Deposits and Down Payments

Gestan allows you to specify the type of payment: standard, deposit or down payment.

A deposit (also known as an ‘advance’) is any partial payment made upon conclusion of the sales contract or after its conclusion. The deposit binds the seller and the buyer to honour the contract. A seller who withdraws must refund the deposit and may be liable for damages. A buyer who withdraws must pay the full amount due even if they refuse to have the contract performed: it is not possible to cancel the purchase of the product once the deposit has been paid, unless a new agreement is reached with the seller (excluding consumer credit). It is possible to refund a deposit, along with compensation where applicable, if the seller fails to fulfil their primary obligation (such as the delivery of a product).

The deposit, unlike a down payment, allow the buyer to withdraw from the sales contract. If it is the customer who withdraws or cancels their order, they forfeit the entire amount paid.

You can automatically post ‘Deposit’ entries linked to quotations, orders or invoices (customer accounts), or to supplier orders and invoices (supplier accounts).

To do this, simply click on the button Deposit button in the relevant list.

You can also use the Receive Payment button in the invoices list, specifying in this case that the entry type is “Deposit”

These are “Deposit” type entries, which have a direct impact on the accounts.

Depending on the general settings, this may be printed on the documents; here is an example of a deposit of 48 euros being paid against a 120-euro invoice.

When drawing up a quotation, an order or an invoice, you can specify the deposit amount expected from your customer.

This amount is shown for reference only. It has no accounting implications.

This field is automatically printed on documents if the deposit amount is greater than 0, and if no ‘Deposit’ type entry has been recorded on the document – Currently, it is only printed in the Enterprise version, but it will soon be available in the Standard version as well.

ℹ️ Other ‘Invoicing’ articles