Get paid up front
Confirmed retainers become client credit the moment they land. Your client commits; your cash flow stops being a forecast.
Tideoo Retainer
Retainers, finally simple
Put a retainer on file and it becomes client credit — held in the client’s own currency, applied to invoices as you go, with an auditable ledger behind every movement. Prepaid work without the bookkeeping headache.
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Retainer · Acme Corporation
ActiveAvailable credit$2,000.00
Invoice total$2,000.00
Retainer applied−$2,000.00
Amount due$0.00
What you gain
Retainer that pays for itself
Apply credit as you invoice
Apply some or all of a client’s credit when you create an invoice — the balance due updates instantly. Burn the retainer down as you work.
A ledger you can trust
Every credit in and out is an auditable ledger entry. You can always answer "how much of the retainer is left, and where did it go?"
Currency-safe by design
Credit shares the invoice currency — it can only be applied where it belongs. No silent conversions, no drift.
How it works
Three steps, start to finish
- 01
Receive the retainer
Your client pays the retainer and it is reported on an invoice like any payment — with proof.
- 02
It becomes client credit
Confirm the payment and the amount is held as credit for that client, in their own currency.
- 03
Spend it down naturally
As you invoice, apply credit — partially or in full. The client sees the retainer at work on every invoice.
Under the hood
Everything working for you
- Overpayments join the pot
- Clients who overpay an invoice keep the excess as credit too — so nothing prepaid is ever stranded.
- Partial or full application
- Apply exactly what you want to each invoice. Small invoices nibble at the balance; big ones can take it all.
- Transparent to your client
- Applied credit shows on the invoice — "retainer applied −$2,000" — so the client sees their prepayment doing its job.
- Always in the client’s currency
- A retainer from your EUR client is held in EUR and applied to their EUR invoices. Reporting rolls it into your workspace currency for you.
FAQ
Questions about Tideoo Retainer, answered
It is prepaid money — from a retainer or an overpayment — held for a specific client. It reduces the balance due on their invoices and is tracked entry-by-entry in a ledger.
When credit no longer covers an invoice, the remainder stays due and your client pays it normally. Top up the retainer whenever you like.
Yes — apply some or all of the available credit when creating an invoice. The balance due updates instantly, and the ledger records the movement.
Credit belongs to a client and lives in their currency. The "client credit held" report shows exactly how much prepaid money you are holding per client.
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