Generating the Inventory Calendar
Registering rooms or rental items alone does not let you take bookings yet. You also need to generate an inventory calendar for the period you want to sell. If you forget this step, those days look fully booked to customers.
How to generate it
- In Reservations, open "Setup" and select "Rooms & rentals".
- In the row for the item, set the "Start date" and "End date".
- Select "Generate inventory".
The start date is prefilled with the day after the last generated date, and the end date is prefilled with a date six months ahead. If you generate with these values as they are, the next period is added on.
How ungenerated days look
Days without a generated inventory calendar are shown to customers as having no availability. They look "fully booked" rather than "not open for bookings yet", so customers will not even contact you about them.
Before you start taking bookings, always check that the period you want to sell has been generated.
The screen shows how far the calendar goes
For each item, the screen shows the date the inventory calendar has been generated through.
- If nothing has been generated, it says bookings cannot be taken.
- If less than a month is left, it says the calendar is running out soon.
- If there is plenty left, it shows the last generated date.
When you see a warning, generate the next period. The warning is there so bookings do not stop without you noticing.
Generate on a regular schedule
The inventory calendar is not extended automatically. Make it a routine to generate the next period at a set time, such as once a month.
Generating over a period that has already been generated causes no problems, and existing bookings are not removed.
Checks before you go live
Before generating inventory, open your public booking page and confirm that the period is shown as having no availability.
After generating inventory, open the same period and confirm that it can now be booked. Also confirm that the screen shows the last generated date.
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