avans

1. advance; advance payment
   Majstor traži avans od pola cene. — The workman wants half the price up front.
   Uzeo sam avans na platu. — I took an advance on my salary.
2. formal (in the phrase avans poverenja) trust given in advance; initial vote of confidence
   Navijači su novom treneru dali avans poverenja. — The fans gave the new coach an initial vote of confidence.

Usually in phrases like dati/uzeti/platiti avans. For trust given in advance the usual word is kredit (poverenja); avans poverenja is mostly found in the press.