How do I take a security deposit and refund or deduct from it?

A deposit is not income; it is money you hold in trust and either return or deduct from. That is why it has its own screen inside the contract, an accounting entry in a liability account rather than in revenue, and a global list showing everything you are holding.

Taking the deposit

1. Open the contract and press Security deposit — Figure 1.
2. Enter the amount, choose the payment method from those defined in Accounting, add a reference and notes if any, then press Receive.
3. The entry is posted automatically: debit the account of the payment method you chose (the branch cash box or the bank), credit the Vehicle Rental Security Deposits Liability account.
4. Print the Security Deposit Receipt for the customer from the Print voucher button in the movements log.

At contract close

• To refund in full: press Refund, enter the amount and choose the payment method it is paid from. The entry is reversed through the same liability account.
• To deduct: press Deduct, enter the amount and the reason (damage, violation, missing fuel), then refund the remainder. Only the deducted amount becomes income, in the Vehicle Rental Deposit Forfeiture Revenue account.
• Every movement has its printed voucher — a receipt, a refund voucher or a deduction notice — showing the deposit balance after it.

Tracking every deposit

Open Vehicle Rental → Security deposits — Figure 2 — to see everything received, refunded and deducted in one place, with search by customer and branch, Excel export and print.

The deposit also appears on the customer statement, in a separate Security deposits held section: it is held for the customer and returned to them, so it does not reduce the balance they owe.

Notes

• Never mix the deposit with a rent payment; the first is held in trust and returned, the second is income you have earned.
• A deduction without a written reason is a dispute postponed; always record the reason.
• Do not refund the deposit on the day of return; a fine can arrive a week later. But do not leave it hanging past the customary period either: money left hanging shows in your books as a liability, not as cash of yours.
• Review the deposits list monthly to catch closed contracts whose deposits were never returned.