---
title: "Convert to Cash"
url: https://flexie.io/resources/finance/convert-to-cash
description: "The smart bridge from a quote to one or more invoices. Down payments, percentage and fixed-amount billing, and a guarantee that you never invoice more than 100% of the quote total."
---

# Convert to Cash

Last updated 26 May 2026

![A worked Convert-to-Cash flow turning one quote into three invoices, with the 100% running-total tracker](https://flexie.io/image/resources/finance-convert-to-cash.png)

The smart bridge from a quote to one or more invoices, including down payments, partial billing, and a guarantee that you **never invoice more than 100% of the quote total**, no matter how many times you come back.

From any quote, click **Convert to Cash** (or **Convert to Invoice**, depending on the build) to start the flow described below.

## Why this exists

A quote and an invoice almost never have a 1-to-1 relationship in real selling.

* A new project takes a **30% deposit upfront**, then the balance on delivery, two invoices off one quote.
* A long engagement gets billed **monthly in instalments**, twelve invoices off one quote.
* A retainer takes a **fixed sign-up fee** plus monthly billing, a one-off invoice plus more invoices later.

**Convert to Cash** handles all of these. You pick how much of the quote to invoice _this time_, and Flexie creates the invoice correctly: pre-filled with the right lines, the right tax, and a down-payment line where appropriate.

When you come back to the same quote tomorrow to invoice the next instalment, Flexie knows what's already been billed and only lets you bill the remainder.

## The 100% rule

Across all the invoices you raise from one quote, **the total can never exceed 100% of the quote's value**.

If the quote is for **£10,000**:

* One invoice for £4,000 → fine. (£6,000 still available.)
* A second invoice for £6,000 → fine. (£0 still available; quote is fully invoiced.)
* A third invoice for £100 → **rejected**. Flexie tells you the remaining amount is £0.

This protects you from accidentally billing the same line twice when several people work on the same deal, or when an invoicing schedule was mis-counted.

The check runs the moment you try to convert, you can't save an invoice that would push the total over 100%.

## Opening the Convert to Cash flow

From the quote's page, click **Convert to Cash**. A form opens showing:

* The quote's **total** (e.g. £10,000.00).
* The amount **already invoiced** against this quote (e.g. £2,500.00).
* The **remaining** amount available to invoice (e.g. £7,500.00).
* Your **invoicing choices** (the next section).

## The three ways to invoice

You pick one option per conversion:

### 1\. Invoice the full remaining amount

The simplest case: turn the rest of the quote into a single invoice. Every line still uninvoiced gets carried over with its quantities, prices, and taxes.

Pick this when the deal closes in one go, or when you're billing the final balance after one or more down payments.

### 2\. Invoice a percentage of the quote

A percentage of the **original quote total**, e.g. _30% down payment_, _25% per quarter_. Flexie does the maths and creates the invoice with:

* A single **down-payment line** equal to the chosen percentage of the quote total.
* The right tax applied to that line.
* The line description showing it's a percentage (e.g. _"30% Down payment, Quote Q-1042"_).

The remaining quote balance reduces by the down-payment amount, ready for the next invoice.

> **Why a single down-payment line?** Because _"30% deposit"_ isn't the same as _"invoice 30% of every line"_. Customers want to see a clean "Deposit: £3,000" on the invoice, not thirty fractional lines. Flexie books it that way too, see [Accounting](https://flexie.io/resources/finance/accounting).

### 3\. Invoice a fixed amount

A specific number, e.g. _"£2,500 this time"_. Use this when the schedule is an amount, not a percentage (project milestones sometimes work this way).

Same shape as percentage-based: one down-payment line for the amount, with the right tax applied. The remaining balance reduces by that amount.

## Down-payment lines on the invoice

When you choose **percentage** or **fixed amount**, the invoice gets a **down-payment line** instead of carrying over the quote's detailed line items.

The line looks like:

|                                  | Amount        |
| -------------------------------- | ------------- |
| Down Payment, Quote Q-1042 (30%) | £3,000.00     |
| Tax                              | £600.00       |
| **Line total**                   | **£3,600.00** |

This keeps the customer's invoice clean, they see the deposit amount, not the full project bill, and it keeps the books correct (more in [Accounting](https://flexie.io/resources/finance/accounting)).

The full quote line items only end up on an invoice when you choose **invoice the full remaining amount**, because by that point all down payments have been settled and you're billing the balance line by line.

> The **Down Payment** is a special product type in your [products library](https://flexie.io/resources/finance/products#down-payment-products). Your administrator sets it up once during account configuration. If you see an error like _"No down payment product configured"_, that's what's missing.

## A worked example

A quote for £10,000 + 20% VAT = £12,000, billed across three invoices:

### Invoice 1, 30% deposit on signing

* Choice: **percentage**, 30%.
* Quote total: £12,000.
* Down-payment amount: £3,600 (30% × £12,000, includes the tax).
* The invoice has one line: _"Down Payment, 30%", £3,000 + £600 VAT_.
* Customer's outstanding balance: **£3,600**.
* Quote shows: invoiced £3,600 of £12,000 (£8,400 remaining).

### Invoice 2, 30% on delivery

* Choice: **percentage**, 30%.
* Same maths → another £3,600 invoice.
* Customer's outstanding (across both invoices, if neither paid): £7,200.
* Quote shows: invoiced £7,200 of £12,000 (£4,800 remaining).

### Invoice 3, the balance

* Choice: **invoice the full remaining amount**.
* The remaining 40% (£4,800) needs to go out, but Flexie now switches to **detailed line items**, because this is the final invoice and the customer should see what's actually being delivered.
* All the quote's lines appear, **with the previously-billed down payments shown as deductions**, so the line totals add up to exactly £4,800.

End state: invoiced £12,000 of £12,000\. Quote is **fully invoiced**, status flips to **Invoiced**, and the convert button disappears.

## What happens to the quote

After your first **Convert to Cash** (even if it's a small down payment), the quote's status becomes **Invoiced**, and the quote is locked from edits. You can still come back to it to invoice the next instalment, the convert button keeps working until the full 100% is reached.

Once 100% is reached:

* The quote stays at **Invoiced** status.
* The Convert button goes away (or shows a "fully invoiced" message).
* The list of invoices raised from this quote remains visible on the quote's page.

## When the quote needs to change after the first invoice

This is the awkward case, the customer asks for a change after you've already billed a deposit.

**Don't try to edit the original quote.** It's locked, and your first invoice already used the old numbers anyway.

Instead:

1. Issue a **credit memo** for the original deposit invoice (if the deposit needs to be returned).
2. Create a **new quote** with the revised scope and pricing.
3. Run Convert to Cash on the new quote.

This keeps your audit trail clean and your books straight.

## A note on subscription items

Some products are **recurring** (a monthly retainer, a yearly subscription). When a quote contains those, the Convert to Cash form has an extra option, _"Create the subscription(s) only, no one-off invoice"_, to set up the recurring billing without also raising an invoice today.

The full subscription documentation will be added once that feature is complete. For now, treat subscription items on quotes the same way you'd treat any quote line, and your administrator can advise on the right convert option.

## Gotchas

* **Convert to Cash sees the quote total _including tax_.** A 30% down payment on a £10,000 + 20% VAT quote is 30% of £12,000, not 30% of £10,000\. This matches what most customers expect, _"30% deposit"_ of the total amount they owe.
* **Percentage rounding.** If a percentage doesn't divide cleanly (e.g. three invoices of one-third of £10,000), the first two invoices use the rounded amount; the final invoice catches the remainder so the total adds up exactly to 100%.
* **You can mix the modes.** Invoice 1 by percentage, invoice 2 by fixed amount, invoice 3 by full remaining. Flexie just tracks the running total, it doesn't care how you got there.
* **Deleting an unfinalised invoice frees up the amount.** A _draft_ invoice off a quote doesn't count against the 100% yet, only finalised invoices do. Delete the draft and the amount becomes available again.
* **Credit memos return amounts.** If you issue a credit memo against an invoice raised from a quote, the credited amount becomes available again on the quote's Convert to Cash, so you can re-bill the difference cleanly if scope changes.

## Next

* [Payments](https://flexie.io/resources/finance/payments): once the invoice is out, here's how you record the money coming in.
* [Accounting](https://flexie.io/resources/finance/accounting): what each step does in your books.
* [Invoices](https://flexie.io/resources/finance/invoices): the invoice-side details Convert to Cash hands off to.