Applying Retainers

A retainer is a fee paid in advance by the client to secure a contract.  In SQUAVA, you can enter the retainer paid by your client and apply it later to their invoices when you charge them on their projects.

This help article will give you a better understanding of how to enter and apply retainers.  Check out the outlined steps below to get started.

Article Overview
Setting up Retainer:

1. Enter the project retainer
2. Track the retainer
3. Remove the retainer

Receiving Payment for Retainer:

1. Receive payment in accounts receivable
2. Remove payment

Applying Retainer to Invoice:

1. Apply retainer to draft invoice
2. Remove applied retainer

Refund a Retainer:

1. Enter refund bill
2. Pay for the refund bill
3. Remove retainer refund

Step-by-Step Guide

Setting Up Retainer:

1. Enter the project retainer
   Go to the projects page, find your project on the list, and click on the project name.  This will give you a small menu, choose Budget.
   
   
   
   You will set up the retainer for a project when you are ready to contract the project budget.  Open the applicable project budget, and click the green Contract Budget button.
   
   
   
   
   A new window will open up for you to enter the contract details.  The bottom field is where you will enter the retainer amount.  Click save when finished.
   
   
   
   You have successfully added a retainer to the project.  You will not be able to apply this retainer to future invoices unless you have marked the retainer invoice as paid.  For this next process, you will need to access accounts receivable.
   
   

2. Track the retainer
   The retainer we entered created a retainer invoice which you can access through the project management page.  Click the management button beside the budget button then go to the invoices tab.  This will indicate the invoice number of the retainer.  We could look up from the accounts receivable or general ledger by using this invoice number.
   
   
   
   If you want to see the journal entry for the retainer entered, go to the financial reports page, select general ledger, and then search for the invoice number.
   
   
   
   

3. Remove the retainer
   There is no rescind button on retainers invoices so the only way we can remove the retainer is by going to the project budget page and uncontract the budget.
   
   
   
   A warning message will show up before you uncontract the budget because it contains a retainer invoice.  Click ok to confirm.
   
   
   
   The retainer invoice should be removed after that and you can set up a new retainer by following the first step above.
   
   

Receiving Payment for Retainer:

1. Receive payment in accounts receivable
   Go to the accounts receivable page and find the retainer invoice from the accounts receivable list.  Click the payment button located on the right side of the invoice.
   
   
   
   After clicking payments, a dialog box where you will record the amount of retainer received will show up.  If desired, you may select a bank account for the retainer to be recorded in.  After you have entered the retainer payment, be sure to click save.
   
   
   
   

   You have successfully added a retainer to this project and recorded the payment in accounts receivable.  In the next section, you will learn how to apply the retainer balance, or part of the retainer balance, to an invoice.

   If you want to see the journal entry for the retainer payment received, go to financial reports page, select general ledger, then search for the invoice number.

   
   
   
   

2. Remove payment
   You can remove the retainer payment by going to accounts receivable and clicking the payments button on the retainer invoice.  Delete the payment information by clicking the x icon button.  Click save once you’re done.
   
   
   
   

Applying Retainer to Invoice:

1. Apply retainer to draft invoice
   When you are ready to finalize an invoice and apply a retainer, open up the draft invoice for the applicable project.  Scroll down to the project summary section, you will see a section that says retainer then click the edit icon beside it.
   
   
   

   
   NOTE: This field will only appear if a retainer was properly set up when contracting the project budget.  If you don't see this field, you can modify your budget to set up the retainer.

   A new window will open up for you to apply the specific retainer amount for this invoice.  You will also see the available retainer balance.  Enter the amount you'd like to apply, then click Save.

   
   
   
   
   

   The summary section will now show the updated balance information and the retainer that has been successfully applied for this invoice.  You can now finalize this invoice whenever you are ready.
   
   
   
   If you want to see the journal entry for the retainer applied, go to the financial reports page, select general ledger, then search for the invoice number.
   
   
   
   

2. Remove applied retainer
   To remove the applied retainer, just click the edit icon beside the retainer then change the amount of applied retainer to zero.  Click save once you are done.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Refund a Retainer:

1. Enter refund bill
   You can refund a retainer by creating a new credit in accounts payable.  Go to the accounts payable page, click the new button, and select new credit.
   
   
   

   
   A new pop-up window will appear where you’ll fill in the refund details.  In the credits section, choose Retainer Refund, the project name, and the refund amount.  Click save/approve once you’re done.
   
   
   
   We could check the draft invoice of the project again and see that the retainer has been reduced to zero.

   
   

   
   If you want to see the journal entry for the retainer refund, go to the financial reports page, select general ledger, and then search for the bill number.
   
   
   
   

2. Pay for the refund bill
   To pay for the refund bill, click the edit button at the right end of the bill row, then choose paid. 
   
   
   
   A new pop-up window will appear where you can enter your refund payment details.  Click save once you’re done.
   
   
   
   If you want to see the journal entry for the retainer refund payment, go to the financial reports page, select general ledger, and then search for the bill number.
   
   
   
   
3. Remove retainer refund
   To cancel the retainer refund, just delete the bill by clicking the edit button at the right end of the bill row, then choose delete.
   
   
   
   We could check the draft invoice of the project and see that the retainer is back again after the refund bill has been deleted.
   
   

SUCCESS!!! 

• We’ve learned about entering and applying refunds.
• Check out the Help Articles: Contracting/Uncontracting a Budget and Creating Project Budgets