Firm Deposits

NOTE

Actionstep offers built-in accounting to users on our Practice Pro + Accounting plan. This article covers functionality only available with that option.

Overview

A firm deposit is a transaction that involves putting money into your bank account. In Actionstep, a Firm deposit transaction is not for a client paying a bill you have issued to them. It is for money coming in that you did not invoice for. 

In this article, we will show you how to get to the screen where you can enter a firm deposit, how to fill in that screen to process the firm deposit and how to access previously entered deposits. 

Creating a New Firm Deposit

Use the Global create button, make sure it is the expanded version. Look under Accounting and choose Firm deposit.

You will want to:

1. Check the 'Bank account' and 'Date' are correct
2. Enter who the payment is from
3. Select the 'Payment method' and enter a 'Journal memo'
4. Set the 'Account' and 'Amount' for the line item
5. Save.

 

TIP

There are two ways that you can speed up entering the data on the New firm deposit screen. The first is to use a deposit template. See our article on deposit templates for more details.

You can also set defaults for a Firm deposit so that some of the fields in the form are automatically populated to your preferred option. You can do this on the Accounting Preferences screen.

TIP

As you enter a Firm deposit, you can also upload a supporting document using the paperclip icon in the top right of the screen. 

Use this to upload a scan of your receipt to keep complete, auditable records of all transactions in Actionstep.

Once you have saved a document a number will appear beside the paperclip icon to indicate how many documents are attached to the transaction. Click the icon again to view and download the documents.

Understanding the New Firm deposit screen

The screen is broken down into the top where you enter the details of the bank transaction and the bottom part of the screen where you enter line items to break down the deposit.

We explain each of the fields below.

Deposit to	The bank account that the deposit will be made into. Trust bank accounts will not be displayed.
Date	The date that the deposit will be made into your bank account.
Received from	The contact that made the payment. The dropdown will display commonly used contacts first (contacts that you use for withdrawals often), then you can choose either:  Your own firm Another contact record Other If you choose 'Another contact record', you will be prompted to choose or create the contact record from those in your system. If you choose 'Other' you can free type in the Payee's name.
Total amount	This will show the total amount of the deposit. The field is not editable, it will update as you enter the 'Amount' into the line items.
Amounts include GST/VAT?	This tick-box will only appear if you have sales tax such as GST or VAT set in your system. Untick this box if the value you enter into the 'Amount' box is exclusive of sales tax.
Receipt no.	The number for the receipt that Actionstep will generate once you save this record.
Payment method	Select how the payment was processed. The option that you chose will dictate what fields are displayed for the 'Reference'. For example, if you were to choose the option 'Check' you would have a field asking you to choose the check series.  If you were to choose "Electronic funds transfer' you would have a field asking you for a reference.
Payment ref.	Enter the reference for the transaction. This is displayed in your bank reconciliations to make it easier to identify transactions. If the Payment method is set to 'Check" then you will see a link that you can use to enter in further details about the cheque you are depositing.
Quick-code	The Quick-code dropdown will allow you to populate the Journal Memo field faster. The options available will be set by your Admin.
Journal Memo	Enter a memo or note for this transaction. You can populate the Journal memo from a pre-set list of memo's using the Quick-code dropdown.
Matter (Optional)	Search and select a matter to associate with the deposit. This option is used if you need to monitor your no billable income against a matter. TIP If you have a Firm deposit that will have billable items for more than one matter, create a separate line for each using the 'Add Row' button.
GL Account	This must be populated for every line item in your firm withdrawal. Select the general ledger account that you would like this item coded to.  TIP Think of this as a way for you to categories what type of income this line item is for. You are able to type the account name or number to help find it faster.
GST	Choose what sales tax rate will be applied to this line item.
Description	Enter the description of the line item. If you leave this blank, the line item description will populate with the firm withdrawal's Journal memo.
Amount	Enter the amount for the line item.
Add Row	Use this button to create more than one line item.

Accessing your previous firm deposits

Firm deposits will be treated as a banking transaction so you will find them included in the list of transactions for your bank. 

Access these by going to the Accounting menu and clicking on Banking. Choose the bank account the transaction should have been made from and using the three-dot button  select Transactions. 

The listed transactions will include all transactions for that bank account. If you want to see just the firm withdrawals, use the Filter to filter the 'Entry type' by "Firm deposits'.

Related Articles

• Introduction to Actionstep's in-built Accounting
• Banking
• Deposit Slips
• Transfer funds
• Firm withdrawals
• Bank Reconciliations
• Correcting Accounting errors