--- title: "Manage Customer Deposits: recommended workflow" slug: "manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow" updated: 2026-07-24T23:45:11Z published: 2026-07-24T23:45:11Z canonical: "help.servicetitan.com/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow" stale: true --- > ## 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 ## Overview This article shows you how to collect customer deposits for future work and keep the funds tracked as a liability until the job is done. ServiceTitan offers two ways to do this. The built-in **Deposit Workflow** (recommended) exports deposits as journal entries to a liability account and applies them to the customer without reducing your Accounts Receivable. The manual invoice-and-task method (legacy) uses a deposit item and task to hold funds—use it only if your account isn't on the built-in workflow. Either way, tracking deposits keeps your Accounts Receivable accurate and holds prepaid funds until you earn them. --- ### #### Who uses this feature - Administrators, accountants, and bookkeepers - Applies to all business types - Applies to all trades #### Feature configuration - Account configuration is required to use the recommended Deposit Workflow. Contact [Technical Support](http://go.servicetitan.com/ask) for details. - To use the manual invoice-and-task method, you need access to your QuickBooks company file and to ServiceTitan **Settings > General Ledger Accounts** and **Pricebook**. This method is written for QuickBooks Desktop. ## Recommended: Use the built-in Deposit Workflow The Deposit Workflow exports deposits as journal entries into a QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, or Intacct general ledger account, so you can apply deposits to a customer's account without reducing your Accounts Receivable. ### Before you start - Set up your general ledger accounts in ServiceTitan and map them to items in your Pricebook before you enable the Deposit Workflow. - Set up a liability account to hold deposits. ### Enable the Deposit Workflow 1. Go to the navigation bar and click **Settings**. 2. In the side panel, click **Invoicing > Payment Collections**. 3. Toggle **Deposit Workflow** to **Active**. 4. In the **GL Account** dropdown, select an account. The list shows the general ledger accounts from **Settings > Operations > General Ledger Accounts**. Select a liability account so deposits toward pending work don't reduce your Accounts Receivable. 5. Click **Save**. ### How the Deposit Workflow behaves - A payment that isn't applied to an invoice is treated as a deposit at the time of export. - When you export the deposit, ServiceTitan debits undeposited funds and credits the liability account you selected. - When the deposit is later applied to the completed invoice, the journal entry debits the liability account and credits Accounts Receivable. - In ServiceTitan Mobile, the technician collects the deposit on the *Estimate* page, not the *Invoice* page. For the full setup checklist and account mapping, see [Enable Deposit Workflow](/docs/enable-deposit-workflow). ## Legacy alternative: Manual invoice-and-task method (QuickBooks Desktop) Use this method only if your account isn't using the built-in Deposit Workflow. It applies to QuickBooks Desktop. ### Things to know - To hold prepayments for future jobs, create a liability account in QuickBooks. - Create the deposit item in both QuickBooks and ServiceTitan, and link it to the liability account so the item credits the account when collected and debits it later. - A deposit for a future job is the cash portion of the transaction, but you also need to represent the liability in ServiceTitan and keep Accounts Receivable accurate. - If you don't add a task to balance the customer payment, the customer shows a credit balance, which looks like you owe them a refund. - When you accept a deposit on an invoice, add the deposit task from your Pricebook so Accounts Receivable stays at $0 until the final work is invoiced, and the deposit stays in the QuickBooks liability account until the job is done. - When you export to QuickBooks, the invoice debits (increases) Accounts Receivable and credits (increases) the deposit liability account. - When you collect the deposit against completed work, add the deposit task again as a negative value to clear the deposit and reach the customer's remaining balance. ### Step 1: Create a liability account in QuickBooks 1. In QuickBooks, go to the top toolbar 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**. ![](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. On the *Add New Account: Choose Account Type* screen, select the **Other Account Types** checkbox. 5. From the dropdown, select **Other Current Liability**. 6. Click **Continue**. ![](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, enter **Deposit on Future Work**, then click **Save & Close**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-4s42upgb.png) ### Step 2: Create a deposit item in QuickBooks and ServiceTitan Create the deposit item in QuickBooks: 1. In QuickBooks, go to **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, enter **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. Click **OK**. Create the deposit account in ServiceTitan: 1. In ServiceTitan, go to **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. Enter the account name. 5. From the **Type** dropdown, select **Liability**. 6. From the **Subtype** dropdown, select **Current Liability**, then click **Save**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-pemvvs41.png) Next, add the deposit item to your Pricebook in ServiceTitan: 1. 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 side menu, 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. Enter the service **Code**, **Name**, and **Item Description**. 5. From the **Income Account** dropdown, select **Deposit on Future Work**, then click **Save**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-m738te4b.png) ### Step 3: Collect a deposit 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 and click the customer name. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-6wfo3c78.png) 3. On 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) 4. 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 deposit task from your Pricebook: 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 the **Customer Deposit** task you created. The remaining fields fill in automatically. ![](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) ### Step 4: 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**. The invoice debits (increases) Accounts Receivable and credits (increases) the deposit liability account. To confirm in QuickBooks: 1. In QuickBooks, go to the top toolbar and click **Lists**. 2. Select **Chart of Accounts**. 3. Select the liability account you 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) Confirm whether the deposit is in the undeposited funds list: 1. In the top toolbar, click **Banking > Make Deposit**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/961862ab-d0f2-4d91-bb62-a62ee8184eff/Images/Documentation/manage-customer-deposits-recommended-workflow-image-uzfc75jo.png) 2. On 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. On 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) ### Step 5: Clear the deposit with a negative task 1. In the invoice, click **Add a Task**. 2. On the *Add a Task* screen, enter the deposit amount as a negative value. ![](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) 4. In QuickBooks, confirm that the negative **Customer Deposit** maps 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) ## Want to learn more? - See [Enable Deposit Workflow](/docs/enable-deposit-workflow) - See [Set up general ledger accounts](/docs/set-up-general-ledger-accounts) - See [Create an adjustment invoice](/docs/create-an-adjustment-invoice)