Manage Earnest Money & Collecting Deposits

SkySlope Books provides functionality to request, receive and release earnest money deposits.  However, there is some initial setup required prior to collecting deposits.

In this article, we will walk through:

• Setting up Trust Accounts and Product/Service
  • • Important! Follow these steps prior to getting started processing Escrow Deposits
• Requesting, Payments and Releasing Escrow Deposits
  • Requesting Escrow Deposits
  • Receiving Escrow Deposits
  • Releasing Escrow Deposits

Trust Accounts & Product/Service

Note: Contact the Customer Success or Support team for assistance with this setup.  

Step 1: Setting up the Trust Liability Account in Charge of Accounts

1. Navigate to the Left Navigation Menu > Settings > Finance > Chart of Accounts

2. Click the + Create button in the top right-hand corner of the screen

• Account Type:  Click on the dropdown and scroll down until you see Liability, select Trust Liability from the dropdown 
• Ledger Account Name: Add a name that describes the account so its easy to find
• Ledger Account Code & description are optional
• Accessible for all Divisions?: If you have multiple offices, and want to allow all offices to be able to see this ledger account, check the box.  Otherwise, click "Accessible for" and add which offices are applicable

3. Click Create

The Ledger Account will now be available to assign to Products/Services

Step 2: Creating Products/Services

1. Navigate to the Left Navigation Menu > Settings > Finance > Products/Services

2. Name: Add a name that makes sense to your brokerage, for example, "Escrow Deposit"

3. Price: Enter a 0.00 since the deposit amount will change from deal to deal

4. Ledger Account: Important! Select the Liability Trust Account that you just created from the list.  Do not add your bank account!

5. Add a description, if applicable, and click Create

Requesting, Payments and Releasing Escrow Deposits

SkySlope Books allows you to use the Collect a Deposit option in the Disbursement Card of every Deal.  Here you can request, receive and release deposits within the deal.  

Notes:

• For each deposit, you need to process the request, payment and release prior to approving and closing commissions for a deal
• You can only create the request, payment and release within a Deal.  However, you can view all escrow deposit requests and releases within the Deals > Manage Earnest Money screen.

1. To get started, go to the Edit Deal page for the deal.  Scroll down to the Disbursement Card and click on the Collect a Deposit button.

2. This creates a new Deposits card. 

3. You have three sections here:

• Requests
• Payments
• Release

Requests: Start the process in the Requests section

1. Click on Requests, you will see the following pop-up:

2. Fill in the following fields:

1. Customer name (If the customer has not been added, click the +icon to add)
2. Customer email: automatically fills out the email for the Customer added, but you can change it to a different one
3. Product/Service
4. Amount
5. Due date: that's specified on the contract
6. Payment methods: how you want to receive the payment

3. Click "Create Request"

4.  Choose the appropriate option

• Create and Send: sends an email to the customer
• Create as Open: creates a request in the system without sending an email

5. Once the request is created, you can see the details in the Requests section and in the Manage Earnest Money screen

Payments:  After the request is created, and the deposit funds are received, log the payment in this section 

1. After clicking Payments, you will see the Payments popup.

2. Fill in the following fields:

• • Deposit Request:  Choose the deposit request from the dropdown
  • Payment Date: Will automatically populate with todays date, update if necessary
  • Amount: Will automatically populate from deposit request created
  • Payment Mode: Select from dropdown
  • Deposit to: Select appropriate account the payment will be deposited to
  • Notes:  Add any, if applicable

 3. Click "Create" 

4. Once the payment is created, you can see the details in the Payments section and the line item in the Manage Earnest Money screen will update to Paid

Release: After creating both the Request and Payment, create the Release once the deal is ready to close.  Important: You must release the deposit before approving and closing the deal

1. Click Release and the Release pop-up will appear

2. Fill in the following fields:

• Deposit Received From: Will auto-populate, if multiple deposits, select the appropriate option
• Release Funds From: Will auto-populate 
• Pay To: Select the appropriate option
• Note: If you want to release the payment to someone other than the brokerage, commission payer, or deal contacts, you can add them to the Others field on the Deal Information card. You will then be able to see them in this dropdown.
  
• Apply To: You will either see Deal Payout or Separate Transfer
  • Deal Payout: The release is not associated with any financial entity (bill)
  • Separate Transfer: When the selected entity has payout in the deal
• Amount: Will auto-populate
• You can make the payment via:
  • Money Transfers: Must have Money Transfers integration setup
  • Check
  • Record

3. Click Create

Updated August 26, 2024 23:03