Note: Integration with QuickBooks Online or Quickbooks Desktop is required for this feature.
Why We've Released This Feature
Currently, when you request and collect a deposit on an Estimate record, that payment is generated and applied to a converted invoice. When this invoice is finalized and synced to QuickBooks Online (QBO) or QuickBooks Desktop (QBD) with the linked payment, the payment and invoice reflect in QBO/QBD Profit & Loss reports on a Cash Basis. This means that they reflect money that has actually been paid.
We recognize that a lot of FieldPulse users require a deposit to be made before agreeing to start a project/job, with the remainder of the payment due upon the service completion. To align with accrual accounting principles, with this feature enabled we will now ensure that the deposit is treated as a liability (money your business owes your customer) that will be routed to a Liability Account in QBO/QBD until the final payment is made. This feature is available on both the web and mobile app.
In short, deposits will not hit your revenue until the project is finished and the final payment is received.
How to Enable
Navigate to Company Settings > Estimates & Invoices > QuickBooks.
From this page, toggle on the setting to Enable Automatic Deposit Invoices.
Once this toggle is enabled, select your designated Customer Deposit Item from your Item List (liability accounts created from QBO/QBD).
Note: only one item can be selected here.
Be sure to save your selections by pressing the Save button in the top right corner.
See it in Action
Create your estimates as you normally would! You can request a deposit on an estimate in person or by sending via email with a dynamic link to your customer. If the deposit/payment request percentage/amount is less than 100% of the estimate total, then this will trigger the flow of the automatic invoice deposit. Two invoices will automatically be generated.
The First Invoice - Deposit Invoice
This will be for the amount of the deposit payment (Referred to as the Deposit Invoice). On the Deposit Invoice there will only be one line item, Customer Deposit Line Item. The Customer Deposit Line Item price will equal the amount of the deposit payment that was collected. This is shown in image 1 below.
The deposit payment that was made will be applied to this first invoice (Deposit Invoice) and the Status of this invoice will be marked as Paid. This is shown in image 2 below.
Image 1
Image 2
The Second Invoice - Final Invoice
This invoice will be generated automatically from deposit payment collection (Referred to as the Final Invoice). All items from the estimate will cascade to this invoice.
This invoice will remain in the draft state/status until project is finished and you go to collect the final payment. Shown in image 3 below.
On the Final Invoice, a grouping will be automatically inserted, titled Deposit Amount. Note: Line items within this grouping will not be visible to your customers.
A line item will be added to the grouping mentioned above titled, Customer Deposit Item. The unit price of this line item will be the negative value of the payment amount that was received on the deposit. Shown in image 4 below.
Image 3
Image 4
Important Notes
The deposit line item needs to be linked to a Liability Account in QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop. The Liability Account(s) will need to be created prior to enabling this feature.
The deposit percentage will always be based on the estimate subtotal.
The designated deposit item should always be non taxed.
Marking a Deposit
Once you've enabled Automatic Deposit Invoices, you will now see a button available on all new estimates allowing you to Mark Deposits. By clicking this button, and Marking Payment (for less than the total amount of the estimate) and saving it will trigger the automatic creation of the two invoices (Deposit Invoice & Final Invoice).
Note: You will only be able to trigger this flow from the Deposit button once per estimate.
Video Tutorial
FAQs
Can any FieldPulse user utilize Automatic Deposit Invoices?
No. This feature is only for users who integrate with either QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online.
When manually marking a deposit on an estimate out in the field, will FieldPulse keep record of who took the deposit?
Yes! The Activity Log on the Estimate record will reflect the manual marking of a deposit. The Activity Log will include: The user marking the deposit and the amount of it.
If an estimate is linked to a job, will both invoices (Deposit & Final) automatically link to that same job when they are created?
Yes! Best practice is to build your estimate from the job/service record so both invoices will be linked.
Have additional questions?
Contact us at support@fieldpulse.com or use the chat feature in the bottom right corner of your screen.