This article is Step 4A of the Understanding Accounting Integration series, covering the Customer Deposits control account. To see all steps in the series, refer to the Accounting Integration Setup: All Steps.
Purpose of the Customer Deposits GL Account
The Customer Deposits General Ledger (GL) account holds the value of deposits added to Customer Orders in Blackpurl. Deposit amounts remain in this GL account until one of the following occurs:
The deposit is applied to finalise a Customer Order in Blackpurl
The deposit is refunded to the customer in Blackpurl
This account functions as a clearing account only. It will appear as a negative asset, which is equivalent to a liability.
Required GL Account Types
Your accounting package requires a specific GL account type for this account — integration will not occur if the wrong type is used. This is a restriction imposed by QuickBooks Online and Xero, not Blackpurl. The required account types are:
QuickBooks Online Australia / New Zealand — Account Type: Cash or equivalent – Cash on hand
QuickBooks Online USA / Canada — Account Type: Bank – Cash on hand
Xero — Account Type: Current asset
Setting up the Customer Deposit GL with these account types is the only way QuickBooks Online or Xero will accept the integration transactions for Blackpurl Customer Deposits.
For Xero, you must also ensure that the GL account has Enable payments to this account ticked in the account settings.
How Integrated Transactions Work
When a Customer Deposit is received on a Customer Order in Blackpurl, the integrated transaction posted to your accounting package is:
Debit — Undeposited Funds GL (based on the payment method, if you have more than one Undeposited Funds GL set up)
Credit — Customer Deposits GL
The transaction appears with a reference in the format CODN-***** when the amount is processed as a deposit on a Customer Order in Blackpurl.
The following shows an example of a Customer Deposit journal entry in QuickBooks Online:
The following shows an example of the same transaction in Xero:
When the Customer Deposit is used to pay a Customer Order invoice, the Customer Deposits GL receives a debit entry to clear the balance for that transaction.
The COIP and CODN identifiers shown in Blackpurl can be copied from the Cash Reconciliation screen or from the relevant Customer Order, then pasted into the search field in QuickBooks Online or Xero to locate the corresponding transaction.
Restrictions
Do not post transactions directly to this GL account from your accounting package, except when entering opening balances. This account is a clearing and holding account for transactions originating from Blackpurl — all activity should flow through Blackpurl, not be entered manually in your accounting package.
Reconciling the Customer Deposits GL to Blackpurl
The balance in the Customer Deposits GL account in your accounting package should always equal the total deposits held in Blackpurl. To verify this, follow these steps:
Run the All Customer Orders report in Blackpurl and note the total in the Deposit column — see Reconcile Customer Deposits Between Blackpurl and Your Accounting Package for instructions on running this report. Alternatively, the deposit total is shown on the Blackpurl homepage in the Deposits widget.
Compare the Customer Deposits total from Blackpurl to the balance in your Customer Deposits GL in your accounting package, taking into account any manual entries you have made directly in the accounting package.