Domestic work

Domestic jobs: quotes, deposits, stage payments, extras and invoices

3 min read · Checked against the product 3 October 2026

Run homeowner work: a quote with its deposit and stage payments that the client accepts from their phone, extras and the cancellation notice, then invoices, payments and the job timeline.

The Construction Act’s payment regime does not apply to a residential occupier, and a homeowner is a consumer with cancellation rights. A Domestic project puts VariationFlow on that footing: no contract notice clocks, homeowner wording on every status, and invoices instead of applications. It works on every plan; on Builder, each quote and project can be up to £100,000 before VAT. The cancellation guidance in the product is general information, not legal advice.

Send a quote

1. Open Quotes and choose “+ New Quote”. Enter the client’s name and email, the site address and a job title.
2. Add the work as lines with quantities and rates. Under “Prices entered”, say whether they include VAT: the client always sees the VAT-inclusive total. Add a valid-until date and any exclusions.
3. Under Deposit and stage payments, set any deposit as a fixed amount or a percentage of the quote, how many days after acceptance it is due and what it is for, then “Add a stage” for each later payment with its milestone. The stages must add up to the quote total.
4. Choose “Send to client”. The client opens a private link with the breakdown, deposit and stages, and needs no account. They accept by typing their name and ticking the deposit, or ask for changes or decline. Until they answer, an edited quote goes again on the same link.
5. Acceptance is recorded with the time and IP address, creates the Domestic project with its deposit and stages, and emails the client written confirmation with the 14-day cancellation notice.

Extras and the cancellation notice

Extras are captured like any variation. An extra agreed in the client’s home carries a 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. The Consumer cancellation card on the extra shows when the period ends and emails the cancellation notice to the client. Send it: without it, the cancellation period can stretch to a year. If the client wants work started inside the 14 days, get their request in writing and tick the box that records it, which is what entitles you to be paid for work done if they cancel.

Getting paid: the Payments panel

On a Domestic project, Payments replaces applications and valuations. It shows the contract value, invoiced, paid, outstanding, overdue and not yet invoiced, and any gap in the schedule.

1. On the deposit or a stage, choose “Raise invoice”. “Mark milestone reached” dates a stage’s milestone, and “Add to the schedule” adds a payment the quote did not have.
2. Approved extras wait under “Approved extras not yet invoiced”: tick them and choose “Invoice selected extras”.
3. Each invoice takes the next number in your one series, INV-0001 onwards, or your accounts software’s series once its next number is set in Settings, Organisation, or change it as you raise it. It falls due on the stage’s date or fourteen days after it is raised, and “Email to client” sends the PDF.
4. When money lands, choose “Record payment” with the amount, date and method. Part payments add up, and once an emailed invoice is overdue, “Send reminder” asks again for what is owed.
5. A wrong invoice can be voided, with a reason, while no payment is recorded on it; the number stays in the series and its stage or extras can be invoiced again.

The job timeline

“Job timeline”, on the project page, lists the job in date order from the records themselves: the quote and the client’s answers, the deposit, extras, cancellation notices, invoices and payments. Read it before answering a client who remembers differently.

What good looks like

• Every job starting from an accepted quote with its deposit and stages, so the money is agreed first.
• The cancellation notice sent for every extra agreed in the home, on the day it is agreed.
• Bank details and, once you are registered, your VAT number in Settings, Organisation: without a VAT number, invoices charge no VAT.

Common mistakes

• Starting an extra inside the 14 days on a verbal go-ahead.
• Setting up a homeowner job as a commercial project, which puts statutory payment notices on a contract they do not apply to.
• Leaving approved extras off every invoice. The project page says how much is waiting.