How to Change Equipment on Rent | Latner Software Documentation

Change Equipment On Hire swaps the Equipment Number on a rental contract line that has already gone out on hire, so a contract that was written against the wrong machine can be corrected without unwinding the hire.

Overview

Sometimes the paperwork and the yard disagree. The contract says EX35001 went out, the driver actually loaded EX35002, and nobody notices until the return inspection. Change Equipment On Hire is the tidy-up for exactly that situation - it rewrites the history so the contract matches what really happened.

It changes the Equipment Number on one rental contract line, together with the Class and Model that come with the new machine.
It carries the related records across with it - transport details, inspections, off hire details, invoice details, and the meter readings recorded on those records.
It moves the on hire quantity back to the old equipment and takes it off the new one, so the old machine returns to Available and the new one shows as On Rent.
It is a correction tool, not a hire event. Nothing is off hired, nothing is delivered, and no dates change.
If the machine is being replaced on site because of a breakdown or a service, use Equipment Swap instead - that function off hires one machine and starts another.

Before You Begin

This function is deliberately restricted, so check you have the access and that the contract is still open.

Requirement	Where to Find It
Change Equipment Number On Hire permission	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups - open the group, then Rental › Option
The permission granted for the contract's branch	Same screen - permissions are granted per branch, so a Sydney contract needs the permission for Sydney
A rental contract that is still open	Rental › Rental Contracts - the option is greyed out on Completed, Cancelled and Lost contracts
A line that has already been on hire	The Details tab - only Equipment lines in On Rent, Off Hire, Pending Pick Up, Pending Return or Returned status can be changed
A replacement machine that is Available	Equipment › Equipment - it needs available quantity in the same branch as the contract

Change Equipment Number On Hire sits under Rental › Option in the permission group, and is granted branch by branch

Without the permission the Change Equipment On Hire option does not appear in the Options menu at all. If it is there but greyed out, the contract has been completed, cancelled or lost - reopen it first.

Changing the Equipment

Step 1 - Open the rental contract

Go to Rental › Rental Contracts and open the contract that has the wrong Equipment Number. On the Details tab, note the Line # and the Equipment Number you need to correct - you will pick the line by its equipment number in a moment.

Line 1 of contract 27 is on hire as EX35001, with two attached bucket lines that stay where they are

Step 2 - Choose Change Equipment On Hire

Select Options › Change Equipment On Hire. It sits directly under Equipment Swap, which is the function you want instead if the machine is genuinely being replaced on site.

The two equipment-change functions sit side by side in the Options menu, and they do very different things

Step 3 - Read the warning

The dialog opens with a warning that spells out the reach of the function. It is worth reading every time: this rewrites related records, and it does not ask you to confirm a second time.

The Change Equipment On Hire dialog, split into Equipment On Rent above and Replacement Equipment below

Step 4 - Pick the line with the wrong equipment

Under Equipment On Rent, click Equipment Number and choose the line you are correcting. The list shows only the equipment lines on this contract that have already been on hire, with their line number and current status.

Rental Contract - filled in for you and cannot be changed.
Class - filled in from the line you pick, and read only.
Equipment Number - required. This is the line being corrected.

The picker lists only lines that have been on hire, so charge lines and transport lines never appear

Step 5 - Pick the replacement equipment

Under Replacement Equipment, the Class is pre-filled from the line you just selected. Click Equipment Number and choose the machine that actually went out.

Class - required. Change it if the machine that went out is a different class; that clears the Equipment Number so you can pick again.
Equipment Number - required. The list is filtered to the chosen class, the contract's branch, and equipment with available quantity. Picking a machine sets the Class back to that machine's own class.

Only Sydney excavators with quantity available are offered, because the contract is a Sydney contract

Step 6 - Save

Check both halves of the dialog read the way you expect - the wrong number on top, the right number underneath - then click Save. Latner confirms with Equipment Number Changed and refreshes the contract.

The completed dialog: EX35001 is being corrected to EX35002 on the same class

After the Change

The contract line now carries the new machine, and so does everything hanging off it.

The contract line shows the new Equipment Number, and its Item / Class and Equipment Model update to match the new machine.
Transport details, inspections, off hire details and invoice details on that line are repointed to the new equipment.
Meter readings captured on those inspections, transports and returns move to the new equipment, and the Current Meter Reading on both machines is recalculated from the readings each one is left with.
The old machine goes back to Available with its quantity returned, and the new machine goes to On Rent against this contract.
The quantity movement on each equipment record is written to that equipment's audit log.
Return details and stand down details are not repointed - if the line has either, check them by hand.

The corrected line, now on EX35002 - note the Equipment Model has changed with it, while the attached bucket lines are untouched

There is no undo. Latner does not keep a link back to the machine you replaced, so the only way back is to run Change Equipment On Hire again in the opposite direction - which needs the original machine to be Available. Because meter readings move with the change, check the Current Meter Reading on both machines afterwards and correct either one that now reads wrong.

FAQs

Should I use Change Equipment On Hire or Equipment Swap?

Ask what actually happened on site. If the customer only ever had one machine and the contract names the wrong one, that is an administrative error - use Change Equipment On Hire. If the customer had one machine, it broke down or went in for a service, and a second machine went out to replace it, use Equipment Swap. Equipment Swap off hires the first machine on the swap date and starts the replacement from that date, so both hires are billed correctly; Change Equipment On Hire creates no dates at all.

The Change Equipment On Hire option is missing or greyed out. Why?

If it is missing entirely, your permission group does not have Change Equipment Number On Hire for that branch. If it is visible but greyed out, the rental contract is Completed, Cancelled or Lost - reopen the contract and try again.

The line I want to fix is not in the Equipment Number list.

Only Equipment lines that have already gone out on hire are listed - On Rent, Off Hire, Pending Pick Up, Pending Return and Returned. A line still in Reserved, Pre-Allocated, Pending Delivery or Pending Collection has not been on hire yet, so it is not a correction: edit the line and change its equipment there. Charge lines, transport lines and sale items never appear in this list.

I picked a replacement and got "Replacement Equipment is not in Available status".

The picker also offers machines sitting in a run up or return inspection, and shades those rows orange, but a line that is currently on hire can only be moved onto equipment that is genuinely Available. Finish or cancel the inspection so the machine returns to Available, then run the change again.

Can I move a hire onto a machine in another branch?

No. Once a Class is chosen the Equipment Number list is filtered to the contract's branch, so only machines held at that branch are offered. If the machine really lives elsewhere, transfer it to the contract's branch first.

What happens to invoices that were already raised against the old machine?

The invoice detail lines for that contract line are repointed to the new machine, so the equipment history and utilisation reporting follow the correction. The invoice totals, dates and rates are untouched - nothing is credited or re-raised, because the hire itself has not changed.

Why did the change fail with a message about quantity?

Bulk equipment is tracked by quantity rather than by serial number, so the change only works if the numbers line up: the old equipment must have at least the line's quantity showing as on hire, and the replacement must have at least that much available. Adjust the quantities on the equipment records first, then run the change.

Do the meter readings come out right?

Not always, which is why the dialog tells you to check. Readings taken on the inspections, transports and returns tied to that line move to the new machine, and each machine's Current Meter Reading is then recalculated from whatever readings it is left with. If the old machine had no other readings, its Current Meter Reading is cleared. Open both equipment records afterwards and add a reading where one is now missing or wrong.

Watch the Demo

Prefer to watch it? Step through the same flow here.