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Guide12 May 20266 min read

Take a Deposit the Moment an Estimate Is Accepted

Coming soon — the best time to collect a deposit is the second a customer says yes. Here is how taking a percentage on estimate acceptance, straight into your own Stripe, will work.

Coming soon — deposit collection is on the roadmap and not yet available. This guide describes a planned feature; automated follow-up reminders and branded online acceptance are live today.

There is a golden moment in every sale: the instant the customer decides to go ahead. Their commitment is at its peak and their wallet is closest to open. Most businesses waste that moment. Here is how, when it lands, you'll be able to capture it by taking a deposit the second an estimate is accepted.

Why the moment of acceptance matters

Commitment is perishable. When a customer accepts your estimate, they are as sure as they will ever be. Wait until you have started the work to ask for money and that certainty has already begun to fade. They have had time to notice a cheaper option, to second-guess the spend, or simply to get distracted. Asking for a deposit later means chasing a payment on top of chasing the acceptance you already earned.

Collecting the deposit at the point of acceptance folds two steps into one. The customer signs off on the estimate and pays their deposit in the same breath, on the same page. There is no awkward follow up, no separate invoice for the deposit, no gap for cold feet to creep in.

A deposit is not just cash flow. It is proof the customer is serious, taken at the exact moment they are most serious.

How it will work with Quote Nudge QB

When it ships, Quote Nudge QB will add deposit collection directly to the branded acceptance page. When a customer opens the estimate to accept it, they see your colours and logo, review the figures, and accept online. With deposits enabled, the page will then ask for the percentage you have set before the acceptance completes. Accept, pay, done.

The payment will run through Stripe Connect, which means the money goes straight into your own Stripe account, not ours. We never hold your funds. You keep the direct relationship with your payment processor, your existing Stripe payouts, and your own records. And because acceptance and payment happen together, the estimate is marked Accepted in QuickBooks automatically at the same time.

What you'll control

What taking a deposit actually does for you

It funds the work before it starts

Materials, sub-contractors, and time all cost money before the customer pays the balance. A deposit means you are not financing the job out of your own pocket while you wait for the final invoice. For trades in particular, this is the difference between a healthy cash position and constantly juggling.

It filters out the tyre-kickers

A customer willing to put money down is a customer who is genuinely going ahead. Deposits quietly separate the serious buyers from the ones who accept to keep their options open and then vanish. That protects your diary from no-shows and last-minute cancellations.

It reduces the risk of non-payment

Every pound collected up front is a pound you are not chasing later. If a customer does go quiet after the work, you are only ever exposed for the balance, not the whole job. Combined with automated follow up on the estimate itself, deposits close the loop between winning the work and getting paid for it.

Fitting deposits into your follow up

Deposits will work hand in hand with automated chasing. Your follow up sequence keeps a sent estimate alive until the customer is ready, the branded page makes accepting effortless, and — once it ships — the deposit will capture commitment at the peak. You can even reference the deposit in your later reminders, a gentle "secure your slot with a deposit today" that gives hesitant customers a concrete next step. Our email templates include a deposit reminder you can lift straight into your sequence.

Keeping it secure

Money and customer data demand real security, not a checkbox. Quote Nudge QB uses OAuth2 with PKCE for the QuickBooks connection, encrypts refresh tokens at rest, and isolates every business's data with row-level security in a multi-tenant Postgres database. Payments run through Stripe's own infrastructure, so card details never touch our systems. You get the convenience of one-tap deposits without compromising on the safety your customers expect.

The takeaway

The moment a customer accepts is the moment they are most willing to pay. Deposit collection — capturing that on a branded page, straight into your own Stripe — is coming soon, turning the best moment in the sale into cash in the bank and confirmed commitment on the diary.

Want to win more of the work you quote for today? Start a free 14-day trial of Quote Nudge QB, no card required, then £16.79 a month, cancel anytime. Automated follow-ups and branded online acceptance are live now, with deposit collection coming soon. Setup details are in the docs.

Frequently asked questions

Is deposit collection available yet?

Not yet — deposit collection is on our roadmap and coming soon. This guide explains how it will work and why it helps. Automated follow-up reminders and branded online acceptance are live today.

When will be the best time to collect a deposit?

At the exact moment the customer accepts the estimate, when their commitment is at its peak. Waiting until the work has started means chasing a separate payment after certainty has faded, and leaves a gap for second thoughts or a cheaper option to appear.

Will Quote Nudge QB hold my deposit money?

No. When deposits ship, payments will run through Stripe Connect, so the money goes straight into your own Stripe account, not ours. You keep the direct relationship with your payment processor, your existing payouts, and your own records, and card details never touch our systems.

Will I be able to choose how big the deposit is?

Yes. You'll set the deposit to whatever suits your business, from a small booking fee to a substantial share of the job. You'll also be able to turn deposits on only for the work where they matter and leave them off elsewhere.

Try Quote Nudge QB free for 14 days

Auto follow-ups and branded online acceptance on your QuickBooks estimates, with deposits coming soon. £16.79/mo after the trial — no card required.

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