Odd accounting question - How to classify security deposit bonds
We work with a company that'll allow a tenant to buy a bond in place of paying for a deposit. Say you want to move in for as little as possible. Rent is $700/month. Since your credit sucks and you were evicted 16 minutes ago, we tell you the deposit is going to be 2 months rent. So move in is $2,100 total. "But I don't have that much"
Okay, so you still need $700 for rent to move in, but rather than $1,400 deposit, you can pay this company some % of that (say, $350) and they'll give you a bond. That $350 is NOT refundable to you. It's a fee to this company for risking the $1,400 due to us if you break your lease.
So far, simple simple. So what we've been doing on the tenants ledger is charging them the full deposit ($1,400) and then giving them a CREDIT for the bond that's out there -- making their ledger zero. The $350 doesn't go to us so it's not on their ledger at all. But this doesn't seem the right way to do it as although they have a SD charge and a credit, they don't really have a SD liability on their ledger as there wasn't actually a payment to that GL code.
So I thought about making a new GL code, as an asset type, called "Bond". Then charging them the $1,400 but giving them a credit that was offset against that asset. Then the $1,400 would show up as a 'paid' depsoit, and we'd show $1,400 on our balance sheet. If they skip, and the bond company sends us a check for $1400, we'd likely delete the credit, post the $1,400 as a real payment to their ledger, and then apply the deposit towards outstanding balances.
So far maybe so good. But then I thought -- okay -- what if they just leave on good terms. I now have this $1,400 asset out there. At that point I guess I'd need to just delete the asset AND the security deposit charge?
I some of these types of questions are nto as sexy as "Should I start an LLC" or "Where do I find off market deals" but I hope someone might have some insight. And please don't just say "Call your accountant". I've bought/sold thousands of deals and haven't needed to hire or use one yet and dont' want to use one for this question :)