Reports
The four standard rental reports (Quote, Order, Shipment, Invoice), their layouts (RDLC and Word), email body templates, and the Report Selections page that ties each report to its rental document type.
How it fits in
Essential Rental ships with four standard rental reports, each producing a printable customer-facing document for one stage of the document flow. The Print and Email actions on rental documents (Print Quote / Print Order / Print Shipment Manifest, Email Order Confirmation, etc.) all run against these reports.
Which report runs for which rental document type is configured on the Report Selections - Rental page (accessible from the Rental Setup ribbon). You can assign more than one report per usage if you want a sequence to run, swap in a customised report you've built, and choose which report drives the email body separately from which report becomes the email attachment.
The four standard reports
All four ship with both an RDLC layout (the BC-native report layout format) and a Word DOCX layout (a Word-based alternative). Each also has a corresponding email body template (a DOCX layout designed for the message body when emailing the document, distinct from the attachment).
Line pricing schedule on the Quote and Order
Where a rental line carries duration tiers, multi-rate date windows, or a minimum billing period, the Standard Rental Quote and Standard Rental Order print a small per-line pricing schedule under the line, so the customer can see why the line's price varies over the hire. Lines without any of these print exactly as before.
The schedule shows up to three blocks, each only when the line has it:
- Tiered pricing: one row per tier reading "Up to {duration}", with the date band that tier covers (worked out from the hire start) and the tier's rate, then a "Thereafter" row for the base rate beyond the last tier. See Tiered pricing.
- Rate schedule (by date): one row per multi-rate window, with its category code, the window's from and to dates, and the rate. See Multi-Rate Pricing.
- Minimum billing period: a single note of the minimum period, where one is set. See Minimum billing period.
Layout formats: RDLC vs DOCX
Each report ships with two layout files in the Report Documents folder:
RDLC (Report Definition Language Client-side): the native BC report layout format. Edit in SQL Server Report Builder or Visual Studio's RDL designer. Produces precise pixel-level control over the printed output. The default layout for most installations.
DOCX (Word): a Word document used as a templated layout. Edit in Microsoft Word using the BC report layout add-in. Easier for non-developer customisation; layout changes happen in familiar Word controls (paragraph styles, tables, images, branding) without RDL knowledge.
Switch between layouts per report on the Report Layouts page (BC standard) or by setting the layout on each Report Selections row.
Email body templates
When a rental document is emailed (Email Order Confirmation, Email Quote, etc.), the email message itself is composed from a template. The four shipped templates are DOCX files in Report Documents:
StandardRentalQuoteEmailBody.docx, StandardRentalOrderEmailBody.docx, StandardRentalShipmentEmailBody.docx, StandardRentalInvoiceEmailBody.docx.
These are the message bodies; the attached document (the report itself) is what the customer downloads. Set on Report Selections per usage via the Email Body Layout fields.
The Report Selections - Rental page
Open from Rental Setup via the Report Selection - Rental action. The page is a worksheet keyed by the rental usage (Quote / Order / Shipment / Return / Invoice); selecting a usage at the top filters the lines below to show the assigned report sequence for that usage.
Walkthrough: swapping the standard report for a customised one
A common operational need: replace the shipped Standard Rental Order report with a customised version branded for your operation.
Develop the custom AL Report object in your customisation extension, or import an existing one from a partner. Compile and publish so the report appears in the BC Report list with its own Report ID.
From Rental Setup, run the Report Selection - Rental action. At the top of the page, set Usage to Rental Order to filter the lines below to that usage's assignments.
On the existing Sequence 1 line, change Report ID from the standard H2B Rental Order to your custom report's ID. Report Caption updates to match. If you want both reports to run (e.g. yours first, then the standard as a backup), add a new line at Sequence 2 instead of replacing.
If the custom report should also drive the email body or attachment when emailing Order Confirmations, tick Use for Email Body and Use for Email Attachment on its line. Set the Email Body Layout fields if you have a separate DOCX template for the message body.
Open any Rental Order and run the Order Confirmation print or email action. The custom report runs in place of the standard one. Repeat for Email Order Confirmation if you adjusted the email-body assignments.
Related pages
- Rental Setup: where the Report Selection - Rental action lives, plus the Setup Wizard's Default Report Selections option that pre-assigns the standard reports.
- Rental Quote: where the Standard Rental Quote report runs from the Print and Email actions.
- Rental Order: where the Standard Rental Order report runs from Order Confirmation / Email Order Confirmation.
- Rental Shipment: where the Standard Rental Shipment report runs from Print Shipment Manifest.
- Rental Invoice: where the Standard Rental Invoice (a customised Sales Invoice with rental fields) is the layout for invoice output.