• Still to allocate or Excess allocation: check the selected one-time prices, discounts, tax and every payment amount. Review the whole schedule after a price change.
• Removed phase or invalid order: reassign the affected payment, event or ongoing-service start condition. Removing a phase does not remove every reference to it.
• Obsolete ongoing terms: if a service was removed or changed to one-time, use Remove obsolete start terms after reviewing them.
• Incomplete schedule: you can keep working in the draft, but publishing and customer approval require a valid schedule. Check the saved draft before retrying an uncertain save.
• Uncertain invoice result: reload the payment’s invoice receipt and follow its recovery guidance before creating another invoice. A fixed due date that is earlier than the proposed invoice date needs manual billing review; do not silently change accepted terms.