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Long hires with notice period, lock-in and customer sites

Monthly and open-ended hires carry a notice period and a lock-in date. When a customer calls off short or ends before the lock-in, the rent of the time short is worked out for you. It waits as an Early End charge for a manager to confirm. Each hire can be booked to the customer's own site with its PO.

PLANSFrom Growth

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Why it matters

On long hires the money is lost at the end. A contractor calls off a machine with two days' notice when the contract says thirty. Or a customer returns a car in month four of a twelve-month lock-in. Most counters do not notice, or work the shortfall out by hand weeks later and argue about it. SmartMy Rental keeps the notice and the lock-in on the order and prints them on the agreement. A hire is called off short or brought back early. At that moment the rent of the time short is worked out from the same rate plan. It waits as an Early End charge for a manager to confirm or drop. Hires also run against the customer's own sites, so each project gets its PO on the invoice.

The problem it solves

A customer gives two days' notice on a thirty-day contract and the shortfall is never billed.
A twelve-month lock-in is in a PDF, and nobody checks it when the car comes back in month four.
Invoices for a contractor with six projects arrive without the project's PO, and payment waits.
A monthly hire is billed at the day rate because the end date was left open.

How it works

On the order's Term tab tick Rolls On for a hire with no fixed end. Then choose Roll By (days, weeks or months) and Roll Length. The car stays out and the hire goes on by that period until it is called off.
Set Notice (days), how long before ending the customer must call off. Set Lock-in Until, the date before which ending early costs the rent to that date. Both print on the rental agreement.
Choose the customer's Site. Its PO is copied to the order as the Customer PO and shown on invoices; billing can make one invoice per site or PO.
When the customer calls off (on the phone, the web page or the app), the system counts the notice from that moment. The hire may stop before the notice ends or before the lock-in date. Then the rent of the time short becomes an Early End charge To Confirm.
If the car is brought back early without a call-off, the lock-in is checked the same way. A Rent Manager confirms or drops the charge, and a confirmed charge goes on the next bill.
Bill the hire with a monthly billing cycle. A Rent Increase on the rate plan raises the rent every so many months. The Rent Schedule shows every bill ahead, a year ahead for hires that roll on.

Everything it does

Term of the order

Rolls On, with Roll By (Days, Weeks, Months) and Roll Length: 1 month to start with
Notice (days): how long before ending the customer must call off
Lock-in Until: ending before this date has an early-end charge
Notice and lock-in are printed on the Rental Agreement
Filter Rolls On on the order list

Early End charge

On a call-off: the later of the notice end (counted from the call-off) and the lock-in date
On a return without a call-off: the lock-in date
A hire with a fixed end is never charged past that end, and a return at or after the planned end is never early
Amount: the rent between the stop and that date, from the line's rate plan
Made as kind Early End, To Confirm, with the date it runs to in the description
Settings > Charge Short Notice and Lock-in: on to start with; switch it off to never make these charges

Late returns

The late time is always billed as rent
Late Return Fee (%): 0 to start with; when set, that share of the late rent is added as a Late Return charge To Confirm
Late Return Grace: 1 hour to start with
Not used for hires that roll on, which have no late return

Customer sites

Rental > Bookings > Customer Sites: name, customer, address (where cars go and are collected from), Site Contact, Contact Phone, PO and a note
The site's PO is copied to new orders as the Customer PO and shown on invoices
The site's orders listed on it
Billing grouping One per Site / PO makes one invoice per site
Customers see what is on hire at each site on their web page

Rolling on

Checked every hour; the end moves on by whole periods
A car booked later by someone else gives the salesperson a Roll-on clash to-do
No Overdue or Due Back messages for hires that roll on
Rent increases on the rate plan: By a Share or By an Amount, every 12 months to start with

Who uses it

Rent UserSets the term, the site and the PO when booking a long hire.

Rent ManagerConfirms or drops Early End and Late Return charges, and sets the defaults.

Customer's site managerCalls off from the web page or the app and gets a call-off number at once.

AccountsBills by site or PO with a monthly cycle.

Where you use it

Web: the order's Term tab; Rental > Bookings > Customer Sites; Rental > Billing > Bills > Charges with the filter To Confirm
Customer pages and the SmartMy Rental app: what is on hire at each site, Call Off and Ask to Extend. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
Not on the customer pages: spend by site or PO, and the customer's own approvers

What you control

Settings

Charge Short Notice and Lock-in: on
Late Return Fee (%): 0
Late Return Grace (hours): 1
Roll By and Roll Length per order: 1 month

Approvals

Rental charge: Early End and Late Return charges wait To Confirm. Confirm and Drop go through the Rental charge chain, Rent Managers by default, on every plan, with levels by amount

Notifications

Rental Called Off: to the customer with the call-off number
The Early End charge itself sends no message; it shows on the next invoice once confirmed
In the app for customers with a login, and by the first channel that works in the order WhatsApp, email, SMS
WhatsApp and SMS use your message credits; app push is built in and not switched on yet
Customer messages go out on every plan, Starter included

Works with

SmartMy SignThe agreement with the notice and lock-in signed online before the car goes out (Growth).

Questions

Is the Early End charge billed without anyone seeing it?

No. It is made To Confirm. A Rent Manager confirms it, or drops it if you agree to waive it. Only a confirmed charge goes on the next bill.

How is the short time priced?

From the line's own rate plan: the rent from the stop to the end of the notice or the lock-in date. It is the cheapest mix of the plan's periods, as for any rent.

What if the car comes back after the lock-in date?

Then nothing is charged for early end. A return at or after the planned end is never early either.

Can we bill each project of a contractor apart?

Yes. Book each hire to its site and choose One per Site / PO on the customer's billing cycle. Each invoice carries that site's PO.

Can we switch the early-end charge off?

Yes. Turn off Charge Short Notice and Lock-in in the settings. Notice and lock-in still print on the agreement.

Does the rent go up on long hires?

If you set it to. A rate plan's Rent Increase raises the rent by a share or an amount every so many months. Billing uses the raised rent from then on.

Related features

HIRE ORDERSExtend, swap, call off, roll on and overdue hiresChange a hire while it runs: extend or shorten it, or swap the car through return and handover checks. Call it off with a call-off number, and nothing is charged after that time. Hires that roll on go on by themselves, and overdue cars are flagged every hour.BILLING AND PAYMENTSBilling in advance or in arrears, with Bill NowBill short hires at once with Bill Now, and long hires on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or end-of-hire cycle. Bill in advance or in arrears, grouped as you like. Rent stops at the call-off or return, and time billed ahead and not used comes back as a credit.LONG HIRES AND PARTNERSCar leases and subscriptions with a yearly km allowanceRun long-term car leases and monthly subscriptions on the same fleet as your daily hires. Each has a term, a monthly fee, a yearly allowance of kilometres or hours with a charge for each one over, renewal and buy-out.HIRE ORDERSRental agreements signed online before the car goes outSend the rental agreement from the order through SmartMy Sign. The customer signs on their phone with a code sent by email, or in person on your screen, then your side signs. With one setting on, no car on the order goes out until it is signed.CUSTOMERSCustomer pages: on hire, call off, extend, check reports and paymentsYour business customers sign in to a Rentals page that lists what they have on hire at each site. They call off with a call-off number, ask to extend, read and dispute check reports, pay what is asked and see their invoices.CUSTOMERSCorporate accounts with credit limits, own rates and bookersCompanies that rent from you often get a credit account with a limit. They also get their own rate plans and a list of people who may book for them. They can apply online, and you approve with the limit you give.

See your fleet on it.

Tell us how many cars or machines you hire out, from how many depots, and how bookings reach you today. We will set up your fleet with you on SmartMy Rental.

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