How do Deposits work in my Business Management System (BMS)?
On most residential Jobs, you will post a deposit or any monies received from the Customer so the system can track what is still owed on the Job. You can also add a Deposit from the Quote Entry module using these same steps. Multiple Deposits can be entered on a Job until an Invoice is created. Once a Job is invoiced, all payments need to be entered into the system through the Post Customer Payments module in the Accounts Receivable Menu or via the Receive Money feature from the Home Key menu. Deposits can also be adjusted or canceled before invoicing. Please Note: if a Deposit exists on a Job, you cannot change the Customer ID—the Deposit must first be canceled and then re-entered after the change, if applicable.
When you click on the Deposits tab, the screen will appear as follows:
To enter a Deposit, click the Add Deposit button at the bottom left of this screen. Type the exact value of the payment in the first field. An Order Deposits box will appear as follows (if you are using Broadlume Payments, this process will differ slightly, so you should review those steps with your system administrator):
(Please Note: the system will not accept a zero Deposit Amount.) In the Deposit Amount field, type the exact dollar amount of the money received. At the Payment Type field, click on the down arrow button to prompt a menu of the forms of payment your store accepts. Click on the applicable Payment Type to continue. You can record a number in the Credit Card Acct# field and an Expiration Date in the following fields. The Reference line is a free field that can be used to record a check number, driver’s license number, or approval code for a credit card. Click the Save button to accept the Deposit or the Cancel button to clear the data and start again.
If you click Save to keep the Deposit, the amount posted will appear both in the Deposits tab screen and in the Deposits field of the Job Totals box. At this point, you can only modify the Amount of an existing Deposit. If you need to change the Payment Type, Delete the Deposit and re-enter it with the correct information. To change or cancel an existing Deposit, highlight the applicable Deposit from the Deposits tab screen and click the Change Deposit button. The Order Deposits box will then appear as follows:
The only field accessible on this screen is the Adjustment field. This field should only be used to return a portion of the Deposit to the Customer. In the Adjustment field, enter the amount to be refunded--do not enter a negative sign in this field. Click the Update button to continue. Before clicking the Update button, you can click the Cancel button to exit without making any adjustments. When you click the Update button, the system will prompt the following:
If you need to generate a check for the customer, you should click Yes at this prompt. See the Delete section below for how the system handles the return by company check internally. For credit card refunds, click No and then process the credit on the customer’s card. You can make multiple adjustments to each Deposit on a Job, provided you don’t adjust for more than is available on the Deposit, and if you need to delete a Deposit entirely, you should not use this feature. Each time a Deposit is adjusted and returned to the Customer in this way, the system creates an Accounts Payable Open Item number using the Job Number followed by a three-digit sequence number so each item number will be unique. For example, if the Job Number is 2572, the first item number would be 2572001, the second would be 2572002, and so on.
If you wish to delete a Deposit entirely, you will highlight the item in the Deposits tab screen and then click the Delete button. The system will prompt an Order Deposits box as follows:
All you need to do now is click the Delete button to continue. If you click the Cancel button first, the system will make no changes and return you to the Deposits tab screen. When you click the Delete button, the system will prompt the “Return by Company Check” prompt. If you are returning a Deposit by credit card and not by check, you need to click No at this prompt, and the system will handle all internal procedures. If you are returning a Deposit by company check, click Yes at this prompt. The system will then prompt the following:
This is a second opportunity to back out of this option. Click Yes to proceed. With User Controls enabled if a User can change the Default Posting Period, the system will prompt the following: Enter Adjustment Date (MMDDYYYY). This field will default to the current date but can be changed by the User if applicable. The system will then prompt a Posting Period field, and the default will be set to the current Default Posting Period. Again, only Users with permission will see this field and be able to change the Posting Period, where applicable. Users without permission to change the Posting Period will not see the two previous fields. The system will capture the current date and Default Posting Period for accounting purposes. This same scenario is true for adjusting Deposits as well.
The deleted Deposit will still show in the Deposits tab screen on the Job, but the status column will show as “Deleted,” and the Deposits field in the Job Totals box will reflect the amount deleted. When you choose to return a Deposit or an adjusted Deposit amount by company check, the following procedures will automatically take place in the system: a new Vendor ID is created using the Customer ID on the Job with an “*” placed in front of the ID as such: *JONE111; an A/P Open Item for that Customer will be created using the Job Number as the Invoice number; and the system will automatically clear the credit on the Customer’s account. The final step in the Company Check Deposit refund procedure is for the A/P department to print the check. Please Note: If you return a Deposit by company check, the canceled Deposit will not appear on the Customer Payment Register; the value will come out of the bank account when the check is printed.
After a Job has been invoiced, any Deposits taken on the Job will also be displayed in the Deposit tab screen. However, the Job needs to be “Open” for you to view these Deposits. The Deposit(s) field in the Job Totals box will still display zero after invoicing, but if you click on the Deposit tab, each Deposit will show with the verbiage “Invoice” in the Status column. Additionally, the system will allow you to create a Credit Memo when a Deposit balance is left on a Job. It will skip all Deposit sections so that the Customer’s account will be updated accurately. Finally, the system will not allow you to close a Job if a Deposit exists, even if you invoice a Job, leaving a balance left on the Deposit. You must adjust the Deposit amount if the Customer is owed a refund and then close the Job.