Luba / Guides

How to track party rental inventory and bookings (free spreadsheet)

We make Luba, the app in the “With Luba” boxes. The spreadsheet and the method work just as well without the app.

What you need: How many of each item you own · Your bookings for the next few weeks · Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice

1. List what you own, once

   One row for each thing you rent out: chairs, tables, linens, tents, dishes. For each one:

   How many you own, actually counted. If you have 200 chairs but 6 are broken, you have 194.

   The price per event, or per day if that’s how you charge.

   The deposit per piece: how much you ask for each one, to cover damage.

   What it costs if it breaks or goes missing: your replacement cost. Having it in writing means no haggling over the price at the return.

2. Write down every booking as soon as it comes in

   One row per booking, with the delivery and return dates, the customer, their phone, the address and how many of each item. Write it down even if it isn’t confirmed yet: otherwise those chairs look free and you promise them to someone else.

   Give it a status and change it when something happens: “To confirm,” “Confirmed,” “Delivered,” “Returned” or “Canceled.”

3. Download the free spreadsheet

   The spreadsheet has three sheets: “Inventory,” “Bookings” and “Availability.” It comes with an example: delete it or type over it. No email, no sign-up.

   Download the Excel spreadsheet. It works in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets: to use it in Google, upload it to your Drive and open it with Google Sheets.

   In “Bookings,” a row turns red when something was due back and hasn’t come back, and yellow while it’s still to confirm. “Total” adds up the pieces at their price plus the delivery fee, and “Balance due” subtracts what was paid and adds any damage.

4. Before you say yes, check how many are free

   In “Availability,” enter the date of the order and, under “Requested,” how many the customer wants. The spreadsheet adds up what’s booked for that day, what’s still to confirm and what hasn’t come back, and tells you if you have enough.

   

   If you’re short, say so right away and offer what you do have: “I have 100 chairs available that day. Would 100 work?” It beats letting them down on the day of the event.

   With Luba

   In Luba, while you write down a booking, the app tells you how many are free on those dates, counting what’s still to confirm and what hasn’t come back. If you’re short, it warns you, for example with “20 short on these dates,” and offers to set the ones you do have.

   

5. Count at delivery and at return

   At delivery, count together with whoever receives the order, and ask them to confirm by text how many pieces they got. At return, count again and set aside what came back broken or missing.

   Charge the damage at replacement cost and take it out of the deposit. Refund the rest of the deposit the same day, with a receipt.

   Note

   Collect the deposit before delivery and tell the customer, in writing, what each piece costs if it breaks or goes missing. That way no one is surprised at the return.

   With Luba

   In Luba, Receive return shows how many of each item went out. You mark how many are Returned broken or Lost, and the app suggests the damage amount at replacement price and how much of the deposit you give back. With Remove broken and lost items from inventory, your inventory stays up to date.

   

6. Plan the day: what goes out and what comes back

   Every evening, check what goes out and what comes back tomorrow: you load the truck once and call anyone who hasn’t returned on time.

   With Luba

   Luba notifies you the night before how many deliveries and returns you have tomorrow. Today shows what goes out, what comes back and who hasn’t returned on time, and Route shows the order of your deliveries on a map.