Collect money before you start work, then draw down that deposit as you invoice the work you deliver. Deposit credits can be applied to any type of invoice, including fixed-price work, products and services, and hourly work, subject to the deposit’s client or project allocation. A common use is prepayment for hourly work: the client pays up front, you track time normally, and each time invoice uses deposit credit while keeping the time entries recorded as billed.
Before you begin
You need access to create invoices and to manage products and services, or an existing deposit item in your library.
For prepaid project hours, set up the project for hourly billing and confirm its rate. Track the entries as billable against that project.
A deposit is a money balance, not a bank of hours. Tracking time does not automatically reduce it; applying deposit credit to an invoice does.
1. Create a deposit product or service
Select New item and enter a clear name, such as “Prepaid hours deposit.”
Set Billing type to Deposit, enter a default rate, and review the tax setting. You can adjust the quantity and rate on each invoice.
Select Save.
Use the Deposit billing type. Naming a fixed-price item “Deposit” does not make it deposit credit.
The billing type tells Moxie to treat the collected amount as a deposit for later invoices.
2. Invoice for the deposit
Open Money → Invoices, select New invoice → One-time invoice, and choose the client.
Select From library and choose your deposit product or service. Check that the line shows the Deposit badge.
Set the quantity and rate to the amount you want to collect. For example, quantity 1 at $1,000 requests a $1,000 deposit before any applicable tax.
Choose whether the deposit is client-wide or belongs to a project, as described below.
Review the invoice, then use Preview & send. If you receive payment outside Moxie, record that payment on the invoice.
The deposit becomes available credit after the invoice is paid in full. Creating or sending the invoice requests the deposit; it does not fund the client's deposit account.
Make the deposit client-wide
Leave the deposit line unassigned to a project. There is no separate client-wide switch. If the line already has a project, select its project name and choose Clear project while editing the draft.
A client-wide deposit can be applied to eligible invoices for that client, including invoices for different projects.
An unassigned deposit remains available across the client's work.
Allocate the deposit to a specific project
On the deposit line, select Assign to project and choose the client's project. Do this on the deposit line itself; mentioning a project in the description does not allocate the deposit.
That deposit can fund only invoices containing billing for the same project. When you later invoice project time, pull in the actual time entries so the invoice retains the project connection. If the project is not listed, confirm that it belongs to the selected client.
Assign the deposit line to the project whose work it should fund.
3. Apply deposit credit to an invoice
Deposit credit is not limited to time invoices. Apply it to any type of invoice for the client—whether you are billing a fixed-price project, products and services, hourly work, or a combination. Client-wide deposits are available across the client’s invoices; project deposits require billing for that project on the invoice.
Add the work or time entries to the invoice.
In the invoice totals, review the deposit amount available for this invoice.
Select Apply maximum to use as much eligible credit as possible, or enter a smaller amount in Deposit applied.
Review the remaining deposit balance and invoice total, then finalize the invoice through the normal send or mark-as-sent workflow.
You can also apply credit after an invoice has been sent: open Invoice actions → Apply deposit, enter the Amount to apply, and select Apply deposit. An invoice with existing credit offers Manage deposit so you can adjust or remove it.
Moxie caps the credit at the eligible deposit balance and the amount still owed on the invoice. If the deposit covers the whole amount, no additional payment is due. If it covers only part, the client pays the remainder. The amount applied draws down the deposit account; it is not a new cash payment.
Apply the full eligible amount or choose how much credit to use.
Invoice for time up front with a deposit
Use this workflow when a client prepays for a block of work but you still want accurate time records and itemized invoices as the hours are used.
Invoice and collect the deposit. Add your Deposit-type product to an invoice, allocate it to the project if needed, and collect payment in full.
Track hours against the project. Use the timer or add entries manually, keeping the time billable and attached to the correct hourly project.
Generate an invoice for those hours. Open the project's Related records → Invoices → New invoice. Review the hours in Bill this project and select Add to invoice. Alternatively, use Work → Time → Invoice unbilled or Pull billable work in an invoice draft.
Apply the deposit credit. Offset the time invoice with the available deposit. Review the final amount due and finalize the invoice.
Repeat as work continues. Each invoice draws down the remaining deposit. Collect another deposit when you need to replenish the balance, or collect the unpaid remainder on the work invoice.
The time entries become Billed when they are attached to the invoice. They remain linked to that invoice even when deposit credit offsets the full amount. You do not need to mark the hours non-billable or manually mark them billed. Adding an ordinary text line that describes hours does not link the original entries—use the time invoicing tools above.
Invoice the actual time entries so they retain their billing history.
Example: $1,000 prepaid, then six hours of work
Assume an hourly rate of $100 and no taxes or other charges:
The client pays a $1,000 deposit invoice. Their available deposit is $1,000.
You track six billable hours and generate a $600 invoice from those entries.
You apply $600 in deposit credit. The invoice has $0 left to pay, the deposit balance is $400, and the six hours are marked Billed.
Later, you invoice another five hours for $500. Applying the remaining $400 leaves $100 for the client to pay.
The deposit invoice records the money collected up front; the later time invoices record the work delivered and how that money was used.
See the balance and deposit history
At the client level: open the client's Related records → Invoices. Select Deposit available to open Deposit activity. The ledger shows available, collected, and used amounts, plus collected, applied, and refunded transactions. Select a transaction to open its invoice.
At the project level: open Related records → Invoices to see the Project deposit balance and related deposit invoice history. For the detailed collected/applied/refunded ledger and the sources used by an application, open the client's Deposit activity.
In the client portal: clients can see their deposit balance, helping them understand how much prepaid credit remains for future invoices.
The client balance and a project's balance can differ: the client account may include client-wide funds and deposits allocated to other projects. The invoice's eligible balance determines what you can apply to that invoice.
The ledger connects deposit movements to their invoices so you can follow the balance over time.
Troubleshooting
The deposit is missing: confirm that the original line uses the Deposit billing type and that the deposit invoice has been paid in full.
The client has a balance but the invoice says no eligible deposit: check the project allocation. A deposit assigned to another project is not available for this invoice.
The hours still appear unbilled: create the work invoice from the actual time entries. Collecting a deposit or applying credit alone does not bill time.
The amount due did not change after tracking time: time tracking does not spend the deposit automatically. Invoice the hours and apply the credit.
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