~20 min Beginner

Run a lending workflow ​

This tutorial walks one piece of equipment through a full lending cycle: someone books it for a period, picks it up, uses it, and brings it back. Along the way you'll link the customer, record the return, and see where the whole story is logged.

When you're done, you'll have a completed reservation converted to a checkout, a checked-in checkout with a remark, and a paper trail you can find again from the item, the customer and the logs.

Step 1 — Create the reservation ​

  1. Select Reservations in the main menu, then click New reservation in the toolbar.
  2. Give the reservation a short, describing Name (at least 3 characters) — for example the customer or job name.
  3. Leave the classification on Usage (the default) — it's what makes Itefy suggest a checkout later.
  4. Set the Period — the start and end date and time of the loan.
  5. Add the Items. Itefy checks availability as you go: items already booked in the period are flagged, and the picker marks booked items so you can't select them. If something is flagged, change the period or pick a replacement.
  6. Optionally expand Optional details to assign the reservation to another user (Assigned to) or add tags and additional information.
  7. Click Create reservation.
The Reservations page.
  1. Open the reservation you just created.
  2. In the Contacts card, pick the Customer role from the dropdown next to the Add contact button, then select the contact in the picker.
  3. The linked contact shows their photo, name, role tag and email or phone — and the reservation now also appears on the contact's Connections tab.

Step 3 — Check out at pickup ​

When the customer picks up the equipment, convert the reservation into a checkout:

  1. Open the reservation and click the More menu.
  2. Choose Create checkout — for usage reservations it appears first, marked Default.
  3. The new checkout opens with the reservation's information copied in. Adjust the Return by time if the real return differs from the booked end, then save.

The reservation is now marked completed and shows a Converted to checkout banner linking to the checkout — the two records stay permanently related.

Step 4 — Keep an eye on it while it's out ​

Active and overdue checkouts appear on the dashboard, and the full list lives on the Checkouts page. The people involved are notified if the checkout becomes overdue.

The Checkouts page.

Step 5 — Check in on return ​

  1. Find the checkout on the dashboard or the Checkouts page — checkouts that are still out have a Check in button directly in the list. Or open the checkout and click Check in at the top of its page.
  2. In the check-in window, all items are selected by default. If only some items come back now, un-check the rest for a partial check-in — the checkout stays checked out until everything is returned.
  3. Add a remark about the return — condition on arrival, missing accessories, and so on.
  4. Click Check in.

If an item came back damaged, open the item, click Perform task → Change condition, pick Inoperative and write a remark — or report an issue so the repair gets followed up.

Step 6 — Find the history afterwards ​

The whole cycle is now on record, in several places:

  • Checkout log: The Checkouts page holds the complete history — search by reason or item, and use Filter by to narrow by status, item, location, user or time range.
  • On the reservation: The converted reservation shows a Planned vs actual summary — how the actual pickup and return compared with the booked window, and whether the items taken matched the items reserved.
  • On the item: Open the item and select the Activity tab, then Checkouts, for that item's own history.
  • On the customer: The contact's Connections tab lists the reservation and checkout they were linked to.

What you accomplished ​

  • Booked equipment for a period, with availability conflicts caught before saving
  • Linked the customer so the booking shows up on their contact page
  • Converted the reservation to a checkout at pickup, keeping the two records related
  • Recorded the return with a remark, and know how to handle partial returns
  • Know where the history lives: the checkout log, the reservation's planned-vs-actual summary, and the item's Activity tab

Where to go next ​

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