Security deposits help protect your campground when hosting long-term guests. With Park, you can easily collect a security deposit at the time of booking, apply it to a final invoice, and refund any remaining balance when the guest moves out.
This guide will walk you through:
- Collecting a security deposit when creating a long-term reservation
- Applying the deposit to a guest’s final invoice
- Refunding any remaining deposit to the guest
- Handling older reservations that tracked deposits differently
Sometimes, the term “deposit” is used to refer to a partial payment taken to hold a site until a guest arrives. For information on this kind of deposit, please see our article on Partial Payments.
Collecting a Security Deposit on a Long-Term Reservation
When creating a long-term reservation, you can add a security deposit during the booking process.
Steps
- Create a long-term reservation.
- On the second page, click Add security deposit under Invoice Adjustments
- Confirm or adjust the deposit amount:
- The amount is set based on the default security deposit. This can be edited in your site category settings.
- You can also adjust the amount directly on this page.
- Complete the reservation and collect payment.
Once the reservation is created:
- The first invoice will include the security deposit.
- Future monthly invoices will generate automatically for the stay.
Understanding Security Deposits in the Payments Report
Security deposits are tracked separately from revenue in the Payments Report.
This helps distinguish between:
- Revenue (Net Earnings) – income from reservations
- Amount Received – the total money collected, including deposits
For example:
- If you collect $725 total, this might include:
- Site charges ($500)
- Taxes ($25)
- Security deposit ($200)
Only the portion related to actual site charges counts as revenue. The deposit is recorded as a refundable liability until checkout.
Creating a Final Invoice and Applying the Deposit
When a long-term guest checks out, you can generate a final invoice to calculate any remaining charges (such as electricity).
Steps
- Open the guest’s long-term reservation.
- Click Manage Invoices.
- At the bottom of the invoice list, click Generate Final Invoice.
- Edit the newly created final invoice.
From here you can:
- Enter meter readings for electric billing
- Add additional line items
- Automatically apply the security deposit refund
After saving the invoice, the system will calculate:
- Final charges
- Remaining deposit balance
Refunding the Security Deposit
If the guest is owed money after final charges are applied, you can refund the remaining deposit.
Steps
- Open the Final Invoice.
- Click Refund Deposit.
- Confirm the refund details:
- Edit the refund reason if needed.
- Choose the refund method:
- Refund to original payment method
- Refund externally if the original payment was offline
- Complete the refund.
The guest’s account is now fully settled.
How Deposits Appear in Reports
When a deposit is applied and refunded, the Payments Report will show two additional entries:
1. Deposit Refund
- Shows money returned to the guest
- Reduces your cash balance
- Does not affect revenue
2. Applied Deposit
- Converts part of the deposit into earnings
- Used to pay for final charges (like electricity)
After these transactions:
- The deposit liability becomes zero
- The reservation is fully closed.
Handling Older Reservations with Manual Deposits
Some older reservations (or those imported from another system) may have tracked security deposits as a regular invoice line item instead of a refundable deposit.
In these cases:
- Open the final invoice for the reservation.
- Click Edit Invoice.
- Add a negative line item for Security Deposit Refund.
- Enter the refund amount.
- Click Refund Deposit.
Because the original deposit was recorded as revenue, the system will adjust the reports differently:
- The refund will decrease both cash and revenue.
- This ensures the final earnings from the deposit equal zero.
Summary
Using security deposits with long-term reservations allows you to:
- Collect deposits when guests move in
- Track deposits separately from revenue
- Apply deposits to final charges
- Refund remaining balances easily
This keeps your accounting accurate and ensures your guests’ deposits are handled correctly.
We hope this helps! If you have further questions, please feel free to submit a support ticket through the “help” button, or contact our team directly at support@poweredbypark.com.