Processing Rentals with Point of Sale

NOTE: This topic applies only for licensed users of SyteLine Service.

Overview

If your company uses service contracts to rent out equipment, use these steps to check out and check in rental equipment, and to collect the appropriate rental amount from the renter.  

Depending on your company's requirements and the customer's needs, payment can be made when the equipment is checked out, when the equipment is checked in, and/or on a recurring basis for long-term rentals.

The general steps for handling contract rentals are listed here:

  1. On the Contracts form, set up a contract with the appropriate items to be rented and the billing terms.
  2. Click Contract Agreement to print out the rental agreement.
  3. (Optional) Click Checkout/Checkin to open the Contract Checkout/Checkin form to collect an initial payment.
  4. When the rental equipment is returned, click Checkout/Checkin again to do the following:

Checking Out the Rental Equipment with an Initial Payment

After the contract is set up with the appropriate items for rent, the Contract (Rental) Agreement is signed, and the customer is ready to take the equipment, follow these steps to check out the equipment if the customer will make an initial payment at checkout:

  1. In the Contracts form, select a contract and click Checkout/Checkin.
  2. Log in to the cash drawer, as described in  Processing Orders with Point of Sale.
  3. The POS Checkin/Checkout form displays each line from the selected contract.  
  4. In the Billed Through date and time fields, specify the rental date and time through which to bill the customer. You can set these fields to a future date/time  to charge customers in advance for all or part of the rental.
  5. Select To Bill for each contract line that is to be billed.
  6. Save the record.
  7. Specify the payment information and save the record again. See the Example below. The customer can prepay or settle the account later.
  8. Click Process to create a contract and receipt and to post any payments to Accounts Receivable.

If no initial payment is to be made, simply setting the Start Date for the contract line "checks out" the equipment.

Checking in the Rental Equipment

When the customer returns equipment, follow these steps to check in the equipment and charge for any outstanding balance. Equipment is considered "checked in" when To Close is selected for the line.  

NOTE: The checkout process does not need to be performed before you perform a check-in.

  1. In the Contracts form, click Checkin/Checkout.
  2. Log in to the cash drawer, as described in  Processing Orders with Point of Sale.
  3. The POS Checkout/Checkin form displays each line from the selected contract.
  4. In the Billed Through date and time fields, specify the rental date and time through which to bill the customer. Usually this is set to the date/time that the rental equipment was returned. If you set these fields to a date/time prior to the date/time for which the customer has already been charged, a credit is produced.
  5. Optionally, select To Bill for each contract line that is to be paid, if the rental was not prepaid.
  6. Select To Close for each contract line that is to be closed (checked in).
  7. Save the record. The End Date is populated and the status changes to Closed to prevent future billings if the contract is recurring.
  8. Specify the payment information, if the rental was not prepaid. See the Example below.
  9. Click Process to create a contract and receipt and to post any payments to Accounts Receivable.

Example: Entering Multiple Payments and Payment Types on an Order

You can enter multiple payments and payment types on the order, as shown in this example:

Payment types for POS are defined during Point of Sale Setup.

Related Topics

Processing Orders with Point of Sale

Setting up the Point of Sale (POS) Feature