How to Track Tailoring Deposits and Balances

Cloth and labour are committed once cutting starts, so the money conversation belongs before it. Settle these points with the client and write them on the order:

• The total price, and what it includes: fabric, lining, buttons, and any alterations after the first fitting.
• The deposit you are taking now, and the balance that will be due. How much to ask for is your decision; what matters is that it is agreed and written down.
• The deadline, and the date the client expects to collect.

If the client adds a garment or changes the style, update the total the same day and tell them the new figure. A price change that lives only in your head turns into an argument at collection.

Each payment gets its own record, not a running total in the margin of a notebook. For each one, note:

• The amount and the date.
• How it was paid: cash, M-Pesa or bank transfer.
• A reference where there is one, such as the M-Pesa transaction code.
• Who took the payment, if more than one person works the counter.

Give the client a receipt or a confirmation message each time. It protects them and it protects you.

The balance is the total price minus everything paid so far. Once payments are recorded properly, the balance is simple arithmetic and nobody has to remember anything.

Once a week, go through every open order and list the ones with a balance outstanding. Start with orders that are already finished, because the work is done and the money is not in.

A ready message that includes the amount due saves a phone call and sets expectations for collection. For example:

Sooner or later a client will collect late or not pay in full. Decide your rules before it happens rather than during the argument: how long you will keep a finished garment, whether you release it against a part-payment, and what happens to orders that are never collected.

Then tell every client up front, ideally on the receipt, so the rules are never a surprise.