Manage vendor deposits

A vendor deposit is money paid to a supplier before the goods — a proforma-invoice prepayment, a production milestone, a container deposit. Orders → Vendor Deposits tracks every prepayment and how it's later applied against what the supplier invoices you.

Create a deposit

1. Click New Deposit (also available from the supplier's Payables → Deposits tab).
2. Pick the Supplier and optionally link the Purchase Order; set the Currency, FX Rate, and Amount, plus the Deposit Date, Due Date, and the supplier's Reference (PI #). The supplier picker shows each supplier's type — Product Supplier or Service Provider — so forwarders and brokers are easy to spot.
3. Paying a freight forwarder, customs broker, or inspection agency for goods on another supplier's order? Turn on Reference another supplier's PO instead of linking a purchase order, and search for the order the prepayment belongs to. The deposit then shows on that PO's Deposits tab under Third-Party Deposits — without affecting the order's own deposit schedule or capacity. A deposit has either its own supplier's PO link or a third-party reference, never both. See third-party deposits on a PO.
4. Attach the Proforma Invoice so the payer sees what they're paying, and add the Payee Bank Details.
5. Save as Draft, or Save & Request Payment to push it into the payment-approval flow. With no payment approver configured, submitting auto-approves — the dialog warns you.

A supplier can also auto-apply its available deposits when landed costs are created.

The deposit views

The module is more than a list — its tabs slice the same prepayments by question:

Tab	Answers
Deposits	Every deposit with its status, amount, applied, and available balance.
Cash Due Schedule	What deposit payments are due, when.
Cash Flow Forecast	The forward view of deposit cash going out.
Expected Milestones	Production/payment milestones tied to deposits.
Upcoming Liability	What you'll owe as milestones land.
Supplier Exposure	How much cash each supplier is holding.
Reminders & Exceptions	Deposits needing attention.
PO by Shipping Stage	Deposits mapped to where their POs are physically.
Aging Report / Supplier Statement / Write-Off Report	Reconciliation and cleanup views.

Tiles track Open Deposit Docs, Total Open, Available Balance, and Overdue, and Connect Google Calendar pushes deposit due dates to your calendar.

Next steps

• Vendor deposits from a PO — the PO-side flow.
• Track a supplier's payables — deposits in the supplier's net position.

Video transcript

Vendor deposits track money paid before the goods — every prepayment, and how it's later applied. The tabs slice them by cash flow, milestones, and supplier exposure. A deposit carries the currency, amount, dates, and the supplier's proforma invoice — save it as a draft, or request payment straight away.