Advance Payments

On this page, you will find:

What Are Advance Payments?

Advance payments - also known as proforma invoices - allow you to collect funds from your client before starting work while staying compliant with the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) rules. When a client pays an advance, the money is held in your trust account and a receipt is issued. You do not create an invoice or transfer the funds to your business account until the work is completed. This ensures you meet your legal obligations: by law, New Zealand immigration advisers cannot invoice or deposit fees into their business account until the service has been delivered.

Creating an Advance Payment Request

  • From within a case, open the Finance tab and select Advance Payments. Click Add Advance Payment.
  • After clicking the Add button, the following screen will appear.
  • Set a payment date and choose the currency (New Zealand Dollar is selected by default).
  • Enter a clear description (for example, “Partner visa initial fee”) and, if you wish, add a custom message or select a saved template to pre‑fill the wording on the PDF request.
  • Add one or more line items: describe the work to be performed, enter the quantity and price, and choose whether the amounts are exclusive or inclusive of tax. GST at 15 % is applied automatically, and the system calculates the subtotal, tax and total for you.
  • Once ready to send, click the Save & Send Email Button

Record payments and send receipts

  • When funds arrive in your trust account, open the advance payment and enter the amount in the Amount Received field.
  • Click the Email Receipt to send a receipt to your client. Adviseraide updates the “Amount Paid” and “Amount Due” fields automatically after adding the amount received.

Convert to an invoice when the work is done

  • After completing the agreed services, open the advance payment and click Convert to Invoice. This will create an invoice, and you can then send it to the client.