Balance due

What it means in practice

Balance due is the total of the work minus what has already been paid. It belongs near the totals on the final invoice, with the payment that reduced it named on its own line so the client can follow the arithmetic.

State it as a figure and a date, not as a phrase. A client reading "balance due on completion" has a different date in mind from the one you have.

Covered in full in the guide to deposit invoices.

Where it shows up on the paperwork

It sits at the bottom of the totals block, under the subtotal, tax and anything already paid, and it is the number the client's eye goes to first. On a receipt for a part payment it appears as the amount still owed.

What goes wrong

• Showing the balance without showing what reduced it, so the client cannot check the arithmetic.
• Writing it as a phrase such as due on completion rather than a date the client can act on.
• Leaving the deposit off the final invoice entirely and billing only the balance, which reads as a smaller job than it was.

The tools for this

Related terms

• DepositPart of the price paid before the work starts, credited against the final balance.
• SubtotalThe total of the lines before tax, discounts or payments already made.
• Final invoiceThe last invoice on a job, billing whatever is left after deposits and progress payments.
• ReceiptProof that a payment was made, issued after the money arrives.

All 57 terms