There might be times when you need to rent or sell products together, or combine products together in one package. For example:
Other items needed
Some products might have items that have to be rented or sold with them in order to make them work or for safety reasons. For example, a projector might need a power cable and a fog machine needs fluid.Product composed of other products
A product might be made up of different individual components. For example, a marquee or tent is usually made up of a bunch of poles, gables, canvas, and other materials.Pre-packed cases
You might pack items together in cases to speed up prepping gear in the warehouse. Assets in the case are booked out together, but checked-in individually and the case is ready to be packed again.Package deals or kits
You might offer ‘packages’ or ‘kits’ of products for a fixed price. For example, a “Party Package” might be made up of tables, chairs, a PA system, and some lighting for price of $300.Assets semi-permanently housed together
If you have certain items in cases, racks, or on bars you might like to include these in your inventory. For example, a Radio Mic might consist of microphones, radio units, and receivers that are contained in a serialized case.
Accessories and serialized containers in Current RMS can help you do this.
How do accessories work?
Accessories let you say that one product is rented or sold with one or more additional products. A really simple example might be that a monitor is rented with an HDMI cable.
Each accessory is a product in its own right, with its own stock levels and rates. When you set up a product as an accessory to another product, you can set the conditions:
Is the accessory product rented or sold?
Is it mandatory when the product is rented or sold?
Do you wish to include a default quantity or make it completely optional?
Do you charge for it when included as an accessory?
How many of the accessory products are rented or sold?
Once you’ve set up a product with accessories, you can choose quantities for those accessories when you add the product to an opportunity.
How do serialized containers work?
Serialized containers are similar to accessories, but let you specify that serialized assets are rented together.
They can be temporary or permanent.
Permanent containers are used for items that are semi-permanently housed together, like lamps screwed to a bar or radio mic kits. They are booked out as a unit and checked-in as a unit.
Temporary containers are used for items that are temporarily housed together, generally pre-packed cases. They’re booked out as a unit, but checked in individually.
You can set a serialized stock level on a product as serialized container, then allocate other stock levels to it.
Once you’ve set up a serialized container, any container components are automatically allocated when you allocate the serialized container to an opportunity.
When would I use accessories?
Accessories link items together so they’re great for package deals, times when additional products are rented or sold with others, or for products that are made up of other items – especially if you include optional extras.
Package deals and products made up of other products
Set up all of the products that are part of the package, including adding rates and stock levels to them.
Then set up the package product itself. Set it up with a stock method of “none”, meaning that no stock tracking is done on the package, only the accessories.
Add the products to the package product as accessories.
Products rented together
Set up all of the products that will be rented or sold with the ‘main’ product, including adding rates and stock levels.
Then set up the ‘main’ product itself as normal.
Add the products to the package product as accessories.
When would I use serialized containers?
Permanent
Serialized containers link assets together, so they’re great for items that go together in a case, rack, bar etc.
Set up all of the products that will be rented as products with serialized stock levels.
From the serialized containers screen, create a permanent container.
Temporary
Temporary containers are great for pre-packing items together, making it quicker and easier to prep a job.
Set up all of the products that will be rented as products with serialized stock levels.
From the serialized containers screen, create a temporary container.
Next steps
Common questions
Can I have accessories on accessories?
You can, accessories can be four levels deep – perfect for package deals where the products within the package also have components on them.