Deposit-to-Invoice Reconciliation (Onboarding)

Deposit-to-Invoice Reconciliation (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Map every payment rail the client will use before the first invoice is issued

   Record card gateway, ACH or direct debit, bank transfer, and any regional rails, then note which one carries the retainer and which carries project milestones. Agencies that skip this step discover mid-quarter that a deposit landed in a processor account nobody reconciles.

2. 02

   Fix the deposit trigger and its matching invoice line at contract signature

   Tie the deposit to a signed agreement and a named invoice item so the payment can be matched without manual judgment. Hardbook's single-link flow (calendar hold, signature, deposit) is one pattern; a signed SOW plus a Stripe payment link is another.

3. 03

   Set the invoice numbering and currency rules in writing for the client's entity

   Confirm billing entity, tax treatment, and currency before invoice one. Multi-entity agencies should state which legal entity invoices each deliverable so bookkeeping in Xero or FreshBooks does not require retroactive reclassification.

4. 04

   Run a live test transaction end to end within the first billing cycle

   Send a small real invoice through the actual gateway, confirm the funds arrive, and confirm the payment record lands against the right client and project. A test mode pass proves nothing about settlement timing or processor fees.

5. 05

   Reconcile the first three invoices by hand and log every mismatch

   Compare invoice amount, processor payout, and bank deposit line by line. Discrepancies at this stage are almost always configuration (fee handling, tax, partial payment rules), and they are cheap to fix in week two and expensive in month six.

6. 06

   Publish the client-facing payment terms sheet and reminder cadence

   State due date, accepted rails, late-fee policy, and the exact days on which automated reminders fire. Automated reminders are the main lever on days sales outstanding, so the client should see the schedule before the first invoice is late.

7. 07

   Hand the reconciled ledger to whoever owns collections, with named escalation contacts

   Delivery leads should not be chasing unpaid invoices. Name the finance owner, the escalation path, and the threshold at which delivery work pauses.