Billing Management: #4 Negate Risk Free with Advances
In the last post, we explored how unbilled charges accumulate before being invoiced. But what happens when businesses need money before service begins?
Picture this: A construction company takes on a $500,000 commercial building project expected to last 12 months. The first step is sending the client a detailed quote. Once accepted, the builder requires a 20% advance before breaking ground. This advance payment doesn't represent complete work; it secures raw materials, labour, and permits to get the project moving. The client feels reassured that the project will start on schedule, while the builder gains the cash flow needed to set everything in motion.
This is the essence of advance billing. Unlike unbilled charges raised after usage or delivery, advance billing ensures businesses have funds available before or during service execution, reducing the risk and ensuring smooth operations.
This post will explore the nuances of advance billing and the best way to handle it.
Types of Advances
Across industries, businesses collect advances in different ways depending on their needs: Advance Invoices, Security Deposits or Retainers, Prepaid Subscriptions, Down Payments, Reservation or Booking Advances, and so on. Though these advances carry different names and practices, they all represent the same principle: to secure funds upfront before service fulfilment.
When do businesses need/use Advance Billing?
Businesses rely on advance billing in two situations:
Before a Project or Subscription Begins- Customers agree to pay in advance, securing their commitment and giving the business working capital.
Ahead of a Billing Cycle- Customers make payment before the cycle starts, allowing businesses to run smoothly with guaranteed funds.
Let's look at some real-time use cases where Advances becomes handy.
A corporate client plans a $50,000 retreat at a luxury resort six months in advance. To confirm the booking, reserve rooms, and coordinate vendors, the resort requires a 20% upfront payment. Without this, the business would risk blocking dates without certainty of the client's commitment. By collecting advance payment, the resort secures the funds and the assurance that the event will occur.
A consulting firm signs a $120,000 strategic engagement with a client. Before the project begins, the firm must dedicate senior consultants, purchase specialized research reports, and reshuffle schedules. Covering these costs and securing the client's commitment requires a 30% payment before the project process. This advance ensures the consulting team can jump into the work with resources ready rather than worrying about delayed payments or last-minute cancellations.
A SaaS platform charges $2000 per month for its enterprise plan. Instead of paying month by month, a client chooses to prepay the entire year for $24,000. This advance means guaranteed revenue and reduces churn risk for the SaaS provider. For the client, it simplifies budgeting and often comes with a cost benefit or a discount. The advance serves as a year-long commitment on both sides.
An education company launches a six-month course at $500 per month. Before the end of the month, the training institute sends a payment link to ensure that students pay ahead of the renewal cycle. This advance confirms students' continuity and allows the institute to plan the resources properly.
Beyond the four different businesses, advances or credits are vital in Construction and infrastructure, Professional services, Education and training, Healthcare, Travel agencies, and many more.
The first and second scenarios are one-time deliverable tasks: a one-time booking and a consulting project. They require an advance invoice to collect payment, which will be adjusted against the total amount. This invoice should not necessarily be part of the usual invoice, as it will be applied against the total when the service is delivered.
When you look at the other two scenarios, they are subscription-based and typically billed either ahead of the billing cycle or as an advance while the subscription is in progress.
Bail out with Zoho Billing
Across these cases, businesses face two recurring needs:
Sometimes advances must be invoiced upfront- for cases like consulting retainers or SaaS prepayments.
Sometimes, advances are commitment payments held as credits, such as event deposits, manufacturing down payments, or hospitality booking advances.
Zoho Billing's Advance Billing & Retainers are carefully built to handle:
- Retainer Invoice for One-time & Projects: Businesses can raise invoices for upfront retainers, record the payment, and apply it to the final bill.
- Advance Invoices: Businesses can raise a valid taxable invoice for upfront payment and track it until adjusted.
- Advance Payment Request: Businesses can collect money securely through a payment link as credits and apply it later to the final bill.
Zoho Billing stands out because retainers can be applied to an invoice anytime it is created. On the other hand, in a subscription-based ecosystem, advanced billing does not disrupt the regular billing cycle. Invoices are still raised on schedule, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
The difference lies in how payments are applied. Advances are automatically adjusted against invoices, ensuring that businesses always receive funds in advance while customers continue to receive their regular bills accordingly.
Adopting advanced billing allows businesses to create financial stability and secure customer commitment early on. This naturally sets the stage for usage-based billing, where charges depend on actual consumption. Unbilled charges, advance billing, and usage billing complete the billing spectrum for modern revenue management using Zoho Billing.
Topic Participants
Hari Hara Sudhan. S
Sticky Posts
Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020
Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here'sCommunity Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly youCommunity Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate mostIntroducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020
Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides
Recent Topics
Knowledge Base Module
How to enable the knowledge base module in zoho crm account. I saw this module in one crm account but unable to find it other zoho crm account. can anyone know about this?Zoho sign changed Indexing of signing_order
Because I missed this Announcement (is there even one?): when you work with the indexes of actions > signing_order. Previous those started with 0 now starts with 1. Changed somewhere between 15.07 and 23.07How to Invoice Based on Timesheet Hours Logged on a Zoho FSM Work Order
Hi everyone, We’re working on optimizing our invoicing process in Zoho FSM, and we’ve run into a bit of a roadblock. Here’s our goal: We want to invoice based on the actual number of hours logged by our technicians on a job, specifically using the timesheetsZoho CRM Community Digest - June 2025 | Part 2
Welcome back to the Zoho CRM Community Digest! We’re wrapping up June with more fresh updates, smart discussions, and clever workarounds shared by the community. Product Updates: Struggling to keep track of scattered customer interactions? Zoho CRM'sAllow Variable Insertion in Prebuilt "Update Record" Action in Schedules
Hi Zoho Creator Team, Hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request based on our experience using Zoho Creator schedules to manage workflows integrated with Zoho Desk. We currently have an app where Zoho Desk tickets create records inRich Text Field Editor in Form Builder is Too Small and Not Resizable
Hello, I am experiencing a significant usability issue with the rich text field in the Zoho Forms builder. The editor window for this field is fixed-size and extremely small. It does not adapt to the screen size, which makes it very difficult to managePublicar Formulário
Obs. Não consigo publicar meus formulários, pesquisei alguns artigos, mas me deixou perdido, fala de campo sensível, não consigo entender o que significa. Segue Imagem do problema. Todo formulário que faço sempre termina assim sem o botão de publicar..Anyone else unable to login to ZMA this weekend?
Hey Is anyone else unable to log into Zoho Marketing Automation at all this weekend? I've been trying on multiple devices - despot and mobile - and multiple browser. I've reset browsing data, gone incognito. Nothing - since Friday I've been unable toCustom Action for Subform row
Dears, As for now, we only have 2 actions for each subform row: Edit and Delete. I would suggest to have custom action here, instead of create a button with Fx field within the subform. For example, I would create Duplicate button, which duplicates theUrgent: Unable to Receive OTP Email for Portal User Registration in Zoho Creator
I paid to enable the Portal User feature on 2/25, and followed the official instructions (Youtube video: Customer Portals | Zoho Creator) to set up the Portal User using my Gmail account. However, I am not receiving the OTP email and am unable to successfullyDisplay multiple fields in lookup dropdown
I have a module called Technicians and a related module called submissions that registers technicians for different assignments. The lookup in Submissions to Technicians is the Technician ID (auto generated unique number). How do I display in the dropdownIntegrate with Power BI
Hi, How to connect Zoho CRM dashboards & reports with POWER BI ?No "Import Users" option in Zoho FSM
I recently noticed that there is no option to import Users into Zoho FSM, and this has become a serious challenge for us. When migrating data, especially technicians or other user profiles, we often have hundreds of users to bring into the system. Currently,Finding "like" projects
Hi Everyone! My team is running into several duplicating deals. I've been trying to get them all to name things the same way ex. State is 2 letters not spelled out. Things like that. What I am wondering if there is anything I can do as the superadminNão consigo localizar o Botão de Publicar Formulário no meu app
Depois que finalizar meus formulários, não consigo localizar o botão de publicar para concluir meu aplicativoDATEV-Export Erfahrungen?
Wir würden gern den DATEV-Export in Books nutzen, jedoch ist dieser nicht wirklich nutzbar. Gibt es positive Erfahrungen von Alternativ-Lösungen?Kaizen #191: Implementing "Login with Zoho" using Python SDK
Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!! This week, we are diving into how to implement secure user authentication using Login with Zoho and integrate it with Zoho CRM through our Python SDK. To ground this in a real-world scenario, we will look at howCustom modules not showing in developer console
I'm trying to create a custom summing function for a custom module I made in my CRM. When I go to create the function, my module isnt showing up. Do I need to share the custom moldule with my developer console or something of the like?Following retainer invoice for partial payment of a sales order
HI, We issue sales orders when a client buy a product from us. We also issue multiple retainer invoices for partial payment (2 to 4 depending of the client). Team wants to follow payment of these retainer invoices for this Sales Order. If they are paidZoho CommunitySpacesとzoho CRM連携について
お世話になっております。 いつもご質問に丁寧に回答いただき大変助かっております。 今、当団体ではZoho CommunitySpacesを利用しており、利用ユーザ一覧をzoho CRMに自動登録（連携）したいと考えております。 そもそも可能なのか、もしあれば具体的な手順や方法はあるのかをご教授いただきたいです。 上記がないのなら、ユーザ一覧のエクスポート方法（メールアドレスと姓を含む）でもよいです。 お手数となりますが、お願いいたします。Zoho Wiki or new Zoho Learn
We are currently evaluating if we should move off confluence. At present in Confluence we have multiple levels within our documentation but with learn it looks like you can only have Space - Manual - Chapter Is it possible to have levels below Chapter? Also the same question for the existing wiki, can I have more sub-levels?Sales without an invoice
Sales without an invoice is not included on the “payments received” report. Also, sales without an invoice is not listed in the transactions under the customer’s profile, also making it easy to do a double entry. Is there a way for me to see my salesZoho Sign API - Create a document from template.
1. I would like to create a document from a template and send the document to the customer for signing. Is this possible using the Zoho Sign API? If so, please share the api reference link. 2. Is there sand box for Zoho Sign to test the APIs without usingZoho Sign embedded iframe
Hello, we are looking for any of these options: a) some iframe that we can paste into our website for every signer, for onpage signing document. b) or get direct link for signers from Zoho sign API which we can redirect manually. Is any of these optionsGoods in transit
When creating a purchase order in Zoho Books, how can I properly reflect the inventory as "Goods in Transit" until it reaches its final destination?how to coming soon, holding site, or "under construction"
Hi! I was wandering if was possible to create a website with the simple sign of "Under construction or coming soon" while i work on the site. if possible, how? CheersAnnouncing Agentic AI - Ask Zia!
We are delighted to roll out the new agentic AI capabilities in Ask Zia, where every stage of the BI workflow is assisted by AI. With a human-in-the-loop approach, Ask Zia ensures that you’re in command of the decision, while AI handles the complexity.Zoho People LMS VS Zoho Connect Manuals VS Zoho Learn
in the past I came accross Zoho WIKI but did not like the platform because it could use a lot of upgrade. Over the time I have noticed Zoho People come out with a LMS module which allows us to created a shared knowledge for our internal team I also came across Zoho Connect which as a knowledge-based for internal team referred to as Manual Now I am seeing Zoho Learn which is a new and fine-tuned version of Zoho Wiki. All of these platforms are very similar but I am wondering what are the differencesMarketing Automation Activities in Zoho CRM
Hello, I've connected Zoho CRM and Marketing Automation, sent a campaign, but no data are displayed in CRM, neither in "campaigns" section inside contact profile. It is possible to display Marketing Automation activities in CRM? Also in CRM Timelines?How do we get a follow up to Experts 22: Scale up your customer support with integrations & extensibility
Hi, How do we get a followup and answers to the questions we have asked during 'Experts 22: Scale up your customer support with integrations & extensibility'. I have repsonded to the answers but have no way of following up. Thanks BrettFrustrating Email Duplication and Timeline Issues Between Zoho Mail and CRM
Hi Zoho team, Can someone please help clarify what’s going on here? Here’s what’s happening: I initiate an email to a lead using Zoho Mail. The lead is created in Zoho CRM via the integration, and the email is correctly associated with that lead. Sometimes,Best Strategy to import contacts and when to create leads
Hi, I'm new to Bigin and looking for a "best" strategy. I had and have the following idea for an use case: 1. Search for websites which I want to contact 2. Create a contact in Bigin with all the required information based on this website (via API ifBetter implementation of Item Category on Invoices and Estimates
1) I have added Item Category as a custom field. Honestly, this should be a native part of the item itself, and either required, optional, or not used. 2) When entering an item on an invoice, you have to enter the first character(s) of the item, otherwiseBulk Update (via the 'Accountant' menu)
Why can't we bulk update Expenses to Owner's Drawings? It always ends in failure with the error "Involved account types are not applicable". If such conversion isn't possible, why make the option available? Better to allow it though.Set Reply_to parameter for "Email an Invoice" API Endpoint
Is there a way to set "Reply To" email address when using the Email an invoice API endpoint? It doesn't seem to be in documentation, but sometimes there are undocumented parameters. If it doesn't exist, please consider adding it as parameter since allZoho Books adaptado a la legislación española. ¿Sustitutos?
Buenas a tod@s No tenemos información sobre la adaptación de Zoho Books a la nueva ley de facturación en España. Me preguntan usuarios de zoho que deberían hacer. Propongo una lista de alternativas, si al final se opta por no desarrollar la funcionalidadA Question about Email Handling (Sending and Receiving)
Hello! I was looking into setting up Email Aliases for my domain that I purchased a while ago through Zoho Mail. I set up a singular alias already and have it linked with Gmail, and it seems to be working out well. However, I set up another alias today,Kaizen #201 - Answering Your Questions | Webhooks, Functions, and Schedules
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series! We are incredibly grateful for all the feedback we received, and as promised, we will answer all the queries in this Kaizen series. Last week, in our 200th post, we addressed one of theZoho Projects Strict Dates for Tasks
Hi Zoho Projects team, I would love to see a feature to allow Strict Dates for Tasks. Sometimes in projects you have dates which must not move, even if predecessor Task dates change. For example, perhaps you need to book access to a facility to performNo Mark as filed buton in GSTR -3b
We are filing our GST in GST portal -and want to mark GST in Zoho books as filed. It is possible to mark GSTR 1 as filed through Mark as filed button. But there is no such button in GSTR-3B. How to mark corrosponding GSTR-3B as filed?Next Page