It is common practice to take deposits for large jobs or where the customer is requesting parts that would not normally be stocked. When a deposit is needed to reconciled in your accounting package, you'll need to manage that a little differently, as the normal trigger for pushing information to the accounting integration (finalising the invoice) will likely not be practical.
To create a deposit that can be transferred to the accounting software, while recording that the customer is in credit as a result of the deposit, you will need to generate:
- A finalised invoice
- A credit note assigned to the customer
Creating a deposit invoice
The first step is to create a new invoice for the customer that we can finalise in advance of the final invoice, which would normally be attached to the job.
In this example, we'll be creating the invoice attached to the vehicle that the final invoice will be for. To do this, find your customer/vehicle and access their details:
Select the vehicle from the vehicles tab, then select New Invoice from the vehicle information on the right. You'll be presented with the new invoice screen:
The customer and vehicle details will be automatically filled in as normal. Enter in any additional information required and hit Continue.
You be taken to your new blank invoice. Next, enter in the Deposit as a line item:
In the Deposit line, fill in the exact amount of the Deposit that is being taken. Usually, you will want to mark the deposit as GST Free, as the GST component will be handled on the final invoice for the job. If you are unsure, please check with your accounting professional/team. Save the line item.
You can add in any pertinent information that the customer needs to be presented in the Add Invoice Details button. Next, use the Pay button to enter in the method that the deposit was made:
Hit Pay to complete this, then finalise this invoice:
You now have a finalised invoice for the deposit, which will transfer its information into your accounting integration. Step one complete.
Creating the credit note
Creating a credit note allows us to create a credit from this completed "invoice", which will then reside in the system until the job's invoice is finalised. The credit from this credit note can then be applied as a partial payment of the invoice, thereby resolving the deposit credit onto the final invoice.
From the invoice, select Add Credit Note:
All required information will be automatically entered. Optionally, you can enter in the relevant job information into the Reference field. Hit Continue.
You'll be presented with the Credit Note information and a dialog to select items from the invoice. Click on the Deposit line in the dialog box, and hit Select. The Deposit entry will be added to the Credit Note. Finalise the Credit Note.
The recording of the deposit is now complete.
The credit for the deposit is now registered to the customer, and can be allocated to the final job invoice at any time.
To find the credit note at a later date, you can find this in either the Customer Credit Notes section, or under the Customer information directly:
