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The Rental section of Bookings for LS Central lets you track individual rental units and apply automatic charges when units are returned late or to a different location than their base location.
Late return charges
When a rental unit is returned after the agreed return time, the system can automatically calculate and apply a late return charge. The charge method is configured on the Activity Type Card in the Late Return Handling field and can be overridden per product on the Activity Product Card.
Available handling options are:
- None — no late return charge is applied.
- Product Calculation — a new rental activity reservation is created to represent the extra rental time, priced using the same pricing as the original rental product.
- Fixed Amount — the value entered in Late Return Charge Amount is charged as a fixed fee. Use a descriptive name for the underlying rental product, for example "Late return surcharge - [base product]", so it is easy to identify in reports.
- Proportional — the charge is calculated proportionally based on the extra time beyond the allowed flex period.
Use the Late Return Flex (Minutes) field to allow a grace period before the late return charge kicks in.
Note: Late return charges and cross-location return charges are independent. If a unit is both late and returned to a different location, both charges are applied and appear as separate lines on the reservation.
Cross-location return charges
You can configure an automatic surcharge that is applied when a rental unit is returned to a location other than the unit's Base Location. When the customer returns the unit at a different store, a charge line is added automatically to the rental reservation — there is no need to add it manually at the POS. A message is shown to the operator confirming that the cross-location charge was added.
Set up the charge on the Activity Type Card in the Rental FastTab:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Cross-Location Charge Amount | The fixed amount charged when a rental unit is returned to a location other than its base location. Leave blank or set to zero to disable the cross-location charge. |
| Cross-Location Posting Item | The retail item used to post the cross-location charge to the general ledger. The item's posting setup determines the revenue account. |
Note: The cross-location charge is applied only when all rental units associated with the reservation have been returned. This applies whether the return is processed at the POS using the RETURNRENTAL command, through the back-office reservation card, or via the Web API.
The auto-generated charge line can be edited or deleted before posting, subject to the existing Additional Items permission.
Defaults are zero/blank, so existing tenants see no behaviour change until the fields are configured.
See also