Booking & Availability
Rental equipment is booked from a sales order. PrepStation checks stock, overlapping reservations, turnaround time, overdue returns, and equipment downtime before creating a hold.
Add Equipment to a Sales Order
- Open the sales order and add or select an event day.
- Find Add rental equipment under that day.
- Search for a Rental product by name.
- Set Date out and Date in.
- Enter the Qty.
- Select an available Rate.
- Click Add rental.
The search result shows availability for the selected window. After you add the line, the order displays a Rental badge and reservation status.
If your account has a Rental agreement / waiver under Rentals → Rental Settings, online customers see that text on the quote and checkout whenever the order includes rental equipment. They accept it with the same typed signature used for storefront terms & conditions.
Warning
A rental line must be assigned to an event day. Create the event day before adding equipment.
Include Returnable Equipment with a Menu Item
Use Required equipment when a menu item always needs equipment that must come back, such as a food tray that requires chafing dishes.
- Open the menu item.
- Select Required equipment.
- Click Add required equipment.
- Select an active rental product.
- Enter the quantity required for each menu item ordered.
- Optionally select a preferred rental rate.
- Choose what happens if there is not enough equipment:
- Block order stops the menu item from being added or changed.
- Allow with warning keeps the menu item and displays a persistent equipment warning.
When the menu item is ordered, PrepStation multiplies its quantity by the required equipment quantity. For example, 4 trays requiring 2 chafing dishes each creates a reservation for 8 chafing dishes.
The generated line is labeled Included rental — return required and displays Included instead of a separate charge. The menu item drives the customer price, while the rental reservation retains its normal rate value for availability and percentage-based security deposits.
Important
Change or remove included equipment by editing the source menu item line. The included rental line cannot be edited separately, and both lines lock after equipment begins circulating.
You can still add normal rental products directly to the same sales order. Those rental lines use their selected hourly, daily, weekly, or event rate and charge the customer separately.
How Availability Is Calculated
AVAILABLE = RENTABLE CAPACITY
− OVERLAPPING RESERVATIONS
− EQUIPMENT DOWNTIME
− OVERDUE EQUIPMENT
PrepStation checks the effective window rather than only the dates entered:
Preparation buffer → Date out → Customer rental → Date in → Turnaround buffer
Availability can be reduced by:
- Committed reservations
- Active temporary holds
- Unresolved cleaning, repair, damage, or missing incidents
- Open returns that are past their expected date
- Lost or retired stock reducing total rentable capacity
By default, booking or confirming past that available quantity is blocked. Account admins can turn on Allow overbooking past catalog capacity under Rentals → Rental Settings so staff can sell past capacity and source or substitute later. Physical stock never goes negative — Ready/Out still needs real units on hand. Overbooked lines show a Short N warning on the sales order Rentals panel, reservation detail, overview, and Delivery day board.
Understanding Soft Holds
Adding or editing a rental line creates a Soft hold. This temporarily protects the quantity while the sales order is being prepared.
- A soft hold normally lasts 30 minutes.
- Expired holds stop blocking availability.
- Confirming the sales order rechecks every rental and converts valid holds to Committed.
- If availability changed, confirmation stops so staff can revise the order.
If a hold expires, open the sales order's Rentals section and select Recheck availability.
Tip
Confirm time-sensitive quotes promptly. A soft hold is not a guaranteed booking until the sales order is confirmed.
Edit a Rental Before Circulation
From the sales order's Rentals section:
- Expand Edit rental window.
- Update Date out, Date in, or Rate.
- Click Update.
- Confirm order changes when required.
Quantity can also be adjusted through the rental line while the equipment has not begun circulating. The system creates a new reservation revision so the original quoted and committed terms remain in history.
Confirm the Booking
When you confirm the sales order, PrepStation:
- Rechecks each rental product and window.
- Commits the latest valid hold.
- Calculates the required security deposit from all rental lines.
- Makes the reservation ready for fulfillment.
Open Rentals → Rental Operations to search reservations by product, lifecycle status, hold status, or date. Select a reservation to see its current terms, movement ledger, returns, incidents, and revision history.
Release or Remove a Reservation
Before equipment starts circulating, you can:
- Remove the rental line from the sales order.
- Open the reservation and click Release.
- Cancel the sales order to release its pre-dispatch holds.
After the first physical movement, dates and quantities are locked. Dispatched equipment must be reconciled through the return and incident workflows instead of deleting the line.
Reservation Status Reference
Reservation Lifecycle
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Booking is open |
| Cancelled | Booking was released before circulation |
| Closed | Return and reconciliation are complete |
Reservation Revision
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Soft hold | Temporary availability hold |
| Committed | Confirmed booking |
| Superseded | Replaced by a newer committed revision |
| Released | Explicitly released |
| Expired | Temporary hold timed out |
Common Questions
Q: Why does a product show fewer units than its ready quantity?
A: Another reservation, a preparation or turnaround buffer, equipment downtime, or an overdue return may block part of the requested window.
Q: Why can't I edit or remove a rental line?
A: Equipment movement has already started. Complete the return and incident workflows instead.
Q: Does adding a rental affect kitchen production demand?
A: No. Rental lines are equipment reservations and do not create recipe or kitchen production demand.
Q: Why is a rental line shown as Included?
A: It was generated by a menu item's Required equipment configuration. The menu item carries the customer price, but the included equipment still has to be fulfilled and returned.
Next Steps
- Rental Fulfillment — Pick, load, and hand off a committed reservation
- Security Deposits — Secure required collateral before dispatch
Last updated: August 23, 2026