Balance 
Deposits for stonemasons and memorials
A memorial is ordered months before it can be fixed. The deposit covers the stone and the lettering; the balance should land when the work is actually done.
At a glance
How a memorial mason usually sets this up. The numbers are ordinary; the timescale is not.
- Typical deposit
- 50% at order
- Balance charged
- The day the stone is fixed
- Outer limit
- 365 days
- Text reminders
- Usually off, email only
- Per-order fee
- None
- Shopify plan
- Any Shopify plan
One plan on your new memorial products, with the outer limit set to its maximum. Additional inscriptions and renovation work are shorter jobs and sit on a separate product with a plan of their own, or none.
Where the money lands
A £1,900 granite headstone with a hand-cut inscription at 50%, balance on fixing.
Half at order covers the stone and the lettering time. The balance waits for the ground and the permit, which is why it is tied to the day you fix the stone rather than to a date anybody has to guess at the start.
The deposit is a real payment through your own Shopify Payments or gateway on the day of the order. The balance is charged to the same saved card when you mark the order ready, with a reminder a few days before and a receipt once it clears.
From order to fixing
Most of this is waiting, and the app is built to wait without charging anybody.
- 1
Memorial ordered
£950 taken
The family, or the funeral director on their behalf, checks out through your Shopify checkout and pays the deposit. The order lands with the balance recorded against it and no date attached.
- 2
Permit applied for
Nothing charged
The cemetery or churchyard application goes in. Nothing about the order changes while it is pending.
- 3
Ground settles
Nothing charged
Six to twelve months on a new grave. Because the balance is tied to the stone being fixed, the schedule simply waits. Nothing looks overdue because nothing is.
- 4
Stone cut and lettered
Nothing charged
The work happens when the permit is through and the ground is ready. If the family change the wording, edit the order and the balance follows.
- 5
Stone fixed
£950 charged
You mark the order ready on the day it goes in. The balance is charged to the saved card and the family receive a receipt.
- 6
Card has expired
Payment link sent
Over eight months this is common. The family get an email with a Shopify payment link that accepts any card, and the charge retries after 1, 3 and 7 days.
Set the outer limit generously
The 'when ready' rule has an outer limit that Shopify shows as the latest possible balance date. For most trades 120 days is plenty. Here it is not. Set it to 365 days so the schedule covers a full settling period and a slow permit, and nothing on the customer's payment page suggests the balance is late when it is simply not time yet.
If a job runs beyond a year, reschedule the payment from the order to any future date and the family get a fresh reminder before it. Nothing is charged in the meantime.
A fixed date will not survive a settling period. The whole point of the ready rule is that nobody has to predict when the ground will be ready in March for a stone that goes in the following January.
Setting it up
About fifteen minutes. The two settings that matter here are the outer limit and the messaging.
- In Shopify, check Settings, Payments: capture must be automatic at checkout or manual, not per fulfilment.
- Create a plan in Balance Due: 50% percentage deposit, balance rule when the order is ready, outer limit 365 days.
- Attach the plan to your new memorial products. If you quote by hand first, create a product per memorial type with the price set per order through a variant and send the family the link.
- In settings, lengthen the overdue interval and consider turning text messages off for this work, keeping email only.
- 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 read every message it sends, because the wording matters more here than anywhere.
Which plan for which job
New memorials and additional inscriptions are different jobs on different timescales.
| What you are selling | Balance rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New headstone on a new grave | When the order is ready, 365-day limit | The ground has to settle and the permit has to come through. Charge on the day it is fixed. |
| New headstone on an established grave | When the order is ready | No settling period, but the permit still takes as long as it takes. |
| Additional inscription or second interment | A number of days after the order | A few weeks of work at a fixed price. A smaller deposit or none, with the balance on a predictable date. |
| Cleaning, re-gilding, re-levelling | No plan | Short jobs, often paid in full. Keep them as ordinary products. |
A product carries one plan at a time, so each row is its own product. That also keeps the longest jobs from using up plan capacity that the short ones do not need.
Changes to the wording and the stone
Families change their minds, and they are entitled to.
A different inscription
More lines, a verse, a second name added before the stone is cut. Edit the order in Shopify and the balance follows the new price. The family's payment page always shows the current figure.
- Price goes up: the difference is added to the balance
- Price goes down: the balance shrinks
- Nothing is charged until the stone is fixed either way
A different stone
A change from one granite to another after the deposit is paid is an order edit, not a new order. The deposit stays where it is and the balance adjusts.
- Keep the original order so the history is in one place
- The reminder before the charge quotes the new figure
- If the new stone is cheaper and the deposit covers it, the plan closes with nothing to charge
The permit is refused
It happens. Cancel the plan from the order and handle the deposit under your terms. Balance Due stops collecting the moment the plan is cancelled.
- Cancel the plan, or cancel the order in Shopify
- Refund the deposit in Shopify as your policy allows
- Nothing further is sent to the family
A note on tone
Every customer here is dealing with a death, and automated payment messages can land badly if they read like debt collection. Balance Due's wording is plain rather than pushy, and you control the reminder lead time and the overdue cadence in settings. Many masons lengthen the overdue interval and turn text messages off for this work, keeping email only.
Your policy text appears under every message and on the family's payment page. Use it to say who to call if they need more time, in your own words. A sentence like 'If you would like to talk about the timing of the balance, call us on the number above' does more for the relationship than any amount of automation.
If the funeral director is ordering on the family's behalf, the director is the customer as far as Shopify is concerned. Their card is saved and they receive the messages, which is often the cleaner arrangement.
What it costs
Nothing per order and nothing per transaction. The Free plan covers three memorials with an open balance at any one time, and Starter covers thirty. Because balances here stay open for months, the count is the number of stones waiting to be fixed, not the number ordered this year, so size the plan to your usual backlog.
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
Automatic balance collection
Mark ready, collect now, reschedule.
Reminders and receipts
Changing the wording and the cadence.
How to take deposits on Shopify
Setup and policy wording.
Furniture makers
Deposit on order, balance when the piece is ready, nothing leaves the workshop unpaid.
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.
Questions
What if the cemetery refuses the permit?
Cancel the plan from the order and handle the deposit under your terms. Balance Due stops collecting the moment the plan is cancelled.
Can I hold a balance for more than a year?
Yes. Set the outer limit to 365 days on the plan, and if a job runs beyond it you can reschedule the payment from the order to any future date.
We take payment from the funeral director, not the family. Does that work?
Whoever checks out is who the card belongs to and who gets the messages. If the director orders on the family's behalf, they are the customer as far as Shopify is concerned.
Can I turn the text messages off?
Yes, in settings. Many masons keep email only for this work and lengthen the overdue interval as well.
What if the family want to pay the balance before the stone is fixed?
They can, from the pay now button on their payment page. Some prefer to settle it early so it is not hanging over the day.
What if the card has expired by the time the stone goes in?
The charge fails, the family are emailed a payment link that accepts any card, and it retries after 1, 3 and 7 days. The order stays on hold until it clears.
Can I take a smaller deposit on an additional inscription?
Yes. Set up a second plan with a smaller percentage or a fixed amount and attach it to the inscription product. A product carries one plan at a time.
Do I need Shopify Payments?
For automatic charges, yes, or PayPal Express. On other providers the family get 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.