The Hour Tracking feature allows you to monitor and set limits on equipment usage for individual products. It enables you to track customers' hour usage of a product and, if desired, apply charges for exceeding a predefined number of hours.
Enabling Hour Tracking:
Navigate to Inventory > Products
Select a product to enable Hour Tracking on.
Under the product’s General tab, scroll down to the Hour Tracking option.
Click the box next to Use hour tracking for this product. A blue check should appear if enabled.
To apply overage charges, enter a value in the Daily Hours Limit field and specify the Overage Rate for each hour exceeding the limit. If you only want to track hours without incurring overage fees, leave both the Daily Hours Limit and Overage Rate fields blank
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to Save Changes
Common Questions
Can I set up Hour Tracking and overage rates for a lot of products at once instead of one at a time?
Yes, this can be done through your inventory import sheet by including the Daily Hours Limit and Overage Rate columns for each product. After importing, it's worth spot checking a few products to confirm the values actually saved, since imports have occasionally applied hour tracking without carrying over the rate or limit.
I'm getting an "Error calculating hour overages" message when trying to take a product off rent. What's causing that?
This most often happens when the order is missing a rental end date. Make sure the order has an end date set, then try the off rent action again.
I have Hour Tracking and an Overage Rate set up correctly, but the charge didn't apply when the unit was returned. Why not?
Double check that the Overage Rate field still shows a value on the product itself. Rates can sometimes get cleared out, especially after switching between setup tabs or re-importing an inventory sheet, so it's worth confirming the field is actually populated rather than assuming it held from before.
Can the overage rate change depending on whether it's a daily, weekly, or monthly rental?
Not currently. Overage Rate is a single flat hourly rate that applies the same way no matter what rental duration the product is on. There's no way to charge a different overage amount for an hourly rental versus a weekly or monthly one.
If a cycle billed order has already had its invoices paid and locked, will the overage charge still get added when the product is returned?
This is a known edge case. If invoices were paid and locked before the return happens, the overage charge may not automatically flow onto an invoice the way it would on a standard order. If this comes up, it's best to loop in support rather than assume the charge applied.
Can hour overage charges be mapped to a different General Ledger code than the rest of the product?
No, overage charges follow the same GL mapping as the product itself. There isn't a separate GL setting specifically for hour overages.