Dealing with Missing items in TBS

When items are not returned at the end of a booking, TBS has an easy to follow procedure in order to tidy up that unfortunate event

The first and foremost issue being that you need to account for items having got lost, more correctly to ensure that your stock levels accurately reflect what you still have and what you do not have, as well as any asset accounting implications in terms of disposals etc

The first thing that TBS does is to generate communication to send to your customer, to alert them to the item(s) which are now missing, along with the potential replacement costs, and to serve as a reminder to the customer allowing them some time to search and find if they still have your missing items.

This first part is achieved by 'returning' the items specifically noting them as 'missing' instead of actually physically being returned - typically, you will have returned all other items on your booking, leaving anything not yet returned by inference, as Missing - there is an option for this in the Special menu of the Item Allocations tab : Return Selected As Missing/Damaged :

This will firstly 'return' the rental item itself, so that all the rental items on that job are finished up, and more importantly, if not yet invoiced, these are now all made 'Ready To Invoice'

You are then asked if you wish to note the item(s) as Missing or Damaged - this can affect the printed report :

Secondly, the missing (or damaged) item(s) are then added to the job as a 'sale' item (i.e. set with 0 days/week, and with their replacement value - should there be no (or a zero) replacement value, you are prompted to enter the replacement value) - but with the status of Working / Missing - with a return date set for some days in the future, to act as a reminder in the diary to follow up and see if the client has yet found the missing item(s)

And finally TBS will produce a 'Missing Letter' informing the client of the missing item together the replacement cost along with a request for them to find and return the item(s) or face an invoice for their replacement (note : the 'full' replacement price should be the one used here - it is not relevant to the customer what price you can actually buy them for, that is your benefit not theirs !) :

As with other client related reports in TBS, if this report is saved as a pdf, you are asked if you wish to email it :

Answering yes will complete the email process as with other reports.....

You can now see in the bookings items list of the job, the extra entry for the missing item set with its replacement price :

And also in the allocations list you will see the 2 entries for the missing item, the rental one now Finished with the missing item still working :

How to end the process of a missing item

After you have given the customer a period of time to find the missing item(s), the booking will appear in the Diary Events list as a booking due for return - this is really your reminder to follow up with your client, and make a decision as to how you want to proceed

With missing items, there are only 3 possible scenarios for finishing up this process - which is done by 'returning' the missing item(s) :

The item can be returned in the normal course of action - at which point this 'sale' item gets Finished, and the item remains in stock

The item is determined to really be missing, and you wish to invoice the client - at which point the 'sale' item is made Ready To Invoice, and the stock item is removed from stock.

The item is determined missing but for your own business reasons you do not wish to invoice the client - at which point the 'sale' item is made Finished, and the stock item is removed from stock.

So when you do 'return' any missing item, you are offered an option of the three choices as outlined above :

How to reprint the missing letter of a missing item

If you wish to reprint a missing letter for any missing item, then simply go to the booking, to the Item Allocations tab, select your item(s), and 'Return Selected As Missing/Damaged'

Because the item is already set as 'missing' TBS interprets this as simply being a request to reprint the paperwork