Upfront and balance

Learn how to split the payment of a quote to receive a percentage upfront and collect the rest later.

The split payment model

In service-based projects (agencies, consultancies, software development), it is very common not to charge 100% upfront, but rather to require an initial deposit (e.g., 50%) to kick off the work and settle the balance upon delivery.

In traditional invoicing platforms, this forces you to generate two different payment links or duplicate the invoice. In Cord, the quote is smart and handles split payments without you having to do double the work.

How to configure an upfront payment

1. Open the quote editor.
2. On the right sidebar, look for the Terms section.
3. Make sure the payment term is set to Due on receipt (Contado) (upfront payments do not apply to Net 30/60 credit terms).
4. Check the ”% Upfront” field and enter the percentage (e.g., 50).
5. You’ll see the live preview update instantly, showing the client exactly how much they will pay today to approve the document.

What does the client see?

When the client opens the public link of the quote, below the total amount they will see a clear breakdown:

• Project total: $10,000
• Pay upfront today (50%): $5,000
• Balance: $5,000 (Due upon delivery)

Automatic payment button mutation

The magic of Cord’s architecture (based on independent PaymentIntents for each slice) happens at checkout:

1. First charge: The client clicks “Approve and Pay”. The button charges them only the $5,000 of the upfront deposit. Once processed, the quote switches to “Approved” and is ready for you to start working.
2. Second charge: Weeks later, when you are ready to collect the balance, the client can re-enter the exact same link from the original quote. The system will detect that the upfront deposit has already been paid, and the payment button will have automatically mutated to charge the remaining Balance.

You didn’t have to send a second email, nor generate a “payment link for the balance”. Everything lives in the same ecosystem.