How to: Work with Rentals

This topic describes the general, end-to-end process of working with rentals in Bookings for LS Central: creating a rental reservation, handing out rental units to the customer, returning the units, and settling payment. It also lists the setup pages you need to configure before you can use rentals.

The rental process at a glance

A rental follows the same reservation flow as any other appointment- or reservation-based product, but it also tracks individual, physical rental units (for example a specific bike or a specific piece of equipment) through the following stages:

The customer books a rental reservation. This reserves the resource capacity for the rental, but does not yet assign a specific rental unit.
When the customer picks up the equipment, the user assigns a specific rental unit to the reservation. This is also referred to as issuing or handing out the unit.
When the customer brings the equipment back, the user returns (signs in) the unit, so its status and availability are updated.
Payment, any late-return or cross-location charges, and deposits are settled, either at the time of sale or when the rental units are returned.

For a detailed explanation of how rental availability, unit assignment, and multiple-unit rentals work, see Rental Processes.

To create a rental reservation

Create a reservation or activity, and add an activity line for an Activity Products whose Product Type is Rental.
Reserve the resources required for the product, as with any other reservation. The resource capacity, not a specific rental unit, determines availability at this point.
If the product allows bulk rentals (the Max Rental Units field is set on the product), enter the number of units the customer is renting in the No. of Units field on the reservation line.
If a security deposit applies to the product, confirm the deposit with the customer during payment.

Note: Do not assign a specific rental unit at reservation time. Units should only be assigned when the equipment is physically handed to the customer, otherwise the rental unit availability will not match the resource availability.

To hand out (issue) rental units

You can assign rental units either in the back office or at the POS.

In the back office, open the Rental Worksheet from the Unit Tracking action on the Reservation card lines or on the Activity Card, and enter the Unit No. of the rental unit you are handing out.
At the POS, use the RENTUNIT command to enter a rental unit number directly, or use SELLPRODUCT to sell the rental product and then ASSIGNRENTAL to assign the unit. See POS Rental Processes for details.
Confirm the worksheet line (back office) or complete the sale (POS). The rental unit's status changes to In rental, and it is no longer available for other reservations.

To return rental units

In the back office, open the Rental Worksheet and enter the Unit No. of the unit being returned. The system recognizes that the unit is already in rental and registers a return entry.
At the POS, use the RETURNRENTAL command and enter the unit number. The related rental contract, any late-return charges, and any cross-location charge are pulled into the POS journal for payment.
If you need to exchange units during an active rental, return the original unit and assign the replacement unit to the same rental line.

Note: A rental unit can be returned at a different location than the one it was issued from. If all the units on a rental line are returned at a different location than their base location, a cross-location charge can be added automatically. See the Cross-Location Charge Amount field on the Rental FastTab card.

To settle a rental

Settlement can happen at the time of sale (for example when the deposit and rental charge are paid at pickup) or when the units are returned (for example when late-return or cross-location charges, and the remaining balance, are settled). Any deposit taken at pickup is deducted from the final payment. The receipt or slip printed at return is the customer's proof that the units were returned, whether or not a further payment was due.

See POS Rental Processes for how settlement is handled at the POS.

Security deposit handling

A security deposit is an amount charged in addition to the rental price to cover the risk of damage to, or non-return of, the rental unit. Whether a deposit applies, and how much, is a property of the rental product itself, not of the reservation.

What a security deposit is, and when it applies

A rental product can have a fixed Security Deposit amount. If that amount is not zero, the deposit is added as an extra line whenever the rental product is sold or otherwise pulled into a POS transaction – in practice this usually happens when the unit is handed out, but it can also happen later, for example if payment for the rental is deferred to the return. If Security Deposit Optional is set on the product, the cashier is asked to confirm the deposit amount before it is added; otherwise it is added automatically.

Where deposits are configured

On the Security Deposit card, Rental FastTab: the Security Deposit field sets the deposit amount for the product, and Security Deposit Optional determines whether the cashier is asked to confirm it.
On the Deposits and Charging FastTab card, Deposits and Charging FastTab: the Deposit Account field specifies the item used to post the deposit on the POS, and Deposit Options specifies whether deposits are tracked at reservation level or at activity (reservation line) level. Note: The automatic deposit deduction on rental return (described below) matches the deposit against the activity, so Deposit Options should normally be set to On Activity Reservation for rental reservation types; confirm this setting if deposits do not seem to net out correctly on return.
See Deposits (as Security deposits) for the general security-deposit setup and the manual POS commands used to refund deposits.

Taking, holding, and releasing the deposit

Taken: When the rental product is sold or pulled into a POS transaction (for example while it is being handed out), the Security Deposit amount is added as an extra line on the sale, increasing the amount due at that point.
Held: The deposit stays recorded against the activity (or the reservation, depending on Deposit Options) for as long as the rental unit is out.
Released or applied on return: Once the last outstanding rental unit on the activity has been returned using RETURNRENTAL (see Rental-related POS commands), the system automatically deducts the recorded deposit amount from the amount due. This deduction is pulled into the same POS transaction as any late-return charge and any cross-location charge for that return, so the customer settles a single net amount – the outstanding rental balance plus late-return and cross-location charges, minus the deposit – when that transaction is tendered.
If the reservation or activity is canceled before the unit is returned, any deposit already taken is refunded automatically as part of the cancellation. See Deposits (as Security deposits).
The generic deposit-refund POS commands RETRNACTDEPOSIT/RETRNCURACTDEPOSIT (activity level) and RETRNRESDEPOSIT/RETRNCURDEPOSIT (reservation level) can also be used to pull an outstanding deposit into the POS journal manually, independently of RETURNRENTAL.

Note: A security deposit (an amount tied to a rental product) is a separate mechanism from a reservation prepayment or deposit schedule (an amount tied to the reservation as a whole); see Deposits (as prepayments). The two can be used on the same reservation.

A day in the life: two rental scenarios

The following two scenarios walk through the same rental from creation to settlement, but differ in when the customer pays. Both scenarios build on the steps already described in To create a rental reservation, To hand out (issue) rental units, To return rental units, and Security deposit handling above.

Scenario 1: Rental paid upfront

The customer pays for the rental (and any security deposit) when the unit is handed out, before taking the equipment.

A rental reservation is created, as described in To create a rental reservation.
At pickup, the cashier sells the rental product at the POS (for example using SELLPRODUCT, or by pulling up the existing reservation) and assigns a rental unit using ASSIGNRENTAL or RENTUNIT. Selling the product also adds the Security Deposit line, if one is configured on the product (see Security deposit handling).
The customer pays the rental charge plus the security deposit, and the transaction is tendered/finalized. This is the point where payment happens for this scenario.
The customer uses the equipment and later brings it back.
At return, the cashier uses RETURNRENTAL (optionally after looking the unit up with RETURNUNITS/SEARCHUNITS) to register the return, as described in To return rental units. If the unit is returned late, a late-return charge is added; if it is returned to a location other than its base location, a cross-location charge can be added once all units on the activity have been returned.
Once all units on the activity have been returned, the deposit taken at pickup is automatically deducted from any late-return or cross-location charges due. If there are no such charges, the deposit is simply released and the balance settled is zero; if there are charges, the customer pays (or is refunded) the net difference.

Scenario 2: Rental paid at return

The rental unit is handed out first, and the customer pays the full rental charge (and any security deposit) only when the unit is returned.

A rental reservation is created, as described in To create a rental reservation.
At pickup, the rental unit is assigned without taking payment. This is typically done from the back office, using the Rental Worksheet, which only records the unit assignment and does not process any payment. (The unit can also be assigned at the POS with ASSIGNRENTAL/RENTUNIT without finalizing the sale, if the reservation type allows the charge to remain outstanding.)
The customer uses the equipment and later brings it back.
At return, the cashier uses RETURNRENTAL at the POS to register the return, as described in To return rental units.
Because the rental was never previously sold, returning the last unit on the activity pulls the full outstanding balance – the base rental charge, the security deposit (if configured), and any late-return or cross-location charge – into the same POS transaction, together with the automatic deposit deduction described in Security deposit handling.
The customer pays the resulting net amount when the transaction is tendered. This is the point where payment happens for this scenario.

Note: In both scenarios, the printed receipt or slip issued at return is the customer's proof that the units were returned, whether or not a further payment was due at that point. See POS Rental Processes.

Related settings for rentals

Before you can work with rentals, review and configure the following setup pages.

Setting	Description
Activity Resource Groups	Set Capacity Based On to Unit Tracking and Usage Count Based On to No. of Activities Assigned so the resource's capacity is derived from its assigned rental units.
Rental Units	Register each physical unit, assign it to a resource and a base location, and set it as available before it can be issued.
Rental FastTab	Set Product Type to Rental, and configure Security Deposit, Late Return Handling, and Max Rental Units (for bulk rentals) on the Rental FastTab.
Reservation Types	Use the Show Rental Units field to control whether the unit assignment view opens by default on the Reservation and Activity cards, and set up whether deposits are allowed.
Rental FastTab	Configure the Rental FastTab settings for Late Return Handling and the Cross-Location Charge Amount and Cross-Location Posting Item that apply when units are returned to a different location.
Unit Assignments	Use the Unit Assignments and Unit Status Required fields on the Rental FastTab to control whether units must be assigned or returned before a given status can be set.
Deposits	Set up the security deposits that are commonly taken at pickup and returned or offset when the rental units are returned.
Rental Processes	Detailed rules for rental availability, unit assignment, and multi-unit rentals.

Rental-related POS commands

The following POS commands are used specifically to assign, search for, and return rental units. They can be assigned to POS buttons/menus as needed.

Command	Description
RENTUNIT	Opens a keyboard prompt for a rental unit number. If the unit is available, it is assigned directly to the customer's rental.
RENTUNITS	Shows a lookup list of available rental units at the current location (optionally filtered to a specific resource), so the user can pick a unit instead of typing its number. Selecting a unit assigns it, the same as RENTUNIT.
ASSIGNRENTAL	Prompts for a rental unit number and assigns it to the currently active rental contract (activity). Used when the rental product has already been selected or sold and only the unit still needs to be assigned.
ASSIGNUNIT2RES	Shows a lookup list of confirmed rental reservations at the current location, so the user can pick the reservation to which a rental unit (already identified by resource) should be assigned.
ASSIGNUNIT2ACT	Same as ASSIGNUNIT2RES, but shows a lookup list of confirmed rental activities (rather than reservations) to assign the unit to.
RETURNRENTAL	Prompts for (or is called after selecting) a rental unit number, and returns it: registers the return entry, adds any late-return charge and, once all units on the activity have been returned, any cross-location charge, then pulls the outstanding balance into the POS journal for payment and automatically deducts any security deposit taken. See Security deposit handling.
RETURNUNITS	Shows a lookup list of rental units currently in rental, filtered to a specific resource, so the user can select one (or, using the marking/multi-select option, several units at once) to return. Selecting units feeds into RETURNRENTAL.
SEARCHUNITS	Same as RETURNUNITS, but not restricted to a specific resource: lists rental units currently in rental for the active reservation or the current client, so the user can select one (or several) to return.
SEARCHRENTAL	Looks up active rental reservations for the current client (or filtered by reservation type), so the user can pull up a rental contract, for example to bring it into the POS.
VIEWUNITS	Shows a read-only list of the rental units currently assigned to (or previously used on) a given reservation or activity, without assigning or returning anything.

The following related commands refund a security deposit directly, independently of RETURNRENTAL; see Security deposit handling:

Command	Description
RETRNACTDEPOSIT	Shows a list of activities (at the current location) that you can select from to refund the full security deposit recorded against that activity.
RETRNCURACTDEPOSIT	Same as RETRNACTDEPOSIT, but acts on the currently active activity directly, without showing a selection list.

Note: RETRNACTDEPOSIT/RETRNCURACTDEPOSIT and the reservation-level equivalents RETRNRESDEPOSIT/RETRNCURDEPOSIT are documented together on the Deposits (as Security deposits) page and are not repeated in full here, since they are not specific to rentals.

Note: Both activity-level commands require the reservation type's Deposit Options field to be set to On Activity Reservation (the command errors otherwise), and both always refund the full deposit amount recorded against the activity – there is no partial or remaining-amount option.