Choose the template that matches the situation, replace the fields and check the details before sending it to your client.
Go to the messagesA deposit request works better when your client can immediately identify the project, amount and action expected. The three templates below cover the first request, a reminder after the due date and confirmation that payment has been received.
They accompany payment terms you have already agreed. To define those terms and place the deposit within the whole project, the freelance payment guide covers the starting agreement, due dates and payment tracking.
Use this first message once the scope, price and initial payment have been accepted. The client should recognise the quote you refer to. If the deposit has not yet been discussed, start by getting that condition confirmed before presenting the message as a reminder of an agreement.
Replace every field with actual information, then attach the document you mention or state where it can be found. Check the recipient, invoice reference and amount actually payable. For a bank transfer, use your usual payment details and a reference that makes reconciliation straightforward.
Keep one objective: enabling the client to process the agreed payment. Creative choices, new requests and changes to scope deserve a separate conversation, so the person receiving this message understands which decision they need to make now.
To give your conversations a shared reference, Dealokr brings scope, price, deliverables and revisions into the agreement the client signs before paying. On a fixed-price project, they then pay 100% through Stripe Connect before production. You can point your message towards that specific process, with terms the client can find in their project.
Before following up, check the agreed payment account or channel and your recent correspondence. The payment may have arrived under a different reference, or the invoice may have reached the wrong person. This check helps you avoid asking for money that has already been received.
A payment date or an identified missing detail allows you to act. A broad request such as “please arrange this as soon as possible” leaves the next action unclear. If you request a reply by a specific date, make it a response request rather than claiming to change the invoice’s agreed payment date.
Keep the same thread and references so the client can find the history. You can resend the relevant invoice, but avoid several identical attachments and messages across different channels within a few minutes of one another.
Send this confirmation after checking receipt and identifying the matching invoice. An intention to pay or a screenshot supplied by the client does not necessarily describe a payment received. Your message should reflect the status you can actually verify.
Also check any information required before production. If payment has arrived but access is missing, state what remains to be provided. You can thank the client and confirm receipt without announcing a start whose other conditions have not yet been met.
If the amount received is lower than the agreed deposit, state the amount you can see and ask how the difference will be completed or explained. Adjust the template accordingly: it should not imply that the full deposit has been settled.
In Dealokr, payment status and timestamped history stay connected to the project agreement. You can use that record to match your confirmation to what has happened. The client’s payment, the transfer you trigger under the project conditions and arrival in your bank account are three separate stages, so your message can identify the stage actually confirmed.
“We do not pay deposits” can refer to a purchasing rule, a missing document or a commercial disagreement. First ask what is preventing processing, then identify the person who can answer. The right next step depends on what is actually missing.
Check the necessary details: an existing purchase order, supplier reference, billing address or invoice recipient. Ask where to submit the invoice and whether approval is still outstanding. Completing administrative information does not mean silently accepting different payment terms.
Return to the accepted terms and discuss the proposed change before acting on it. A smaller paid first phase, reduced scope or another schedule can be considered if both parties agree. Confirm the decision in writing, including its effect on the price, payment and availability.
The deposit request does not replace that conversation. Avoid using it to announce a new condition, automatic cancellation or permanent retention of a payment on your own. A missing deposit does not, by itself, mean that an accepted quote has stopped having effect.
Copying a template should save drafting time while keeping the request accurate. Read your message as if you had received it without knowing the background: can you identify the project, locate the document and understand the next action?
Remove lines that do not apply to the project. If no client documents are outstanding, the receipt confirmation does not need an invented list of files to provide. A short, accurate sentence is more useful than preserving every line of the original template.
Combine the action and reference: “Deposit — [project] — quote [reference]”. It helps the client locate the conversation and forward it to accounts. It does not need a promise or an urgent label to be understood.
You can present proposed payment terms with your offer. The first-request template, however, assumes those terms have been accepted. If they have not, ask for confirmation and adjust the wording instead of presenting a proposal as an amount already agreed.
A call can help identify a missing document or the right team. Follow it with a written record of the information confirmed: contact person, next action and expected date. Avoid scattering decisions across conversations that cannot easily be matched to the same project.
The message accompanies the document and explains the action expected. It does not replace an invoice when one is required. Make sure the reference, amount and details repeated in the message match the invoicing document.
Do not turn a payment request into an improvised cancellation clause. What happens when a project stops depends on the agreement and applicable rules. Use the accepted terms and have a sensitive case checked before asserting that no repayment can be due.
Choose the message that matches the actual payment status, complete its fields and check the next step you announce. Your client should be able to process the request without reconstructing the project’s terms.
Back to the messagesThese messages accompany terms already accepted in your quote or contract. They do not create a new due date, penalty or cancellation rule.
