What is RentalOS?
RentalOS is a rental management system that helps you manage customers, products, inventory, orders, availability, dispatches and returns from one place.
01
Getting Started
10 questionsWho is RentalOS for?
RentalOS is designed for businesses that rent physical equipment, products or assets and need to manage their rental operations systematically.
How do I set up my rental business?
Start by adding your business details, locations, people, products and inventory. Once these are ready, you can start creating rental orders.
What is the difference between a Product, SKU and Asset?
A Product represents what you rent, an SKU represents a specific product configuration, and an Asset represents an individually tracked physical unit.
What is the difference between serialized and bulk inventory?
Serialized inventory tracks individual physical units separately. Bulk inventory tracks only the available quantity.
How do I add my inventory?
You can create products and SKUs and then add either individual assets or bulk quantities depending on how you want to track them.
How do I add a customer?
Add the person to People and store their contact and relevant business information. Their rental history can then be associated with their record.
Can I have multiple locations?
Yes. RentalOS is designed with locations from the beginning so inventory and availability can be associated with a specific location.
Can multiple staff members use RentalOS?
Yes. RentalOS supports Owner and Staff roles with different permissions for managing and operating the system.
What should I set up first?
Start with business settings, locations, people, products/SKUs and inventory. After that, create a test order and run through the rental lifecycle.
02
Using RentalOS
10 questionsHow do I create a rental order?
Select the customer, add the required products or inventory, choose the rental period and review the order before confirming it.
How does RentalOS check availability?
RentalOS considers existing reservations and the current state of inventory to determine whether the required quantity is available for the selected period.
Aputure 300d
4 reserved1 in maintenance1 free
Only 1 available for these dates
Reserve 1 now, or pick dates when 2 are free.
Can two customers book the same asset?
RentalOS is designed to prevent double-booking by checking availability before a reservation is confirmed.
Sony FX3 · Unit 2
Sun11Mon12Tue13Wed14Thu15Fri16Sat17
Not available for these dates
Unit 2 is reserved for Rohan Mehta until 14 Oct. Unit 3 is free for 13–15 Oct.
What is a reservation?
A reservation represents inventory being committed for a particular rental period. It is used by the availability system when determining future availability.
Aputure 300d
4 reserved1 in maintenance1 free
Only 1 available for these dates
Reserve 1 now, or pick dates when 2 are free.
Can I change the rental dates after creating an order?
Yes, subject to availability. When rental dates change, RentalOS recalculates the availability implications for the order.
How do I dispatch an order?
Once the order is ready, the required inventory/assets can be assigned and the order can be moved into the dispatched stage.
How do I process a return?
Open the dispatched order and process the return. Returned assets can then become available again unless they require maintenance or another operational state.
Order #1042
- Dispatched12 Oct, 10:30 AM
- Returned14 Oct, 6:10 PM · checked in by Aman
- AvailableUnit 2 is back on the shelf
What happens when an asset is damaged?
The asset can be marked as unavailable/under maintenance so it is not treated as available for another rental.
Sony FX3 · Unit 2
Returned14 Oct · lens mount damaged
BookableNo, until cleared
How do payments and deposits work?
The order bill shows rent, GST, deposit, what was paid, and what is still to take. Record UPI or cash on the order. Generate the GST invoice after the booking is reserved. The dashboard Your day list shows what leaves today, what is due back, and what is overdue.
Order #1042
Security deposit₹10,000 paid
Rent · advance₹4,000 paid
Rent · balance₹3,434 outstanding
Received ₹14,000Total ₹17,434
Can I generate invoices and other documents?
Yes. RentalOS supports business documents associated with orders, including invoices and other rental-related documents.
INV-1042
Sony FX3₹4,500
Sigma 24–70mm₹1,800
Subtotal₹6,300
GST 18%₹1,134
Total₹7,434
03
Common Problems & FAQs
10 questionsWhy is my asset unavailable when I can physically see it?
Physical presence does not always mean rental availability. The asset may be reserved for another rental, dispatched, under maintenance or otherwise unavailable.
Why can't I reserve an item?
The requested quantity may not be available for the selected rental period, or another reservation may already consume the available stock.
Aputure 300d
4 reserved1 in maintenance1 free
Only 1 available for these dates
Reserve 1 now, or pick dates when 2 are free.
Why can't I dispatch an order?
Check that the required inventory/assets are available and that the order has completed the required steps before dispatch.
Why is my returned asset still unavailable?
The asset may have been returned into a maintenance or other unavailable state rather than being immediately released for rental.
Sony FX3 · Unit 2
Returned14 Oct · lens mount damaged
BookableNo, until cleared
Why does my inventory quantity look wrong?
Check recent orders, dispatches, returns and inventory changes. Physical stock and system stock should be reconciled if they differ.
What happens if a customer returns equipment late?
The order becomes overdue based on its expected return time. The rental record remains available for staff to review and take appropriate action.
What happens if an item is damaged or lost?
Record the asset's condition/status so it is no longer incorrectly treated as available. Any financial recovery can be handled through the order/deposit process.
Sony FX3 · Unit 2
Returned14 Oct · lens mount damaged
BookableNo, until cleared
Can I see who changed an order or asset?
RentalOS maintains activity information so important operational changes can be traced back to users and events.
Why can't my staff member access something?
Access depends on the user's role and permissions. Owner and Staff do not necessarily have the same access.
What should I do if something looks incorrect?
First check the order, reservation, asset status and activity history. If the issue remains, contact RentalOS support with the relevant order or asset details.
Still stuck? Request early access and ask us directly.