Retainage
In accounting, retainage means a part of each progress billing that the buyer withholds, by contract, until the work is complete. The buyer owes it from the day the work is billed, so it stays a liability, shown apart from amounts currently due.
Not a rule. Contract term — not codified. US GAAP governs recognition, measurement and presentation, not bookkeeping mechanics. Sources
What it is not called
Each of these means something else. Use one here and an accountant reading the product notices.
- deposit
- holdback in UI copy
- accrual
Nearby in the catalog
No component names this concept outright. These sit in the same part of the system.
Also in Payables
Defined in Lexicon. This page is generated from that document, so the two can't disagree.