The single most effective protection against non-payment is also the simplest: get paid before you start. A deposit does three things at once. It confirms the client is serious, it funds the early hours of the project, and it filters out the clients who were never going to pay. Freelancers who take deposits report fewer late payments, fewer cancellations, and fewer scope disputes than those who bill only at the end.

The standard deposit is 50 percent upfront for projects under $5,000, with the balance due on delivery. For larger projects, use milestones: 30 percent to start, 40 percent at the midpoint, 30 percent on delivery. For small one-off jobs under $500, many freelancers ask for 100 percent upfront, which is reasonable because the amount is small and the admin cost of chasing a small invoice is disproportionate. Retainer clients usually pay the first month in advance. The pattern is consistent: the smaller and shorter the job, the larger the upfront share.

The wording matters more than the percentage. Put the deposit in your proposal as a normal line item, not as a special request: A 50 percent deposit of $1,500 is due to reserve your start date, with the remaining $1,500 due on delivery. The phrase reserve your start date reframes the deposit as the client securing your calendar, which is true: an unpaid booking is not a booking. Add a start-date condition: work begins once the deposit clears, not when the client says go.

New clients sometimes push back, and the response is to hold the line politely. If a client says their accounts team cannot pay upfront, offer a smaller deposit or a shorter first milestone, but do not offer to start for free. A client whose company genuinely cannot pay a deposit can usually pay a first milestone of a few hundred dollars. A client who refuses any upfront payment is giving you information about how the final invoice will go. Believe them.

Make paying easy. Send the deposit invoice the same day the proposal is accepted, include a payment link, and accept cards as well as bank transfer: a 3 percent card fee is cheaper than a month of chasing a wire. State the deposit is non-refundable if the client cancels after work begins, and pair that with a kill fee clause for cancellations mid-project. The two terms together mean a cancelled project still pays for the work you did.

If you have never asked for a deposit, start with your next new client, not an existing one. Existing clients have an established pattern and changing it mid-relationship creates friction; new clients accept your terms as simply how you work. After three projects with deposits, it becomes your normal process, and you will wonder why you ever started work on a promise alone.

A tax note worth knowing: on a cash basis, a deposit counts as income in the year you receive it, even if the work happens the next year. That matters in December, when a large deposit can push income into the current tax year. Some freelancers ask clients to pay January deposits in January for exactly this reason. It is a small planning detail, but it is the kind of detail that separates freelancers who are surprised at tax time from those who are not. Keep deposits in your business account, track them per project, and reconcile them against the final invoice when the project closes.