--- title: "Manage Customer Deposits: recommended workflow" slug: "manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow" updated: 2026-03-27T20:45:14Z published: 2026-03-27T20:45:14Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.servicetitan.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Manage Customer Deposits: recommended workflow This article helps you create a Liability Account in QuickBooks and manage customer deposits in ServiceTitan. It is important to create a Liability Account because the company is often required to pay a deposit to the users for the job they have not started yet. Meantime, the users should provide goods or services to the company, or return the money back. In this case, the deposit becomes a liability for the company. ## Things to know - To hold the prepayments of future jobs, create a Liability Account in QuickBooks. Use the [Create liability Account in QuickBooks](/v1/docs/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow#create-a-liability-account-in-quickbooks) workflow. - You should create deposit items both in QuickBooks and ServiceTitan. To do this, use the [Create a deposit item](/v1/docs/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow#create-a-deposit-item) workflow. - Link the deposit item to the Liability Account. The deposit item is used to initially credit and later debit the Liability Account. - If you are accepting a deposit or pre-payment for a future job, this represents the cash portion of the transaction, but you also need to represent the liability in ServiceTitan and maintain Accounts Receivable. - If you do not add a task to balance a customer payment, this will reflect the customer with a credit balance and will show that you owe them a refund. - When you accept a deposit on an invoice, you will also need to add the associated deposit task from your Pricebook. This keeps Accounts Receivable at $0 for the customer until they are invoiced for the final completed work. It also holds the deposit in the liability account in QuickBooks until the job completion. To add a deposit, see the [Collect a deposit](/v1/docs/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow#collect-a-deposit) workflow. - When you export the transactions to QuickBooks, the invoice will debit (increase) Accounts Receivable and credit (increase) the deposit liability account. Use the [Export the Deposit Invoice and payment to QuickBooks](/v1/docs/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow#export-the-deposit-invoice-and-payment-to-quickbooks) workflow to see how it works in Quickbooks. - When you collect a deposit, you will need to adjust the deposit from the invoice to get the customer's remaining balance. Use the [Add negative task](/v1/docs/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow#add-negative-task) workflow to manually add the deposit task with a negative value for the amount of deposit you previously accepted. - When the invoice is exported from ServiceTitan to QuickBooks, the Accounts Receivable is debited (increased) by the invoice total. Income increased by $1000, the total amount of the job. The Deposit on Future Work is debited by $718 to represent the transfer of the deposit amount out of the liability account and recognize revenue on the full amount of the completed work. ## Workflows ### Create a Liability Account in QuickBooks 1. In QuickBooks, go to the navigation bar and select **Lists**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-tdhfdlt1.png) 2. From the *Lists* dropdown, select **Chart of Accounts**. A new screen appears. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-11xrk648.png) 3. From the *Account* dropdown select **New**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-0l1df2dc.png) 4. From the *Add New Account: Choose Account Type* screen, select the **Other Account Types** checkbox. 5. From the dropdown select **Other Current Liability**. 6. When you're done, click **Continue**. The *Add New Account* screen appears. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-kbu4kmez.png) 7. In the *Account Name* field, name the account as **Deposit on Future Work**. 8. When you're done, click **Save & Close**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-4s42upgb.png) ### Create a Deposit Item Use this workflow to create a deposit item in both QuickBooks and ServiceTitan. To create a Deposit Item in QuickBooks: 1. In QuickBooks, go to the *Lists* and select **Item List**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-vf8bmbru.png) 2. From the *Item* dropdown, select **New**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-z3wvcjk9.png) 3. From the *Type* dropdown, select **Service**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-ztt4lvrl.png) 4. In the *Item Name/Number* field, write **Customer Deposit**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-av268i0w.png) 5. From the *Account* dropdown, select **Deposit on Future Work**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-haynseku.png) 6. When you're done, click **OK**. Use this workflow to create a deposit item in ServiceTitan: 1. In ServiceTitan, go to the **Settings**. 2. Search for **General Ledger Accounts**. 3. Click **Add Account**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-z5a4f43v.png) 4. Provide the account name. 5. From the *Type* dropdown, select **Liability**. 6. From the *Subtype* dropdown, select **Current Liability**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-pemvvs41.png) 7. When you're done, click **Save**. In the Pricebook, add the deposit item you have created in ServiceTitan. 1. In ServiceTitan, go to the navigation bar and click **Pricebook**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-t8gt0oox.png) 2. In the left panel, select **Services**. 3. Click **Add Service**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-wr72edo8.png) 4. Provide the service **Code**, **Name**, **Item Description** in the fields. 5. From the *Income Account* dropdown, select **Deposit on Future Work**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-m738te4b.png) 6. When you're done, click **Save**. ### Collect a deposit To accept a deposit or prepayment for a future job: 1. In ServiceTitan, go to the navigation bar and click **Search**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-r30lqe0p.png) 2. Search for a Customer. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-6wfo3c78.png) 3. Click the Customer name. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-brprlfn6.png) 4. In the *Customer* screen, click the Invoice number. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-pik1c077.png) 5. In the Invoice, click **Add a payment**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-hcixuh29.png) Add the associated deposit task from Pricebook in case the task is done. 1. In the Invoice, click **Add a task**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-e2ps93jt.png) 2. In the *Name* dropdown, select **Customer Deposit** that you have created. > [!NOTE] > **Note:** All the fields are automatically filled in. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-jg914xpl.png) 3. Click **Save**. The invoice balance is now $0.00. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-dpa3iqbd.png) ### Export the Deposit Invoice and payment to QuickBooks 1. In the Invoice, click **Batch**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-1adwcvtw.png) 2. From the *Batch* dropdown, select **Post the selected batch**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-zlyl42a4.png) 3. From the *Batch* dropdown, select **Export to Quickbooks Desktop**. When the invoice is exported to Quickbooks, it will debit (increase) Accounts Receivable and credit (increase) the deposit liability account. 1. In Quickbooks, go to the navigation bar and click **Lists**. 2. In the *Lists*, select **Chart of Accounts**. 3. In the *Chart of Accounts* screen, select the liability you have created. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-b5hap8js.png) 4. Check the deposit in the *Increase* field. 5. Click the account to see the invoice. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-3thtzscm.png) 6. In the *Invoice*, check the balance. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-m8h8rtz4.png) Check whether or not the deposit is in the undeposited fund list: 1. In the navigation bar, click **Banking** > **Make Deposit**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-uzfc75jo.png) 2. In the *Make Deposits* screen, click **Payments**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-6ybfh2wv.png) 3. In the *Payments to Deposit* screen, select the deposit you want to fund. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-9uifgpyd.png) ### Add negative task 1. In the invoice, click **Add a Task**. 2. In the *Add a Task* screen, provide the negative amount for the deposit. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-w16n2nax.png) 3. Check the balance. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-3kwvxny6.png) In Quickbooks, check that the negative Customer Deposit mapped back to the liability account debiting (decreasing) the account ending balance back to $0.00. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-p3o8vl95.png)