The Short Answer

Ask in one message, before the work starts, with four things in it: the amount as a number, what the deposit unlocks, a date you need it by, and how to pay. Something like: "Happy to start on Monday. I work on a 50 percent deposit, so that's 15,000 now and the balance on delivery. Payment link is below and the invoice follows right after. Can you get it across by Friday?" The parts doing the work are the figure and the date. "Could we sort a deposit at some point?" is a question people answer later, which in practice means never. The trade guides that publish a figure put the usual request between 20 and 50 percent of the project, with a straight 50 percent now and 50 percent on completion the most commonly described split for smaller fixed-price jobs. Get the amount and the due date in writing, in the chat if nowhere else, because a WhatsApp thread is a written record and the chat is where you will end up chasing it.

The Four Parts of an Ask That Gets Paid

A deposit request that works is not a politer version of the same question. It is a different kind of message: a statement with a date on it rather than an enquiry. Four parts, and all four fit in three lines.

  1. The amount, as a number. Not "a deposit", not "a percentage". The figure, in their currency. A number can be paid; a concept has to be converted first, and conversion is where messages go to die.
  2. What it unlocks. The deposit buys something specific: your start date, the materials, the slot in your calendar. Clients pay far more readily when the money has a job. "The deposit holds the week of 2 November for you" is a reason. "It's my standard policy" is an obstacle.
  3. A date you need it by. The highest-yield line in the message, and the one most often missing. Without a date your request joins a queue sorted by other people's deadlines, and you have nothing to follow up against later.
  4. How to pay, with no extra step. A link, a UPI ID, the bank details already written out. Every step between reading your message and the money leaving costs you days, so "I'll send the details" belongs in the same message as the details.

One thing to leave out: the apology. "Sorry to be awkward about this" tells the client the request is awkward, which they had not yet decided. Asking for a deposit is a term of business, not a favour.

7 Scripts You Can Copy

Swap the names, figures and currency. Each is written to go as a single WhatsApp message, because a request split across four bubbles reads as nervousness.

1. The standard ask, before the work starts

The default. Send it after they say yes and before you open a file.

Hi Priya, great, I'll block out the week of 2 November for this. I work on a 50 percent deposit: 15,000 now and 15,000 on delivery. Payment link is below and the invoice follows right after. If you can get it across by Friday the 30th, we're on for Monday.

2. After a verbal yes on a call

The ten minutes after a call is the easiest moment you will ever get. Use it to write the terms down while they still agree with them.

Hi Sam, good to talk just now. Writing down what we agreed so we both have it: scope as discussed, 2,400 total, 50 percent (1,200) to start and 1,200 on handover, delivery by 21 November. Here's the link for the first half. Shout if I've got any of that wrong.

3. The client who says they pay on delivery

Do not argue about what is normal in your industry. Offer a smaller first step instead, which is harder to refuse than a principle.

Hi Dan, understood, and plenty of firms work that way. I can't start a fixed-price job with nothing committed, but I don't need half either. Would 25 percent (600) work as a start fee, with the remaining 1,800 on delivery against the invoice? That covers the time I'm holding for you and we can begin Monday.

4. A repeat client who has always paid late

Here the deposit is about scheduling, not trust. Say that, because it is true and it is not an accusation.

Hi Ravi, happy to take this one on. One change from last time: I'm now starting fixed-price work on a 40 percent deposit, mainly so the start date is certain at my end instead of moving when invoices land. For this job that's 8,000 up front and 12,000 on delivery. Same link as before.

5. A larger project, split into milestones

On a long build, half the money up front is a big ask and a real risk for them. Three smaller asks are easier to say yes to and keep you funded all the way through.

Hi Aisha, for a project this size I'd rather not take half up front. Proposal is 30 percent to start (45,000), 40 percent at design sign-off in week four, and 30 percent on launch. That way you're never more than one stage ahead of what's been delivered. Starting fee link below, and I'll put the three dates in the contract.

6. The nudge when the deposit has not arrived

Send this once, on the working day after the date you gave. Reference your own start date, because that is the consequence they care about.

Hi Priya, checking in on the deposit, I don't think it's landed yet. The Monday start depends on it clearing, so if another payment method is easier tell me which and I'll send the details. If the timing has moved at your end that's fine too, just say and I'll move the week.

7. The last message before you release the slot

Not a threat, a diary fact. It is also the message that most often produces a payment within the hour.

Hi Priya, I haven't heard back, so I'm going to assume the timing has changed and open that week up to someone else on Thursday. Nothing lost at all if you still want it, just send the deposit before then and the slot stays yours.

Two of the seven are follow-ups, and that ratio is deliberate. A deposit that never arrives is usually not refused, it is simply never chased.

How Much to Ask For

There is no standard, and anyone who tells you there is one is describing their own field. What the published guides agree on is a range. Ruul's guide to freelance payment terms calls 50 percent deposit and 50 percent on completion the most widely used structure in freelance work, and notes it starts to break down on longer projects where milestone billing fits better. InvoiceOwl's deposit guide puts the usual request at 20 to 50 percent of the total project cost and makes the same point as the section above: clients respond better when they are told what the deposit is for.

These are trade guides, not law and not a survey, so treat them as common practice rather than something to cite at anyone. What is worth taking from them is the shape rather than the number:

  • Small, well-defined job: 50 percent up front, 50 percent on delivery. Two transactions, almost no bookkeeping, and the figures are easy to say out loud.
  • Large or long project: a smaller starting percentage with payments tied to stages. The client is never far ahead of what they have received, which is genuinely a better deal for them and therefore an easier yes.
  • New client, very small first job: consider the whole amount up front. For a one-day piece of work, invoicing twice costs more in admin than the risk it removes.

Whichever you pick, pick it before the conversation. A percentage worked out live, in the chat, in response to pushback, reads exactly like what it is.

Get It in Writing, Even If the Writing Is WhatsApp

A WhatsApp thread is a written record, and on small jobs it is often the only one that exists. That is better than a verbal agreement and worse than a contract, so the practical move is to make the chat carry the four facts a dispute would turn on: the amount, what it is a deposit against, the balance and when it falls due, and whether the deposit is refundable. Script 2 is built for exactly this, which is why it reads like a summary rather than a question.

In some places the written part is not optional. New York City's Freelance Isn't Free Act, in force since 15 May 2017, requires a written contract for freelance work worth 800 dollars or more, and that threshold can be reached by several smaller projects for the same client within 120 days. It also requires payment in full by the date the contract specifies, or within 30 days of the work finishing where no date is given. Law firms have summarised it consistently since it took effect, including Jones Day and K&L Gates. New York State later passed a broader version with additional remedies, which Seyfarth covered when it was signed; the sources we could reach disagree on its exact commencement date, so check the statute rather than any summary, this one included. Neither law requires a deposit. What they require is that the terms you did agree are written down, which is the habit worth copying wherever you work.

If you invoice in India, the advance has a tax date of its own. For a supply of services, GST falls due at the earlier of the invoice date or the date payment is received, so the money arriving is itself the taxable event, and the supplier is expected to issue a receipt voucher for the advance and set it against the tax invoice once the work is done. Advances on goods were taken out of this by Notification 66/2017-Central Tax of 15 November 2017, but that exemption does not reach services. ClearTax and TaxGuru both set out the services rule and the receipt voucher. Your registration status and the amounts are a question for your accountant, not a blog post. It belongs here for one practical reason: a 50 percent deposit is not 50 percent of your money, and pricing the ask as though it were is how people end up short in the quarter they got paid early.

The Follow-Up Is the Whole Game

Scripts 6 and 7 get the deposit, and they are also the two that never get sent. The reason is mundane. You send the ask on a Tuesday evening feeling good about it, and then Wednesday happens. By the time you remember, enough days have passed that sending anything feels like admitting you were not paying attention, so you wait for them instead, and they are waiting for you.

The fix is to decide the follow-up in the same minute you send the ask, while you still know what you said and which date you gave. One line, ten seconds:

If you would rather have the message itself waiting, schedule that instead. Where WhatsApp's own Schedule Send has reached your phone (it has been in Android beta since 12 October 2026), it can send a one-off like this by itself, up to two weeks ahead. On any other phone, or for a chase further out, the bot holds the text and nudges you at the right minute with the chat ready and the message already in it:

Either way the follow-up stops depending on you remembering on a Friday evening, which is the one thing it was depending on before.

Four Things That Cost You the Deposit

These come up repeatedly and all four are self-inflicted.

  • Starting the work first, to show good faith. Once unpaid work exists, the deposit has nothing left to unlock and the conversation quietly becomes about the invoice instead. Good faith is a start date you honour, not free labour.
  • Asking twice in two days. Two messages in 48 hours reads as panic and tends to invite a discount request. One ask, one nudge after the date you gave, one closing message; the timing rules for a polite nudge apply here too.
  • Explaining your cash flow. "Things are tight this month" moves the deposit from a term of business to a personal appeal, and personal appeals can be declined kindly. The reason is the start date.
  • Letting it drift into the invoice. A deposit that was never paid plus work that got done anyway is an unpaid invoice with extra steps, and chasing one of those is a much longer road.

If You Would Rather Not Track This Yourself

NagMeLater is a WhatsApp contact you send a sentence to. Save the number, write "remind me on Friday at 6pm to check if Priya's deposit landed", and the reminder comes back as a message you answer with one word. Nothing to install, and the first 7 days are free and unlimited, then it is a monthly plan or a one-off lifetime plan. For every stage of a job rather than just the deposit, the freelancer reminder setup is the same idea applied to the whole chain.

Your first 7 days are free and unlimited

No app, no account. Save the number, send a message, done.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I ask for an advance payment politely on WhatsApp?

State the amount as a number, say what the deposit unlocks (usually your start date), give a date you need it by, and put the payment method in the same message. For example: "Happy to start on Monday. I work on a 50 percent deposit, so that's 15,000 now and the balance on delivery. Payment link is below and the invoice follows right after. Can you get it across by Friday?" Politeness lives in the clarity, not in the hedging. Leave the apology out, because asking for a deposit is a term of business rather than a favour.

How much deposit should a freelancer ask for?

There is no standard. The published trade guides put the usual request between 20 and 50 percent of the project, with a straight 50 percent up front and 50 percent on completion the most commonly described single split for smaller fixed-price work, and milestone payments fitting better on long projects. For a very small job with a new client, asking for the whole amount up front is often less admin than invoicing twice. Decide your figure before the conversation starts rather than negotiating it live.

Is a WhatsApp message enough to agree a deposit?

A WhatsApp thread is a written record, and on small jobs it is often the only one, so it beats a verbal agreement. Make it carry the facts a dispute would turn on: the amount, what it is a deposit against, the balance and its due date, and whether the deposit is refundable. It is still not a contract, and in some places a contract is required: New York City's Freelance Isn't Free Act, in force since 15 May 2017, requires a written contract for freelance work worth 800 dollars or more, counting several smaller projects for one client within 120 days.

What do I say when a client refuses to pay anything up front?

Do not argue about what is normal in your industry. Offer a smaller first step, which is harder to refuse than a principle: "I can't start a fixed-price job with nothing committed, but I don't need half either. Would 25 percent work as a start fee, with the rest on delivery against the invoice?" If they still refuse, you are choosing between the risk and the job, and that choice is better made before you start than after.

Do I pay GST on an advance payment in India?

For a supply of services, GST falls due at the earlier of the invoice date or the date the payment is received, so an advance for services is taxable when it arrives, and the supplier is expected to issue a receipt voucher for it and set that against the tax invoice once the work is done. Advances on goods were taken out of this by Notification 66/2017-Central Tax of 15 November 2017, but that exemption does not extend to services. Your own registration status and the amounts are a question for your accountant.

How long should I wait before chasing an unpaid deposit?

Chase on the working day after the date you gave in the ask, not before. That is why the ask needs a date in it: without one you have nothing to follow up against and the nudge arrives as a guess. Send one nudge referencing your start date, and if there is still nothing, one closing message saying you will release the slot. Three messages in total is enough, and two inside 48 hours reads as panic.

Can NagMeLater send the payment chase for me?

No. No outside app can send from your personal WhatsApp number automatically; WhatsApp's own Schedule Send, in Android beta since 12 October 2026, can send a one-off up to two weeks ahead if it has reached your phone. What NagMeLater can do, on any phone and for any date, is hold the message until the time you chose and then nudge you with a one-tap link that opens the chat with your text already in it, so you press send. The message goes from your own number in your own chat, which is the only way a payment chase should arrive.