Service rental products¶
The Rental app is a comprehensive tool that enables users to manage the scheduling, pricing, and inventory for both physical goods (products) and non-physical goods (services) within a single platform.
This flexibility allows for combining products and services like bike rentals with guided tours, or booking a studio with a photographer.
This document covers how to configure a rental service to automatically sync with staff shifts, track time sheet hours, and set up and link project tasks based on a rental order.
Settings¶
To configure default settings on rental products, navigate to .
In the Rental section, under the Default Delay Costs subsection, fill in the Apply after field.
Note
For finer control, configure the costs of late returns for the Per Hour and Per Day fields at the product level. If the defaults apply to all products, leave the Product field blank.
In the Default Padding Time section, fill in the Padding field.
Next, enable Rental Transfers. In the Rent Online section, fill in the Minimal Rental Duration field and designate Unavailability days. Click Save to apply the changes.
App integration configuration¶
The following apps are essential for workflow efficiency and automation when creating a service product and rental order:
Sales app: Enables the use of online payments and utilizes quotation templates within the Rental app.
Sign app: Allows for the upload and customization of different rental and service agreements. These documents are used to facilitate the Request Signature feature.
Project and Planning apps: Integrate with the Rental app to automatically match purchased products and services with employees based on availability.
Rental services¶
To view all products that can be rented in the database, navigate to . By default, the Rental filter appears in the search bar, and the view is Kanban. Remove the filter, then click the search bar. From the preset filters, select Services. All the configured services appear.
Each Kanban card displays the name and rental price of the service.
Create a new service product¶
Important
The Project and the Sales apps must be installed for following options to be available:
Create on Order
Project Template
Invoicing Policy
Project & Task
Ticking the Sales checkbox displays the Create on Order and Invoicing Policy.
To set up a new rental service, go to the and then click New. In the new product window, the Rental checkbox is already ticked by default.
Tick the Sales checkbox. Select the Product Type as a Service. In the Create on Order drop-down menu, select Project & Task. In the Invoicing Policy drop-down menu, select Based on Timesheets.
Tick the Plan Services checkbox and either create a new role or select a pre-existing one. To create a new role, type in the name of the role in the blank field and click Create and edit that appears.
In the Create Planning Role pop-up window, enter the role’s name. Select an option for the Services and Resources, and click Save.
Configure rental price¶
Click the Rental prices tab and in the Pricing section, click Add a price to enter a new rental rate. Choose a pricing period (the unit of duration of the rental) in the Period column, or create a new pricing period by typing in the name and clicking Create and edit.
Tip
Customize rental rate time periods by navigating to .
Next, enter the Price for that specific Period. To apply the configured rental rate to an existing pricelist, click in the Pricelist column and select the desired list from the drop-down menu.
In the Reservations section, fill in the Hourly Fine, Daily Fine, and the Reserve product time. These values are automatically populated from the Default Delay Costs section, provided they have been configured in the .
Click the (Save manually) icon near the top to save.
Example
A photography studio rents out its photographers on an hourly and daily basis. They want to add a new four hour package for $750.
All reservations require 24-hour notice to reserve a photographer, but they do not charge a fine if the reservations go over the agreed time. Instead, they default to their hourly fee.
Create a new pricing period by navigating to . Click New and configure the period for four hours.
Navigate to the Photographer service product and in the Rental prices tab, add the four hour period set at $750. Manually save to apply changes.
Create a rental order with a service product¶
In Odoo, a rental order is the same as a sales order. When creating orders in the Rental app they are referred to as rental orders.
Navigate to the Rental app which opens the Rental Orders dashboard. Click New to open a new rental order form.
Enter the Customer field, and select a Quotation Template, if applicable.
Next, set the desired rental duration in the Rental period field. To adjust the rental duration, click the first date in the Rental period field, and select the range of dates and times to represent the rental duration from the pop-up calendar form that appears.
Once complete, click Apply in the calendar pop-up form. Following that, the pop-up form disappears, and the designated rental time period is represented in the Duration field.
Next, add a rental service in the Order Lines tab, by clicking Add a product and selecting the desired rental service to add to the form. Enter the desired amount in the Quantity column.
Note
If a rental product is added before the Rental period field has been properly configured, the user can still adjust the Rental period field accordingly. Select the desired range of dates to represent the duration of the rental, then click Update Rental Prices in the Duration field.
Doing so reveals a Confirmation pop-up window. If everything is correct, click Ok, and Odoo recalculates the rental price accordingly.
Once all information has been entered correctly on the rental order form, click Send to email the quotation to the customer. When the customer approves the quotation, click Confirm. A banner displays on the rental order stating its current status.
Customer signature¶
Odoo enables electronic signature requests for customer service agreements and any other documents that require signatures. Service agreements detail the business relationship and mutual duties. These agreements protect both the provider and the customer by creating clear, enforceable guidelines.
If signatures are required, go to the Rental app and from the default Rental Orders dashboard, select the desired rental order. Click the (Actions) icon, and click Request Signature.
A New Signature Request pop-up window displays. Select the desired document from the Template drop-down menu.
Doing so reveals a New Signature Request pop-up window. Upon confirming the information in the New Signature Request pop-up form, click Send to initiate the signing process.
A link to the signature request will appear in the chatter of the rental order. The document is accessible to the customer via the customer portal or email.
Note
Requesting an electronic signature can be done at any stage of the order. This feature requires the Sign app. Typically, rental or service agreements are signed after the rental order is confirmed to establish the responsibilities and terms for the parties involved.
Important
The Request Signature feature only allows the customer to sign the document through their email or customer portal. The customer cannot sign the document through the user’s Sign app.
Signing a document from an email link¶
When a customer clicks Sign document, a separate page is then revealed, showcasing the document to be signed. The customer begins the process by clicking Click to start.
The app guides the signer to the required signature locations and allows them to create electronic signatures to complete the form.
The Adopt your signature pop-up window that appears in the Odoo Rental application. Once the document has been signed and completed, click Validate & Send Completed Document at the bottom of the document.
Odoo presents the option to download the signed document for record-keeping purposes, if necessary.
See also
Entering time for the rental order¶
Important
For the appropriate smart buttons to display, the Project, Timesheet, and Planning apps are needed. The selected service product on the rental order must be properly configured to integrate with the recommended apps.
Navigate to the rental orders by and select the desired rental order. At the top of the rental order form, the following smart buttons appear:
- Tasks: Linked to the Projects app and shows any projects
or tasks related to the rental order.
- Recorded: Linked to the Timesheets app and shows how many hours
are related to the rental order.
- Planned: Linked to the Planning app and shows how many shifts are
related to the rental order.
Click the Tasks smart button to view a Kanban view of all the associated tasks that were automatically created when confirming the rental order. Click the desired task, then select the Timesheets tab.
Click Add a line to enter the number of hours worked on the task manually. Click on the Sales Order smart button to return to the rental order.
Note
Once time is added to the Timesheets tab of a task, the status of the rental order is automatically changed to Picked-up and the Return button appears.
Create an invoice¶
Go to the desired invoice by navigating to the app and, on the Rental Orders dashboard, click To Invoice in the INVOICE STATUS section to view all rental orders that require invoices to be sent.
Click on the desired rental order and click Create Invoice. Select Regular invoice from the Create invoice(s) window and click Create Draft.
If all the details are correct, click Confirm. Click Send to email the invoice to the customer or Print and then click Pay if the customer is in person.
In the Pay pop-up window, select a Journal and click Create Payment.
Click on the Payments smart button that appears on the top of the rental order. Click Validate on the Payment page.
Use the breadcrumbs to return to the rental order.
Pickup products¶
When time is entered on the Timesheets tab of an associated task, the rental order status automatically changes to Picked-up. This happens even if time is entered before the physical product ordered with the service is picked up.
If a product is rented alongside a service, it is advised to pick it up before entering time on the associated task. The Pickup button is still available on the rental order if time is entered before picking up the product.
When a customer picks up the product, navigate to the appropriate rental order, click Pickup, and then click Validate in the Validate a pickup pop-up form that appears.
Doing so places a Picked-up status banner on the rental order.
Return products¶
Regardless if there is a product rented along with a service, the service or product must be returned on the rental order.
When a customer returns the products or when the service has been completed, navigate to the appropriate rental order and click Return. Validate the return by clicking Validate in the Validate a return pop-up form that appears.
Doing so places a Returned status banner on the rental order.
Example
The photography studio had a customer who wanted to rent one of their photographers and banner decorations for a home photo shoot. The booking was for two hours.
On the Validate a return form the rental order, the banner line item matches number of banners picked up and the photographer line item matches the number of hours submitted on the Timesheets tab on the related task.
