Retainer contracts
/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-examples/retainer-contracts
section
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# Retainer contracts
About retainer contracts
/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-examples/retainer-contracts/about-retainer-contracts
page
In some cases, a contract includes a retainer along with the services to be provided.
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# About retainer contracts
In some cases, a contract includes a retainer along with the services to be provided.
In some cases, a contract includes a retainer along with the services to be provided.
The
customer pays the retainer at contract setup.
The customer is then charged for the actual
usage of services according to its invoicing schedule, and the cost of provided services is
deducted from the retainer.
In Visma Net, a retainer is referred to as a **deposit contract item**.
You configure a contract
item marked as a deposit (by selecting the **Deposit** check box).
This
contract item represents a retainer that the customer should pay at contract setup.
Then you
assign this deposit contract item to contract items that represent services.
That is, you
specify a deposit contract item in the **Deposit item** field for each
contract item whose cost of usage is to be deducted from the retainer. After required
contract items are configured, you add them, except for the deposit contract item, to a
contract template designed for retainer contracts. When you add a contract item to a
contract template, the system checks whether it has a deposit contract item attached; if
there is one, it checks whether it has been added already. If a contract item has a deposit
item attached that is not yet present in the contract template, this deposit contract item
is added automatically.
You create a retainer contract based on the contract template configured for this purpose
and activate it.
When you provide services to a customer, the usage of the services is
recorded in the contract.
The customer is invoiced according to its invoicing schedule, and
invoices are issued as a result of the invoicing process.
Each provided service and the
retainer are displayed as separate lines in the invoice. The customer is invoiced for each
service usage according to the pricing policy defined in the **Recurring pricing** field of the respective contract item.
When the retainer has been spent,
the customer is invoiced for each service usage according to the pricing policy defined in the
**Extra usage pricing** field of the respective contract item.
If a customer wants to replenish a retainer, this can be done with the contract upgrade
procedure.
You can change the deposit contract item quantity if the contract template allows
overriding of contract items.
For details, see: [Make changes to contract services](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/make-changes-to-contract-services/).
## Retainer contract restrictions
1. The contract template must contain only one deposit contract item. The system does not allow a contract template to be saved if there are multiple deposit contract items.
1. The contract must be of either the **Expiring** type or the **Unlimited** type. The contract type is defined by the **Contract type** setting of the contract template that the contract is based on.
Related pages
Concepts
Tasks
Windows
Configure a retainer contract
/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-examples/retainer-contracts/configure-a-retainer-contract
page
To configure a retainer contract, perform the following steps:
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# Configure a retainer contract
To configure a retainer contract, perform the following steps:
1. By using the [Non-stock items (IN202000)](/visma-net-erp/help/inventory/inventory-windows/non-stock-items-in202000/) window, configure a non-stock item. In the **Sales account** field on the **General ledger accounts** tab, we recommend that you specify a designated liability account to post related transactions instead of an income one.
1. In the [Contract items (CT201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/customer-ledger-windows/contract-items-ct201000/) window, create a deposit contract item. For details, see: [Create a deposit contract item](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-examples/retainer-contracts/create-a-deposit-contract-item/).
1. Also in the [Contract items (CT201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/customer-ledger-windows/contract-items-ct201000/) window, create a service contract item that is provided recurrently and assign the deposit contract item to it.
1. By using the [Contract templates (CT202000)](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/customer-ledger-windows/contract-templates-ct202000/) window, create a contract template at your discretion. You do not add the deposit contract item to a contract template directly; you instead add the service contract item to the contract template, and the deposit contract item assigned to it is added automatically. For details, see: [Configure a contract template](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/prior-configuration/configure-a-contract-template/).
1. Initiate the contract in the way that suits your needs. The invoice that includes the prepayment sum is issued and you can proceed with contract fulfilment. For details, see: [About contract setup and activation](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-setup-and-activation/about-contract-setup-and-activation/).
1. Enter contract usage. For details, see: [About contract usage recording](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-usage-recording/about-contract-usage-recording/).
1. Invoice the contract according to its schedule. For details, see: [About contract invoicing](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-invoicing/about-contract-invoicing/).
Related pages
Concepts
Tasks
Windows
Create a deposit contract item
/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/manage-contracts/contract-examples/retainer-contracts/create-a-deposit-contract-item
section
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# Create a deposit contract item
## Before you proceed
By using the [Non-stock items (IN202000)](/visma-net-erp/help/inventory/inventory-windows/non-stock-items-in202000/) window, you must create a
non-stock item to be used for the creation of deposit contract items.
No special
settings are required for this item; we recommend only that in the **Sales account** field on the **General ledger accounts** tab of the window, you specify a
designated liability account to post deposit-related transactions to.
For details on
configuring non-stock items, see: [About non-stock item support](/visma-net-erp/help/inventory/manage-stock-and-non-stock-items/about-non-stock-item-support/).
1. Go to the [Contract items (CT201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/customer-ledger-windows/contract-items-ct201000/) window.
1. Click .
1. Optional: In the **Contract item** field, specify the unique ID of the deposit contract item.
IDs of contract items are
formed in accordance with the **CONTRACTITEM** segmented key.
If the
**Contract item** field contains the
`` place holder, it means that auto-numbering is
enabled for a key segment and the system will assign the ID
automatically. Otherwise, you should specify the ID
manually.
1. In the **Description** field, type a brief description of the deposit contract item.
1. In the top part of the **Price options** tab, do the following:
1. In the **Maximum allowed quantity** and the **Minimum allowed quantity** fields, type the limits of the retainer quantity.
1. In the **Default quantity** field, type the quantity of retainers that is included in the contract by default. This value can be modified in a contract template or a contract, as long as it is within the allowed limits.
1. In the **Currency ID** field, select the currency of the contract item. Within each contract item, you should use non-stock items priced in the same currency.
1. In the **Setup and renewal** section, do the following:
1. In the **Setup item** field, select the non-stock item you have configured.
1. In the **Setup pricing** field, select the pricing policy. The following options are available:
+ **Use item price**: The base price of the non-stock item is used. If a price is configured for a customer price class and a customer that purchases this service belongs to this price class, then the price from the customer price class is used.
+ **Percent of item price**: The price is a percentage calculated by applying the percent specified in the **Item price/percentage** field to the base price of the non-stock item.
+ **Enter manually**: The price is specified manually and can not be changed later in a contract.
1. In the **Retain rate** field, specify the percent of the deposit amount at which the user viewing contract details will receive a system warning.
1. Select the **Deposit** check box to mark this contract item as the one to be used as the retainer.
1. Select the **Refundable** check box if you want to allow the retainer to be refunded if the contract is terminated. The retainer is refunded if both the contract template and the deposit contract item are marked as refundable. The balance of the retainer at the date of termination is refunded.
1. Click .
Now you can proceed to creating a contract item that represents a service provided
recurrently.
When you create the service contract item in the [Contract items (CT201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/customer-ledger-windows/contract-items-ct201000/) window, you specify the deposit contract
item you have configured in the **Deposit item** field on the
**Price options** tab of this window.
Related pages
Concepts
Tasks
Windows