accounting software for hire business

F

feoras

Guest
Hello all,

I have a small business leasing custom built equipment. I am trying to find a software solution to accounting and managing.

I have tried the demos from sage, tas and sortmybooks but I cannot figure out how to use them for rentals.

Just so you know what I'm doing here is an over explained but typical example of how it works. Products and costs are fictional for illustration purposes.

A customer requests a specific product that they need for a short time - lets say its a Decorated Christmas Tree.

First I will need to cost all the parts for the tree so I need to create a bill of materials for it. Lets say it costs 500 plus labour to make.

Next I quote a customer for the cost to hire the tree per day. lets say @ 400. Now lets say they reply and want to rent the tree for 4 days at 400 per day to total 1600.

I issue an invoice for 800 to be paid on agreement of terms and the remainder to be paid at the end.

They pay the 800 and I buy all the parts for the tree and generate my BOM.

The Tree is completed and added to my inventory of products. I need to assign the dates to it.

After the display, I invoice and receive the balance from the customer.

From then on I can rent the tree to other customers.

Ok, so that's how it works.

The problem I am having is that I cant figure out how to tell the software that I am not actually selling 4 trees, I am just renting one out for 4 days, all of the parts I bought are now one tree and I still have the the tree at the end.

I also want to be able to keep a record of booking dates so I don't double book something.

Currently I am doing it all on paper but my inventory is growing and I would prefer to keep a computer record.

Can anyone point point me in the right direction or recommend a software solution that does what I need.

Thanks,
Jon
 
This is classic manufacturing tracking and costing which conventional accounting packages are incapable of supporting.

Your Christmas tree has a unit-of-measure (each / EA), so for inventory purposes it counts as 1 (custom Christmas tree) whereas it has a unit-of-sale of 1 day and has a theoretical potential of 365 units-of-sale per annum or whatever its useful life is.

Some inventory modules in accounting packages can cater for BOM and unit-of-measure conversion factors which enables different purchase, manufacturing, stocking and sales units, e.g. buy stock in kilos, sell in linear metres
 
mathepac said:
This is classic manufacturing tracking and costing which conventional accounting packages are incapable of supporting.
Click to expand...

So, its classic but unsupported.....bummer

mathepac said:
Your Christmas tree has a unit-of-measure (each / EA), so for inventory purposes it counts as 1 (custom Christmas tree) whereas it has a unit-of-sale of 1 day and has a theoretical potential of 365 units-of-sale per annum or whatever its useful life is.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. It gives me an idea of what to look for.

mathepac said:
Some inventory modules in accounting packages can cater for BOM and unit-of-measure conversion factors which enables different purchase, manufacturing, stocking and sales units, e.g. buy stock in kilos, sell in linear metres
Click to expand...

Interesting, where/how can I get these modules. I just did a search and can't find any pointers.

Thanks
 
I've been playing with the demos again and if I classify the "Christmas tree" as a service it works better. Is this the way to go?
 
A company called Advent ( www.advent.ie) supply a SW package for hire companies called Insphire. I know it is possible to allocate compulsory and optional accessories to units being hired out which may permit you to "make up" your final products, as well as keeping track of the individual components in your stock.

I was involved in the purchase of this system for a hire company a few years ago and it has proved very useful for us.

I have no connection with Advent other than having been customer.
 
You could be making this too complicated. It is could be done on TAS as follows. You can current get TAS for free:

All quotes etc done offline.

1. Deposit paid by customer. Set up a customer account and post the deposit as a credit balance. DR Bank CR Individual Customer

2. Goods ordered and made. DR Fixed Assets with cost CR Bank/ Creditors. This gets the asset on the balance sheet. Write it down over its useful life

3. Goods rented out to first customer (above). DR Individual Customer/ CR Rental Income. This will raise the invoice on TAS.

4. Balance paid by customer. DR Bank/ CR Indivdual Customer. The balance is then cleared.

- You could set up different categories for different products

5. You should check if you need to register for VAT
 
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