This is what happens in the video
If you manage rental items in your Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solution, the rental period posting handles the recurring invoicing for you. When you ship a rental item to a customer using a transfer order, the system tracks how long the customer keeps the item. Each time you invoice, the rental date is postponed automatically. The rental period continues until you receive the item back through the inbound transfer order.
You can run a batch job each month to post all your rental sales orders and postpone the rentals in one operation. When you post the invoice up to a chosen date, the system updates the sales order line, increases the quantity shipped, sets the quantity to ship for the next period, and pushes the expected return date on the inbound transfer order forward.
How rental items are shipped and tracked with transfer orders
When you ship a rental item to a customer, you use a transfer order. The system keeps a rental relation that links the outbound shipment to an inbound transfer order, which is the transfer order you use to receive the item back. As long as the customer keeps the item and you have not completed the receiving transfer order, the rental period continues.
The posting date on the inbound transfer order tells you the earliest date you expect to get the item back. In the example here, the sales order initially runs until October 3, and the inbound transfer order shows an expected posting date of October 3 as well.
Invoicing a full rental month and postponing the rental date
If the customer still has the item for the full month of October, you invoice the full October period. The starting point in the example is a quantity to ship of 3 and a quantity shipped of 12.
To invoice the period, you run the batch job for rental period posting. You can run it for a single sales order, and you set the posting date to October 31 if you are certain the customer keeps the item until then. The batch job posts a shipment and a sales invoice in one step.
What the batch job updates on the sales order and transfer order
After running the batch job, the sales order line shows the changes:
- The ending date is now October 31.
- The quantity shipped is 43.
- The quantity to ship is 1, because the system expects the customer to keep the item another day since the returning transfer order is not finished.
The inbound transfer order is updated too. Its posting date is now November 1, which means the earliest you expect to receive the item back is November 1.
Running the rental period posting each month
This setup means you can run the batch job once a month to handle your recurring rental invoicing. The batch job posts all your rental sales orders, invoices the period, and postpones the rentals automatically. You only complete the receiving transfer order when the customer actually returns the item, and at that point the rental period stops extending.
Q&A
How does the rental period get postponed in Business Central?
When you invoice a rental item, the system automatically postpones the rental date. As long as the customer keeps the item and you have not completed the receiving transfer order, the rental period continues and the expected return date moves forward.
How do you ship a rental item to a customer?
You ship the rental item using a transfer order. The system creates a rental relation that links the outbound shipment to an inbound transfer order, which you later use to receive the item back.
How do you invoice rental items every month?
You run the rental period posting batch job. You can run it for a single sales order or for all rental sales orders at once. The batch job posts a shipment and a sales invoice up to the date you choose, and it postpones the rentals automatically.
What happens on the sales order and transfer order after you run the batch job?
The sales order line updates with a new ending date, an increased quantity shipped, and a quantity to ship for the next period. The inbound transfer order updates with a new posting date, which is the earliest date you expect to receive the item back.
When does the rental period stop extending?
The rental period stops extending when you complete the receiving transfer order, which is the inbound transfer order used to receive the item back from the customer.