Rental Order

A confirmed rental booking. Use this page to manage equipment going out, scheduling, pricing, and the operations leading up to shipping and invoicing.

How it fits in

A Rental Order is the operational heart of the document flow. Quotes are converted into Orders when the customer commits; Orders are then partially or fully shipped, generating Shipment Orders, and invoiced according to the configured billing cycle. When the rental period ends, the equipment is brought back via a Return Order.

A released Rental Order is the trigger for two real-world things: stock leaving your yard, and money being billed to the customer. Both happen on their own schedule (a Shipment posts when equipment physically moves; invoicing runs on a billing cycle that's usually independent of shipping), and the Order is what holds them together.

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A Rental Order replaces the standard Business Central Sales Order for any rental transaction. Standard Sales Orders remain available for non-rental sales.

Header fields

The Rental Order header carries customer, scheduling, and pricing information that applies to the order as a whole. Fields are grouped into three FastTabs: General, Invoice Details, and Shipping and Billing.

General

General
No.required
Auto-assigned from the No. Series defined in Rental Setup. Read-only after the document is saved.
Customer No.required
The customer renting the equipment. Setting this populates the customer's address, default Bill-to, currency, and tells the order which customer's pricing applies. Changing it after lines exist refreshes the prices on those lines.
Customer Name
Defaults from the Customer card; editable so you can adjust the document-specific name without changing the underlying customer record.
Contact No.
The contact person at the customer for this order. Lookup is filtered by the selected customer.
Contact Name
Defaults from the selected Contact No.; editable.
External Document No.
The customer's own reference for this order (their PO number, project reference, etc.). Appears on printed and emailed documents.
Document Date
The date that appears on the printed document. Defaults to the work date.

Within General, the Rent-to sub-section holds the rental-specific fields plus the address the equipment is going out to:

Rent-to
Address, Address 2, City, County, Post Code
The Rent-to address (where the rental is happening). Defaults from the customer card; editable on the order.
Rental Start Daterequired
The day the rental begins charging. Triggers price calculation when set or changed because price-list lines are date-effective and the rental period drives the Line Amount.
Rental End Date
The expected last day of charging. Combined with Start Date, drives the rental period and total line amounts. Can be left open for indefinite rentals; you set an end date when the equipment is due back.
Your Reference
A free-text reference visible on printed documents. Often used for site name, job reference, or any short label that helps the customer identify the rental.
Status
Either Open (you can still add or change lines) or Released (locked for shipping; pricing is final and any kit lines have been split into their components). Use the Release and Reopen actions to switch between them. The Rental Start and End Dates can no longer be hand-edited while the order is Released; reopen it to change them (off-hire and return still move the end date programmatically).
Project No.
Optional link to a Business Central project. When set, the order's lines can post to job planning lines for project-based rental tracking.
Project Task No.
The specific task within the linked project that this order is associated with.

A free-text Description field at the bottom of the General FastTab lets you add a long-form description for internal use; it can also be surfaced on printed documents.

Invoice Details

Invoice Details
Currency Code
Defaults from the customer; can be overridden. Affects which price-list lines apply and the currency the invoice is raised in.
Prices Including VAT
When ticked, the Unit Price values on the lines are VAT-inclusive. When unticked, prices are net of VAT and VAT is added at posting.
VAT Bus. Posting Group
Standard BC VAT setup; together with the item's VAT Prod. Posting Group, drives which VAT rate applies.
Payment Terms Code
When the invoice is due relative to the invoice date. Defaults from the customer.
Payment Method Code
How the customer pays (BACS, card, cash, etc.). Defaults from the customer.
Billing Cycle
The default billing cycle code applied to new lines on this order: weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. Lines can override the order's default cycle individually.
Price Term Code
The default Price Term applied to new lines on this order: Day, Week, Month, Quarter, or Year. Lines can override the order's default Price Term individually.

Shipping and Billing

This FastTab combines the shipment-side and billing-side address machinery in one place.

Ship-to
Ship-to (option)
Pick one of: Default (Sell-to Address) ships to the customer's main address; Alternate Shipping Address picks a registered Ship-to Code on the customer; Custom Address lets you type a one-off address that doesn't get saved against the customer.
Code, Name, Address, Address 2, City, Country/Region
The actual Ship-to address. Editable when the option is set to Alternate or Custom; defaults from the chosen Ship-to Code or sits blank for Custom.
Location Code
The location (depot, yard) the equipment ships from. Drives stock availability checks on the lines.
Shipment Date
The default expected ship-out date for the order. Lines inherit this date but can override individually.
Return Date
The default expected return date. As with Shipment Date, lines inherit but can override.
Shipment Method
Shipment Method Code
How the equipment gets to the customer (delivery, customer collection, courier, etc.). Defaults from the customer.
Shipping Agent Code
The carrier handling the shipment, if you use a third-party agent.
Shipping Agent Service Code
The specific service from the chosen agent (next-day, economy, etc.).
Package Tracking No.
A reference number from the carrier for this shipment, useful for customer-service queries.
Bill-to
Bill-to (option)
Pick one of: Default (Bill-to Address) uses the customer's standard Bill-to; Alternate Billing Address picks an alternate Bill-to Customer; Custom Address lets you type a one-off billing address.
Bill-to Customer No.
The customer who pays the invoice. Defaults to the same as Customer No.; override when the equipment goes to one party but the bill goes to another (e.g. a parent company or contractor).
Name, Address, Address 2, City, County, Post Code, Country/Region
The Bill-to address fields. Defaults from the chosen Bill-to Customer or sits editable for Custom.
Contact No., Contact
The contact person at the Bill-to who should receive the invoice.

FactBoxes (right-side panel)

The FactBox panel on the right of the page surfaces context for whatever you're looking at. The Rental Order shows: the Approval FactBox (appears only when the order has open approval entries), Attachments, Customer's Rental History, Customer Details, Rental Line Details (changes as you click around the lines), Links, and Notes. A Customer Statistics FactBox is also available but hidden by default; surface it with Personalise if you want it.

The Lines section

Lines are where the rental fleet actually goes out and where one-off charges are added to the order. The Rental Order has two separate line subpages, each with its own column set:

Rental Lines: the recurring rental items, billed on the order's billing cycle. Carries the full date and pricing machinery (Price Term, Billing Cycle, Rental Start and End Date, Shipment and Return Date, multi-rate flag, kit indent and parent reference, Quantity to Ship/Shipped/Return/Returned).

One-time Invoice Lines: items charged as a single one-off (shipping charges, fuel, sundries, anything billed flat rather than per-period). Same underlying line type set as Rental Lines, but the column set is curated for one-off charges: no rental dates, no Price Term, no shipping quantity machinery.

Both subpages share the line types (Item, Rental Item, Rental Item Type, Kit, Resource) and the line-level actions described below. The Lines section needs more explanation than the header because of three concepts unique to rentals: kit explosion, multi-rate pricing, and the distinction between the line types.

Visible columns on a Rental Line

Lines
Type
What the line represents: Item (a stock item sold or consumed), Rental Item (a serial-tracked rental fleet asset), Rental Item Type (a category of rental asset; the specific serial is allocated later), Kit (a bundle that explodes into components on Release), Resource (labour or service time), Comment / Text (a printed-only line with no quantity or price).
No.
The identifier of the item, type, kit, or resource selected. The lookup is filtered by the Type so you only see relevant records.
Description, Description 2
Defaults from the selected record; editable for the line. Description 2 is a second line for longer descriptions.
Indent, Component of
Used by kit lines: Indent is the visual indent level of a kit component; Component of points back to the parent kit line. Set automatically when a kit explodes; you don't normally edit these.
Do Not Invoice
When ticked, the line ships and tracks but doesn't appear on the invoice. Used for kit components (which are billed via the parent), goodwill items, and replacements.
Multi-Rate
A flag showing that the line's price is driven by a multi-rate price-list entry (different rates for different rental durations). Useful for spotting which lines have banded pricing without opening each one.
Tiered Pricing
An indicator that the price-list line pricing this rental line carries duration tiers (the longer the hire, the lower the rate). Drill down to view the tiers from the matched price list.
Line Status
The lifecycle state of the line: where it sits between added, allocated, shipped, returned, and invoiced.
Location Code
The location the line ships from. Defaults from the order's Location Code; can be overridden per line.
Quantity
How many to rent. For Rental Item Type lines, this is how many of the type to allocate; for Kit lines, this is how many kits.
Unit of Measure Code
The unit the quantity is expressed in; defaults from the item or type's base UoM.
Minimum Billing Period
A minimum chargeable duration for the line (entered as a date formula, e.g. 1W). Even if the equipment comes back sooner, billing is calculated as though it was out for at least this long.
Price Term Code
The pricing period for this line (Day, Week, Month, Quarter, Year). Combined with the rental period, determines the Term Amount.
Billing Cycle Code
How often this line generates invoice amounts. Defaults from the order's Billing Cycle; override per line where needed.
Unit Price
The price for one unit of the Price Term (e.g. £25 per Day). Comes from the matching price-list line for this customer; can be overridden.
Invoiced to Date
The last date this line has been invoiced up to. Drives the next invoice run's calculation of how much period to bill.
Base Calendar Code
The working calendar used for this line's date arithmetic. Affects how non-working days are treated when calculating rental days.
Shipment Date, Return Date
The expected ship-out and return dates for this line. Default from the order's dates; override per line where needed.
Rental Start Date, Rental End Date
The actual rental period for this line, as opposed to the expected dates above. Used for billing calculation.
Term Amount
The expected total chargeable amount for this line, calculated from Quantity, Unit Price, Price Term, and the rental period.
Deferral Code
Optional standard BC deferral template, used for spreading revenue recognition across periods.
Processing Status
An internal flag tracking the line's progress through allocation, shipping, and invoicing workflows.
Project No., Project Task No.
Optional link to a Business Central project and task. When set, the line posts to that project's job planning lines.
Quantity to Ship, Quantity Shipped
The quantity left to ship in the next Ship action, and the quantity already shipped. Lets you ship in batches if you don't have everything ready at once.
Quantity to Return, Quantity Returned
The mirror pair for returns: how much is due back in the next Return action, and how much has already been returned.
Lost
A flag for lines whose equipment has been lost. Affects how the line is handled at return time; lost equipment is closed off rather than received back.

Visible columns on a One-time Invoice Line

One-time Invoice Lines use the same underlying Rental Line table as the recurring lines, filtered to those flagged as Bill Once. The visible columns are a curated subset suited to flat one-off charges:

One-time Invoice Lines
Type
Same line type set as Rental Lines (Item, Rental Item, Rental Item Type, Kit, Resource, Comment / Text). In practice, one-off charges are usually Item or Resource (a sundry product or a labour charge).
No.
The identifier of the item, type, kit, or resource selected. Lookup filtered by Type.
Description, Description 2
Defaults from the selected record; editable for the line.
Location Code
The location the line ships from (when applicable). Defaults from the order's Location Code.
Quantity
How many of the item or resource to charge for.
Unit of Measure Code
The unit the quantity is expressed in.
Unit Price
The flat price per unit. No Price Term applies because the line is billed once; the Line Amount is simply Quantity times Unit Price (less any discount).
Deferral Code
Optional standard BC deferral template, used for spreading revenue recognition across periods.
Line Status
The lifecycle state of the line.
Processing Status
An internal flag tracking the line's progress through allocation, shipping, and invoicing workflows.
Project, Project Task
Optional link to a Business Central project and task, exposed under shorter labels here than on the Rental Lines subpage.
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A line is treated as a one-off (and so appears on the One-time Invoice Lines subpage rather than Rental Lines) when its Bill Once flag is set. Use the One-time Invoice Lines subpage when adding the charge; the line's Bill Once flag is set automatically by virtue of being on that subpage. One-time Invoice Lines bypass the Shipment flow: they are billed but not shipped, so they go straight to the invoice alongside the rental lines that have been shipped.

How a Kit line explodes into components

When you add a line of type Kit, the kit is automatically expanded into its component lines on Release. The parent Kit line carries the price; component lines are non-billable but reserve and ship the underlying inventory.

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Add a Kit line

Set Type to Kit, select the Kit No., and enter the quantity. The Kit's price is calculated using the Kit's own price terms; the components don't get their own price from the price list.

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Release the Order

On Release, the Kit explodes: the parent line stays at the top, with component lines (Items, Rental Items, Resources, even comments) inserted below it. Components carry the Indent and Component of values that show their place in the kit, and they're flagged Do Not Invoice.

3
Ship and invoice as one

Components ship and return alongside the parent. The invoice shows the parent Kit line with its price; components appear underneath as a non-billable breakdown so your customer sees what's in the kit but is only charged for the kit itself.

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Kit-managed pricing applies the kit's own price. Components don't pick up their own price from the Rental Price List, so a discount you've configured on a component item won't apply when that item is shipped as part of a kit.
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Components carry a Kit Price Factor for utilisation reporting. Each component on the kit master has a Kit Price Factor (a decimal between 0 and 1) that determines what proportion of the kit's per-period revenue is credited to that component's Rental Item in the Rental Ledger. The customer is still only billed for the kit's own price; the factor only governs the ledger split for utilisation reporting at the Rental Item level. See Rental Invoice for how this plays out at invoice time.

Multi-rate pricing

A multi-rate price-list line carries different rates for different rental durations (for example, £100 per day for 1 to 6 days, £80 per day for 7 days or more). When a line matches a multi-rate entry, the line picks the rate whose day range covers the actual rental period. The Multi-Rate Exists column on the line tells you at a glance which lines have banded pricing.

1
Configure the multi-rate line on the price list

On the relevant Rental Price List, mark a price line as multi-rate and add bands (for example: 1 to 6 days at one rate, 7 to 30 days at another, 31+ days at a third). Multi-rates currently apply only to lines with Price Term of Day.

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Add a matching line to the order

Add a Rental Item Type (or other applicable type) line whose source matches the price-list line's Source Type and Source No. The line picks the rate band that covers the order's Rental Days, and the Multi-Rate Exists column ticks.

3
Verify the chosen rate

The Unit Price on the line reflects the band that was picked. If you change the Rental Start or End Date and the line crosses into a different band, the price refreshes. You can drill into the line's Multi-Rates action to see the full band ladder.

Line types at a glance

Each line type means something different operationally and for billing:

Item: a standard BC stock item, sold or consumed (not returned). Used for sale-of-goods alongside the rental, e.g. fuel, consumables, accessories the customer keeps.

Rental Item: a serial-tracked rental fleet asset. Tied to a specific physical unit; reserved on the order and tracked through ship and return.

Rental Item Type: a category of rental asset (e.g. "10-tonne digger") rather than a specific serial. The system allocates a specific Rental Item from the type at allocation or shipping time. Used when the customer wants "any of these" rather than a specific serial.

Kit: a pre-defined bundle that explodes into components on Release. See the kit walkthrough above.

Resource: labour or service time (e.g. operator hours, delivery, setup time). Charged but not stock-tracked.

Comment / Text: a printed-only line for notes or section headings on the document. Carries no quantity or price but stays attached to the order.

Line-level actions

Selecting a line and using the Line menu (the &Line group on the subform ribbon) gives you per-line operations:

Allocate / Unallocate: for Rental Item Type lines, allocate a specific Rental Item from the type to this line, or release the allocation back to the pool.

Reserve / Unreserve: hold (or release) a Rental Item against this line for a specific date range, without yet shipping it.

Multi-Rates: open the multi-rate windows for this line, where the date-bound rates are set. See Multi-Rate Pricing.

Availability Calendar: open the availability board filtered to this line - the specific unit for a Rental Item line, or the type for a Rental Item Type line.

Edit Kit Structure: for Kit lines, opens the kit's component structure for review.

Substitute: replace a component line with one of its approved substitutes; the pricing follows the kit's price method. See Rental Kits.

Ship / Cancel Shipment: post (or cancel) a shipment for this individual line. Use the document-level Ship All when you want to ship every line in one go; use the line-level Ship when you want to ship a subset.

Return / Cancel Return: the mirror pair for returns.

Off-Hire: end the hire of the selected open-ended lines (those with no Rental End Date) by setting their rental end date, which closes the billing period. Use this to off-hire without returning, or after a return where you declined to off-hire.

Rental Ledger Entries / Reservation Entries: open the historical ledger of activity against this line, and the current reservations holding stock for this line.

Insert Ext. Texts: pull the extended texts for this line's item or type in by hand, as comment lines attached under the line. Useful when Automatic Ext. Texts is off, or to re-insert texts you have removed.

Reservations and clashes

A Rental Item line reserves its unit for the line's date range. A line with no Rental End Date reserves the unit open-ended, holding it from the start date with no fixed release. The unit then shows as reserved on the availability board running to the right edge.

How the system reacts when you enter a unit that is already committed elsewhere depends on the Reservation Handling mode in Rental Setup:

When you convert a quote that holds such a unit into an order, a notification confirms the clash and offers Show order (open the order the unit is committed to) and Allocate alternative (open the unit picker to put a different unit against the line).

Actions

The Rental Order ribbon groups its actions into Process, Ship/Return, and Print/Send. Navigation actions for related documents and the customer sit at the right.

Process

Copy Document: create a new Rental Order based on an existing one. Useful for repeat customers with similar booking patterns.

Create Invoice: opens the Rental Invoice Dialog where you choose the period and billing options, then generates a Sales Invoice covering the shipped lines for that period. The period bills from each line's last Invoiced to Date up to the dialog's Invoice to Date; for monthly Billing Cycles the boundary snaps to the end of the calendar month.

Release: locks the order for shipping. Triggers kit explosion and runs final price calculation; moves the Status to Released. From this point the lines are read-only unless you Reopen the order.

Reopen: returns a Released order to Open status for further edits. Use sparingly once shipments have been posted; reopening doesn't undo posted shipments or invoices.

Ship/Return

Create Shipment Order: creates a Rental Shipment Order document for the lines that are ready to ship. The Shipment Order is the working document where the actual ship-out gets posted.

Ship All: ship every line on the Rental Order in one action. Quick path when everything goes out together; use the per-line Ship action when you need to ship in batches.

Create Return Order: creates a Rental Return Order for the lines that are due back. As with Shipments, the Return Order is where receipts get posted.

Return All: bring every line back in one action.

Scan & Allocate: scan units (item No. or serial number, or type them in) to allocate this order's Rental Item Type lines to specific Rental Items in a single workflow. Faster than allocating each line individually when you're working through a physical pick. See Scan & Allocate for the full workflow.

Print/Send

Order Confirmation: print the Order Confirmation document for the customer (uses the Standard Rental Order report layout).

(Next) Invoice Preview: print a preview of what the next invoice run on this order would look like, given the current line positions and billing cycle.

Email Order Confirmation: email the Order Confirmation to the customer using the configured email template.

Email (Next) Invoice Preview: email the next-invoice preview to the customer.

Order (navigation)

The Order group on the navigation ribbon takes you to documents and entities related to the current order: the Customer card, the open Shipment Orders and Return Orders, the Posted Shipment Orders and Posted Return Orders, the open and posted Invoices, and the open and posted Credit Memos.

Related pages