Return units to a supplier and cancel a sub-rental
Once you’ve finished with equipment you rented in from a supplier, you’ll want to hand it back and stop it showing up as bookable stock. Rentablez gives you two ways to close things out: return the units to the supplier (for stock you actually took in and used), or cancel the whole sub-rental (for one you set up but never put to work). Both are built to protect your live orders — the app won’t let you pull the rug out from under a unit a customer is currently using.
These actions live on the sub-rental’s edit screen, in the Sub-rented stock units section that appears after you’ve confirmed. If you haven’t confirmed yet, see Confirm a sub-rental and manage stock units.
Return units to a supplier
Returning a unit sends that piece of equipment back to the supplier and removes it from your available stock, so it can no longer be booked onto orders.
- Open the sub-rental from the Sub-Rentals list and scroll to the Sub-rented stock units table.
- Tick the checkbox next to each unit you want to send back. To grab everything that’s eligible at once, use the select-all checkbox in the table header.
- Click Return to supplier at the top of the table. When you’ve selected units, the button reads Return N to supplier so you can see the count before you commit.
- The returned units drop out of your bookable stock and their status changes to Returned to supplier.
You don’t have to return everything at once. Send back the units you’re done with and keep the rest — the sub-rental’s status will reflect a Partially Returned state until the last unit goes back.
Which units can be returned?
Only units that are free to go get a checkbox. A unit is returnable when it is not currently reserved and not out on rent. Here’s how each unit status maps to whether you can return it:
| Unit status | Meaning | Returnable? |
|---|---|---|
| Available | In your stock, not booked | Yes |
| Booked | Reserved on a customer order (shows order number) | No |
| On rent | Dispatched / out on a customer order (shows order number) | No |
| Returned to supplier | Already sent back | No — done |
Live bookings are protected. If a unit is booked or on rent, it has no checkbox and can’t be returned. Free it up first — cancel or complete the customer order that’s holding it — then come back and return the unit.
Units that are booked or on rent are also locked for editing — you can’t change their asset tag or reference until the customer order releases them.
Cancel a sub-rental
Cancelling aborts the whole sub-rental and removes any sub-rented stock it created. Use this for a sub-rental you set up but never actually put into service — for example, the supplier fell through, or you booked the wrong items.
- Open the sub-rental you want to scrap.
- Click Cancel sub-rental in the top-right action bar.
- Confirm the action. The sub-rental moves to Cancelled and any sub-rented stock units it created are removed.
When can you cancel?
The Cancel sub-rental button only appears when it’s safe to walk away cleanly. All of the following must be true:
- The sub-rental is still in Draft or Confirmed — not further along its lifecycle.
- No unit is booked or on rent on a customer order.
- No unit has already been returned to the supplier.
If any unit is in use or has already been handed back, cancelling isn’t offered — the sub-rental has real activity tied to it. In that case, return the remaining units to the supplier instead of cancelling.
Cancel vs. return — which do I use?
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Equipment came in, got used, and the job’s done | Return units to supplier |
| Sub-rental was created but never used, nothing booked | Cancel sub-rental |
| Some units used, some not, all now free | Return the units (cancel won’t be available once anything’s been returned) |
Permissions and access
Both returning and cancelling require the sub-rentals.write permission. If you only have sub-rentals.read, you’ll see the units and their statuses but not the action buttons.
Sub-Rentals also has to be switched on for your organization. If you don’t see it in the menu at all, the feature toggle is off — see Enable Sub-Rentals and set permissions.