This will be a discussion of scope, what features to plan for, and how the initial model will work. The initial iteration will be minimal and will not include a lot of stuff. This will be divided into three sections:
1. Initial features
2. Planned for features (I would accept bounties for these if there are people who need them soon)
3. Features that are currently out of scope.
Addititionally I want to add quickly the following features to 1.4's fixed asset module:
1. Multiple read-only notes.
2. File attachments
The amount of work needed to put these into action is really minimal (an hour or two) and would help meet some of the requirements David put forth.
INITIAL FEATURES
1. Rent out fixed assets, handle contracts, prevent renting the same rental out to two people at once, etc.
2. Track multiple possible rates/services
3. Link to an order for more add-on goods and services.
4. Track order by customer.
5. Track invoice to rental
6. Notes and file attachments to a rental contract
That is basically the initial features I think I can minimally do.
PLANNED FEATURES (related or for the module)
1. Track deposit policies (i.e. how much to charge)
2. Dispose assets to inventory
3. Track maintenance of assets
4. Track mileage or usage of assets
5. Proof of identity and other similar things.
6. Booking and/or recurring rental features
7. "Reset time" tracking.
8. Rate period to time period tracking. At least for the initial use case we only have two periods we need to worry about and so this can be done manually for now.
OUT OF SCOPE
1. Deposit management (I want to fold this into general prepayment handling in the financial rewrite). I suppose if someone really needed something now I could probably put something together but it would be less expensive to wait.
2. Modifiers and bundles. This is a whole different project and something that needs a great deal of attention in its own right. It is far more general than just rentals.
If this looks good then I will put together a modelling plan.
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Best Wishes,
Chris Travers
Efficito: Hosted Accounting and ERP. Robust and Flexible. No vendor lock-in.