Upfront Deposits on Estimates

You've come to the right place for answers, @stheobald.

I appreciate the effort of reading related articles several times and providing all the steps you've taken so far about your upfront deposit. Let me help you resolve this using the credit memo feature in QuickBooks Desktop. 

You are on the right path by using the credit memo. To ensure that you can view the available balance, you'll need to enter the full invoice amount in your credit. See the sample screenshot below for your reference. 

Once done, run the appropriate chart of accounts to see the available balance. This way, you can print and send the statement of your customer. Let me show you how: 

1. Go to the Company menu, then choose Chart of Accounts. 
2. Locate and click the accurate account. 
3. Review the Balance on the right side. 

For more details about the process, check out this article: Manage upfront deposits or retainers.

Additionally, check out these articles below on how to reconcile your upfront deposit account and other customer topics: 

• Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop
• Sales and customers

Remember that you can regularly ask me about any topics or other processes within QuickBooks. I'm always ready to work with you again. Stay safe and healthy, @stheobald.

This is not helping. I've memorized the managing upfront deposits process but that does not answer the question or maybe I am not asking the right question.

How can you print a statement for the customer showing their upfront deposits when the deposits are received with the sales receipt method (posting to a liability account) and not received via "receive payments" method?

Thanks for getting back to us, @stheobald.

I have some information about printing the upfront deposit in the customer statement. You can only see the upfront deposit in the customer statement when you add it as a line item on your invoice (see the image below). 

If you want to print the details of the upfront deposit, you can go to your Chart of Accounts, look for the upfront liability account and then print the register.

Here's how:

1. On your keyboard, press CTRL+A.
2. In the Search field, type "Upfront" (or the name of the account where you keep track of the upfront deposit).
3. Double-click the account to open.
4. Press CTRL+P or select the Print icon at the top to print the register.
5. Enter the Date Range, then click OK.
6. Then, tap Print. See the attached screenshot below.

Additionally, you can run a quick report of the account. Just click the QuickReport icon at the top of the register. This is how it looks like.

I'm also attaching this link here to help you in managing your Chart of Accounts and customer workflows: 

• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks.

• Get started with customer transaction workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

• Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Don't hesitate to comment back if you have follow-up questions or concerns with customer statements or the upfront deposit. I'll be glad to answer them for you. Take care and stay safe.

Thanks for the response. I do know how to add as a line item to the invoice and thus see it in a statement. This is not what I need but thank you again! I think I am not asking the correct question. 

Thanks for following up with the Community, stheobald.

If you could please clarify what your question is, that'd help me to better understand what you're looking to do. The Community's always here and more than happy to help find a solution.

I'll be looking forward to hearing back from you. Have a lovely day!

Workflow for deposits on estimates in a Sales & Service company. Our current process/workflow:

1-Create Quote/Estimate

2-Receive Deposit via Sales Receipt (to a liability account) [this does not show as available credit]

3-Create Sales Order from Estimate (refining estimate /work to be performed)

4-Create Purchase Orders

5-Create Item Receipts (and add serial numbers to Sales Order)

6-Enter Bills & Expenses (pay invoices for POs as they are received)

7-Create Invoice from Sales Order, adding line item for deposit received (as negative entry) [not sitting there as an available credit, have to hunt for it]

8-Receive payment for invoice

9-Record Deposit

New /Recent Change in process/workflow: we also now want to invoice our customer for items on the sales order when we receive them from vendors, prior to final invoice.

Jump in after Step 5 above:

6-Create a credit memo from the deposit received

7-Invoice Customer (partial invoice for items received from Vendors)

8-Apply credits to Invoice (for specific items invoiced from the sales order)

9-same as 6 above -- enter bills and expenses for pay invoices for PO's

10-Create Invoice for "Selected Items" [must select items on sales order not already invoiced]

11-Apply any remaining deposit or credit

12-Receive Payment for Invoice

13-Record Deposit

This is tricky because sometimes we may invoice items as they are received and then during the job we will discover that some parts (with serial numbers) that were invoiced, may in the end, not be needed and are now being removed from the sales order. This means that I now have to issue a refund/credit to the customer for these items that have been invoiced ahead of final invoice and if s/n items, then this will put the s/n items back into our inventory.

This is messy to present to the customer: "Oh, Mr. Customer I know on this invoice it says you were invoiced for this item but no, not really because later, on this separate paper here you can see that we gave you a refund/credit for that item and it is not installed on your xxxxx." "Oh, and on your final invoice you cannot really see everything you were invoiced for, no, you have to look at these separate invoices!"

Also, we are a relatively small operation and this seems overly-complicated and leaves room for error without the automation that would be present if we just received all of the deposits as a payment with a credit on the customer account to be applied anytime.... 

I am not the final authority on our process. We have one person who wants to see the deposits as a liability but not a liability until the end of the job, only until we receive the ordered items from a vendor. This is a very cumbersome process.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

Susan

Hi there, @stheobald.

I appreciate you providing us with all the steps you've done and your question about removing the items not used but are on the Estimates. This way, we can give you an efficient resolution.

For the items not used, you can remove them manually from the invoice.

Another way is to add a negative value to the invoice. 

This way, the items get back to the inventory with the S/N.

Here's how to delete a line item in an invoice:

1. Open the invoice you want to edit.
2. Click the bin icon to delete the line item.
3. Click Save and select Yes to confirm the action.

Additionally, here is an article you can check to record an invoice payment: Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online.

If you have any other questions about an invoice, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm always here to help.

Thank you for the reply although not a solution. The problem is having to delete the items from an invoice that has already been paid (paid by applying the deposit) and then having to explain to the customer on his many invoices why one invoice might say he paid for an item and the the item is not really his because it was refunded because it was in the end not used on the job.  The problem with invoicing items prior to the installation but after receiving them and all of this invoicing just to move the $ out of the liability account because not technically still a liability if we have order a part for that job and received the part.

Is there a way to receive payments to a liability account (when they are for upfront deposits on work not yet completed) and as income -- not a liability for payments received on final invoice? 

Hi there, @stheobald. 

Let me share with you some information on how to handle upfront retainers in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT)

Upfront deposits or retainers are your liability, not income, even though you deposit the money into your bank account. When you record it, you should choose a liability account. It'll be converted into income once you apply it to an invoice.

We just need to make sure that we set it up correctly. For more details, here's how to manage upfront deposits or retainers in QuickBooks Desktop.

Get back on this page if you need further assistance with upfront retainers. I’ll be here to help you out. Have a good rest!

We currently have the upfront deposits set up correctly as a liability. I am just trying to find the best process to do this for our business. When we receive deposits we are receiving them in "create sales receipts" and with liability item "deposit received" and then when we invoice the job we apply the deposit as a negative "deposit applied."

Problem: If we receive deposits with the "create sales receipts" then when we create an invoice the deposit does not show up as an available credit and this creates opportunity for error as well.

It's also weird that when customer makes several deposits during a job that we cannot print him off a statement showing him, for example this is what we have on your estimate or sales order so far and this is what you have paid so far (and listing each deposit received) with a projected balance on the job.

Business: Aviation with high $$ parts so we receive deposits up front and periodically during the job to cover the cost of the parts and in the end invoice the labor and any additional services or parts purchased.

Any QuickBooks programmers out here? Any thoughts of adding a function in quickbooks for deposits so that they will show as an available credit when generating invoices?

I know how to post the deposit as a liability.

I know how to apply the deposit to the invoice.

I know how to create a credit memo from the deposit so that it will show as an available credit.

Thank you,

Susan

Good morning, @stheobald. 

It's great to see you back in the Community. Allow me to give you some insight into your question. 

At this time, there's no way to make a deposit as a credit. However, you can check out one of our third party apps that could help you out in the future. 

I'll also send feedback to our Product Developers about this request. You can review our Blog site to keep up with what's new in the product. 

Feel free to come back with any other concerns you may have. It's my priority that you're able to get back to running your business. Take care!