How to Collect, Refund, and Deduct Security Deposits
Security deposits are money you hold on your customers’ behalf — and money you owe back unless something goes wrong with the rental. The SD Tracker is the single screen where every deposit lives from the day you collect it to the day you refund it. Instead of hunting through individual orders, you see all deposits at once, know exactly how much cash is in your hand, and act on the ones that need attention.
Open it from the left menu under Payments → SD Tracker, or go straight to /security-deposits.
Feature availability. The SD Tracker is part of the Security Deposit feature module. If you don’t see it in the menu, the module isn’t enabled on your plan. Viewing the tracker requires the Payments or Security Deposits read permission. The default deposit amount charged on each order is set separately in Settings — see How to Configure Security Deposits.
Read the In-Hand Summary Band
The band across the top tells you where your deposit money stands right now. It recalculates against whatever search and filters you have applied, so it always describes the list below it.
| Figure | What it means |
|---|---|
| In-Hand | Total deposit money you are currently holding (collected, minus refunds and deductions). |
| Collected | All deposit money taken in. |
| Refunded | All deposit money paid back. |
| Deductions | Money kept from deposits for damage, penalties, and the like. |
| Pending Collection | Deposit money still owed to you across open orders. |
| Pending Refund | Held money that is due back, plus a count of how many orders it spans. |
The two amber Pending Collection and Pending Refund pills are your action list — they flag deposits waiting on you.
Scan the Deposits Table
Each row is one order’s deposit. The columns give you the full picture at a glance:
- Order # — click it to jump straight to the order.
- Customer and City.
- Deposit — the configured deposit for the order.
- Type — Refundable or Non-Refundable (more on this below).
- Collected and Refunded amounts.
- Payment Mode — hover to see a breakdown of how much came in (and went out) through each mode.
- Last Return and Days Since Return — how long ago the last item came back, so you can spot deposits sitting unrefunded.
- Status — the deposit’s current stage (see the status table below).
Asset-level deposits expand. When a deposit was calculated from the value of individual assets, its row has an expand arrow. Open it to see the per-asset deposit breakdown that was snapshotted onto the order.
Deposit Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Deposit is configured but nothing has been collected. |
| Partially Collected | Some, but not all, of the deposit is in. |
| Collected | The full deposit has been collected. |
| Pending Refund | Items are back and money is still held — it’s due to be returned. |
| Partial Refund | Part of the held amount has been refunded. |
| Refunded | Everything owed back has been returned. |
| Forfeited | The deposit was retained (for example, a non-refundable deposit at order closure). |
Record a Deposit Collection
You can collect from the row’s Collect button, or open a deposit’s detail drawer and choose Record Collection.
- On a row that still has deposit outstanding, click Collect (or Record Collection in the drawer).
- The Record Deposit Collection panel opens. A banner shows the Deposit Amount, anything Already collected, and the remaining Outstanding.
- Enter the Amount and Date. The amount defaults to the outstanding balance — lower it to record a partial collection. You can’t collect more than what’s outstanding.
- Pick a Payment Mode. Start typing to search; if the mode you need doesn’t exist, choose + Create to add it on the spot.
- Optionally add a Reference Number (a transaction ID or receipt reference) and Notes.
- Click Record Collection.
Wallet holds. If the customer wallet feature is enabled, a Collect From choice appears — Direct Payment or Customer Wallet. Choosing Customer Wallet holds the deposit from the customer’s available wallet balance instead of taking cash, and the amount is released back to their wallet when you refund. No payment mode is needed for a wallet hold.
Process a Refund (with Deductions)
When the rental ends and items are back, return what you’re holding — keeping back anything you’re owed.
-
Click Refund on the row, or open the drawer and choose Process Refund.
-
The Process Deposit Refund panel opens with a banner showing the Collected Amount and, if relevant, what’s already been refunded or deducted and the current Refundable hold.
-
To keep money back, click Add under Deductions and add one row per charge. Pick a Reason and enter an Amount:
Deduction reason Typical use Damage Repair or replacement for damaged items. Unpaid Invoice Outstanding rental charges owed on the order. Cleaning Cleaning beyond normal wear. Late Fee Charge for a late return. Other Anything not covered above. -
The Refund Amount defaults to what’s left after deductions. Edit it to refund only part now — the remainder stays held and a note tells you it can be refunded later.
-
Set the Refund Date, choose a Payment Mode for the cash going out, and optionally add a Reference Number and Notes.
-
Click Process Refund.
Refund to wallet. With the wallet feature on, a Refund To choice lets you pay out as Cash / Bank or credit the Customer Wallet. A wallet refund moves no cash and needs no payment mode.
Add or Correct a Deduction After the Fact
Sometimes damage turns up after you’ve already refunded, or a deduction was entered wrong. Open the deposit’s detail drawer (View on the row) to fix it — everything is logged in the transaction history.
- Record Deduction — for a missed damage, penalty, or late fee. Click Record Deduction, pick a Category, enter an Amount and optional Notes, then save. The charge lands in the deposit ledger and on the order’s Additional Charges list.
- Adjust a deduction — click the pencil on a deduction in the transaction history to correct its amount. The old entry stays in the ledger as voided so the audit trail is preserved.
- Void a deduction — click the trash icon to reverse a deduction entered in error. The amount returns to the deposit hold and any linked Additional Charges row is removed from the order.
Collection and refund entries in the history can also be edited (via the pencil) to fix their reference number, notes, amount, date, or payment mode.
Refundable vs Non-Refundable Deposits
The Type column tells you how a deposit behaves:
- Refundable (the default) — held money you return at the end, minus any deductions.
- Non-Refundable — retained, not returned. The Refund action is hidden for these, and when the order closes the deposit is marked Forfeited. The drawer shows a “retained when the order closes” note as a reminder.
Find Deposits Fast
- Search — the box at the top matches order number, customer, and city.
- Show Filters — opens a panel with Order #, Customer, Period (All Time, Last 30 Days, Last 90 Days, Last 6 Months, Year to Date), Refund Age (All, over 7 / 15 / 30 days), and Deposit Type (Refundable / Non-Refundable). The button shows a badge with the number of active filters.
- Refund Age is how you triage overdue refunds — filter to deposits whose items came back more than 7, 15, or 30 days ago and haven’t been fully refunded.
Jump here from a reminder. When the notification bell warns you about aging refunds, clicking it opens the tracker pre-filtered to pending refunds older than the configured number of days, sorted oldest-first. A banner explains the filter; click Clear to see everything again.
Export the List
Click Export to download the current deposits as an Excel file.
- Choose a Date Range — from a preset (All Time through Previous Year) or Custom Date Range with your own From and To dates.
- Leave Apply current page filters to export ticked to carry your active search and deposit-type filter into the file, or untick it to export everything in the range.
- Click Export to Excel. The file downloads to your device.