Pool builders automate deposits and progress payments by connecting their accounting software to a payments platform, setting up one customer authorisation per job, and raising each construction milestone as its own invoice that collects automatically. This replaces manual follow-up at every stage and smooths the lumpy cash flow that comes with seasonal, project-based work.
This guide covers the payment structure for a $30,000 to $100,000 pool build, the legal deposit limits in Australia, how to automate each milestone, and how to protect your business if a customer pulls out mid-project. It also covers the broader problem underneath all of this: cash flow management for a trades business that earns most of its revenue in a handful of months a year.
Pool installation is seasonal. Most jobs are booked and built in spring and summer, with a quieter period over winter. That creates a cash flow pattern where a business earns the bulk of its annual revenue in a compressed window, then has to stretch that income across slower months while still paying staff, subcontractors, and suppliers.
A single lump-sum payment on completion makes this worse. It pushes all your cash inflow to the end of a multi-month project, right when your material and labour costs have already been spent. Structuring payments around construction milestones instead pulls cash forward into the project timeline, which is what actually fixes the lumpy cash flow problem, not just the "how do I get paid" problem.
A progress payment is a payment made at a defined stage of a construction project, rather than as one payment at the start or end. Each payment corresponds to work actually completed, such as excavation, steel and shell, plumbing and electrical, or tiling and coping. Progress payments protect both parties: the builder isn't funding the whole job out of pocket, and the customer isn't paying for work that hasn't happened yet.
Pool construction has heavy upfront costs. Excavation, concrete, steel, and equipment often need to be paid for before the job is anywhere near finished. On a $30k–$100k contract, a single deposit won't cover that outlay, and state law caps how much you can collect before work starts anyway.
A staged schedule solves three problems at once:
Every state that regulates domestic building work caps the deposit you can take before work starts. These limits apply to pool construction because pool builds are residential building work.
New South Wales: The maximum deposit for residential building work is 10% of the contract price. This applies to both small and large jobs. For work over $20,000, you also need Home Building Compensation cover in place, and it's illegal to request a deposit before that cover is issued.
Queensland: The QBCC uses a tiered cap. Contracts valued at $3,300 or less allow up to a 20% deposit. Larger contracts are capped at 10% ("level 1") or 5% ("level 2") depending on contract value. A higher deposit, up to 20%, is only allowed where more than half the contract value is customised work or prefabrication done off-site, which can apply to fibreglass pool shells manufactured elsewhere and delivered to site.
Other states: Victoria, Western Australia, and other jurisdictions apply similar caps, generally between 5% and 10% for contracts of this size. Check the current threshold with your state's building regulator (Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Building and Energy division in WA, or your local equivalent) before setting your contract terms, since limits and thresholds are updated periodically.
Beyond the deposit itself, most states also require that ongoing progress payments match the value of work completed.
In Queensland, for example, you can't claim 50% of the contract price until at least 50% of the work on site is done. Build your milestone percentages around actual project cost, not round numbers, or you risk a claim that outpaces the work.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your contract terms and deposit structure with your state regulator or a construction lawyer before finalising your payment schedule.
Most pool builders structure payments around physical stages, which also satisfies the "payment matches work done" rule most states apply. Here's an example structure for a $60,000 contract in NSW, where the deposit cap is 10%:
| Stage | What it covers | Example payment (10% deposit cap) |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | Signed contract, design finalised | $6,000 |
| Excavation and site prep | Earthworks complete | $12,000 |
| Shell and steel | Concrete pour or shell installed | $15,000 |
| Plumbing and electrical | Pipework, filtration, equipment fitted | $10,000 |
| Tiling, coping, paving | Surface finishes complete | $9,000 |
| Handover | Practical completion, water fill | $8,000 |
Adjust the percentages to your actual cost structure. The point is that each stage should recover the cost of the work just completed, not an arbitrary fraction of the total.
Chasing six separate payments across a three-month build can quickly drain admin time.
The easier approach is to set up the full payment schedule when the contract is signed. Each milestone invoice can then be sent and collected according to the agreed schedule, without starting the process again at every stage.
Pinch lets you split a single invoice into a defined payment plan. This can include a fixed deposit, followed by scheduled payments for each project stage.
You can set the dollar amount or percentage for each milestone once. The customer confirms their payment method once, and later payments are collected automatically on the dates you set.
After the customer confirms their card or bank account details, the same payment method can be used for later milestones.
This means you are not asking for payment details multiple times over the project. It also reduces the need to manually check and reconcile separate bank transfers.
BECS direct debit is well suited to larger milestone payments, especially where card limits may be an issue.
Card payments can still be useful for smaller stages, such as the initial deposit, where fast confirmation is important.
A customer payment portal lets clients see what has been paid, what is due next, and when.
This reduces follow-up calls about outstanding amounts. It also gives customers a clear view of the agreed payment schedule.
If you use Xero, QuickBooks, or MYOB, connecting your payment schedule to your accounting system can make reconciliation easier.
Each milestone payment can be matched against the right invoice, reducing manual bank feed checks at the end of the month.
Automation does not replace a proper contract or sign-off process. The milestone should still be checked and approved before the next payment is collected.
What it does: Customer manually transfers funds to your account.
Best for: Businesses with low job volume and no accounting software integration.
What it does: Customer pays via a card link on the invoice.
Best for: Fast settlement where speed matters more than fee percentage.
What it does: Automatically debits the customer's bank account on the agreed date.
Best for: Recurring or milestone-based payments where you want funds pulled without chasing.
Pool builds run over weeks or months, and cancellations happen: finance falls through, a customer changes their mind, or a dispute escalates. A few contract fundamentals reduce your exposure:
None of this replaces a review from a construction lawyer or your industry association (Master Builders or HIA in your state), particularly for contract wording specific to swimming pool construction.
Pinch sits between your accounting software and your customer's bank account or card. You raise the invoice in Xero, QuickBooks, or MYOB as normal; Pinch adds a payment link, collects the funds, and writes the result back into your accounting file as a reconciled transaction.
For a pool builder, this means:
See how others manage cash flow with Pinch
Cash flow problems on pool jobs rarely come from undercharging. They come from collecting the right amount at the wrong time, or chasing overdue payments manually. A milestone structure fixes the timing. Automating collection through Pinch fixes the chasing.
Set the schedule once, at the point of contract, and let each stage collect itself as the job progresses.