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Deposits and invoicing

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
September 15, 2021
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Hi,

I'm struggling with a basic transaction that seems completely out of QBO ability. One of my businesses makes and decorates custom celebration cakes. Clients discuss their needs, agree a price then pay a deposit, usually but not always 50% to secure the booking. They pay the balance on collection.

I can't find a way to send one transaction to the client once the scope and price are agreed, confirming the requirements and the pricing schedule, requesting deposit payment, that can then match to received payments.

Something like an invoice for the deposit that shows:

- Description

- Date for collection

- Full amount agreed, £

- Deposit due £

- Balance that will be due on collection £

It doesn't have to be in that order, so long as each item is clearly labelled so clients can't be confused about what they have to pay and when. I've been told by the QBO support that this isn't possible, but find it difficult to believe.

I know I can do it by invoicing the full amount, then separately invoicing for the deposit - this is clunky and heavy handed for such a business and would confuse clients.

I can also do it by manually calculating the 50% or just saying on the invoice that 50% is due, leaving the client to figure out how much that is, and me to figure out if they've paid the right amount. This is manual and therefore error prone.

Surely there's an easy way? What do others do? Any links to a video description of a solution would be great - I haven't found one yet.

Thanks!

Stewart

QuickBooks Online

Best answer by emmam6

Thanks for you help Jonpril,

Sadly the estimate process has 2 key flaws:

First, clients will not understand why it's an estimate rather than a firm price.

Second, the estimate does not show a deposit, so clients will have no idea what deposit to pay.

The only way around the deposit is to manually calculate the deposit and have 2 lines of services, one for the deposit and another for the balance - this is manual, error prone and potentially confusing to clients.

Regards

Stewart.

Hello Community Users, Just to add some clarification to this thread. In the instance where the deposit is not yet paid and you're not wanting to use progress invoicing, the best way to record this is to create an invoice with multiple lines. You can create a service called deposit and in the description on that line of the invoice write any terms. It would be done manually. You could then if the deposit was paid , go to the invoice and edit it to add the deposit box and remove the additional line or leave the lines as is and make payment of the deposit amount which will leave the remainder to be paid.

A

Ashleigh1

Hello Stewart Magrath,

Welcome to the Community page,

So you would need to set up a product and service for the actual deposits and one in the chart of accounts, then in the service name you can manually enter in when its to be paid and then you can also put on the service date or use custom boxes or date of pick up but the issue is you are now unable to import a invoice to match want you want you have to use what Quickbooks has.

so when you click on + new> invoices> cog wheel top right>custom fields> can add the 3 fields you require so collection date/reference number/ balance due for example and then the boxes will appear on the invoice for you in the top middle section. You will need the boxes to be switched on to have it on the actual invoice.

Hope that helps you

S

Stewart MagrathAuthor

Thanks for the reply.

Does that mean that once I've agreed the total price with the client, I create an invoice, add 2 lines - one for the manually calculated deposit, the other for the manually calculated balance?

Or perhaps I misunderstood?

Regards,

Stewart.

C

CharleneMaeF

I know a way to add the details on the invoice, Stewart Magrath.

To start, let's turn on the Deposit button to add the field in the Invoice window. This way, we'll be able to see the deposit due in the transaction. I'll show you how.

Go to the Gear icon and then select Account and Settings.
Select the Sales tab.
On the Sales form content, click the pencil icon.
Turn on the Deposit button.
Click Save then Done.

After that, we can now create an invoice and add the details needed.

Go to the + New menu and then select Invoice.
Choose the name of the client.
On the Due date field, select the date for collection.
Choose the product/service, then add the description under the Description column.
On the Amount column, add the agreed price.
On the Deposit field, enter the first deposit paid by your client.
The balance that will be due on the next collection shows on the Balance due column.
Once done, click on Save and Send or Save and close.

For your visual reference, I've attached a screenshot below.

Additionally, I encourage personalising your invoice template in QuickBooks Online. This helps you add the details that matter most to your business.

I'm only a post away if you need more help in recording and managing sales transactions in QuickBooks, @Stewart Magrath. It's always my pleasure to help you out again.

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