Beta: shortlease contracts are new in RentVisie and are released as a beta.
Introduction
A shortlease contract bills one booking per month (or every so many days) at a fixed rate, for as long as the customer keeps the vehicle. You start it from the booking with the Shortlease contract button. That opens the screen headed Shortlease contract # and a number, with a coloured status beside it. Across the top are the action buttons, then a strip with the customer, the price Per month (excl. VAT), Billed through and Next invoice. Below that the billing schedule fills the left, and the cards Terms, Charges, Vehicles, Swap inspections, Kilometres and Indexation (base rate) sit on the right.
You would be here because:
- a customer who booked for three months wants to pay month by month
- a business customer takes a van with no end date and will give notice later
- a booking made today should be billed as a lease from its first day
- you started a contract on the wrong booking and want it gone
Every way a shortlease contract starts
| Route | What you get | Covered here |
|---|---|---|
| Shortlease contract on the booking | A Draft contract, which you check and activate | Yes |
| A new lease, when Use for new leases is on | An Active contract straight away, for a lease made on the booking screen, by another system or by converting a quote request | Yes, under Key details |
| Lease on the booking | The old lease screen, not a shortlease contract | No, see Set up a lease |
Use this page for a booking that should be billed as a shortlease from now on.
How to use
Configuration
The Shortlease contract button appears on bookings once a company administrator has switched on shortlease contracts, as described in Switch on shortlease contracts for your company. The new contract takes its billing terms from that screen.
Before you start: only a company administrator can open, activate or remove a contract from the booking; other staff see the contracts of their locations on the overview (see Invoice shortlease contracts and follow up failures). The booking needs a pickup date and its prices. A booking already billed on the old Lease screen cannot get a shortlease contract.
Using the Shortlease contract button
From the main menu open Bookings, then Overview, and open the booking. On the classic booking screen, Shortlease contract is the button right below Lease. On the Booking details screen it is at the top right, left of More.
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Click Shortlease contract. The first time, the app makes a Draft contract and opens it. Later clicks open the same contract.
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Check the Terms card: start and end dates, the day periods start on, Advance or Arrears, and the grouping. To change them, click Edit terms. The pop-up Contract terms opens; change what you need and click Save. Skim the table once:
Field Starts as Can change Start date (first day billed) The pickup date Only while nothing is invoiced End date (last day billed, empty = open-ended) The day before the return date; empty when the booking has none Only on a draft; after Activate, use Change end date Billing period, Days per period, Periods start on day, Invoice Your company defaults, or the customer's own lease terms Only while nothing is invoiced Days before (Advance) or after (Arrears) the period Company default Any time; 0 to 60 Invoice grouping, the first-period merge, Notice period (months) Company defaults Any time -
Check the Charges card: the base rate and each extra, insurance and mileage package, with its price / month or once. If you changed prices on the booking afterwards, click Fetch prices from booking. The charges are replaced by the booking's current prices.
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Click Activate. The status becomes Active and the contract starts billing.
To remove a contract that has not invoiced anything yet, click the red Remove contract. The app asks Remove this shortlease contract? Only possible while nothing is invoiced; the booking is then billed the regular way again. Click Remove (or Keep to leave it). The message says The shortlease contract was removed. The booking is billed the regular way again. The booking gets back the return date it had before.
Key details
What a draft does. Nothing. A Draft contract bills nothing and leaves the booking alone: the booking is still priced and invoiced the regular way. From Activate on, the contract bills the booking, and the booking's return date follows the contract.
How the fixed rate is worked out. The base rate is looked up once, for the length of the contract: a three-month contract gets the three-month rate. An open-ended contract is priced for the Minimum term in the settings. Extras, insurance and mileage packages take the booking's price per day or per rental, less any discount. A daily price becomes a monthly amount: daily rate × Days per month (30). A €40 daily rate is €1,200 per month; a €6 a day insurance is €180. The Terms card shows Rate fixed on the date for how many days.
Rental already invoiced on the booking. When you activate a contract on a booking whose rental was already invoiced the regular way, the schedule gets a Conversion credit line. It credits that rental on the first lease invoice, so nothing is billed twice.
Use for new leases. With that switch on, a new lease made on the booking screen or by another system, or by converting a quote request into a quote, gets an Active contract at once, instead of the old Lease screen. If the contract cannot be activated, the booking keeps the old Lease screen and gets no contract.
What a date change under Edit terms does. Save works out the schedule again from the new dates.
| You change | What happens to the booking |
|---|---|
| Start date (first day billed) | Billing starts on the new date. The booking's pickup date and time stay as they are, and so does its return date |
| End date (last day billed, empty = open-ended) (draft only) | From Activate on, the booking's return moves to the day after the new end date, at the time of day the booking's return had when the contract was made (the pickup time when it had none). A contract ending on 30 June on a booking that was due back at 17:00 has its return on 1 July at 17:00 |
A hold for a planned vehicle swap, or for a replacement that is out, moves to the new end date too. The end date can be changed here only while the contract is a draft. Once it is active, Save refuses a new end date with Change the end date of this contract with Change end date: it applies the notice period, and on an open-ended contract it gives notice. Use Change end date (see Give notice on or end a shortlease contract).
Open-ended contracts block the vehicle. Until notice is given, the vehicle counts as rented for 10 years ahead, so nobody else can book it. Documents show open-ended instead of a return date.
What the rental agreement, pickup form and quote show. For a booking with a contract they leave out the booking's total over its period. Instead they show the Start date and the End date; an open-ended contract shows the Minimum term (N days, until a date) and, under After the minimum term, the notice. Then come the Invoice Period, a Price per month table (or Price per N days) with every monthly charge, VAT and Total, and One-off costs. Two notes follow: a part period is charged pro rata, and the kilometres a day included.
When the contract is shorter than the minimum term, a yellow note says This contract is shorter than the minimum term in the company's Shortlease settings. It is billed as agreed.
What to do next
Read the schedule on the contract, as described in Read a shortlease contract and its billing schedule. Make sure the nightly run is on, or invoice by hand, as in Invoice shortlease contracts and follow up failures.
Q&A
Why does Shortlease contract say "This booking is billed by the old lease screen."? The booking already runs on the old Lease screen. A booking cannot have both. Let that lease run (see Invoice and extend a running lease), or ask a company administrator whether it should be ended there first.
Why does Shortlease contract say "Shortlease is not switched on for this company."? Neither switch on the Shortlease settings is on. A company administrator switches it on, as described in Switch on shortlease contracts for your company.
Why does Activate say "This contract has no charges yet, so it cannot be activated."? The booking had no prices to copy. Check the booking's prices, then click Fetch prices from booking or Recalculate on the contract, and Activate again.
Why is there no Edit terms button? The contract's status is Ended or Converted; its terms can no longer change. (A pop-up that was already open says This contract has ended; its terms can no longer change. on Save; click Cancel.)
Why does Save under Edit terms say "This contract has invoiced periods, so its start date, billing period and timing can no longer change. Credit its invoices first."? An invoiced period fixes the start date, the billing period and the timing, also when the fields were still open in a pop-up you opened earlier. Click Cancel. To change them, every invoice must be credited first (see Correct a shortlease invoice).
Why can I not change the start date, end date or billing period under Edit terms? The end date: the contract is no longer a draft. The start date and billing period: the contract has an invoiced period. Change the end date with Change end date (see Give notice on or end a shortlease contract). To change the rest, every invoice must be credited first (see Correct a shortlease invoice).
Why does Fetch prices from booking say the contract has invoiced periods? A fixed rate is never rewritten after invoicing. Change a price from a date instead, with Price on the charge (see Change prices, extras and indexation on a shortlease contract).
Why is there no Remove contract button? Something has been invoiced. End the contract instead with Change end date; the settlement follows by itself.
Why is there no Shortlease contract button on the booking? Shortlease contracts are not switched on for your company, or your account is not a company administrator. Other staff open contracts from the Shortlease overview.
Related pages: Read a shortlease contract and its billing schedule, and Set up a lease for the old Lease screen.