On this page (10)
- What makes a hardware store with a hire yard hard to run?
- How is the hardware setup different from a wholesale setup?
- How does selling in different units work?
- Step by step: a day at the counter and the yard
- How is a late return charged?
- How do you keep contractor credit under control?
- Which screen handles which job?
- How EasyTaskr helps
- See it in a tour
- Questions people ask
A hardware store does three jobs at once. The counter sells screws by the box and timber by the metre to people who want to be on site in ten minutes. The office runs accounts for builders who buy all month and pay later. And out the back, a hire yard lends out breakers, mixers and ladders that have to come back, on time and in one piece. EasyTaskr's hardware and hire setup uses the wholesale tools for the first two jobs and adds a rentals hub for the third.
What makes a hardware store with a hire yard hard to run?
Units, credit and things that leave the building. One product is sold four ways, half the customers buy on account, and the most valuable stock spends its life on someone else's site.
The common problems look like this:
- A box of screws sold as one screw, or a bag of cement keyed in as a pallet, because the till only knows one unit.
- Contractors running up a tab with no clear view of how old the debt is.
- Stock that is in the yard but not on the shelf, so the counter says no to a sale you could make.
- Hire kit coming back damaged with no record of how it went out.
- Late returns nobody chases, while the next customer waits for the same machine.
- Settling a hire by hand, with the deposit, the late days and a damage charge added up on a notepad.
The answer is the same each time: each sale, account and hire has one record, and the record does the arithmetic.
How is the hardware setup different from a wholesale setup?
It is the same set of menus with a hire yard added. A hardware business gets wholesale's sales, till, products, stock, suppliers, purchase orders, warehouse, customers, credit policy and reports. Choosing hardware switches on rental, returns, multiple stock locations, credit control, several barcodes per product, bulk price import and manager PIN overrides at the till. Two menus appear for the hire side: Rentals and Rental items & prices.
How does selling in different units work?
Each product can carry extra units, and each unit has its own size, barcode and price. A box of 200 screws, a bag of cement, a roll of membrane and a sheet of board can all be scanned or picked at the till, and Change unit switches a line from one unit to another. Units include kilograms, metres, bags, boxes, rolls, sheets and cubes, and part quantities are allowed, so 2.5 metres of chain is one line. Cut length records the off-cut too, so wastage shows up instead of vanishing.
Step by step: a day at the counter and the yard
- 07:00, the counter. A builder on account buys two bags of cement and a box of screws. The till shows On account and their Available credit. The sale is a Credit sale against their account, so nothing is paid now.
- 07:20, over the limit. A second contractor's sale would take them past their limit, and the till shows Over credit limit. A manager's PIN override is there for the occasions you choose to allow it.
- 08:00, renting out a breaker. In Rentals, press Rent out. The check-out runs Items, Photos, Deposit, Sign, Done. Pick the customer (a registered account or a walk-in with name, ID number and phone), the item, the expected return and the site or job. The stock line shows how many are free.
- 08:05, photos and deposit. Photograph the kit from each side. Take the deposit in cash or hold the customer's ID, and for an account customer take an advance if you want half now.
- 08:07, signature and slip. The customer signs on the screen and you press Confirm checkout. The handover slip prints on the till printer or goes to the customer on WhatsApp.
- 08:10, not enough free. If someone tries to hand out more than is free, the screen says Not enough available and a manager approves with a PIN. The override is recorded.
- 12:00, what is out. The Out now tab lists every hire with days out, due back, owed so far and the deposit held. Late back sits at the top. Sort by Owed most to see where the money is.
- 16:30, a return. Press Return and search by the rental number or the item's serial. The return screen sets Went out beside Coming back. Mark anything Lost or To maintenance, take check-in photos, and add damage from the checklist or, with a manager PIN, as a manual amount.
- 16:35, the final bill. The bill adds the hire charge, late fee, damage, lost items and cleaning, takes off anything already billed or paid and the deposit you hold, and shows Left to settle. One button appears: Collect, Refund, or Close with nothing to settle.
How is a late return charged?
From the price plan, and only for the time the kit was really out. The plan sets the rate per day, week or month, the minimum charge, the grace hours before late days start and the late rate, which is either the normal rate or the normal rate times a multiplier. Billing stops when the goods come back through the gate, not when someone gets round to closing the paperwork.
A worked example in plain numbers. A breaker is on a plan of 40 a day, with late days at 1.5 times the rate and a deposit of 150. It goes out on Tuesday for three days, due back Friday, and returns on Monday, two days late, with a cracked chisel from the damage checklist at 25.
| Line | Sum | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Hire charge | 3 days × 40 | 120 |
| Late fee | 2 days × 40 × 1.5 | 120 |
| Damage | Checklist: chisel | 25 |
| Total | 120 + 120 + 25 | 265 |
| Deposit we are holding | −150 | |
| Left to settle | 265 − 150 | 115 |
The return screen shows Collect 115. Had the kit come back on Friday with no damage, the 150 deposit against 120 of hire would show Refund 30 instead.
How do you keep contractor credit under control?
Set a limit for every account and look at the age of the debt, not just the total. A builder who owes a lot but pays within the month is a better customer than one who owes less and has not paid since spring.
Who owes you lists every account in age buckets: current, 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days. Statements can be printed for the accounts you are chasing. The customer credit guide covers setting limits and when to stop supplying, and how to get invoices paid faster covers terms and reminders.
Which screen handles which job?
| Job | Screen | What it saves |
|---|---|---|
| Sell by the box, bag or metre | Till, Change unit | Wrong quantities and prices |
| Sell on account | Till, Credit sale | Paper tabs and missed charges |
| Chase old debt | Who owes you | Guessing who to call first |
| Rent out kit | Rentals, Rent out | Disputes about the state it left in |
| See what is late | Out now, Late back | Machines nobody chased |
| Check kit back in | Return | Damage found after the customer left |
| Settle the hire | Left to settle | Adding up deposits and late days by hand |
How EasyTaskr helps
EasyTaskr gives a hardware store a till that sells in any unit with its own barcode and price, contractor accounts with credit limits and debt by age, and stock across the shop floor, store room and yard. The rentals hub hands kit out with photos, a deposit and a signature, keeps working offline, shows what is out and late, and settles each hire with one Collect or Refund.
See it in a tour
Short guided tours of the real screens, with sample data. No sign-up.
- The trade counter, customer firstThe till starts with the customer, so their price list, agreed discount and credit apply to every line before it is charged to their account.
- Getting paid on timeMoney owed by age, the customers behind it oldest first, and reminders that go out on WhatsApp on a schedule and stop when the invoice is paid.
- Goods in, checked against the orderScan the purchase order, scan each case, flag what is short, let AI read the paper invoice, and the stock is up the moment it is saved.
- Reordering before it runs outEverything low, grouped by supplier, with an AI suggestion that says what it read, then a draft purchase order a person checks and sends.
Questions people ask
Can I sell the same product by the piece and by the box?
Yes. A product can have extra units such as a box, a bag or a roll, each with its own size, barcode and price. On the till, Change unit switches the line, and cut lengths and part quantities such as 2.5 metres are allowed.
What happens when a contractor goes over their credit limit?
The till shows their available credit and warns when a credit sale would take them over the limit. Who owes you lists every account by the age of the debt, from current to over 90 days.
How are hire prices set?
Each hire item has a price plan charged per day, per week or per month, with a minimum charge, a few grace hours before a late return counts, and a late rate after the due date. Deposits can be a percentage of the item's value, a fixed amount or none.
Do I have to take photos when kit goes out?
No, but it helps with damage disputes. The check-out asks for photos of the kit; you can skip them and the rental is marked Photos pending until someone adds them.
Can the yard keep renting out if the internet drops?
Yes. A rent-out made offline is saved on the device and synced when the connection is back. The price shown meanwhile is an estimate, and anything that fails to sync waits in a tray to retry or discard.
How do I know what is late back?
The Out now tab has a Late back section for everything past its promised return date, and an Overdue only filter. Each line shows days out, the due date and what is owed so far.
