# Jobs: deposits, progress billing and retainage

> Bill one job in stages with a deposit, progress invoices that withhold retainage, and a single release at the end, and see what the job refuses.

Source: https://support.billingmart.com/jobs/deposits-progress-and-retainage
Updated: 2026-10-23 · Applies to: Web · Section: Jobs

A job lets you bill one piece of work in stages against a single total. You make a deposit, then progress invoices as the work gets done, then one release for the retainage you held back. Each step is a normal invoice draft that you review and send. Jobs are available on the plans that include jobs, and your trial includes them.

## Start a job

1. Open **Jobs** and select **Start a job**.
2. Choose the business and the customer. Enter a **Job name** and the **Job total**, which is what the whole job is worth, in the business's currency.
3. Choose the **First invoice**: **Deposit** or **Progress**. Enter the deposit percent, or the percent complete and the retainage percent.
4. Select **Create first draft**. The job page opens with the draft.

A job is not a separate record. It exists through its invoices, so a job with no invoices does not appear. The first invoice fixes the customer, business, currency and total. The server refuses a later draft that names a different one.

## The three drafts

On the job page, **Deposit draft**, **Progress draft** and **Release retainage** each ask for what they need. The deposit and progress dialogs show what the draft will bill before you create it.

- **Deposit.** A share of the job total, billed up front. A job has one deposit. Leave the percent blank to use your business's default deposit. If it has none, you must enter one.
- **Progress.** You enter the cumulative percent complete, not the step. The draft bills what that percent has earned, rounded down, minus everything the job has already billed. The deposit counts as billed. If nothing is left to bill, the draft is refused.
- **Release retainage.** Bills exactly what the progress invoices withheld, once. If nothing was withheld, it is refused. After the release the job is closed and takes no more deposit or progress invoices.

Example: a job total of 10,000, a deposit of three tenths of the total and retainage of one tenth. The deposit bills 3,000. A progress draft at half complete has earned 5,000. Minus the 3,000 already billed, it bills 2,000, withholds 200 and asks for 1,800. The example stops at half. Once the last progress invoice reaches the full job, the deposit, every progress total and the release add up to the job total. At the full job here, that progress draft bills 7,000, withholds 700 and asks for 6,300, and the release bills the 700. Then 3,000 plus 6,300 plus 700 is 10,000.

## Where retainage shows

Retainage is not a line item. It is a deduction in the invoice totals, labelled **Retainage withheld**, under the subtotal and tax. It appears the same way in the console, on the PDF and on the pay page, and the customer pays the total after it. The retainage rate is fixed when the draft is made. Leave the percent blank to use your business's default, or none if it has no default. You can change the defaults under **Business type**, then **Edit terms and tax**.

A job invoice also refuses a line with a negative percentage rate, such as an old "Retainage withheld" item. The message says retainage is withheld by its own rate. Use the retainage field instead.

## Good to know

- **Drafts count toward the next draft.** The job page shows **Billed** (sent invoices) and **In drafts** (not sent yet) as two figures. The next progress draft is worked out from both, so a draft you have not sent still counts as billed. Void invoices are never counted.
- **The lines are fixed amounts.** The deposit, progress and release lines are marked tax-exempt. You can edit a draft like any other, but not its retainage rate.
- **Details.** The draft dialog shows your invoice **Details**, filled in from the job's latest invoice, and the draft keeps what you enter. A required detail still blocks the send. See [Custom fields](https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/custom-fields.md).
- **Your own lines.** Through the API or an assistant, a progress draft can carry its own line items instead of a percent. BillingMart does not check them against the job total, and retainage is still withheld from their subtotal.
- **Who can do it.** Staff, admins and owners create drafts. Others can read.
- **If your plan lacks jobs,** creating a draft is refused. Nothing you already have changes.

Sending is the usual flow. See [Send an invoice](https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/send-an-invoice.md), and [What counts as a send](https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/what-counts-as-a-send.md).