Operational How-To Guides
This collection of guides walks you through the essential operations of Surveyor POS. Each guide is written in a narrative style to help you understand the context and flow of the system.
1. How to add a new branch
When the business expands to a new location, an Admin must first register the branch in the system. You navigate to Admin → Branches and click the button to create a new branch. Here, you enter the physical details of the location, including the name, address, city, and region. Once you save the branch, it immediately becomes available in the branch selector on your dashboard. From that moment on, you can switch to this new branch to begin adding staff, equipment, and customers specifically for that location.
2. How to add new equipment to a branch
Adding equipment is a three-step process to ensure everything is categorized correctly. First, you must ensure a Category exists (e.g., "Accessories") under the Equipment menu. Next, you define the Equipment Model (e.g., "Aluminium Tripod") and link it to that category. Finally, you add the specific physical Units (specifications). For each unit, you enter its unique serial number, its physical condition, and the price per day (or per point for point rentals). Once the unit is saved with a status of "available," it can be seen in the POS and booked by customers.
3. How to create a day rental for a walk-in customer
When a customer walks into the branch without a prior booking, you open the Rental POS from the sidebar. You start by selecting the customer from the list. You then use the search bar to find the equipment units they want to rent by typing in their serial numbers. As you add each item, you specify how many days the customer intends to keep it. The system calculates the total price in real-time. Before completing the transaction, you enter the amount the customer is paying as a deposit or partial payment. When you submit the form, the system generates the rental record, sets the equipment status to "rented," and calculates the due date automatically.
4. How to return day rental equipment and collect payment
When a customer returns with their equipment, you find their active rental under All Rentals and click the Edit button. The screen shows all items they currently have. You click the Return button next to each item they are handing back. If an item is late, the system will have already calculated the late fee, which you can see in the billing panel on the right. You can also manually add a damage fee if the equipment is returned in poor condition. Once you enter the final payment amount from the customer and save, the system stamps the return time, updates the totals, and makes the equipment units available for the next customer.
5. How to create a point rental for a customer
Creating a point rental follows a similar flow to a day rental but with a key difference in how billing is handled. In the Point Rental POS, you select the customer and add the specialized equipment units they need. You still set an expected return date so the system can track the equipment, but you will notice the initial price is zero. This is because the final cost depends on their work. When you submit, the units are marked as "rented," and the customer is free to take them to the field.
6. How to return point rental equipment and calculate the final charge
When point rental equipment is returned, you open the point rental's edit screen and click Return for the units being brought back. A unique set of fields will appear in the billing panel. You must enter the number of Points the customer reported plotting during their survey. The system immediately multiplies these points by the unit’s "price per point" to calculate the usage fee. After adding any necessary late or damage fees, you record the customer's payment and submit the return. The system then finalizes the invoice and releases the equipment back into the available pool.
7. How to process a customer booking request
When a customer submits a request through their portal, both you and all other workers at the branch receive an SMS alert, and a notification badge appears on the Booking Requests menu in the sidebar. You open the request to see what the customer needs and for how long. If you decide to Approve, the system checks that every piece of equipment is still available at that moment (inside a database transaction to prevent double-booking), automatically converts the request into a live rental, sets the equipment to "rented," and sends an SMS to the customer telling them to come and collect it. If any item is no longer available when you try to approve, the system will block the approval and show you which item is the problem. If you must Reject the request, you enter a brief reason — the system sends the customer an SMS with your reason.
7a. How to bulk-approve or bulk-reject booking requests
When you have several pending requests to process at once, go to the Booking Requests list and use the checkboxes in the first column to select the ones you want to act on. A toolbar appears above the table. Click Approve Selected to approve them all with a single confirmation. Click Reject Selected to open a modal where you enter one rejection reason that applies to every selected booking. Any booking that cannot be approved (e.g., a piece of equipment has become unavailable since the request was submitted) is skipped and listed in the error banner so you can handle it individually.
8. How to create a customer account
New customers can be registered by both Admins and Workers. You navigate to the Customers section and click "Create." You enter their name, a valid email address (which they will use to log in), and their phone number. A password is not required — customers authenticate via a one-time passcode (OTP) sent to their phone. It is vital to enter the phone number correctly, as this is where they will receive OTP codes and all booking and overdue SMS notifications. Once created, the customer can log into their own portal at the main login path to start making booking requests.
9. How to create a worker account
Only an Admin can create worker accounts. After ensuring you have selected the correct branch on your dashboard, you go to Admin → Workers and add the new staff member. You provide their name, email, and password. Because you created them while "operating" on a specific branch, that worker is now permanently linked to that branch and will only be able to see that branch's equipment, rentals, and customers when they log in.
10. How to check which equipment is available on a given date
To plan for future rentals, you open Operations → Equipment Availability. You select a date range on the calendar, and the system displays a visual timeline of your inventory. You can see which units are currently rented, which are due back soon, and which are completely free. This tool is essential for answering phone inquiries and deciding whether to approve upcoming booking requests.
11. How a customer submits a booking request
From their portal, a customer goes to My Bookings → New Request. At the top of the form they see a blue information banner telling them exactly which branch their request will be sent to and that the team will notify them once a decision is made. They choose whether they need Day Rental or Point Rental equipment. The form shows them exactly what is available at their assigned branch. They tick the boxes for the items they want, enter the number of days for each, and pick a preferred start date. As they add items, the summary panel on the right shows them an estimate of the cost. Once they click "Submit to [Branch Name]," they receive an immediate SMS confirmation. Every worker at the branch also gets an SMS alert so the team can act quickly. Note: the equipment is not locked or reserved — if the booking is not acted on within 3 days it will be automatically rejected overnight.
12. How to record a maintenance event
If a piece of equipment is damaged or due for a service, an Admin goes to the Maintenance section. You create a new log entry, select the specific equipment unit, and set the status to "In Progress." This automatically changes the unit's status to "under_repair," preventing it from appearing in the POS or the customer booking portal. Once the repair is finished, you update the log to "Completed," and the unit is automatically returned to "available" status.
13. How to create and assign a task
To organize internal work, you go to the Tasks section and create a new task. You give it a title, a priority level, and a due date. You can also link it to a specific customer if the task is related to a project or rental. Finally, you select one or more staff members (workers or admins) as assignees. The task will then appear on their "My Tasks" dashboard, where they can add comments and update the status as they work on it.
14. How to view and export financial reports
Admins can access a variety of reports to monitor the business. The Revenue Report gives a bird’s-eye view of income, while the Outstanding Balances report shows exactly who owes money. If you need to perform external accounting or send a list of debtors to a manager, you can use the Export buttons on these pages to download the data as a CSV file.
15. How to record a payment for a rental
Customers often pay in installments rather than all at once. To record a payment without returning any equipment, you open the Show page of any active rental. There is a "Record Payment" form where you enter the amount and the payment method. When you save, the system adds this to the payment history, updates the "Total Paid" amount on the rental, and recalculates the remaining balance automatically.
16. How to extend a rental
When a customer needs more time with their equipment, open their rental's show page and click the Extend Rental button (visible in the Actions card when unreturned items exist). Enter the number of extra days and confirm. The system pushes the due date forward for all items the customer still has out, and adds the additional cost to the rental total. Items already returned are not affected. An audit entry is created to track who authorised the extension and for how many days.
17. How to search for a customer, rental, or serial number
Every admin and worker page has a search bar in the top navigation. Type the customer's name, phone number, or email to find their account. Type a rental or point rental number (e.g. "42") to jump straight to that record. Type a serial number to find which unit of equipment you are looking at and see its current status. Results appear grouped by type, each with a direct link. If you are on the full search results page, you can refine your query in the search box at the top and search again.