Overview

The Accounts Receivable (AR) Prepayments feature lets your team collect customer deposits, retainers, and prepayments using a secure payment link sent directly from the Account record. Complete the configuration steps in this article before your team can access the feature. Steps must be repeated per Ledger and are called out individually. When setup is complete, see AR Prepayments for steps to send payment requests and manage payments.

In this article:

• Before You Begin
• Step 1: Review/rename Prepayment GL Account(s)
• Step 2: Update Default GL Accounts
• Step 3: Update Page Layouts and Lightning Record Pages
• Step 4: Ensure Account's Primary Contact Has an Email
• Step 5: Customize the Prepayments Field Set (Optional)
• Step 6: Update the Prepayment Email Template (Optional)

Before You Begin

1. Your org must be on the Summer '26 release or later.
2. You must have the Salesforce System Administrator profile or equivalent Customize Application permissions to complete all steps in this article. Steps 3 and 4 also require access to Salesforce Setup > Object Manager.
3. Your Salesforce organization must have Sola or Stripe configured as an active AR payment processor. See Sola Onboarding Process or Connect to Stripe.
4. AR Prepayments requires an active payment processor at the Ledger level. Sola or Stripe needs to be configured on each Ledger that will use Prepayments.

Step 1: Review/Rename Prepayment GL Account(s)

As part of the install of the Summer '26 version two new GL Accounts are automatically created for you so they can be used for Prepayments: 

• 1206-Unapplied Prepayments
  • For use on an Accrual ledger for the Unapplied Prepayments GL Account field, Type is Balance Sheet, Sub Type 1 is Assets.
• 4016-Unapplied Prepayments (Cash)
  • For use on a Cash ledger for the Unapplied Prepayments GL Account (Cash) field, Type is Revenue.

1. Review the GL Account(s)
2. Rename the GL Account(s) to suit your business' naming convention.

Step 2: Update Default GL Accounts

Once you've reviewed/renamed the Prepayment GL Account(s), assign them on the Default GL Accounts page. Repeat this step for each Ledger.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home > Setup > Configurations > Default GL Accounts.
2. Select the Ledger from the Ledger dropdown.
3. In the Accounts Receivable section, set Unapplied Prepayments GL Account to the Prepayment GL Account you created. This field applies to accrual-basis ledgers. To confirm your ledger type, navigate to Accounting Home > Setup > Ledgers and check the Ledger Type field on each Ledger record.
4. If you use cash basis ledgers, scroll to the Cash Basis section and set Unapplied Prepayment Revenue GL Account to the appropriate Prepayment GL Account. The correct field depends on your ledger's accounting method: accrual-basis ledgers use the field in step 3; cash basis ledgers use this field. If your org uses both ledger types, set both fields.
5. Click Save.
6. Repeat for each Ledger.

Unapplied Prepayment Revenue GL Account (Cash ledgers):

 

Step 3: Update Page Layouts and Lightning Record Pages

Account

Add the Receive Payment button:

1. Navigate to Setup > Object Manager > Account > Page Layouts.
2. Open the page layout your users see.
3. In the page layout editor, locate Mobile & Lightning Actions in the palette at the top of the screen. Drag Receive Payment to the buttons area on the layout.
4. Click Save.

Cash Receipt

1. Navigate to Setup > Object Manager > Cash Receipt > Lightning Record Pages.
2. Open the Lightning Record Page your users see.
3. Add a new section called Prepayments.
4. Add the following fields to the section: Prepayment Pending, Unapplied Prepayment Account, Payment URL, Prepayment Amount Requested, and Payment Failure Notification Email.

5. Set the section to display conditionally when Type = Customer Prepayment:
   1. Click the Prepayments section to select it.
   2. In the properties panel on the right, click Set Component Visibility.
   3. Click Add Filter. Set Field to Type, Operator to Equal, and Value to Customer Prepayment.
   4. Click Done.
6. Click Save, then click Activate. Confirm the activation scope and click Save.

Add the Prepayment Pending banner and Resend button

7. Add the Prepayment Pending banner component to the record page. This displays a visual alert when a prepayment Cash Receipt is awaiting payment. In the App Builder component palette, search for "Prepayment Pending." If the component does not appear, confirm the Summer 2026 release update has deployed to your org. 
8. Set the Prepayment banner visibility:
   1. Click the banner to select it.
   2. In the properties panel on the right, click Set Component Visibility.
   3. Click Add Filter. Set Field to Prepayment Pending, Operator to Equal, and Value to True.
   4. Click Done.
9. To add the Resend Prepayment Request button to the Cash Receipt page layout:
   1. Navigate to Setup > Object Manager > Cash Receipt > Page Layouts.
   2. Open the page layout your users see.
   3. In the page layout editor, locate Mobile & Lightning Actions in the palette at the top of the screen. Drag Resend Prepayment Request to the buttons area.
   4. Click Save.

Step 4: Ensure Account's Primary Contact Has an Email

The Request Prepayment screen defaults the Send to Contact field to the email of the primary Contact on the Account. 

Verify that each Account your team will send prepayment requests to has a Primary Contact with a valid email address:

1. Navigate to Accounting Home > Accounts.
2. Open an Account.
3. Ensure the Primary Contact field has a Contact populated and that this contact record has a valid email address on it.
   Important: If the Primary Contact does not have a valid email, you will not be able to initiate the Prepayment Request and will need to take specific steps before you redo the request. See If an email fails to send for more info.
4. If not, open the Contact record and add an email address, or work with your Salesforce administrator to set the appropriate Contact as the Primary Contact on the Account.

Step 5: Customize the Prepayments Field Set (Optional)

A field set is a Salesforce configuration that controls which fields display on a particular screen. The Prepayment from Account field set on the Cash Receipt object controls which fields appear in the Other Accounting and Custom Fields section of the Request Prepayment screen. The default fields match those in the Receive Payment from a Billing Record field set.

1. Navigate to Setup > Object Manager > Cash Receipt > Field Sets.
2. Open the Prepayment from Account field set.
3. Drag any fields you want to make available on the Request Prepayment screen into the field set, including custom fields.
4. Click Save.

Step 6: Update the Prepayment Email Template (Optional)

Accounting Seed includes a default email template for prepayment requests. The default template reads:

Subject: {Organization Name} - Prepayment required

Body: As outlined in our agreement, a prepayment of [amount] is required before we can commence work on your project. Please use the secure payment link below to pay: [payment link]. If you have any questions about this request please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your business.

To customize the template for your organization:

1. Navigate to Setup > Classic Email Templates > Folder: Accounting Seed Email Templates > Prepayment Email Templates.
   Note: Accounting Seed provides one Prepayment Email Template. If you would like make changes to the template, you can modify the existing template and customize it as needed.
2. Open the Prepayment Request template.
3. Edit the Subject and Body as needed.
4. Click Save.

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