# Retainers

> Collect money up front with a Stripe payment link, hold it for your client, and apply it to invoices as the project moves.

Source: https://docs.moodiri.com/financials/retainers

![Retainers list showing one active $10,000.00 retainer for Lombard Street Loft, client Alex Rivera.](https://docs.moodiri.com/shots/financials--retainers-1600.webp)
Same screen with numbered callouts: https://docs.moodiri.com/shots/financials--retainers-annotated.webp
Callout 1: Retainers


A retainer is money your client pays before the work starts, held against future
invoices. **Retainers** lists every retainer your studio has requested, with its
project, client, amount and status. Open **Retainers** in the sidebar. With the
[Financial Hub](https://docs.moodiri.com/financials/financial-hub) on, retainers are summarized on its
**Client funds** tab, and **View all** opens this list.

## What you see here

Each retainer shows its project and status, the client and project code, the
original amount, and the date it was paid (or requested, if unpaid). Choose a
retainer to open it.

Statuses:

- **Awaiting payment.** The payment link is out; your client has not paid yet.
- **Active.** Paid. The balance is available to apply to invoices.
- **Closed.** The balance reached zero.
- **Cancelled.** Cancelled before your client paid.

## Retainer page (ledger, applied, remaining)

![Retainer for Lombard Street Loft, marked Active, with $10,000.00 original, $0.00 applied and refunded, $10,000.00 remaining, a Refund button and the ledger.](https://docs.moodiri.com/shots/financials--retainers--retainer-page-1600.webp)


A retainer's page shows **Original**, **Applied**, **Refunded** and **Remaining**, when
it was **Created** and **Paid**, and a **Ledger** of every transaction against it.

- While it is **Awaiting payment**, the page shows the payment link to copy and share with your client.
- Any refunds are listed with their status, such as **Processing** or **Refunded**.
- Admins can choose **Cancel retainer** while it is unpaid, or **Refund** while it is active. See [Cancel or refund a retainer](https://docs.moodiri.com/financials/cancel-or-refund-a-retainer).

## Related tasks

- [Request a retainer from a project](https://docs.moodiri.com/financials/request-a-retainer)
- [Apply a retainer to an invoice](https://docs.moodiri.com/financials/apply-a-retainer-to-an-invoice)
- [Cancel or refund a retainer](https://docs.moodiri.com/financials/cancel-or-refund-a-retainer)

## Limits

- Requesting, applying, cancelling and refunding retainers is for the owner and admins.
- Retainers are paid through Stripe, so Stripe must be connected first.

## Questions

### Is a retainer revenue?

Not yet. It is client money you hold until you apply it to an invoice. That is why Financials shows retainers separately from revenue.

### Where does my client see it?

In their client portal, with the balance they have left. See [Paying a retainer](https://docs.moodiri.com/for-clients/invoices-and-paying#paying-a-retainer).