How to Take a Field Service Deposit

The deposit is cash in a pocket

Money taken before the work is written on the job card and never reaches customer advances, so the invoice asks for the full amount.

The same card payment is posted twice because the return from the bank is refreshed.

A technician is expected to take the deposit on site even though collecting payment is turned off.

Why this happens

• The deposit is a note instead of an advance receipt tagged to the job.
• The deposit is raised as its own sale invoice, so the job now has two bills.
• Stripe is not configured, and the pay link has nowhere to send the customer.
• Collect payment is used after the invoice when the money should have been an advance before it.

Biznsbook addresses this through Customer advances, job-tagged deposits, Stripe Checkout when Field Service is licensed. Customers are parties you already keep. The van is a warehouse. The invoice is one sale invoice for the job.

A second dispatcher, a van, and a deposit are where a private list drifts. Making Biznsbook the place that books the visit, issues the part, and raises the one invoice keeps those three on the same job.

Step-by-step: Take a Field Service Deposit

Built for owners and dispatchers who send technicians to a customer site in Biznsbook Field Service.

1. Confirm who may collect. Technicians do not collect on site unless the setting is on. Office roles that can collect payment can take the deposit. Company admins and owners can.
2. Record the deposit before the invoice. The receipt is an advance. It is tagged to the job. The journal debits cash and credits customer advances. This is not a sale invoice. The job can still have its one invoice later.
3. Send a pay link when you use Stripe. Stripe Checkout is available when Stripe is configured for the company. The public pay page redirects to that checkout. Card-reader capture, Stripe Terminal, is not part of this module. Paying the same Stripe session twice does not post twice.
4. Create the invoice. Create invoice applies the remaining advance up to the invoice total. The customer is not asked again for the amount already advanced. A second invoice is still refused.
5. Take payment after the invoice. A payment recorded after the invoice exists posts cash against accounts receivable. It is not another advance. It settles the sale invoice, and the job can move to paid when that invoice is settled.
6. Keep the tag on this job. The advance is tagged so another job’s invoice does not consume it. If you need the money on a different job, record it there.
7. Do not add a tip line. Tips are not part of this module. Record the deposit as the amount you intend to hold against the job.

Review results after the first full weekly cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.

Screen names in this guide match Field Service in the product: Home, Jobs, Dispatch, My day, Quotes, Agreements, and Settings.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mistake 1: The deposit is a note instead of an advance receipt tagged to the job. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 2: The deposit is raised as its own sale invoice, so the job now has two bills. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 3: Stripe is not configured, and the pay link has nowhere to send the customer. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 4: Collect payment is used after the invoice when the money should have been an advance before it. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.

Note each recurring gap in the weekly review. Each one should map to a step in this guide.

Best practices that hold up as you scale

• Confirm who may collect — Technicians do not collect on site unless the setting is on.
• Record the deposit before the invoice — The receipt is an advance.
• Send a pay link when you use Stripe — Stripe Checkout is available when Stripe is configured for the company.
• Create the invoice — Create invoice applies the remaining advance up to the invoice total.
• Take payment after the invoice — A payment recorded after the invoice exists posts cash against accounts receivable.

Teams that schedule on the board, issue parts from the van before they invoice, and refuse a second invoice keep the visit and the ledger on the same job.

How Biznsbook supports this workflow

Customer advances is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

job-tagged deposits is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

Stripe Checkout is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

Technicians do not quote, invoice, or collect unless those settings are on. Labour cost is for job costing and does not post a wage journal. Email sends through the company’s outbound email and SMS through the company’s own Twilio connection.

Suggested implementation timeline

1. Week 1: License Field Service, add sites on the parties you already keep, and try Customer advances on one real job.
2. Week 2: Create a van warehouse, transfer the stock that is in the van, and issue one part on a visit.
3. Week 3: Schedule on the board, including one forced conflict, and complete a visit with the checklist rules you actually want.
4. Week 4: Create the one sale invoice, apply a deposit if you took one, and turn the public page on if customers should request visits.
5. Ongoing: Weekly review of unscheduled jobs, overdue complete-by times, and van items under minimum, using what the public pay page does.

Related guides

Start with create a field service job, then schedule a field visit and invoice a field job.

Product page: Field Service. Trades: field service trades. Decision: field service software vs spreadsheets.

Advance first, receivable after

Customer advances are the right account before you have a sale invoice. Accounts receivable is the right account after that invoice exists. Mixing them leaves the deposit invisible to the invoice apply step.

The apply step looks for remaining advances tagged to this job and uses the smaller of that remainder and the invoice total. It does not create a second invoice to hold the deposit.

Metrics to track monthly

• Jobs still unscheduled past the attention window
• Jobs past their complete-by time
• Van items below the minimum you set
• Visits forced past a conflict
• Jobs completed and not yet invoiced

Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.

Spreadsheet or paper day sheet vs Biznsbook Field Service

Compare a typical list of jobs with Biznsbook Customer advances and the rest of the field job.

What the public pay page does

The pay link opens a page that redirects to Stripe Checkout when the session was created. If Stripe is not configured, the link can still be recorded by the office as an advance or, after the invoice, as a payment. The page does not capture a card on its own.

Write this into the way the office hands work to technicians, and revisit it when you add a van or a second dispatcher.

Frequently asked questions

How this differs by industry