What is an Order?
You might refer to them as jobs, quotes, estimates, proposals, enquiries, contracts or a variety of other terms.
We use the word “Order” as it encompasses the whole rental cycle – from initial quotations through to hire agreements, right up to invoicing. They’re for potential business as well as confirmed orders.
How does the process work?
To help you manage each step of the rental cycle, there are three main stages of an Order in OnRent:
Quote
Provisional Order
Order
You'll see these represented by a trio of icons, starting with a circle and developing into a tick as you bring your Order closer to completion.
How do I work with these stages?
Create an Order at any of the three stages and convert it to the next stage as it becomes more confirmed
Easily convert to the next stage, all the information you entered already is preserved
Use as many or as few of the opportunity stages as you need
Edit as your job changes, it's easy to change details
You can also revert them back to a previous stage if you make a mistake or the customer changes their mind
If you’re doing a simple dry rental for a regular customer, you may just want to create an order, book the equipment out and send an invoice. On the other hand, a new prospect who calls asking for a price for a time period might start as a quotation and follow through to an order.
What's included in the Order?
It's where all your rental details live
Record general information such as who the customer is, date of the job, and a delivery/collection address
Build an items list with products and services
Create quotation documents and send them out for client approval
Manage the warehouse process, including allocating assets and booking out & returning your equipment
Manage crew, including staff members and bookable resources
Print picking lists, delivery notes and other documents
Generate full or part invoices
Add attachments to store related files
Create damages and losses on equipment inspection
What are the quote, provisional order and order stages?
There are three stages of an order, here’s what you might use them for:
Quote
A quote is a detailed proposal or pricing estimate that you intend to send over to a prospect or customer.
The quote stage has all the same fields and features as a provisional and order, but your products are marked as “Quote” at this point. A quote has no effect on the availability or stock levels.
Note: A prospect cannot convert further than a quote until you make them a ‘Customer’ in OnRent.
Once you have created your quotation you can print it under Actions. If it's accepted, move your Order along to a provisional order by clicking convert to a provisional order under Actions.
Provisional order
A provisional order is a confirmed quotation or a pending order. At this stage, it has been won as a quotation but may not be due straight away. It is therefore a provisional order awaiting further instruction, such as being assigned a PO number or allocated resource.
This stage enables you to reserve the equipment, affecting your availability at the product level, but not specific stock levels. Super useful in availability tracking for future or long term rental and also ensuring you don’t overbook equipment. It also shows that further stages are required for it to become an active order.
Note: You cannot put the equipment on rent until you have converted it to an order and allocated the equipment.
Order
Your order is now a confirmed agreement with the customer, affecting availability and stock levels.
On the order, you can book out the equipment to print delivery notes and begin the rental charging process. You can also return equipment and process invoices to send to the customer.
Plus, you can add additional equipment onto the order at a later date and then return the equipment back to the depot or book it into Unavailable if it's lost, damaged or requiring a service.
You can also cancel an order or quote at any stage by clicking Cancel Order at any time.
Ready to get started?
Check out our handy guide on creating an order.