The first time you run HireMate the program will lead you through the setup process. You only
need to go through this process once. If you do not have all the information to hand
you can quit the setup process and the next time you run the program it will continue
where you left off. If you make a mistake during the setup process you can correct it
later by selecting the appropriate item from the Setup menu.
The order of setup is as follows:
1.1 Company details
1.2 Currency symbol
1.3 Locations
1.4 Date format
1.5 High seasons
1.6 Units
1.7 Vehicle categories
For each category enter the type of vehicle and the rates. You should enter the daily
rate for a one day rental, a two day rental, a three day rental, etc. These rates may
be the same. You should also enter a weekly rate, a monthly rate, and the rate for an
additional day over and above the weekly or monthly rate. Enter the daily, weekly, and
monthly cost of insurance.
If you charge mileage rates click on the button for Rate for extra miles. Enter the
free miles per day for the first day and subsequent days, which may be the same.
Enter the additional charge per mile.
If you have special weekend rates check the box and enter the weekend rate.
If you have an hourly rate, check the box and enter the hourly rate. You may choose
whether the hourly rates can only be used for late returns or whether they can also
be used for part day rentals.
Click on OK when you have finished entering the rates for this category. If you have more
than one category you should repeat this process for each category.
If you have entered weekend rates you will be asked to indicate the period when
the weekend rates apply.
1.8 Vehicles
1.9 Driving permit
1.10 Extra charges If your extra charges are not fixed, check the box to allow the rates to be changed for each rental contract.
1.11 Taxes
1.12 Cost of additional driver
1.13 Deposits, etc
1.14 Email configuration
1.15 Setup password
1.16 Networking
You are now ready to start using HireMate.
2. Making a reservation or booking
To make a reservation click on the calendar icon on the toolbar, press the F3 key or
select New reservation from the Rentals menu.
You can also start a reservation by displaying the monthly booking chart and clicking on
an empty slot (shown in green).
The required fields in the reservations screen are the family name of the renter and
the start date and time and the end date and time. You should also select the required
type of vehicle unless you have started the reservation as above. The times for the start and end of the rental
period default to 9 am. You can change the default times by selecting Default times from the Miscellaneous
submenu of the Setup menu.
If the rental is being paid for by a company account you should select the account
from the drop list. If it is a new account, enter the name of the account and the account holder's discount
if appropriate and click on the Add button.
If the rental includes extras such as a child seat, click on the Extras button and
check the appropriate box(es).
If the rental is long term and you intend to renew the return date, you can flag it
as such by entering “long term” (case insensitive) at the start of the comments field.
You can enter additional comments after this. After the vehicle is issued it will be
shown in orange on the booking chart instead of red.
Click on OK to save the reservation. The program will calculate the cost of the rental
but you may override this value if you wish. You may also choose whether to apply tax(es)
to the rental charge. If you wish to offer a discount on the rental, enter the percentage
discount and click on the Offer discount button. If the rental has been
referred by an agent select the agent from the drop list. If it is a new
agent, enter the name of the referrer and the percentage commission, then
click on the Add button. (To remove a referrer, select remove referrer from the Setup menu.)
If the rental is paid for by an account holder with a discount, the discount will be
calculated automatically. If you change the percentage rate of discount the new discount will
be used for the account holder's future rentals.
Click on Continue to move to the next step.
If you have specified a credit card prepayment, confirm the amount.
If you have specified that the rental must be prepaid wholly or in part,
confirm the amount, select the method of payment and enter any details of the payment.
After clicking on OK the booking chart will appear, unless you have started the
reservation by clicking on the booking chart. Click on the appropriate row on
the chart to select the vehicle for the rental. Available vehicles will be shown
in green and those that are not available in red. If a variable is available,
but is due for return on the day that the rental starts, it will be shown in brown.
You will be prompted to print the rental contract and/or send a confirmation email.
The rental reservation will be shown in green on the booking chart.
3. Issuing or renting a vehicle
To issue a vehicle, click on the red arrow on the toolbar, press the F4 key of
select Issue vehicle from the Rentals menu. To identify the booking enter the transaction
number or the first few characters of the hirer’s last name and select the booking from
the list.
Alternatively you can click on the booking (shown in green on the booking chart) to show the details then click on the Issue vehicle button.
You can edit the details of the booking if necessary. If the date and time are different from the original,
click on the Use current date and time button.
Click on the issue button to rent the vehicle. You will be prompted to confirm the cost of the rental.
If the renter is paying at the start of the rental, confirm the amount. If a
security deposit is to be paid, check the box and enter the amount. In order for
the mileage charge to be calculated you should confirm the outgoing mileage of the
vehicle. You can also enter the amount of fuel in the tank (if you want to show
this on the contract manually, leave this on Empty). The booking will change from
green to red, unless you have entered “long term” at the start of the comments field,
in which case it will be shown in orange. You will be asked if you wish to print the contract.
If you wish to rent a vehicle to a walk-in customer who has not made a reservation,
click on the Issue without a booking button and enter the details of the rental
as you would for a new reservation. After confirming the cost of the rental and
the amount paid, select the vehicle from the booking chart.
4. Receiving a vehicle from rental
To receive a vehicle, click on the green arrow on the toolbar, press the F4
key of select Receive vehicle from the Rentals menu.
To identify the rental enter the transaction number or the first few characters of
the hirer’s last name and select the rental from the list.
Alternatively you can click on the rental (shown in red on the booking chart) to show the details then click on the Receive vehicle button.
You may edit the details of the rental. If you change the return date or time
the cost of the rental will be recalculated. You can click on the Use current date and time button to enter the current date and time.
After clicking on Receive, the details of the rental charge will appear.
You may edit the rental charge, enter a charge for a driver (if you have
provided a driver), enter a damage or repair charge, or enter a fuel charge.
To calculate the mileage charge, enter the incoming mileage.
The amount of fuel in the tank at the start of the rental will be shown. You can enter
the amount of fuel when the vehicle is received. If you want to show this in the contract
manually, leave it on Empty.
If a payment is due you should come from the amount paid, select the method of payment,
and enter any details.
The rental will be shown in grey on the booking chart.
5. Cancelling a reservation or current rental
To cancel a reservation or current rental, click on the garbage can on the toolbar,
press the F9 key or select Cancel rservation or current rental from the rentals menu.
Enter the transaction number or the first few characters of the hirer’s last name
to identify the rental and select the rental from the list.
After the booking has been cancelled the customer details will remain on file so that
they can be used for a new booking by searching for a past customer (section 13). If you
wish to delete permanently the details of the customer, select Remove customer from the Setup menu.
6. Cancelling the return of a rental
To cancel the return of a vehicle, select Cancel return of vehicle from the Rentals menu.
Enter the transaction number or the first few characters of the hirer’s last name to
identify the rental and select the rental from the list. Click on the Cancel return
button to cancel the return.
7. Exchanging a vehicle on rental
To exchange a vehicle, for example if the vehicle has developed mechanical problems,
click on the green and red arrows on the toolbar or select Exchange vehicle from the rentals menu.
Enter the transaction number or the first few characters of the hirer’s last name to identify the rental and select the rental from the list. The current rental details will be shown, with the return date the same as the current date and return time the same as the issue time.
If you make the return time later than the issue time, an extra day’s rental may be charged.
Click on the Receive button to return the vehicle. You will be prompted to enter any additional
charges for the part rental. Finally select the registration number of the replacement vehicle.
The rental of the replacement vehicle will start at the return date and time of the original vehicle and will end at the end date and time of the original contract.
8. Modifying a reservation or current rental
To modify a booking or a current rental, click on the two black arrows icon on the toolbar,
press the F7 key or select Modify reservation or current rental from the Rentals menu. Enter the transaction
number or the first few characters of the hirer’s last name to identify the rental and
select the rental from the list.
Alternatively you can click on the booking on the booking chart to show the details then click
on the Modify booking (or Modify rental) button.
To change the payment details for the rental, click on the Details button next to
the Amount paid field. Select a payment and click on Edit. Click on Save to save any changes.
After editing the details of the booking, click on the Modify button to save the changes.
If the rental has been issued, you may edit the fuel and mileage at the start of the
rental by clicking on the Fuel/Miles (or Fuel/Kms) button.
9. The booking chart
To display the monthly booking chart click on the red and green chart icon on the toolbar,
press the F2 key or select View month from the rentals menu. Enter the month and year
(mm/yy) that you wish to view.
The booking chart shows the vehicles and the rentals that they have for the specified
month. To move to the previous month, click on the left facing blue arrow or select
View previous month from the Rentals menu. To move to the next month, click on the
right facing blue arrow or select View next month from the Rentals menu.
Reservations are shown in green, current rentals in red (except for long term rentals,
which are orange) and old rentals in grey. Maintenance periods are shown in white.
You may choose whether to identify rentals by the hirer’s initials, the hirer’s family name,
or the transaction number, by selecting Initials/name/transaction number from the Booking
chart submenu of the Setup menu.
You may choose to sort vehicles by type, by location or alphanumerically by registration
number by selecting Sort vehicles from the Booking chart submenu of the Setup menu.
To display the details of a rental, click on the rental. To print the contract,
click on the Print contract button. In the case of past rentals, you can click
on the New booking button to make a new reservation for the hirer.
To display the details of payments made for the rental, click on the Details button
alongside Amount paid. If the rental has been returned you can also display the
rental charge details by clicking on the Details button alongside the Total cost.
You can also generate an email itemizing the charges.
To start a new reservation, click on an empty period on the chart (shown in green).
10. Accepting an interim payment
To accept payment for a current rental while the rental is ongoing, select Accept payment (or offer refund)
from the Rentals menu.
Enter the transaction number or the first few characters of the hirer’s last name
to identify the rental and select the rental from the list.
Enter the amount to be paid, the payment method, and any payment details.
You can also use this function to give a refund if a completed rental has been overpaid by entering a negative payment.
11. Providing a quotation
Click on the quotation icon on the toolbar, press the F10 key or select Provide
quotation from the Rentals menu.
Enter the start date and time and the end date and time for the rental, and select
the type of vehicle. Click on the Calculate button to determine the rental cost.
You may email the quotation to the customer by clicking on the Email button. To set up the text that
will be shown at the bottom of the email, select Quotation text from the Miscellaneous submenu
of the Setup menu.
12. Finding a current customer
To find a current customer, click on the red binoculars icon on the toolbar,
press the F11 key, or select Search for current customer from the Customers menu.
Enter the first few characters of the customer’s family name, and a list of all
current rentals matching that criterion will be displayed. Highlight a rental
from the list and click on the Show details button to display the details of the rental.
13. Finding a past customer
To find a past customer, click on the black binoculars icon on the toolbar, press the F8
key, or select Search for past customer from the Customers menu. Enter the first few
characters of the customer’s family name, and a list of all current rentals matching
that criterion will be displayed. Highlight a rental from the list, and click on the
Show details/Make new booking button to display the details of the rental and/or to
make a new booking for the customer, or click on the List all customers rentals button
to display a list of all past rentals by the customer.
14. Company accounts
14.1 Adding an account holder
14.2 Modifying account details
14.3 Removing an account holder
14.4 Printing an invoice for an account holder
Select the rental from the list and click on the Print button.
14.5 Accepting payment from an account holder
Select the rental from the list (Details). If the amount is not being paid in full,
enter the amount paid. Select the payment method. If the payment was not made
on the current date, enter the appropriate date.
14.6 Cancelling an account payment
14.7 Printing an account statement
15. Vehicle maintenance
15.1 Booking a maintenance period
Select the registration number of the vehicle, the date that the maintenance is
due to begin, and the date that it is due to end.
The maintenance period will be shown in white on the booking chart.
15.2 Cancelling a maintenance period
Enter the date that the maintenance is scheduled to begin, and select the vehicle
registration number. Click on OK to cancel the maintenance.
15.3 Entering a maintenance report
Select the registration number of the vehicle, confirm the mileage, enter the cost
of the maintenance, change the date if the maintenance was not completed
on the current date and specify the number of days the vehicle was off the road.
Select the type of maintenance. To add a type of maintenance enter the new type and click on the Add button.
15.4 Cancelling a maintenance report
Enter the date of the maintenance, and select the vehicle registration number. Click
on OK to cancel the maintenance report.
16. Damage report
To enter the details of damaged sustained by a vehicle, click on the hammer
icon on the toolbar or select Damage report from the Vehicles menu.
Select the registration number of the vehicle. Check the appropriate boxes to define the damage.
17. Inspection, insurance and tax dates
To change the due dates for inspection, insurance or tax for a vehicle, select the
appropriate item from the Vehicles menu.
Select the registration number of the vehicle and click on OK. Enter the new date.
18. Freeing a vehicle
Perhaps you have made a mistake with a rental, and a vehicle which is actually available
is shown as unavailable on the booking chart. You can delete the rental by selecting
Free vehicle from the Vehicles menu and selecting the registration number of the vehicle.
19. Discarding old data
After you have used HireMate for several years, you might find that the program is
slower because of the size of the data files. You can remove data prior to a
specified year by selecting Discard old data from the Setup menu.
Enter the year prior to which you wish to remove the data. You will not be allowed to
remove the current year’s data.
This function is protected by the Setup password.
20. Backing up the HireMate data files
HireMate saves data continuously each time you perform an action (as opposed to
some programs which only save data when the program is closed).
However you may wish to back up the data files periodically in case of hard disk or other failure.
To back up the data, click on the floppy disk icon on the toolbar or select File backup
from the Setup menu. Select the folder to which you wish to copy the files and click on the
Save button. You will not be allowed to back up the data to the HireMate folder.
We recommend backing up to USB flash memory.
DO NOT back up your data files if you think there may be a problem with them, you might
overwrite the good files.
To restore your backup files, copy all the files from the backup folder and paste them into the
HireMate folder. Alternatively you can run the program Restore.exe which you will find in your
HireMate folder.
21. Reports
You may set up HireMate to export reports in comma separated variables (csv) format.
To do so, select Export reports from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu.
Each time a report is displayed it will be saved in your My Documents folder with
the name report.csv. You may open this file using Microsoft Excel.
21.1 Accounts due
Individual: Reports on accounts due for rentals by an individual account. Select the
account from the list. The report shows the name of the renter, the amount owed, and the
date since which it has been owed, for each rental.
Summary: Shows the amount owed by all account holders.
21.2 Agents
Monthly summary: shows the commissions earned and the number of referred rentals for each agent or referrer for a specified month. You can choose whether to include commissions on insurance in the report.
Individual: shows the details of each rental referred by a specified agent since a specified date. Select the agent from the list and enter the start date for the report. You can choose whether to include commissions on insurance in the report.
21.3 Birthdays
Reports on customers with birthdays during a specified period.
Enter the start date and the end date for the period (which defaults to the current date).
12.4 Current status
Displays the current status of all vehicles. If a vehicle is out on rental,
the local phone number is shown. If the vehicle is not on rental but has bookings,
the next booking will be displayed and the home phone number shown.
Rentals which are due for return and bookings which are due for issue are shown in red.
21.5 Customer details
Displays the contact details (home phone number and address) of all customers
since a specified date. Enter the start date for the report.
21.5 Daily reports
Management report (csv): creates a comma separated variables file which can be
opened in Excel, showing the details of vehicles which are due in or due out on
a specified day. The filename is daily.csv and it will be saved in your My Documents folder.
Vehicles due out: lists bookings which are due for issue on a specified date.
Vehicles due in: lists rentals which are due for return on a specified date. The report shows only vehicles which have already been issued.
21.6 Overdue rentals
Shows all rentals which are overdue for return.
21.7 Receipts details
Displays the details of payments received over a specified period.
21.8 Receipts summary
Provides a summary of receipts over a specified period. Enter the start date and the
end date for the period of the report.
21.9 Rentals by account
Shows a history of rentals by an account holder since a specified date.
Select the account from the list and enter the start date for the report.
21.10 Rental history
Displays a summary of all rentals which started during a specified period. Enter
the start date and the end date for the period of the report.
The first column in the report shows the sources of the revenue, including any taxes.
The second column shows the receipts according to the method of payment.
Revenue which has been posted to accounts is shown at the bottom of this column,
as it is revenue that has not actually been received.
21.11 Revenue & tax
Reports on revenue and taxes by rental for a specified period. Enter
the start date and the end date for the period of the report.
21.12 Vehicles
Availability (Ctrl + A): Shows which vehicles are available for a specified period.
Listing: Lists vehicles, showing current mileage insurance dates, tax dates, etc. You
can restrict this report to vehicles of a specified type (category) or location.
Monthly revenue: Shows the revenue accrued by each vehicle for a specified month.
This report is not displayed on the screen but is saved as a csv (comma separated variables)
file in your My Documents folder, which can be opened in, for example, Microsoft Excel.
The name of the file is revenue.csv.
Maintenance history: Displays the maintenance history of a specified vehicle since a
specified date. Select the registration number of the vehicle and the start date
for the report.
Tax, insurance, etc due: Reports on vehicles requiring tax, insurance, inspection
and maintenance during a specified period.
Utilization: Shows the percentage utilization of all vehicles for a specified period.
Enter the start date and end date for the period, and select the category.
The report also shows the maintenance cost and days lost due to maintenance for the period.
The revenue/day is the revenue for the vehicle divided by the number of days in the period of the report (or the number of days since the vehicle was acquired if that is less).
The revenue/rental day is the revenue for the vehicle divided by the number of days it was rented.
For the Costs, the Days lost and the Revenue, the bottom line is the totals.
For the other fields, the bottom line is the average.
22. Adding, deleting, modifying and replacing vehicles
22.1 Adding vehicles
The only required field is the registration number. You should also select the vehicle category and location.
22.1 Deleting vehicles
You will not be allowed to delete a vehicle that has bookings or is out on rental.
22.1 Modifying/replacing a vehicle
23. Adding, deleting and modifying categories (types) of vehicles
23.1 Adding a category
23.2 Deleting a category
You will not be allowed to delete a category if vehicles exist in that category.
23.3 Modifying a category
24. Contract, invoice and email text
24.1 Contract text
If there is insufficient space for the required text, you can replace the damage
report on the contract by additional contract text. To do so, select Additional
contract text from the Setup menu, and enter the text. Remember to check the box
to replace the damage report.
You may also choose to replace the damage report with the contract notes.
If your contract text is particularly long, we suggest that you produce pre-printed
sheets with the contract on one side. Print the HireMate contract on the reverse
and change the text to something along the lines of “We have read and accept the
terms and conditions overleaf”.
24.2 Invoice text
24.3 Email text
25. Print options
To edit the options for printing contracts, invoices and receipts, select Print
options from the Setup menu.
Here you can specify the number of copies of contracts to be printed, the number
of copies of receipts to be printed, whether contracts should always be printed
and whether receipts should always be printed.
You may also opt to hide all but the last 4 digits of the credit card number
on rental contracts.
26. Adding a method of payment
HireMate has the following payment methods installed by default: cash, cheque,
credit card and traveler’s cheque. To install an additional payment method,
select Add payment method from the Setup menu. Existing payment methods cannot be removed.
27. Password protection
The HireMate Setup commands are automatically protected by the Setup password.
A user must log on with the Setup password to access them. You can also lock or unlock the
Setup commands by clicking on the key icon on the toolbar and entering the password.
To password protect various reports, select Password protection from the Password
submenu of the Setup menu.
To change the Setup password, select Change password from the Password submenu of the Setup menu.
28. Locations of vehicles
To add a rental location select Add a location from the Locations submenu of the Setup menu.
To remove a location select Remove a location from the Locations submenu of the Setup menu. Select the
location and confirm that you wish to remove it.
29. Company details
To edit the company details, which will be shown on contracts, receipts and invoices,
select Company details from the Setup menu. The field for Additional details
could be used, for example, for your company tax number.
After you have registered HireMate you will not be allowed to change the name of the company.
30. High seasons
To change the high seasons when rental rates are higher, select Seasons from the
Setup menu. Select the number of high seasons and enter the dates for each.
If you did not previously have a high season and you have introduced one, you
will need to edit the vehicle categories to enter the new rates (see section 23).
31. Additional driver
To edit the charge for an additional driver, select Additional driver from the
Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu. Enter the daily, weekly and monthly rate.
32. Calculations of rental days
By default, HireMate calculates the number of rental days based on 24 hour periods.
For example, if a vehicle is issued at 2 pm on Wednesday and returned at 10 am
on Friday, that would count as 2 days.
You have the option to base the rental days on calendar days, in which case the above
rental would be 3 days.
Select Calculation of days from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu.
33. Date Format
To change the date format (dd/mm/yy or mm/dd/yy) select Date format from the Miscellaneous
submenu of the Setup menu.
34. Deposits and prepayments
To change the payment requirements for making a reservation, select Deposit required
from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu.
35. Extra charges
To edit the optional extra daily charges (eg for a child seat), select Extras
from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu.
36. Cost of local driving permit
To edit the cost of a local driving permit, select Local licence fee from the Miscellaneous
submenu of the Setup menu.
37. Terminology for inspection and insurance
To change the name of “inspection”, select Name of annual inspection from the
Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu. For example, in the UK the annual inspection
is known as “MOT test”.
To change the name of “insurance” select Name of rental insurance from the
Miscellaneous submenu. For example, in some countries insurance is known as
“Collision damage waiver” (CDW). You may also specify whether rental tax is
applied to the cost of insurance, and whether rental discounts are applied
to insurance, by checking the appropriate boxes.
38. Taxes
To edit the taxes paid on rentals, select rate of tax from the Miscellaneous submenu
of the Setup menu. Select the number of taxes, and enter the name of the tax and the rate
(percentage or daily rate) for each.
39. Units (miles/kilometers and gallons/litres)
To change the units which are used in your country, select Units from the Miscellaneous
submenu of the Setup menu.
40. Weekend period
If you have weekend rental rates, you can change the period when these apply by
selecting Weekend period from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu.
41. Networking HireMate
HireMate is network ready. If you wish to run HireMate on a network, follow the following steps:
42. Calculating fuel charges
In order for HireMate to calculate fuel charges when a vehicle is returned, you should:
43. Attaching images and documents to rentals
To attach an image to a rental, click on one of the two Image buttons on the rental screen.
Click on the Load image button and select the image that you wish to attach. Click
on the Attach image button to attach it to the rental.
Images may be of BMP, GIF, JPG, JPE, PNG, PCX, PSD, or TIF format.
To attach documents to the rental click on the Document button.
Please note that HireMate does not save the image or document to a different folder, it simply
links the relevant file to the rental, so you should not move or delete the image or document
file after attaching it.
Images could be, for example, photographs of the drivers, or scans of the driving licences.
44. Printing logo
HireMate allows you to print your company logo on contracts. The logo must be a
24 bit Windows BMP file. You should name the file
logo.bmp and save it in your HireMate folder. You may have to resize the file to obtain a good fit but in general
it should be no more than 200 pixels in height.
To set up this option, select Print logo from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu.
If you have difficulty creating the file, please contact GrenSoft.
45. The WebLink module
The WebLink module allows customers to check the availability of vehicles online and make a
reservation or request a quotation.
Your Web site should show the types of vehicle which you offer for rental, together
with the rental rates. You should link the existing pages to the reservations page
which is uploaded by HireMate using the WebLink. The name of the file which starts the
reservations process is step_1.php.
To set up the WebLink, select WebLink from the Setup menu. The required fields are:
If you check the box to automatically upload files, HireMate will connect to your Web site every time there
is a significant change to your data. This is not recommended if you are running the program on
a network or you do not have a fast connection. Instead you can connect manually by selecting
Upload WebLink files from the File menu, clicking on the two computers icon on the toolbar or
pressing Ctrl + U.
You may also change the appearance of the php generated Web pages by clicking on
the Web page options button. Here you can change the font, the text colour, the page
background colour and the table background colour. If these options are not flexible
enough and you are familiar with HTML and PHP you can edit the php files which are uploaded
by HireMate. These are step_1.php, step_2.php, step_3.php, step_4.php, step_5.php and step_6.php.
You may attach images to the categories of vehicles which are selected in the WebLink.
Simply upload an image to the WebLink folder corresponding to the type of vehicle it
represents. For example if the category is ‘
Four wheel drive’ the image should be ‘four wheel drive.jpg’ or ‘four wheel drive.gif’
(all lower case).
You might have categories of vehicle that you do not wish to include in the WebLink. For example you might have a category called Reserved. To
prevent the category being uploaded to the WebLink, simply enclose the name in parentheses, (Reserved).
To enable the ftp transfer check the Enable connection box.
After reservations have been made online you will be notified when they are downloaded by the WebLink.
Then you can accept the reservations by selecting Reservation from WebLink from the Rentals menu. The details
from the online reservation will be pasted into the reservations dialog. This menu item will be
disabled if the are no downloaded reservations.
46. Adding employees
HireMate allows you to set up as many as 50 employees who are authorized to use the program. The
employees can have different levels of access.
To add an employee select Add employee from the Employees submenu of the Setup menu. Enter the name of
the employee. Choose a password for the employee and check the boxes for the functions which are denied access
to the employee.
To edit an employee's details select Modify employee from the Employees submenu of the Setup menu.
To remove an employee select Remove employee from the Employees submenu of the Setup menu and confirm
that you wish to remove the employee.
Employees may log off so that a new one may log on by selecting Log off from the File menu, by clicking
on the key icon on the toolbar or by pressings the F12 key. Until you add an employee this function
can only be used for locking or unlocking the Setup commands.
47. Exporting customer email addresses
You can export customer email addresses (eg for marketing) by selecting Export email addresses
from the Customers menu. You can select the range of customers. The email addresses will be copied
to the Windows clipboard so that you can paste them into the CC field or the BCC field of your email
program.
48. SMS text messaging
HireMate allows you to send SMS text messages to customers. Select SMS text messaging from the Setup menu. To use this feature you must
first set up an account with one of the gateways listed and they will provide you with the necessary details.
Enter your country code if required. For example if you were in the UK you would enter the country code 44 and check the box to remove
the leading zero from phone numbers.
All except CDyne use email to SMS, so you should configure your email before sending messages.
49. Reminders
You can set up a reminder by selecting Add reminder from the Reminders menu or by clicking on the light bulb icon on
the toolbar. Select the date and time when you wish to be reminded and enter the action required.
When the date and time has been reached the reminder will be displayed. You may choose to repeat the reminder after
a specified number of hours, days or weeks. Otherwise the reminder will be removed from the system.
You may edit or delete a reminder by selecting Edit reminder from the Reminders menu.
50. Holidays
You can set up holidays by selecting Holidays from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu. Select the date and check the box if it is an annual holiday.
Holiday dates will be shown in red on the booking chart and you will be warned if a rental starts or ends on a holiday.
HireMate allows you to save invoices in a csv (comma separated variables) file which you may be able to import into your accounting software.
The invoice is saved each time a vehicle is returned and the rental is complete.
A file called invoice.csv is appended and saved in your HireMate folder.
1. Setting up HireMate
Enter the information that you would like to appear on contracts receipts and invoices.
The only required field is the company name.
Enter your currency symbol, eg $ or £. If you are using a currency which is not sub-divided
into 100 units, such as the Korean Won or the Japanese Yen, check the box.
Select the number of locations from which your company operates.
Enter the name of each location if there is more than one.
Select dd/mm/yy or mm/dd/yy.
Your company may have certain periods during the year when the rates are increased,
known as high seasons. For each high season enter the start day and month and the end
day and month.
Choose miles or kilometers and gallons or litres.
The vehicle category is a type of vehicle such as jeep, compact car, sports car, etc.
All vehicles within a particular category are assumed to have the same rental rates.
Next you will be prompted to add your vehicles to the database. The only required field
is a registration number but you should also remember to select the vehicle
category and its location. After clicking on OK you will be prompted to add
the next vehicle to the database.
You will be prompted to enter the cost of a local driving permit if appropriate.
You may set up as many as four extra charges which can have a daily rate or a flat rate,
for example child seat. If you do not have four extra charges, leave the fields blank.
Select the number of taxes that apply to car rentals. For each tax enter the name of
the tax and either the percentage rate or the daily rate.
Enter the daily weekly and monthly cost of an additional driver. If there is no additional
cost enter zero.
Specify the default conditions required to make a rental reservation.
You must configure your email if you wish to send emails using HireMate. You may leave this
until later if you wish. The port defaults to 25, you should not need to change this.
The Setup menu commands are password protected. Enter the password that will be used
to access the setup commands and re-enter it for confirmation.
Finally you will be asked if you intend to run HireMate on more than one computer on a network.
If you click on No and at a later date decide to network the program, select Networking from
the Setup menu.
Select Add account holder from the Account holders submenu of the Setup menu. The only required
field is the name of the account. You can also
add an account holder on the fly when you are making a reservation.
Select Modify account details from the Account holders submenu and select the account from the
droplist.
To remove an account holder, select Remove account holder from the Account holders submenu.
Select the account from the list and click on the Remove button. You will be
asked to confirm that you wish to remove the account. If there is an account
balance remaining, you will be informed.
To print an invoice for an account holder, select Print invoice from the Accounts menu.
Select the account from the list and click on OK.
Select Accept payment from the Accounts menu. Select the account from the list and click on OK.
To cancel a payment select Cancel payment from the Accounts menu. Select the account then select the
payment from the list.
To print a statement select Print statement from the Accounts menu. Select the account
and enter the month for the statement.
To book maintenance for a vehicle, select Book maintenance from Maintenance submenu
of the Vehicles menu.
Select Cancel maintenance from the Maintenance submenu of the Vehicles menu.
To enter the details of maintenance carried out on a vehicle, click on the wrench icon on
the toolbar or select Maintenance report from the Maintenance submenu of the Vehicles menu.
Select Cancel maintenance report from the Maintenance submenu of the Vehicles menu.
To add a vehicle to the database, select Add vehicle from the Vehicle submenu of the Setup menu.
Select Delete vehicle from the Vehicles submenu of the Setup menu. Select the
registration number of the vehicle. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to
delete the vehicle.
Select Modify/replace vehicle from the Vehicles submenu of the Setup menu. Select
the registration number of the vehicle to be modified or replaced. Here you can
edit the details of the vehicle, including the registration number to replace the vehicle.
Select Add category from the Categories submenu of the Setup menu. Enter the category of
vehicle (eg Sports utility) and the rates.
Select Delete category from the Categories submenu of the Setup menu. Select
the category to be deleted and confirm that you wish to delete it.
Select Modify category from the Categories submenu of the Setup menu. You may edit
the name of the category and the rates.
You may edit the text that appears on rental contracts by selecting Contract text
from the Setup menu.
You may set up or edit the text which appears at the bottom of invoices by
selecting Invoice text from the Setup menu.
You may set up or edit the text to appear at the bottom of confirmation emails by
selecting Email confirmation text from the Miscellaneous submenu of the Setup menu.
Please note that if you change the HireMate setup on any of your computers you must restart HireMate on the other computers for the changes to take effect.
Email: info@grensoft.com