Glazier Deposit Invoice: Control Special-Order Glass Jobs

The opening is measured. The supplier wants a purchase order. The customer has approved the quote, but the glazier deposit invoice is still unpaid and the glass build-up is unclear.

Do not release the order. A glazier deposit invoice should sit inside a hard fabrication gate: approved scope, approved specifications, cleared payment and a matching supplier order. If one piece is missing, the glass stays on hold.

Use the deposit as the fabrication release gate

A deposit is not just money collected early. It controls when your business commits cash to glass that may not be returnable or useful on another job.

Set the gate before you send the deposit request. Tell the customer that fabrication starts only after the specified approvals and payment conditions have been met. Use the same rule in the office, at the shop and in the field.

This matters most when the unit has custom dimensions, a specific build-up, tint, coating, pattern, edge treatment or hardware preparation. Once fabrication starts, a loose note or misunderstood selection can become your remake cost.

Keep each document in its own lane

The document chain should be clear:

• The quote states the proposed scope, price, exclusions and payment stages.
• The fabrication sheet records the glass and hardware details approved for ordering.
• The deposit invoice requests money before fabrication under the agreed contract terms.
• The payment receipt records money received.
• The supplier purchase order tells the supplier what to make or provide.
• The delivery and installation records show what reached the site and what was fitted.
• A change order records an approved change to the original work.
• The final invoice brings the contract amount, approved changes and payments together.
• The job-cost record holds the actual labour, materials and other costs.

One document cannot quietly replace another. Quote acceptance does not prove that the customer approved every fabrication detail. A receipt proves payment, but it does not describe the work covered by that payment. A purchase order controls your supplier commitment, not the customer agreement.

Give every record the same customer name, installation address and job reference. Include the quote reference where the document follows from the quote. That stops a payment for one unit being attached to another opening or another property.

For the scope and pricing work that comes first, use the glazier window replacement quote guide. If the job began as urgent make-safe work, keep that stage separate using the emergency board-up to replacement process.

Freeze the glass scope before asking for money

Measure first. Then write down what the supplier and installer need. Do not use a deposit request to rush an unfinished specification across the line.

Identify the opening and measurement responsibility

Record the room, elevation, door, frame or opening reference. Add the final dimensions and the measurement unit used. Where several similar units exist, use labels that can also appear on the fabrication sheet, purchase order and delivery record.

State who took the final measurements. If dimensions came from customer drawings, site templates or another contractor, record that fact. Do not leave measurement responsibility buried in an email thread.

When an opening cannot be finally measured until another task is complete, keep fabrication on hold. Taking the deposit does not make an uncertain dimension safe to order.

Record the full glass description

Write the specification in concrete terms. Include the glass build-up, safety treatment, tint, coating, pattern, edge work, holes, notches and orientation where they form part of the job.

Record the frame, channel, seals, hardware and fixing details that affect fabrication or installation. Name any customer-supplied components. Attach approved drawings or templates to the job rather than relying on memory.

Finish the scope around the glass. State whether your work includes removal, disposal, access equipment, protection, temporary boarding, frame repairs, finishing and cleanup. Write exclusions beside the scope, not after the dispute.

Get approval that matches the order

Ask the customer to approve the quoted scope and visible selections such as tint, pattern, finish and hardware. The qualified contractor must verify the final dimensions, fabrication details and required safety glazing before release. Do not shift measurement or code responsibility to the customer through an approval box.

For each job, identify the provincial or territorial building-code authority that governs safety glass, the municipality that handles building permits, and any statutory trade regulator that governs glazing in that jurisdiction. Record the answer and link only the relevant official regulator pages in the job notes. Do not assume every province or territory uses the same type of authority.

Set out what happens when the customer requests a change after release. State your cancellation and remake terms in the quote or contract and ask the customer to accept them before ordering. Use terms written for your own business and jurisdiction. Do not copy a supplier condition into the customer agreement without checking what it means for your job.

Before requesting the deposit, record the accepted scope and exclusions, customer selections, payment stages, fabrication-release trigger, cancellation or remake terms, site-readiness duties and change-order process. Give the customer one approval record and keep the accepted copy on the job.

The customer should know that quote approval and fabrication approval are distinct decisions when the final specifications were not settled in the original quote.

Set the glass order deposit from committed cost and risk

Build the full selling price before choosing the deposit. Start with actual expected costs:

• Installation and shop labour
• Glass, frames, hardware, seals and consumables
• Freight, lifting, access and disposal
• Other job costs that belong to the work
• Markup added to produce the selling price

Markup belongs in the full price. Do not add another markup merely because you are collecting money before fabrication.

Next, list the costs you must commit before installation. Use the supplier quotation and your own plan. Look for the glass order, freight commitment, templates, shop work, hardware purchases and labour already booked for preparation.

Then look at cancellation exposure. Ask what your business would still owe if the customer stopped the job after fabrication release. Ask whether the ordered material could be returned, altered or used elsewhere. Write down the answer from the supplier rather than assuming it.

Set the glass order deposit against that real commitment and exposure. Do not start with an arbitrary percentage and work backwards. The amount should make sense beside the supplier order, pre-installation work and terms accepted by the customer.

Decide what the agreement says the money is. A down payment is money paid toward the contract price. A true deposit may instead be held as security until the agreement says it will be returned, retained or applied. Calling the document a deposit invoice does not decide the contract or tax treatment.

Write down which one you are collecting. State when the money becomes payment toward the job, when it will be credited to the final invoice, and what happens if either party cancels. Have your Canadian legal adviser review terms that allow money to be retained after cancellation.

When the amount becomes payment toward the contract price, carry it forward once. It is not extra revenue on top of the agreed price.

Build a glazier deposit invoice the office and installer can use

For invoice structure beyond the glazing details, use the invoice writing guide.

Deposit invoice field list

Canada market note: deposits, down payments and GST/HST

Do not use the invoice label to decide the tax treatment. A true deposit and a down payment can be treated differently depending on the agreement and when the amount becomes consideration for the supply.

Read the deposits and conditional sales section in the Canada Revenue Agency GST/HST guide (opens in a new tab). Ask your accountant or bookkeeper to confirm when GST/HST must be recorded for your agreement, then use the same treatment on the invoice, receipt and final account.

Release fabrication only when every gate is complete

Put one person in charge of release. That person does not need to perform every earlier task, but they must see the records before sending the purchase order.

Use a release card on the job:

• Accepted quote is attached.
• Customer-approved fabrication details are attached.
• Deposit payment shows as cleared.
• Supplier purchase order matches the approved dimensions and description.
• Release name, date and supplier confirmation are recorded.

Mark every line complete or leave the order on hold. A phone call saying the money is coming does not clear the payment. A supplier request for speed does not approve an unfinished specification.

Compare the supplier purchase order line by line with the approved fabrication record. Check the opening label, dimensions, build-up, finish, treatment, edge work, holes, hardware preparation and quantity. Send the controlled document, not a cropped photo from a message thread.

Record who released the order and when. Save the supplier acknowledgement under the same job. The installer should be able to open the record later and see exactly what was approved and ordered.

Control changes, remakes and progress invoices after release

Site conditions can still move after the order. A frame may be out of square. Hardware may differ from what was visible at measure. Another contractor may alter the opening.

Stop when the installed condition does not match the approved record. Take measurements and photos. Do not order different glass or complete extra work on a verbal promise.

Write a change order. Describe what changed, why it changed, the effect on labour and materials, and any effect on the work sequence. Price it from the new supplier and labour commitments. Get customer approval before proceeding.

Keep the cause of a remake clear. Use separate records for a customer-requested change, supplier error, contractor measurement error, transit damage and changed site conditions. They may all result in another unit, but they do not belong in the same cost or customer charge bucket.

Do not hide an absorbed error inside a customer-approved extra. Assign the supplier credit, remake bill, extra freight and added labour to the job. That is how cost tracking shows what the work actually cost.

Use a glazing progress invoice only for a defined milestone

A glazing progress invoice is useful when the accepted contract already breaks a larger job into clear stages. Each stage must be defined in that contract before the work reaches it.

Show the contract price to date and approved changes on every progress invoice. Deduct every prior deposit and payment once. Do not create another billing stage because cash is tight after ordering.

Reconcile the glazier deposit invoice on final payment

Start the final account with the accepted contract amount. Add only approved change orders. Then apply the cleared deposit and any valid progress payments once each.

The glazier final payment request should show the original contract amount, each approved change, the new total, payments already received and the remaining balance. Do not send a disconnected balance with no calculation behind it.

The Oak Street house example shows the document logic. It is an electrical job, not a glazing rate card. R. Chen at 14 Oak Street had quote Q-1847 for 1,105 sample currency units. Extra cable and chasing became an approved 160 change order. Invoice INV-1847 was therefore 1,265.

No deposit is stated for that example, so none can be invented or deducted. The useful point is the chain: original quote plus approved change equals the final invoice total. On a glass job, payments received would then be shown and applied once to reach the balance.

Close the job with actual cost tracking

Attach the supplier bill to the correct job. Add freight, shop labour, installation labour, access costs, consumables, disposal and other direct costs. Record credits as well as bills.

Put documented remake costs under the party or cause responsible in your internal record. A customer-approved change belongs beside its approved revenue. An error absorbed by the business remains a job cost without invented customer revenue to cover it.

Compare the actual costs with the original cost plan. This tells you whether the quoted labour, material allowance and markup held up. The process is explained further in the contractor job-costing guide.

Before marking the job complete, find unposted supplier invoices or credits, open purchase orders, missing labour time entries, payment reversals and unresolved remake costs. Then compare the glazier deposit invoice, payment receipts, change orders, final invoice and bank records. Resolve every open item while the documents are still fresh.