Not Appropiate to Create Invoices for Advance Deposit Required

I'm not sure where you are coming from on this one.

An invoice is record of a sale where you charge the customer and he will pay later, as opposed to a sales receipt where you get pain over the counter so to speak.

Using an item for a customer deposit (which is linked to a customer liability account) on an invoice works well.  The item posts the amount to the liability account, the customer has a record of the invoice and what he paid, the P&L is not effected

Estimates are non posting, you could I suppose create an estimate template that is called a pro Forma Invoice and use that, then upon receipt of the funds create a sales receipt to record the deposit.  Seems like extra steps to me, unless you are biding on a job and the deposit is part of the acceptance requirement

From your point of view and maybe in practical terms, it has no consequences to write an invoice for a request for an  advance deposit.  My point is that invoices is a trail that I consider   best kept limited to demand for payment on service completed or item delivered. Having  this said, an advance deposit does not fall into this category.

In fact,  from my own experience, a large company that will engage into a service contract or deliverable for the future, will have you write the check for an advance deposit  BEFORE they even deliver you any sort of contractual documentation.

I understand what you are saying

Unfortunately we have to work within the software constraints.  You can use a deposit item on an invoice or a sales receipt, either way it does nothing to affect reporting for invoice/sales receipt sales/service.  it is just a form used for recording a transaction

Does it then affect anything else like Open Sales Order which would then have to be closed out ? 

Our customer will not process a payment from an estimate or proposal. They require an invoice. We use Enterprise.

Hi there, @ollie24k.

I'll share the steps to create an invoice from an estimate so you can let your customer pay using the invoice.

Yes, you can create an invoice from an estimate. Follow the steps below:

1. Open the correct Estimate.
2. Click the Create Invoice above the Estimate form.
3. If you have progress invoicing turned on, there will be a prompt for the items and quantities to put on the invoice. Specify them.
4. When the invoice opens, edit the information as needed.
5. Choose Save & Close.

Refer to this article for more information: Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop.

This way, they can now make a payment online through the invoice.

I'm adding this article as your reference in the future to record an invoice payment: Record an invoice payment.

Let me know if you have any further questions about an invoice from an estimate. I'm always here to lend a helping hand.