Introduction
A broker is a company that sells your rentals to its own customers, for example a travel site. Its booking system sends the bookings to RentVisie with a rate code: a short code that tells the app which discount the broker gets. The broker pays the discounted rent in advance and receives a broker invoice for it; the renter pays the rest at your counter.
The screen headed Brokers lists your brokers. Click one to open its page: a header with Cancel and Save, then five tabs. Details holds the broker's own details, who may book for it and who is invoiced. Rate codes holds its codes. Bookings, Fundings and Broker invoices show what the broker has booked and been invoiced.
You would be here because:
- you are starting to work with a new broker and need to give it a rate code
- a broker's discount changes from next month
- a broker says its code is refused, or that a code is required
- a broker's booking came in without its code, at the full price
- you want to see what a broker booked and how much of it was invoiced to the broker
Terms used on this screen
| The screen says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Rate code | The code a broker sends with a booking to get its price |
| Broker customer | The customer record that receives the broker invoice |
| Broker pays, Renter pays | How a booking's total is divided between the broker and the person who rents |
| Funding, Prepaid | The broker's share of a booking, paid in advance. The same as the funding a third party can have on any booking; see Let a third party pay part of a booking |
| Excess | The renter's own risk: what they pay towards damage |
Use this page to set up a broker and its codes, and to check what it booked.
How to use
Configuration
Each broker needs three things before its codes work: the broker itself, a broker customer that receives its invoices, and at least one rate code.
- Open the brokers. From the main menu open Admin, then Brokers. (The Brokers tile under Financials and the Brokers button on Fundings open the same list.)
- Click New broker, top right. A new broker page opens, titled New broker.
- Fill in the Details tab. Skim the table once; you will come back to rows as they come up:
| Field | Starts as | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Active | On | Only an active broker's codes are accepted. Turning it off does not change existing bookings |
| Name | Empty | Shown in the back office, and to the renter as the party that pays the rental. Required before you add a rate code |
| Contact name, Contact email, Contact phone | Empty | For your own reference; invoices go to the broker customer's e-mail |
| Chamber of Commerce, VAT number | Empty | For reference; invoices use the broker customer's details, so keep them the same |
| API users | None | The logins the broker's booking system uses. Only these may book with the broker's codes |
| Broker customer | Empty | Receives the broker invoice. New creates one from the broker's details |
| Email renter on voucher payment | Off | On: the renter gets the payment-received e-mail when the broker's prepayment is recorded at confirmation |
- Create the broker customer if you have none: click Create broker customer in the yellow box No broker customer account yet, or New next to Broker customer. A customer form opens with the broker's name, e-mail, phone and Chamber of Commerce number filled in. Complete it and save.
- Click Save at the top right. Cancel or Back to brokers closes without saving.
The broker's logins are created by your administrator under Settings › Employees; you then pick them in the logins field of step 3.
Before you start: the broker screens are for company administrators. Agree the code and the discount with the broker first; you give the broker the exact code text.
Using the rate codes
- Open the broker from Admin → Brokers, using the open icon at the end of its row.
- Click the Rate codes tab, then New rate code. The app saves the broker first and opens the pop-up Rate code.
- Fill in the pop-up, top to bottom. Skim the table once; you will come back to rows as they come up:
| Field | Starts as | What it does | What it accepts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Empty | The exact text the broker sends. Give it to the broker | Text; required |
| Name | Empty | Your own name for it, not shown to the renter | Text |
| Active | On | Off: the code is no longer accepted; bookings already made keep their price | Tick |
| Valid from | Empty | Empty: valid straight away | A date |
| Valid to | Empty | Empty: no end date | A date, not before Valid from |
| Base discount % | 0 | Discount on the base rental price. The discounted base rent is what the broker prepays | 0 to 100 |
| Zero excess | Off | The renter's own risk on these bookings is 0 | Tick |
| Unlimited mileage | Off | No mileage charges on these bookings | Tick |
| Override deposit | Off | On: shows Deposit amount, used instead of the vehicle class's deposit | Tick |
| Deposit amount | 0 | The deposit the renter pays; 0 means no deposit | Whole euros |
| Override excess | Off | On: shows Excess amount, used instead of the vehicle class's excess | Tick |
| Excess amount | 0 | The renter's own risk on these bookings | An amount |
- Click Save. The code appears on the Rate codes tab. Cancel adds nothing.
- To change a code, click the pencil icon on its row. To remove it, click the bin icon; this works only for a code no booking uses.
- To check the broker's bookings, open the Bookings tab (Broker pays and Renter pays per booking), the Fundings tab (the broker's share per booking), or the Broker invoices tab (what was invoiced to the broker, and Paid).
To apply a rate code to a booking that came in without one:
- Open the booking on the Booking details screen and click the Financial tab, then Funding.
- Click Apply broker rate code, beside Add funder. It shows only while the booking has no broker.
- Pick the code under Rate code in the pop-up and click Apply. Cancel changes nothing.
- If the message says the booking was already invoiced, click Rebalance invoices on the same tab, and refund what the renter paid too much (Refund deposits and overpayments to customers).
When it worked, the button is gone and the booking is on the broker's Bookings tab.
Key details
When a code is accepted. All of these must be true at the moment the booking comes in:
| Condition | Where to check |
|---|---|
| The code exists, exactly as sent, and is Active | Rate codes tab |
| Today is between Valid from and Valid to | Rate codes tab |
| The broker is Active | Details tab |
| The booking comes from one of the broker's logins | Details tab, the logins field |
A broker's login must send a code. A booking from one of the broker's logins without a rate code is refused, and the broker's system is told a code is required. Older bookings that came in this way are at the full price without the broker; use Apply broker rate code.
The price is set once. The code is applied when the booking is created, or with Apply broker rate code afterwards. Changing the code later does not change bookings already made. Changing a booking's dates or vehicle later reprices it at the normal list price, while the prepayment stays as it was; check the balance after such a change.
What the code does to a booking. The booking is linked to the broker, gets the code's deposit and excess when you override them, and gets a prepaid funding for the broker customer covering the base rent and its discount. At confirmation the app records the broker's prepayment as a payment with payment method Broker.
A worked example. A 5-day booking with a base rent of €300 comes in with a code at Base discount % 20. The base rent becomes €240: that is what the broker prepays and is invoiced for. The renter adds insurance for €50 at the counter and pays that €50.
If the price drops later, the app records a correction on the broker's prepayment (reference "Broker voucher adjustment"). A price increase is not recorded as received; it stays open on the broker invoice.
Applying a code afterwards does what a code sent with the booking does, except:
| The booking is | Deposit and excess | Broker's prepayment |
|---|---|---|
| Draft, quote or not yet confirmed | From the code | Not recorded, not even at confirmation: confirm first, then apply |
| Confirmed | From the code | Recorded |
| Picked up or returned | Left as they were | Recorded |
Cancelled, timed-out and no-show bookings are refused. Take the example above, but returned, invoiced to the renter for €350 and paid. After you apply the code, the broker prepays €240, the renter owes the €50 insurance, and after Rebalance invoices the renter is due €300 back.
What to do next: for how the broker invoice is made and credited, see Invoice and credit a funded booking.
Q&A
Why is a broker's booking at the full price and missing from the broker's Bookings tab? It came in without its rate code, before the app started refusing such bookings, or it was made by hand. Open it and click Apply broker rate code on the Funding tab, as described under Using the rate codes above.
Why is everything invoiced to the renter on a broker booking? The broker has no Broker customer. Without it no broker invoice is made. Add one on the Details tab; bookings that already came in keep their split.
Why does Apply show a warning instead of applying the code? Something stands in the way and nothing was changed. The warning says which:
| The warning says | What to do |
|---|---|
| broker has no broker customer account yet, so no broker invoice can be made. | Open the broker, click Create broker customer, save, and apply again |
| This booking already has a funder (…). | Click Delete on that funding's card on the Funding tab first, or add the broker as a funder by hand with Add funder (Let a third party pay part of a booking) |
| A cancelled, timed-out or no-show booking cannot get a rate code. | Nothing to apply; the booking is no longer running |
| This rate code belongs to another company than the booking. | Pick a code of the booking's own company |
| This booking already has a broker rate code. | Nothing to do; the code is already on it |
| Choose a rate code. | Pick a code under Rate code first |
Why is there no Apply broker rate code button on the Funding tab? The booking already has a broker, or you are not a company administrator. Ask your administrator to apply it.
Why is the code I need not in the Rate code list? The code or its broker is not Active. Tick Active on the broker's Details tab or in the code's pop-up, then open Apply broker rate code again.
Why does a broker say its booking was refused with "A rate code is required"? Its system sent a booking without a code from one of the broker's logins. The broker must send its code. If that login is not really the broker's, for example your own website's login, remove it from the broker's logins field on the Details tab.
Why is the discount bigger than the code's percentage after Apply broker rate code? The code's discount comes on top of a discount the base rent already had, for example from a promotion code: €300 less 10% is €270, and less 20% is €216. Correct the price on the booking (Adjust the price on a booking).
Can I apply a code whose Valid to date has passed? Yes. Apply broker rate code does not check Valid from and Valid to, so you can apply the code that was valid when the booking came in.
How do I take a rate code off a booking again? Apply broker rate code has no undo, and the button is gone once the code is on. Ask your administrator.
Why were extra kilometres still charged after applying a code with unlimited mileage? Kilometre charges that were already invoiced stay on the invoice. Take them back with a credit note (Take back an invoice with a credit note).
Why does Save on a rate code not close the pop-up? Code is empty, Valid to is before Valid from, Base discount % is below 0 or above 100, or another active code in your company already has the same text.
Why can't I delete a rate code? The message says Bookings use this rate code, so it cannot be deleted. Set it to inactive instead. Untick Active in the code's pop-up; bookings already made keep their price.
Why does a broker say its code is refused? Check the four conditions above: the exact spelling, Active, the dates and the broker's logins on the Details tab. The dates are checked against the day the booking comes in, not the pick-up date.
Why can't I add a rate code to a new broker? The broker has no Name yet. Fill it in; New rate code saves the broker first.
Where is the broker dashboard? It no longer exists. Everything about one broker is on its own page, on the Bookings, Fundings and Broker invoices tabs.
Related pages:
- Let a third party pay part of a booking, for funders such as insurers and lease companies, and the Funding agreements button on Brokers.
- Handle bookings that come from other systems, for bookings that arrive from outside the app.