How to account for customer deposits?
Short answerRecord a deposit as money received against a specific job, not as finished revenue, then apply it to the final invoice when the work is done. Tie it to the customer and the job, show the remaining balance, and keep a written refund policy. Your accountant decides how it is booked for tax.
The explanation
A deposit is a prepayment. The customer has paid, but you have not yet earned it. Many accounting methods treat it as a liability, an amount you owe in work, until the job is complete. Ask your accountant how to book it for your business.
In practice, the habit is simple. Take the deposit through a traceable method, tag it to the quote or job, and show it on the final invoice as a credit. The customer sees the total, the deposit paid and the balance due.
Write the terms before taking the money: how much, what it covers, and whether it is refundable if the customer cancels. A deposit with no written terms causes disputes. If a job is cancelled, follow the policy you set and refund or keep the amount as agreed, noting your state rules.
Steps
- Write the deposit amount and refund terms in the quote.
- Collect it by a traceable method.
- Tag it to the job and customer.
- Show it as a credit on the final invoice.
- Handle cancellations as the terms say.
What to watch for
- Deposits left unmatched to any job.
- Refund promises made only by phone.
How Apex does it
In progress
Part of this is built. The rest is not. Status as of 2026-10-07; the badge shows the least-built feature involved.
Apex is designed to hold deposits against a job, collect a deposit when a quote is approved or a visit is requested, and allow partial payments. Booking deposits are partly built, and holding them against a job is a demo screen.
- IN26Deposits held against job(Rolling out)
- ES08Deposit on quote approval(In progress)
- BK22Deposits / prepayment at booking(In progress)
- IN10Partial payments / installments(Rolling out)
Apex Flow Scheduler is in early access. See how we label status.
Where this question comes from: owners type it, or a close variant, into search boxes. It was returned by public search suggestions (Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo) when we collected them on 2026-10-06. We do not have search volumes.