Classic Retainers

By classic retainers we mean the case, when you need to get one or multiple upfront payments for a big project. In this case, the retainer balance will be spent by multiple invoices.

You need to install the Clerk Budgets app to handle the retainer balance.

Let’s look at the example of working with classic retainers:

1. You create a project in the Clerk Budgets app and set the Retainer budget type.
2. To set the retainer balance you have 2 options that could be used at the same time. You can manually set the budget balance in the Clerk Budgets app. Or you can link one or multiple invoices that add to the retainer budget. These invoices usually include a fixed amount you send to a client to get the retainer payment. You can link new invoices that add to the retainer budget at any time, even in the middle of the project timeline.
3. Now you can create invoices that spend the retainer. Every invoice should be linked to the retainer (Clerk Budgets project) in the Spend mode. Retainer Withdrawals records will be automatically added to each invoice that spends the retainer. Retainer withdrawals will use the budget balance to cover the invoiced amount until the budget balance is fully spent.
4. If you use the Invoice Generator, you can link invoice templates to retainers in the same way you do with invoices.