This article examines the setup of a pricing structure in HirePOS for a skip bin operation, with rates varying by bin size, waste type, hire duration, and customer class.

The following sections will detail the pricing structure and each setup step. All data, instructions, and examples are for illustration only and may not apply to your situation.

In this example, a skip bin operation that offers various skip bin sizes:

• 2m

• 3m

• 4m

• 6m

• 8m and;

• 12m

The business has 2 classes of customers, residential and commercial. The class of the customer affects:

• the initial hire charge, and;

• how long the bin is allowed to be kept on site before extra charges apply

The initial hire charge for each bin size varies based on the combination of waste type and customer class:

• General waste

• Household waste

• Mixed heavy waste

• Garden waste

• Green waste

• Clean waste

• Soil/dirt

Finally, the size of the bin affects the daily rate charged if it is kept for longer than the maximum allowed time.

In HirePOS, the above pricing structure variables are represented by Items, selling units (and groups), rates, prices, and packages.

Each skip hire invoice/booking includes two items:

• one for the skip and its initial waste-type-influenced hire rate

• another for any additional hire days beyond the allowed time for the customer class

Packages are used as orders are received from an online source like your online store or website. Bookings created by hand in HirePOS can use these same packages but can also add the bin items directly to maximise automation.

Selling Unit and Selling Unit groups represent Waste Types and Customer Classes, respectively.

Selling units are Setup via Setup > Item Related > Selling Units. Read more in the Selling Units Help Article

Default parameters not mentioned should remain unchanged.
Units labeled (R) indicate Residential customers, while (C) denote Commercial customers. Descriptions can be modified as needed, but each selling unit must have a unique name.

This setup defaults to "Residential," meaning new bookings on the Sales Record screen will use residential prices unless the customer is marked as "Commercial" or commercial units are selected manually.

To reverse this default, set the Unit Group for all (R) units to "res" and leave (C) units without a group. HirePOS will always default to ungrouped units unless instructed otherwise. If a unit group is assigned to all units, HirePOS will not default, requiring manual specification during booking creation.

Item Types are the top-level item organisation tool in HirePOS. The Item type affects how the item behaves in the system. Item types are set up via Setup > Item Relates > Item Types. Read more about Item Types in the dedicated Item Types Help Article.

3 Item types are required for this setup.

• Skip Bins

  • Hire = On

  • Component = Off

• Extended Hire Fees

  • Hire = Off

  • Component = On

• Delivery and other charges

  • Hire = Off

  • Component = Off

The "Skip Bin" type represents and tracks your physical skip bin assets.

The other types are only used for additional invoice fees and do not represent physical, tangible items.

Items represent any line you might put on an invoice. They additionally define and track your hire assets.

Items are set up via Setup > Items. Learn more about Items here.

For this setup, items represent the bin sizes on offer. They also represent the 'additional day' charges and other fees that might be charged.

If you track your bins' serial numbers, you can use serial tracking or create individual items for each bin. This example assumes all bins of the same size are identical, interchangeable, and not serial-tracked.

Where a particular water type is not applicable for a bin size, simply omit the Unit from the Item

The following table represents the Item setup. Any fields not mentioned are assumed to be default/blank.

Notes:

• The "Extended Hire" and "Delivery" Item(s) below should have non-stock enabled in the Configuration section of their Item Details setup tab.

• Depending on the use case in HirePOS, adding the extra charge companions to your bin items may or may not be desired. If you are planning on adding packages to your bookings when adding them via the booking screen in HirePOS rather than selecting the item, do not add companions in this step.

Packages are used to construct each 'Scenario', collecting the relevant items together for use via on online store.

Packages are set up via Setup > Item Related > Item Packages. Read more about Item Packages here.

Refer to the table below for a partial list of packages to set up. A package must be created for every combination of bin size, waste type, and customer class to facilitate orders through a customer-facing website. Setting up these packages can also benefit manually created bookings in HirePOS, however it is not mandatory.

When bookings are received via the online store or API, the package must be selected based on the customer class, waste type, and bin size.

However, for bookings created inside HirePOS, the system can automatically select the correct units for you based on the unit groups set up in the "Selling Units" step of this guide.

For any customer for whom you do not set a specific selling unit group, the default units (units with no group) are used when creating a new booking. However, if you set a Selling Unit Group for a customer, units from that group will be used when creating a new booking for that customer.

The following steps can be used to set a particular customer up to use Commercial rates (rather than the default Residential rates).

• Go to Setup > Customers

• Find or Create the Customer you wish to affect

• Go to the Discounts Tab in the setup for that customer

• Select "com" (or whatever you grouped the commercial units with) from the Selling Unit Group dropdown

• Save

Click here to learn more about Unit Groups and customer-specific discounts.

Here is where all of the above comes together.

Follow these instructions to create a booking using HirePOS with the above setup:

• Navigate to Sales/Hire > Customer Overview

• Select or create a Customer to hire a bin to

• Click "New Booking"

• Populate the delivery address with the site you are delivering the bin to

• Set the Booked From date to be the estimated delivery date

• Set the Booked To date to be the estimated swap or collection date (enable TBA if this is unknown)

• Add a Skip Bin to the items area using the dropdown in the code column.

  • You will be prompted to add the "Extended Hire" item (Companion). Click "Add Companions"

• The Bin and Extended Hire items will automatically select their residential rates (unless you have already set this customer to use the "Comercial" Selling unit group)

• The Extended Hire item will have a quantity of 0, resulting in a total charge of $0, until the Booked To date or Time Span of the booking exceeds the maximum allowed for the Customer Class (Unit Group) in use.

  • Test this out:

    • If you set the hire to 1 day long, the Extended Hire item should charge for 0 of itself.

    • If the hire is set for 10 days, the extended hire item will charge either 3x or 6x, depending on whether the Residential or Commercial unit is used.

• Change the Unit on the Skip bin to the Type of Waste you are billing for.

Your booking is populated and ready to dispatch, complete and bill for.

The booking includes and bills for:

• The size of the skip (The item selected)

• The type of waste being charged for (the unit selected for the skip)

• The class of the customer (the unit group in use, selected automatically if defined in the customer setup)

• The length of the hire, with time in excess of the maximum allowed in the initial charge, is automatically billed for.

If you have or are building your own website to accept bookings, and wish to have these automatically flow into into HirePOS, you can set this up.

You will need:

• A compatible Online store platform like WooCommerce/Wordpress, Shopify, or similar.

• Zapier, an integration platform that will connect your Online store/site with HIrePOS.

• To have your HirePOS online store module enabled, and have an online store database setup (you can contact us at hirepos@hirepos.com.au for assistance with this point)

Your online store/site/booking form created with WooCommerce or Shopify will submit orders to HirePOS via Zapier. These orders will include the following information:

• Estimated Start Date

• Estimated End Date

• The Package Code that represents the combination of Skip Size, Waste Type, and Customer Class being booked/requested

• Customer Contact Details

• Site/Delivery details (if supplied)

Read more:

• HirePOS Online Store

• Zapier

For next steps, refer to the HirePOS waste removal workflow guide or explore other tools commonly used in skip and waste management businesses, including:

• Waste removal workflow guide

• Delivery/Pickup Schedule

• Onsite Services

• EOM Rollover

• Email/Review Invoices (Bulk)