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How to check availability with the Availability Calendar

A customer calls and asks whether you still have a bounce house for Saturday. The Availability Calendar answers that from any page in your back office: pick the date, and it shows what is going out, how much of each item is left, and which orders are holding it.

6 steps4 minBeginner

Before you start

  • The calendar counts stock from the quantity on each product, so it is only as accurate as those numbers. Check that your product quantities match what is in the warehouse.
  • Only Pending orders hold stock here. Quotes, completed orders and cancelled orders are left out.
  • The calendar is read only. It shows availability but does not create or change orders.
Step 01

Open the Availability Calendar

  1. Look for the round button with a green lightning bolt in the bottom right corner. It is on every page of your back office.
  2. Click it to open the quick menu.
  3. Click Availability Calendar, the item with the V2 label.

The calendar opens as a panel in the bottom right corner, over whatever page you were on, so you can check a date without losing your place. On a phone it fills the screen. Close it with the X in its top corner.

The lightning bolt menu. Event Calendar is a different tool: it lists orders, where the Availability Calendar counts products.

Note: Delivery Planner only appears on accounts that route more than one driver, so your menu may show two items instead of three.

Step 02

Pick a date

The panel opens on the current month, with today shaded green.

  1. Use the arrows either side of the month name to move back or forward a month.
  2. Click the date you want to check. Past dates work too, which is handy for looking back at a busy weekend.
Today is the 16th. Click Saturday the 19th to see what is going out that day.
Step 03

Read the Going out list

After you pick a date, the panel opens on Going out: every product booked on a pending order for that day, in alphabetical order. The number on the tab is how many products are on the list.

  • 8 of 10 going out means eight of your ten units are booked that day, so two are still free to rent.
  • The bar under it fills with the share that is going out. It turns amber at 75 percent or more, as a warning that the item is nearly gone.
  • Fully booked replaces the count when every unit you own is out. The product name also turns bold.
Saturday the 19th. One castle bounce house is still free, but every White Folding Chair is out.

Note: A product can show as going out on a day with no event of its own. Delivery and return dates on an order, and the Buffer period in a product's settings, both stretch how long an item counts as out.

Step 04

Switch to All inventory

Going out only shows what is booked. When the question is "what else could I offer instead?", you need the items nobody has booked yet.

  1. Click All inventory next to Going out.
  2. Pick a category in the dropdown that appears underneath. It starts on your first category.
  3. Scroll the list. It shows every product in that category, with 0 of for anything nobody has booked, and loads more as you reach the bottom.
The white folding chairs are gone, but all 60 Chiavari Gold Chairs are free that day. That is the upsell.

Tip: Combos and packages are not listed as their own rows. Check the individual items that go into them instead.

Step 05

Move day by day

Once a date is open, the strip across the top shows its week, Monday to Sunday. You can check the days around it without going back to the month.

  1. Click any day in the strip. The list reloads for that day and stays on the tab you were using.
  2. Use the arrows at either end of the strip to jump a week back or forward.
  3. To pick a date further away, click Back to month view at the bottom of the panel.

The selected day is shaded green. A small dot under a day marks today.

Saturday is open. Click Sunday to see whether the chairs come back in time for a Sunday party.
Step 06

See which orders hold a product

When an item is short, the next question is who has it. Click the product to find out.

  1. Click any product row in the list.
  2. Read the order cards. Each shows the order number, the quantity booked, the client, and the event date.
  3. Click a card to open that order, for example to move the date or swap an item.
  4. Click Back to products at the top to return to the day's list.
The three bounce houses going out on the 19th, plus one already booked for October. Click an order to open it.

Heads up: This list is not limited to the day you picked. It shows every upcoming order for the product, from today onwards, soonest first. Check the date on each card before you call anyone.

Availability Calendar questions

The things people ask once they start checking dates with it.

How is this different from the Event Calendar?

The Event Calendar starts from orders: it lays out your events by date. The Availability Calendar starts from products: for one day, it tells you how many of each item are going out and how many are left. Use the first to plan your week, and this one to answer a customer who asks whether you still have something free.

Why is a product missing from Going out?

Going out lists only products on pending orders whose event overlaps that day. Quotes, completed orders and cancelled orders do not hold stock, so they are not counted. Switch to All inventory to see every product in a category, including the ones nobody has booked.

Why does a product show as going out on a day with no event?

Two things stretch a booking past its event. If an order has a delivery date before the event or a return date after it, the item is counted as out for that whole span. And if the product has a Buffer period in its settings, those extra hours before and after each booking count too, so a Sunday morning event can hold stock late on Saturday.

What do the amber bar and the Fully booked label mean?

The bar is how much of your stock is going out that day. It turns amber at 75 percent or more, as an early warning. Fully booked replaces the bar when every unit you own is out, and the product name turns bold.

Why do combos and packages not appear?

The calendar lists individual products only. Combos and packages are not listed as their own rows.

Does the product details list only show orders for the day I picked?

No. It shows every upcoming order for that product, from today onwards, soonest first. The day you picked only decides which products appear in the list before you click one.