Some facilities will collect a deposit and return it to the customer after the event under certain circumstances. For example, an event facility may require a $100 damage deposit from a customer, which will be returned if the venue is undamaged after the event. However, the event facility will keep some or all of the $100 if any damage has occurred.
To handle refundable deposits, it is recommended you use miscellaneous items. Using miscellaneous items allows you to track the money you have collected for the event. If you do not use miscellaneous items, refundable deposit amounts that are not returned to the customer will look like extra payments instead of legitimate event costs.
| 1. | Before you do any invoicing, ensure that the appropriate miscellaneous items exist in your resource item setup. Return to Chapter 1: Setting Up EventPro, Step 9: Resources, Miscellaneous Resource Items and review how to create miscellaneous items in your Resource Items so that they are easily accessible for each event. Create a “Deposit” for x dollars (e.g. $200), and a “Refund Deposit” for –x dollars (e.g. -$200.00). |
| 2. | Return to the event for which you want to create a refundable deposit. |
| 3. | First, you need to add to the event a miscellaneous item that will represent the amount of the deposit. |
| a. | In the Detail | Miscellaneous tab of the Event Maintenance screen click the New button to the right. |
| b. | In the Miscellaneous Item [New] window, select Deposit from the Item Code drop-down list. The Price of the deposit (the deposit amount) will default to the amount you entered when you created the item under resource item setup, but you can enter a different amount if required. |
| 4. | Now you are going to create an invoice for this deposit. |
| a. | Go to the Finance | Invoices tab in the event. Click the Create button on the far right of the screen. |
| c. | Set the Cutoff Date so that it is after the last date of the event. |
| d. | In the lower right corner of the Invoice Wizard, under Group, unselect all of the checkboxes except Miscellaneous. Only Miscellaneous should be checked. This will create an invoice for the refundable deposit amount. |
| e. | Click Next and Finish to complete the invoice. |
| 5. | After you give the invoice to the customer and receive payment of the deposit, you can now record the payment. |
| a. | Go to the Finance | Payment tab for the event. Click the Create button on the far right of the screen. |
| b. | In the Payment Wizard, select Regular and click Next. |
| c. | Enter the Payment amount and any other required information, and click Next. |
| d. | In the payment summary review screen, check that the entire payment amount is allocated to the correct corresponding deposit invoice. |
| e. | Click Finish and post the payment. |
| 6. | After the event, you may need to refund some or all of the deposit. You will now add to the event a miscellaneous item that will represent the amount of the deposit you are refunding. |
| a. | In the Detail | Miscellaneous tab of the Event Maintenance screen click the New button to the right. |
| b. | In the Miscellaneous Item [New] window, select Refund Deposit from the Item Code drop-down list. The Price of the refund deposit (the amount being refunded) will default to the amount you entered when you created the item under resource item setup (should be a negative number), but you can enter a different amount if required. Remember that the refund must be represented by a negative amount (e.g. -100.00). The Return Deposit item should have been created earlier in the resource item setup. See step (1) of these instructions. |
| 7. | Next, you will create an invoice for this refund. |
| a. | Go to the Finance | Invoices tab in the event. Click the Create button on the far right of the screen. |
| b. | In the Invoice Wizard, select Create an invoice automatically from all chargeable items. |
| c. | Set the Cutoff Date so that it is after the last date of the event. |
| d. | In the lower right corner of the Invoice Wizard, under Group, unselect all of the checkboxes except Miscellaneous. Only Miscellaneous should be checked. This will create an invoice for the return deposit amount, i.e. a negative amount. |
| e. | Click Next and Finish to complete the invoice. |
| 8. | Finally, when you refund the deposit money to the customer, you will record the payment you made. |
| a. | Go to the Finance | Payment tab for the event. Click the Create button on the far right of the screen. |
| b. | In the Payment Wizard, select Regular and click Next. |
| c. | Enter the Payment amount (a negative number, e.g. -100.00). To make the amount negative, type the number into the Payment field, click the drop-down arrow to open the Calculator and click the +/- key to put a negative sign before the number. Enter any other required information, and click Next. Remember that this must be a negative amount to correspond with the negative amount in the refunded deposit invoice you created earlier. |
| d. | In the payment summary review screen, check that the entire payment amount is allocated to the correct invoice, which contains the corresponding negative refunded deposit amount. |
| e. | Click Finish and post the payment. |
| 9. | These steps will record the deposit you received and the portion you refunded. If you kept some of the deposit, that amount will be added to the billable charges for this event. |
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