The statutory holdback: how are you tracking the 10% in QBO?

If you're doing construction work in Canada, you'll know all about the holdback — that 10% (or sometimes more) that clients are legally required to hold back under provincial lien legislation until the project is complete and the lien period has passed.

The tricky part is reflecting this properly in QBO: the holdback affects your cash flow, it sits on your balance sheet as a receivable, and the HST timing rules around it are different from a regular invoice.

How are you handling it? Have you set up a dedicated 'Holdback Receivable' account? Do you use a separate invoice line, a credit note, or something else entirely? Would love to hear what's working — especially if you've found a clean way to handle the HST timing too.