How a rent-to-own booking differs from a regular one
When a contract is activated, a regular booking is created: it holds the vehicle for the whole term of the contract and collects payments. But the money, dates and vehicle of this booking are managed by the contract, so the card behaves differently.
How to work with a contract booking
- Open the booking via the link in the contract header or from the list — it has the “Buyout” label.
- Accept money with the “Accept payment” button on the contract panel — see accepting payments.
- Edit only working data in the card: description, comments, mileage, cleanliness, fuel, equipment, drivers.
- Close the rental on the contract page — by termination or completion, not by returning the vehicle.
The contract panel instead of price and payment
In place of the price and payment status block there is the contract panel: the contract number with a link to the contract, discipline, next payment, overdue amount, buyout progress and the “Accept payment” button.
The payment bar in the panel shows progress toward the contract total: how much has been paid and how much remains.
| What you see | When |
|---|---|
| A “Rent-to-own booking” banner with a loading indicator | Contract data is loading |
| The contract panel | The contract has loaded |
| A banner without contract data, with the “Accept payment” button | The employee has no access to the section — because of their role or the subscription plan |
| A banner with the “Retry” button | The data failed to load because of a connection error |
What is read-only in the card
Price, dates, vehicle, period, client, deposit, rate, discounts, services and gifts. These fields have a lock and an explanation: “The rent-to-own contract manages this booking's money, dates and car”.
Such a booking also has no manual price switch and no button for changing the amount manually.
Working data is saved as usual
Description, comments, agent, mileage, cleanliness, fuel, equipment, additional drivers and inspection marks are edited and saved without restrictions. When saving, the card sends only these — it doesn't touch the money, dates or vehicle.
If the card was open for a long time and saving still failed with the message “This booking's money, dates and car are managed by a rent-to-own contract”, the card reloads the booking. Repeat your edit on the fresh data.
What a contract booking doesn't have
| Action | Why |
|---|---|
| Extension | The term is set by the contract schedule |
| Deletion | The booking belongs to the contract |
| Vehicle return | While the contract is active, the vehicle is returned only by terminating or completing the contract — they close the booking themselves |
| The “Ride ended” and “Refund deposit” statuses | For the same reason, while the contract is active |
The server enforces the ban on returns too: an old mobile app that doesn't know about contracts can't close such a booking either.
After the contract is closed
Once the contract is terminated or completed, the booking is closed, and the regular payment row appears under the contract panel. Through it you:
- return the deposit;
- accept payment of the debt from the termination balance;
- pay the client the balance or an overpayment — as a negative amount, in the “Rent-to-own” category.
More details are in closing a contract.
The “Buyout” label
A contract booking is marked with the “Buyout” label wherever bookings are shown: in lists, on the board, in the occupancy calendar and timeline, in the home page widgets, in the bookings tabs of the vehicle and client cards, and in the archive. The label makes it easy to spot among regular bookings.