How do I send a invoice for a deposit on a job that has been quoted?

Hello there, @jongraham950. Sending an invoice for a deposit on a job that has been quoted in QuickBooks Online (QBO) is easy, and I'm here to show you how.

When a job is done and you're ready to invoice your customer, you can convert the quote to an invoice. However, before billing them, you'll have to set up a deposit or retainer process for your company. This is because you've received a deposit from them before doing the job. 

The deposit will be treated as a liability to show that, although your business is holding the money from a deposit, it doesn't belong to you until it's used to pay for services. Once you invoice the customer and receive payment against it, you'll turn that liability into income.

To do this, you'll first need to create a liability account to track the amount of the deposit you receive from your customers. Here's how:

1. Go to the Accounting menu.
2. Select Chart of accounts.
3. Click the New button.
4. From the Account Type dropdown menu, select Current liabilities.
5. From the Detail Type dropdown menu, ClientTrust Accounts - Liabilities.
6. Enter a Name for the account (for example, Customer Deposit) or accept the suggested name.
7. Select a Default GST Code, enter an Unpaid balance, and an as of date.
8. Click Save and Close. 

Then, create a retainer item. You'll be selecting this item when creating your invoice for the deposit payment. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Select Products and services.
3. Click the New button.
4. From the Product/Service information panel, select Service.
5. Enter a name for the new product or service item (for example, Retainer).
6. From the Income account dropdown menu, select the liability account created above.
7. Click Save and close.  

Next, convert the quote to an invoice. Make sure to select the retainer or deposit item (Product/Service column) you set up and the amount received (Rate or Amount column). Then, send it to your customer.

Once you're done, turn the retainers into credits on your invoice. This decreases the amount in your liability account and applies the credit to your customer's invoice, turning it into income. Then, you can transfer the funds from your liability account to your operating account. 

For the step-by-step guide, please refer to this article: Record a retainer or deposit. It'll also guide you in tracking how much of a retainer or deposit you're holding for each customer from the Balance Sheet report.

Also, you may want to check out one of our Help pages in case you need assistance in managing your company's income and business growth using QBO: Sales and Customers Topics for QuickBooks Online. It includes articles about managing payments, customer statements, and credits, to name a few. 

Keep me posted in the comments of there's anything else you need or concerns about managing invoices and other sales transactions in QBO. I'm always ready to help.