How to keep track of rental equipment from prep to return
Missing cables, double-booked fixtures and gear that comes back broken without anyone noticing all start in the same place: equipment that isn’t tracked at each step. Here’s a simple system that works.
Devon Race
3 min read
To keep track of rental equipment, keep one inventory list that every job is booked from, group items into kits and cases, label serialized gear with barcodes or QR codes, and check every item at three points: when it’s pulled for a job, when it comes back and when it’s inspected. Record damage and missing items at check-in, before the gear goes back on the shelf. A spreadsheet can work for a small inventory. Past that, rental software with scanning usually pays for itself in gear that stops going missing.
Gear rarely goes missing at the show. It goes missing between steps, when nobody is sure who had it last.
One list, one source
Availability is only as good as the inventory list behind it. If quotes are built from one list and the warehouse works from another, double-bookings follow. Keep a single inventory, with quantities for bulk items such as cable and serial numbers for anything valuable, and book every job against it.
Kits and cases
Most gear goes out with its accessories: a fixture with its clamp and safety, a wireless mic with its batteries, a display with its mount and cables. Build those into kits or cases in your system, so a quote for one item reserves everything that travels with it and the pick list shows the whole case.
Barcodes or QR codes
Label serialized and high-value items, and label cases so one scan checks out everything inside. Scanning at check-out and check-in turns “I think it came back” into a record. Most rental platforms support barcode or QR scanning on a phone or a scanner. Spreadsheets don’t.
The three checkpoints
- Prep: pull from the job’s pick list, test what needs testing and scan it out to the job.
- Return: scan everything back in and see straight away what’s missing.
- Inspection: test, clean and note damage before the item is available again, with a repair status if it isn’t.
Damage and loss, recorded the same day
If damage isn’t recorded at check-in, it shows up on the next job instead. Note what was damaged, which job it was on and what it costs to fix. That record supports a charge to the client where your terms allow it, and it shows which items cost more than they earn.
Subrentals and cross-rentals
Gear you rent from another company needs the same tracking, plus its owner and return date. Book subrentals against the job in your system, so they appear on the pick list and the return list and the cost lands on the quote.
A regular count
Even with scanning, count a section of the warehouse every week or two and compare it with the system. Small differences caught early stay small. If you’re choosing software to run all of this, see how to choose rental software.
Common questions
- Can I track rental equipment in a spreadsheet?
- For a small inventory and a few jobs a week, yes, if one person keeps it current. Once you have overlapping jobs, kits and several people in the warehouse, rental software with barcode scanning is far more reliable.
- Can I track rental equipment in QuickBooks?
- QuickBooks is accounting software. It isn’t built to track availability by date, kits or check-out and check-in, so most rental companies run that in rental software and connect it to QuickBooks for invoices and payments.
