Hold retention back, release it with its own invoice
Withhold and release retention.
Part of invoicing & payments in Gaffer, which replaces a separate invoicing app and a folder of unpaid PDFs.
Invoice from the driveway. Get paid before you leave it.
One tap turns the job into a branded invoice with a Pay Now link — card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Direct Debit. Reminders chase politely on your behalf. Xero or QuickBooks are updated for you.
The chasing happens on a schedule instead of when you finally get round to it, and nobody has to make the awkward phone call.
Retention billing is one of the 20 things in invoicing & payments. See the rest →
- Hold back a percentage or a fixed amount so only the balance is collectable on the invoice
- The withheld amount is excluded from what is owed, rather than invoiced and then chased
- Releasing it raises its own invoice, numbered after the original and marked as the release
- No VAT is added a second time on release, because it was charged on the original document
- Retention can be released once, and only where there was retention withheld to release
Step 05 of the job: invoice
Marking the job complete raises the invoice from the accepted quote, nets off the deposit, attaches the certificate and sends it with a Pay Now link — before the van has left the drive.
Invoicing & Payments is where retention billing sits, and that is the step it shows up in most. The rest of the job — quoting, scheduling, certificates, invoicing and payment — runs in the same system, on the same record. See the whole job →
What is retention billing for?
Hold back a percentage or a fixed amount so only the balance is collectable on the invoice The withheld amount is excluded from what is owed, rather than invoiced and then chased
When does the money actually reach my account?
Card payments go to your own Stripe account on Stripe’s normal payout schedule, and Direct Debit through your own GoCardless account. Gaffer never holds your money and takes no cut of it.
Does it handle VAT and CIS properly?
Yes. VAT is per line with your rates and the invoice is a valid VAT invoice. Returns are worked out across all nine boxes from your own invoices and expenses, ready to check and hand to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage to file. Direct submission to HMRC under Making Tax Digital is built but not switched on yet — we will say so here the day it is. CIS deductions are recorded per subcontractor with the monthly return totalled for you.
Which plan is it on?
Every paid plan. Retention billing is included for unlimited users at no extra cost — the monthly, annual and lifetime plans differ only in how you pay.
The rest of Invoicing & Payments
All 20 →- Every subcontractor’s CIS deduction ready for the monthly return
- Chase the oldest, biggest debts first
- Credit an invoice without leaving it short-paid
- A PDF statement for the customer querying their account
- Take a deposit and credit it properly later
- Set up a Direct Debit once and stop asking
- Expenses captured against the job, with an approval step
- Polite chasers that stop the day it is paid
- Invoice a finished job in one tap
- Bill a big job stage by stage
Put retention billing to work.
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