How to Set Up Units of Measurement?

Do you rent by the hour, price scaffolding by the day, or sell sand by the kilogram? Units of Measurement (UOM) are the reusable units you attach to items so quantities and rates always read clearly—“12 hour”, “5 kg”, “2 dozen”—instead of a bare number.

Why Use UOM?

A UOM is a short label that describes how an item is counted or charged. Setting them up once gives you:

  • Clarity — every asset, rate, and order line shows a meaningful unit, so staff and customers know exactly what “5” means.
  • Consistency — the same units appear everywhere you set pricing, so your catalog stays uniform.
  • Reuse — define a unit once and pick it from a dropdown wherever it’s needed.

Managing UOMs requires the Settings Write (settings.write) permission. Without it, the Add UOM button and row actions are disabled.

Navigate to Settings → Inventory Setup → Units of Measurement.

Create a UOM

  1. Click Add UOM.
  2. In Units/UOM - Unit of Measurement, type the unit label—for example kg, dozen, or hour. This field is required and limited to 20 characters.
  3. Click Add.

Keep labels short and recognizable. This single value is what appears next to quantities and rates throughout the app, so a concise unit like hr or day reads better than a long phrase.

Edit a UOM

  1. Find the UOM in your list.
  2. Click the UOM name or use the row’s Edit action.
  3. Update the unit label, then click Save.

Note: System-defined UOMs (pre-installed by Rentablez) cannot be edited, disabled, or deleted—this keeps built-in units consistent for everyone. Attempting an action on one shows a short message explaining it isn’t allowed.

Enable or Disable a UOM

Use the row’s status action to switch a UOM between Enabled and Disabled. A confirmation prompt appears before the change is applied.

  • Enabled — available to select when setting up pricing.
  • Disabled — hidden from selection going forward.

Disabling a UOM only removes it from future selection. Assets and orders that already use it keep their unit, so historical data stays intact.

Delete a UOM

Use the row’s Delete action to remove a custom UOM you no longer need. System UOMs cannot be deleted.

Search and Filter

  • Search — type in the Search UOM… box to find a unit by its label.
  • Filter tabs — switch between All, Enabled, and Disabled. Each tab shows a live count that respects your current search.

Using UOM

When you set up asset pricing, you pick the UOM for each rate—this is the unit the item is quoted and billed in for every booking.