Guide
How to Manage Rental Deposits
Kasura tracks a rental deposit from booking through pickup or check-in to return or check-out, resolved as a full return, partial deduction, or full retention.
Deposit lifecycle
A deposit in Kasura moves through the same three moments every booking passes through: it is set when the booking is created, confirmed when the asset is handed over, and resolved when the asset comes back. Each stage is a distinct, staff-visible step rather than one continuous background process, so the current state of a deposit is always traceable to a specific action someone took.
During booking
When a booking is created, staff can set a deposit amount alongside the price. It is optional — a workspace can choose to require no deposit at all — and it is recorded as an unpaid amount on the booking from the start. Nothing is collected at this point; creating the booking only records what will be expected later.
During pickup/check-in
At the point the asset is handed over — pickup for a vehicle, check-in for accommodation — staff confirm how the deposit is actually being held. The options are a cash amount, a held passport, a held ID, or explicitly no deposit. For a cash deposit, staff also mark whether it has been paid; for a held document, the deposit is simply recorded as received rather than tied to a paid amount.
During return/check-out
At return for a vehicle or check-out for accommodation, staff resolve the deposit by choosing exactly one of three paths, described below. Any fees for refuelling, damage, lateness or a missing item are entered in this same step, since they are what a partial deduction is measured against.
Full return
A full return means the entire deposit goes back to the customer, because nothing needs to be covered. No reason is required for this path — it is simply the entire held amount released to its owner.
Partial deduction
A partial deduction covers specific recorded fees from the deposit and returns whatever remains. Staff enter the fees being deducted by name — refuelling, damage, lateness, a lost item — and a reason accompanies the deduction, so the amount withheld is always tied to a stated cause rather than an unexplained reduction.
Full retention
A full retention keeps the entire deposit, typically because the covered costs meet or exceed its value. This path always requires a recorded reason, giving the business a specific, written justification to point to if the customer later disputes the decision.
What this guide does not mean
- None of these three outcomes moves real money through a payment processor — Kasura records the resolution on the booking, and staff handle any actual cash, card, or document return outside the app.
- This is not a banking feature; there is no held payment-processor authorization or pre-auth tied to a deposit, and no Stripe deposit-specific mechanism.
- Resolving a deposit is not an automatic refund — every path is a deliberate choice a staff member makes at return or check-out, never a system-generated determination.
- This is not an accounting or tax feature — Kasura keeps no bookkeeping ledger, chart of accounts, or tax record for deposits or any other booking money.