Payment plans that stop the job until paid
Give each project a payment plan, such as the ready 10 / 50 / 35 / 5. Milestones fall due when a stage starts: the client is asked for 50 % as production begins. The job does not move on until that money is in. Payments Due shows what every client owes.
PLANSEvery plan
Why it matters
Interior firms carry the risk of buying boards, hardware and appliances for a client who has not paid. Once the kitchen is installed, there is nothing left to hold. Studio tools can split an invoice into instalments, but the project carries on whether it is paid or not. In SmartMy Interiors a milestone marked Stops Moving On keeps the job in its stage until it is received. Production waits for the 50 %, and Onsite Works waits for the 35 %. Passing it anyway needs an approval with a reason.
The problem it solves
- Production starts on a promise to pay, and the 50 % arrives after the kitchen is installed.
- Nobody in the office can list who owes what this week.
- A change order moves the price, and the remaining instalments are worked out again by hand.
- The client says they were never told a payment was due.
How it works
- Set up plans once under Interiors > Sales > Configuration > Payment Plans. The ready plan is 10 / 50 / 35 / 5: booking, before production, during site work and before handover.
- A project made from an enquiry takes the first plan by itself. The booking milestone is marked received with the booking amount, date and reference.
- Each other milestone falls due when its stage starts, with days to pay. That is 50 % at Pre-production (7 days), 35 % at Onsite Works (7 days), 5 % at Closure (3 days).
- When one falls due, the client is told the amount and the date to pay by. With Accounting, a draft customer invoice is made at once.
- Record the money with Received (amount, date, reference), or let it be marked received when the invoice is paid in Accounting.
- While a milestone marked Stops Moving On is due and not received, Next Stage refuses and names the payment. A manager can still ask to move on through the Stage Override approval.
Everything it does
Payment plans
- Any number of plans; each line has a name, % of Value or Fixed Amount, Falls Due, Days and Stops Moving On
- Falls Due: By Hand, On a Date, Days After the Start, When a Stage Starts, When a Stage Ends, When a Key Event Is Done
- Days: days after the start, or the days the client has to pay once due
- Total % shown on the plan; a Note for the Client kept with it
- Ready: 10 / 50 / 35 / 5, with the 50, 35 and 5 set to stop the job
Milestones on a project
- Made from the plan; picking another plan replaces the planned ones and keeps those due or received
- Amount from the project's value, or the fixed amount; it can be typed
- Due On (Planned), Due By, Received, Received On, Reference, Notes
- Status: Planned, Due, Received, Cancelled; overdue ones in red
- Due Now and Received totals on the Payments tab (managers)
- Buttons for managers: Make Due, Received, Make Invoice, Back to Planned, Cancel
When the value changes
- The Project Value comes from the booked quote; approved estimates and agreed change orders move it
- Milestones by % that are not received yet follow the new value; fixed amounts stay
- An approved furniture proposal adds a deposit milestone, due at once
Invoices and money in
- With Accounting: a draft customer invoice for the client, from the sales journal, with the entity's default sales tax
- The invoice is due on the milestone's Due By and names the project and the milestone
- Every hour, milestones whose invoice is paid are marked received with the invoice number
- Without Accounting: Received with the date and the receipt, transfer or cheque number
- With budgets (Scale), the posted invoice carries the project and counts as revenue
Lists and the client
- Interiors > Projects > Finance > Billing > Payments Due (managers): filters Due, Overdue and Received
- A payment falling due, and a payment received with a thank-you, are posted on the project feed
- The Client app: a Payment due alert and each milestone with its due date and whether it is received
- The SmartMy Interiors app: payments due and received on each project
Who uses it
AccountsWorks from Payments Due, records money in and checks draft invoices.
Project managerSees the job held for a payment and follows it up with the client.
OwnerSets the plans and decides when a job may move on without the money.
HomeownerIs told when a payment is due and sees every milestone in the Client app.
Where you use it
- Web: the project's Payments tab and Interiors > Projects > Finance > Billing > Payments Due
- Configuration: Interiors > Sales > Configuration > Payment Plans
- The SmartMy Interiors app and the Client app: payments due and received (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not built: paying online from the app or the message; the client pays you the usual way
What you control
Settings
- Payment plans and their lines: % or amount, when due, days to pay
- Stops Moving On per line: on for the 50, 35 and 5 of the ready plan
- Each project's own milestones, changed after the plan is applied
Approvals
- Stage Override: passing a stage held by an unpaid milestone; a project manager approves to start with
Notifications
- Project Payment Due: to the client and the client's people on the team, by email, WhatsApp and in the app. It has the amount and pay-by date
- Project Update: the payment received, posted on the feed for the client, with their link
- Sent at once, at any hour: these are work messages, so quiet hours do not hold them back
Questions
Can we change the 10 / 50 / 35 / 5 plan?
Yes. Change the percentages, the stages they fall due at and the days to pay, or add more plans, such as one for turnkey villas.What happens to the instalments after a change order?
Once the client agrees the change order, the project value moves by it. Milestones by % that are not received yet take their new share.Can a client pay a milestone in parts?
A milestone is received once. Split it into two milestones on the project, or type the amount actually received before you press Received.Do we need accounting for this?
No. Without it you record payments by hand. With it, the draft invoice is made when the milestone falls due and the milestone is marked received when the invoice is paid.Can the client pay online?
Not from the payment message or the app yet. The message tells them the amount and date; they pay by bank transfer, UPI or cheque as usual.Which plan has it?
Every plan, Starter included.Related features
PROJECTSProject stages held by roles, with checksEvery home moves from Site Measurement to Handed Over through stages, each held by a role such as the designer or the site supervisor. A project leaves a stage only when its check passes, for example the measurement sheet approved or every cut list made. The client reads in their app what each stage means.PROJECTSChange orders and the daily work logSay the client wants a loft added or a wardrobe dropped after the price is agreed. A change order goes to them as a link to approve. Agreed, the project value and the payments still to come follow. The site team keeps one work log a day with photos, and the client sees it on their feed.ESTIMATING AND SELLINGEstimates with rooms as sectionsThe detailed quote, laid out room by room. Modular boxes are priced from your materials, work such as false ceiling or painting comes from your rate library, and other lines are typed. The client approves it on a web page, and each new version tells them what changed.ACCOUNTINGFull accounting with GST returnsKeep the books in the same system as your interiors jobs. Design fee bills, payment milestones and subcontractor bills arrive as drafts for your accountant, with full reports from ledgers to cash flow. For Indian entities, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B are worked out from the posted invoices and bills.PROJECTSProfitability per projectOne row per interior project: the value sold, revenue invoiced, and cost so far split into OPEX and CAPEX. Also what is committed, the margin and how much of the budget is used. Filters show the jobs losing money or over budget.PROJECTSDashboards: Sales, Design, ProjectsThree ready dashboards open first in Interiors. Sales and Design are for the whole team, and Projects is for managers. Every number counts only what the viewer may open, and a click shows the records behind it.
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