Issued, not sold
Material on rent is still yours — it is at a site rather than in the yard. That means recording what was issued, to whom, on what date and against which site, so at any moment you know how much of your plate and how many props are out and where. A shop treating rental issues as sales loses track of its own asset, which is the entire capital of the business.
Rent by day or by month
Rental is charged per piece per day or per month, so the bill is a quantity multiplied by a period rather than a straight rate. Recording the issue date and the return date means the period is calculated rather than negotiated, and a running job that has not returned material yet can be billed for the period so far without closing the account.
Returns, shortages and damage
What comes back is rarely exactly what went out — plates are bent, props are lost, clamps disappear. Recording the return against the issue shows the shortage immediately rather than at the end of a job, and charging for it against the deposit is a conversation held on figures. Without that record, the loss is discovered during an annual count and cannot be recovered from anybody.
Deposits against contractors
A deposit is taken against issued material and adjusted at the end, and holding it against the party rather than on a slip is what makes the final settlement short. Alongside it, a running rental account with ageing tells you which contractor has had your material for eight months without paying — which in this trade is the loss that matters more than any single job.