Balance 
Deposits for kitchens and joinery
A fitted kitchen is weeks of manufacture and a fitting date the customer has been waiting on. Staged payments keep the job funded and the final balance in before the van leaves.
At a glance
How a kitchen or joinery business usually sets this up.
- Typical deposit
- 30% at order
- Balance charged
- 7 to 14 days before fitting
- Balance rule
- Exact date, or ready if dates move
- Third payment
- Sell manufacture and fitting as two products
- Per-order fee
- None, at any order value
- Shopify plan
- Any Shopify plan
One plan on your kitchen and joinery products. The deposit covers the sheet material and the hardware; the balance is cleared before the fitting date, so the van never leaves on an unpaid job.
Where the money lands
A £9,000 kitchen at 30%, balance 60 days after the order and a fortnight before fitting.
Balance Due charges a flat monthly plan, not a percentage of the order.
The usual balance point. Room to sort a failed card before the fitters are booked.
The charge, then retries after 1, 3 and 7 days with a payment link each time.
At this value, check your payment provider's limits before the first order. A £6,300 card payment is unremarkable for Shopify Payments, but some providers and some customers' own card limits will baulk, and a bank transfer recorded against the order works just as well.
From survey to snagging
The longest flow on this site, because this is the trade with the most stages.
- 1
Survey and design sign-off
Nothing yet
You measure, you design, they sign the drawings. Create the product for the job with the price set per order through a variant, and send them the link.
- 2
Customer checks out
£2,700 taken
They pay the deposit through your normal Shopify checkout. The order lands with the balance and its date recorded against it, and the material goes on order.
- 3
Manufacture
Nothing charged
Weeks in the workshop. If the customer adds units or changes the worktop, edit the Shopify order and the balance follows.
- 4
Three days before the balance
Reminder sent
An email, or a text if you use them, with the amount and the date. No phone call about money from the office.
- 5
Balance day, a fortnight before fitting
£6,300 charged
The balance is charged to the saved card. The customer gets a receipt and the job shows paid in full in your morning digest, which is your fitting-schedule list.
- 6
Card declines or limit hit
Payment link sent
The customer gets a Shopify payment link that accepts any card, or pays by transfer and you record it. The charge retries after 1, 3 and 7 days, with time still in hand.
- 7
Delivery, fitting, snagging
Paid in full
The hold releases itself once the job is paid, so the order can be closed off when the fitters sign it off. Snagging is goodwill or a small separate order, not a reason to reopen the balance.
Selling high-ticket jobs through Shopify
Many joinery businesses quote by hand and then want the customer to pay through the site. Create a product for the job, or a generic 'kitchen project' product with the price set per order through a variant, attach the plan and send the customer the link. They check out normally, the deposit is taken and the schedule is set.
Balance Due does not take deposits on draft orders, so the order has to come through checkout. That is also what saves the card for the balance.
Fitting is booked when the order shows paid in full in the morning digest. Not before, and never on a promise.
Setting it up
About fifteen minutes, plus a call to your payment provider about limits.
- In Shopify, check Settings, Payments: capture must be automatic at checkout or manual, not per fulfilment. Then check the per-transaction limit on your provider.
- Create a plan in Balance Due: 30% percentage deposit, balance rule exact date if you book fitting firmly, or when the order is ready if manufacture dates move.
- Attach the plan to your kitchen and joinery products, one product per job type with the price set per order through a variant.
- When each order lands, move the balance date on the order to a fortnight before its fitting date, if you are using exact dates.
- Add the Deposit option block to your product template once, under the buy buttons. It only appears on products that carry a plan.
- Place a test order with Shopify's Bogus Gateway on a development store and watch the schedule email, the hold and the balance charge.
Keep the fulfilment hold on. It is what stops a fitting being booked on an unpaid job when somebody else is doing the scheduling.
Staging the payments
Two payments cover most jobs. For three, split the job rather than the plan.
| How you want to be paid | How to sell it | What the customer sees |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit, then balance before fitting | One product, one plan | One checkout, one deposit, one balance on a date they know in advance. The usual choice. |
| Deposit, manufacture payment, then fitting balance | Two products: manufacture and fitting, each with its own plan | Two orders, each with its own deposit and balance. Each stage is funded before it starts. |
| Deposit, then balance on completion | One product, ready rule | The balance is charged the day you mark the job complete, not before. |
| Worktops or appliances supplied separately | Separate products, no plan | Paid in full as normal orders, so the kitchen plan only carries the joinery. |
A product carries one plan at a time. With the two-product approach the customer checks out twice, once at each stage, which most are happy with on a job this size.
Changes during the build
Extra units, a different worktop, a survey that finds more work.
Price goes up
Edit the Shopify order and the difference is added to the balance, due with the payment that is already scheduled. The customer's payment page shows the new figure.
Price goes down
A cheaper worktop or a dropped unit reduces the balance. If the deposit now covers the whole order, nothing is left to charge and the plan closes.
Work after the balance is taken
An extra run of shelving agreed on fitting day is a separate order with no plan. Do not reopen the original.
Job is cancelled
Cancel the plan from the order and nothing further is collected. What happens to the deposit is your policy and is handled in Shopify.
Because the balance is always read from the order rather than fixed at the time of sale, the conversation on fitting day is about the kitchen rather than about the invoice.
Policy wording that works
Say in the product description and on your policy page: what the deposit is, that it is non-refundable once material is ordered, that the balance is taken from the same card on the date before fitting, and what happens if it cannot be taken. Balance Due shows your policy text under every payment email and on the customer's payment page.
A kitchen made to the customer's measurements is usually outside the 14-day cancellation right in the UK, but only if you have said so before they buy. Write it on the product rather than relying on the policy page alone.
Put the fitting date on the order notes and in your confirmation email, and set the balance date from it. The customer should be able to see both on the same page.
What it costs
Nothing per order and nothing per transaction, which is the point on a £9,000 job. The Free plan covers three jobs with an open balance at any one time, and Starter covers thirty. The limit counts open balances rather than orders a year, so a kitchen paid for before fitting stops counting the moment it clears.
Deposits taken through Balance Due are ordinary Shopify payments, so your normal gateway rates apply and nothing is deducted by us. See pricing for the plan limits.
Related
Deposits for furniture makers
Smaller pieces, same pattern.
Deposits for garden rooms and outbuildings
The same five-figure, survey-first job.
Fulfilment hold
Nothing leaves before it is paid.
Upholsterers
Fabric is cut to order and cannot go back: the deposit covers it before you order a metre.
Jewellers
Bespoke and engagement pieces: the deposit covers the stone, the balance lands on completion.
Bridal shops
Dresses ordered months ahead: deposit at order, balance before the fitting.
Questions
Can payments be tied to milestones rather than dates?
Set the balance to 'when ready' and press mark ready when the milestone lands, or split the job into more than one product so each stage has its own deposit and balance.
Our jobs run over budget. Does the app cope?
Yes, through Shopify order edits. Balance Due follows the order's outstanding amount.
Do customers need an account?
No. Their payment page works from the link in each email or text.
What if the customer wants to pay the balance by bank transfer?
Take it however you like and record it against the order in Shopify. Balance Due follows the order's outstanding amount and closes the plan when it reaches zero, so the saved card is not charged on top.
What if the fitting date moves?
Reschedule the balance payment from the order to suit the new date and the customer gets a fresh reminder before it. Nothing is charged in the meantime.
Is there a limit on the order value?
Not from Balance Due. The limits that matter are your payment provider's and the customer's own card.
Can the customer pay the balance early?
Yes, from the pay now button on their payment page.
Do I need Shopify Payments?
For automatic charges, yes, or PayPal Express. On other providers the customer gets a payment link on the due date instead of an automatic charge.
Not on the list?
If your customers commit before the work is done, Balance Due fits. Tell us what you sell and we will suggest a plan.