How to Create Scheduled Payments on Invoices

Within invoices on Houzz Pro, you can easily create a custom payment schedule to ensure you get paid when you need to. You can even save time by setting up default schedules or leverage AI to automatically build out a payment schedule.

You can create a payment schedule on any invoice draft, but once an invoice has been issued, you can no longer add, edit or delete scheduled payments.

To Start:

Open up the relevant invoice. You can access all your invoices by selecting the Search icon, and then clicking on All Invoices. You can also access your invoice in the project by selecting the Projects icon, clicking the relevant project, and then selecting Invoices from the left menu (as shown).

Once in your invoice, scroll down to the Payments section of the document. If you created the invoice from an estimate or proposal and already applied payment(s) or created a payment schedule, you will see those here.

If the invoice is not connected to an estimate/proposal, you will see Payment 1 already scheduled for the full amount of the invoice. You can edit the Payment 1 details, and/or click Schedule a Payment, Request a Deposit or Schedule Payments with AI to start creating a payment schedule. Let's go over each option.

Request a Deposit

If you would like your client to pay a deposit, click on Request a Deposit. A screen will pop up where you can input the deposit details, including amount — either a dollar or percentage amount — payment terms, and payment due date. Once complete, click Create.

Your scheduled deposit will now show in the Payments section, along with Payment 1, which will automatically adjust to reflect the remainder of the invoice balance. You can delete Payment 1 if you just want to request a deposit on the invoice at this point.

Schedule a Payment

By default, at least one payment will already be scheduled on an invoice for the full amount. If you created the invoice from an estimate or proposal and transferred those payments/schedule, they will appear instead. If you would like to schedule more/multiple payments, simply click Schedule a Payment again to create a new line.

The additional payment(s) will automatically appear in the Payments section — you can adjust the name, amount, payment terms and due date directly in the document by clicking the relevant line.

If you have multiple payments and would like to reorder them, just click and drag a payment until it's in the order you need.

For the payment amount, you can adjust the dropdown to either select a dollar amount or a percentage. Make your adjustments, and click the check mark to save.

Schedule Payments With AI

If you would like to create a payment schedule using AI, click on Schedule Payments with AI. Our AI will analyze the line items in your invoice and suggest a tailored, accurate payment schedule that aligns with relevant project milestones.

Once added, you can give feedback on the quality of the AI payment schedule, or click Undo Suggestions to go back to your previous payment schedule.

Set a Default Payment Schedule

Once your payment schedule is complete, you can save the schedule as a default setting to be automatically prefilled on future invoices. Click Save as Default if you would like to apply these payment settings to your next invoice — you can easily edit the payments if needed.

Edit or Delete a Payment

If you need to make a change to a payment or deposit, you can easily adjust the payment details directly in the document by clicking the relevant line and making your changes.

If you need to delete a payment or deposit, hover over the payment and click on the three dots icon on the right. From there, select Delete Payment.

Log a Payment

Setting up online payments is the easiest way to ensure all your payments are logged, since they will be logged automatically. Click Set Up Online Payments in the Payments section to get started, or read this article to find out more about online payments: How to Set Up Online Payments

If you don't have online payments set up, you will need to manually log each payment you receive. Click on Log Payment in the Payments section, or read this article to learn more about logging payments: How to Log a Payment

Share Payment Schedule

After you enter the details for the scheduled payments, click on Preview to see how your client will view the invoice. If you are happy with the format, click Send to share with your client.

Your client can easily pay each scheduled payment by clicking on the link they receive when the estimate is sent. If online payments are enabled, your client can click Pay and Approve to submit the payments. All scheduled payments can sync to QuickBooks upon payment.

Send Payment Reminders

Before an invoice is fully paid, you can set up automated reminders to ensure payments are made on time. To send reminders, click the Automations button at the top of the document, then toggle on payment reminders under Client Reminders.

Read How to Use Automations on Documents to learn more about payment reminders and other document automation capabilities.