Free template

Veterinary deposit policy template

A deposit policy is the shortest document in your practice and the one that saves the most arguments. Fill in four choices below and print the page you can hand to a client, pin at the counter and publish on your website.

Get early access, $99/mo See the client page
Free
no account, no email, nothing stored
In-browser
your text never leaves this page
Print or PDF
save it from your browser's print dialog
Why this document

Most deposit disputes are not about the money. They are about a rule that was never written down: how much, what it covers, how much notice cancels it, and what happens to it if the client does not come.

Writing it once, in your own words, means the front desk says the same thing every time, and that the client saw the rule before they paid, not after.

This is a template, not legal advice. Deposit and cancellation terms are consumer-law territory and the rules differ by country and by state. Have your counsel read your final version once; after that you can reuse it for years.

Build it now

Deposit policy

Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and there is no email to give.

Choose your terms

No download button on purpose: press print and choose “Save as PDF” as the destination. That is how every browser makes a PDF, and nothing you typed leaves this page.

Cedar Street Veterinary Clinic

18 Cedar Street, (555) 014-2288

Deposit policy

When we ask for a deposit

Cedar Street Veterinary Clinic asks for a deposit when we schedule surgery, dental procedures, imaging under sedation and scheduled hospitalisation. The deposit confirms your appointment and is deducted from the final invoice.

How much

The deposit is 30% of the approved estimate. You will see the exact amount on your estimate before you agree to it, and you will receive a receipt when you pay.

Changing or cancelling

If you need to change or cancel, please tell us at least 48 hours before the appointment; your deposit is then moved to the new date or refunded in full. If we are told later than that, or if the appointment is missed, we retain the deposit.

If we have to change the appointment

If we cancel or postpone for a clinical or operational reason, your deposit is refunded in full or moved to the new date, whichever you prefer.

This policy forms part of our terms of service and applies to the procedures listed above.

How to make it a good one

  • Say which procedures the policy covers. A dental and a nail trim rarely deserve the same rule.

  • Give the notice period in hours, not "reasonable notice". Forty-eight hours is the figure we see most often.

  • State plainly whether the deposit is refundable, transferable to a new date, or held against the bill. Ambiguity here is what creates the argument.

  • Publish it where the client sees it before paying: on the estimate, on the booking page, at the counter.

  • Keep it under 250 words. Nobody reads a page of terms on a phone.

FAQ

Questions clinics ask.

Can I legally keep a deposit if the client does not show up?

That depends on your jurisdiction and on how the terms are written and shown to the client. This template makes the rule explicit and easy to publish; it is not legal advice. Have your counsel read your version once.

How much should the deposit be?

In the plans we see, 25% to 30% of the approved total, or a flat amount above a threshold. What matters more than the figure is that the client saw it before they paid.

Where should the policy live?

Three places: on the estimate itself, on your website, and at the counter. A policy the client meets for the first time during an argument is not a policy.

Does VetApprove enforce this?

No. VetApprove shows your terms on the plan before the client signs and records that they saw them. Whether you keep or refund a deposit is your decision, made in your own Stripe account.

Other free templates

Early access

Ten clinics. Then we close the door for a while.

We are onboarding the first cohort by hand, one clinic at a time, to get the templates right for your species and procedures. Tell us where you are and we'll send the payment link and a 15-minute slot.

No newsletter, no resale. We answer within one business day.