Should I take a deposit as a self-employed person?
Should I take a deposit as a self-employed person in the UK? My answer is yes, almost always. Here's why, how much to ask for, and what the rules say.
Should I take a deposit as a self-employed person? Yes. Almost always. I think most sole traders who say "I'll just invoice at the end" are choosing the most stressful way to run a business.
Here's my argument.
A deposit is a decision, not a debt
Say you're a photographer. A client books you for a Saturday wedding in June. You turn down two other enquiries for that date. Then the client cancels three days before.
Without a deposit, you've lost the day and the money. With a deposit, you've lost the day but kept something for it.
That's the real job of a deposit. It isn't a trick to get money early. It pays you for the time you set aside and can't sell twice.
Late payment is common, so don't add more risk
In July 2025, research by London Economics for the Department for Business and Trade and the Small Business Commissioner found that over 1.5 million businesses, or 28% of businesses, are affected by late payments each year. It put the average owed at about £17,000 per affected business.
Your numbers will be much smaller. The pattern is the same. Someone owes you money, and you have to ask for it.
A deposit shrinks that problem. If a customer has paid 30% up front, the rest feels like finishing a job, not starting an argument. It's easier to ask for the rest when the customer has already committed.
I wrote more on the cost of chasing in the real cost of chasing. It's mostly time, and time is the thing a one-person business has least of.
What the rules say
I'm not a lawyer, so check your own situation. Here's what Citizens Advice says about services arranged by consumers.
If the customer books online, by phone or away from your premises, they get a cooling-off period. Citizens Advice says 14 days is the minimum, and it starts the day after the contract is made. If they cancel in that time, they're entitled to all their money back. The exception is if they asked you to start work in the cooling-off period. Then you can keep what covers the work you've done.
If the service was arranged at your own premises, there's no cooling-off period. In that case Citizens Advice says a business may charge a cancellation fee, or hold some or all of the deposit to cover its financial loss. Its example is setting aside time for a job and being unable to book someone else for that slot.
Two things follow from this.
- Put your deposit and cancellation terms in writing before the customer pays. A clear message in the booking chat is better than nothing, and a short written agreement is better still.
- Keep any deposit you hold tied to a real loss. A deposit that's far bigger than your real loss is the kind customers push back on, and Citizens Advice tells them to negotiate if they think it's too much.
How much should you ask for?
There's no official number. This is what I'd do.
- Short jobs under £100: take the full amount up front, or ask for a deposit of half. A £40 lesson doesn't need an invoice cycle.
- Mid-size jobs: ask for 25% to 50%.
- Big or bespoke jobs: ask for 30% to 50% up front and agree stage payments. If you buy materials, ask for enough to cover them.
- Repeat customers you trust: you can relax this. Still, I'd keep deposits for any date that blocks out your diary.
Say you're a dog groomer who charges £45 a session. A no-show costs you the full £45, because the slot is gone. A £10 booking deposit, taken when they book, protects the slot. It also tells the customer the slot matters.
Isn't it awkward?
Only the first time. After that it's just how you work.
What helps is saying it as a rule, not a request. "I take a 30% deposit to hold the date" sounds like a business. "Would you mind paying a bit up front?" sounds like you're asking a favour.
Customers who are happy to hire you are happy to pay a deposit. If a customer refuses, you've learned something before you've lost anything.
Make it easy to pay
The best deposit is the one that arrives while the customer is still thinking about you. That means a link or bank details in the same chat where they booked, not an invoice they'll look at on Thursday.
Most of your customers already message you on WhatsApp. I made the case for that in your customer already opened WhatsApp. Send the deposit request there, with the date it holds, and most people pay within minutes.
My take
Not taking a deposit feels polite. In practice it hands all the risk to you and none to the customer.
You don't need a big policy. Pick a percentage, write it down, and send it with every quote. Start with the next booking.
At Vcents, you can ask a customer for money in a WhatsApp chat and they pay from their own bank app, so a deposit request takes a few seconds. That's all I'll say about us. The habit matters more than the tool.
Sources
Vcents turns the thread into a payment.
Ask for money in plain English. Your customer taps once, authorises in their own bank, and the receipt lands back in the chat.
How receiving payments works