Getting paid
Deposit
The share of the fee paid before work begins, so you are not financing the whole engagement. 25 to 50% upfront is standard.
What it means
A deposit is the portion of the fee a client pays before work starts. It transfers a small amount of financial commitment from you to the client at the moment the deal begins, so the risk is not sitting entirely on one side.
Why it matters
Without a deposit, every risk in the project is yours, and the client's cost of walking away is exactly zero. A no-deposit contract paired with long net terms is the worst combination: you do the work, invoice, and wait a month or two for any money, funding the whole project from your own pocket.
What fair looks like
- 25 to 50% upfront is the standard range. Common structures are 50/50, thirds (a third to start, a third at the midpoint, a third on delivery), or 40/40/20.
- Larger deposits (up to 75%) are normal on rush work, or where you must turn down other engagements to take the job. Video and other production-heavy work sits at the top of the range because costs are incurred before the client sees anything.
- The red flag is 0% upfront with everything due on completion.
Related reading
See the blog post on how much deposit is normal, and the deposit benchmarks by discipline.