Quotes and deposits: from enquiry to booking

This is for the photographer who’s just had a good enquiry and wants to turn it into a confirmed booking without getting the money side wrong. By the end you’ll know how a quote becomes a booking and how much deposit to ask for. You’ll also know what order to do things in, so you never hold a date on a promise alone. If you haven’t set up your prices yet, do that first. Your packages carry onto the quote, so you’re not deciding your rate mid-conversation.

Send the quote from the lead

You create a quote straight from the lead while the enquiry is still fresh, not as a separate document off to the side. When the client accepts the quote, or pays it, the lead converts to a client. The booking and the first invoice are created together, in one step. The details you already have carry across, so nothing gets re-typed. It all shows up in your task feed for you to confirm, rather than happening in the background.

So one thread runs from the first enquiry to the confirmed job, with the quote in the middle. For the full sequence, from the first enquiry to sending the gallery, read it’s one thread from enquiry to delivery.

How much deposit to ask for

There’s no single right number, but there’s a common range. Most photographers ask for between 25 and 50 percent up front. They lean higher for weddings, and for peak dates they couldn’t easily rebook if the client cancelled. The deposit does two jobs. It commits the client, and it covers you for the date you’re now holding and turning other work away for.

That’s general guidance, not legal advice. What protects you isn’t the percentage. It’s what your contract says the deposit is for: whether it’s a booking fee, whether it’s refundable, and what happens if the client cancels or reschedules. Get that wording from a lawyer or your professional body. Tellisto handles the sending and the signing, and you write the terms.

Contract first, then the deposit

A common mistake for people new to running a studio is treating a verbal yes as a booking. A client says “yes, we’d love to book you” on the phone, you pencil them in, and you both move on. That’s not a booking. That’s a nice conversation.

A booking is a signed contract plus a paid deposit, and you need both. A signature with nothing paid means you’re holding a date for free. A deposit with nothing signed means you’re holding money against terms nobody has agreed to. That’s worse than it sounds on the day something goes wrong. So the order is fixed: send the contract, get it signed, then take the deposit. Some booking checklists carry a contract task (the wedding one does out of the box). When the client signs, that task is ticked off for you. At a glance you can see which bookings are locked in and which are still pending.

Deposit and balance on one total

Once a booking is confirmed, you usually have two payments to track: the deposit now and the balance closer to the shoot. Tellisto rolls a booking’s deposit and balance into one total, so you’re not keeping two separate invoices in your head. Billed, paid and outstanding amounts show on the booking, so you always know where a client stands.

If the balance is large and the client would rather spread it, you don’t need a workaround. An invoice can carry a scheduled instalment plan, with a reminder sent for each instalment. The gallery releases automatically when the final instalment clears. That’s covered in payment plans. For tax invoices, GST and getting the numbers right, see tax invoices, GST and getting paid.

How the client pays

The client pays from a link. They open the invoice’s online pay page and pay by PayID or bank transfer, and the money goes to you directly. Tellisto takes no platform commission on any of it, on any plan. That won’t change as you grow.

Card is an option too, once you’ve connected Stripe and turned it on for that invoice. It’s most useful on a deposit. Dates get lost in the gap between “yes” and “paid”, and a card payment closes that gap on the spot. The fee comes out of your side, and from 1 October 2026 the RBA ends card surcharging on eftpos, Visa and Mastercard. So price the fee in, and treat it as a cost of winning the job rather than a loss on it.