The invoice that arrives a week later
The hire order for Saturday's wedding was 160 place settings, 480 glasses, 20 round tables and linen. It was delivered to the venue, used, packed back into crates by a tired team at midnight and collected on Monday.
The following week the hire company invoices for 23 missing wine glasses, 9 broken side plates, 4 napkins returned stained and one missing cake stand. You have no count of your own. Maybe the glasses are at the venue. Maybe some broke during service. Maybe they were miscounted at the depot. The invoice gets paid, because checking it would take longer than the argument is worth.
Nobody counts what goes back
At delivery, someone signs the hire company's docket, often without counting, because the van driver is in a hurry. At pack-down, the team is focused on finishing and loading, not counting.
- The hire order is an email or a PDF, not a list anyone checks against.
- Breakages during service are not recorded as they happen.
- Items are sometimes left at the venue or mixed up with the venue's own stock.
- Your own equipment and hired equipment travel in the same crates.
- The hire charge is not linked back to the event it came from until someone works it out.
The hire company has the only count, so their count becomes the truth by default.
Venues add another layer. Many have their own glassware and crockery in the same styles as the hire stock, and at the end of a long night, items end up in the wrong crates in both directions. By the time the hire company's depot counts the returns, there is no way to tell which were broken, which were left behind and which went home in the venue's cupboard.
Where the money goes
Individually, these charges look small, which is why they get paid. Across a season of events, they are a steady cost that nobody owns. Some of it is genuinely yours. Some of it is the client's, if their guests broke things or if the venue kept items. Some of it may be a counting error at the depot.
Without your own figures, you cannot tell which is which. Your terms may allow you to charge clients for breakages, but without a record you rarely do, and you have no way to see whether certain venues or events cost more in losses than others.
Hire tracked from order to return
- The hire order for each event is created from the menu and guest count, or imported from the hire company's confirmation, as a checklist of items and quantities.
- At delivery, the receiving person confirms quantities on a phone, crate by crate, noting any shortages or damage with a photo.
- During service, the supervisor can log breakages with a quick tap, so they are recorded while people remember.
- At pack-down, the team does a crate count against the list. Anything short is flagged, and the venue can be checked before leaving.
- When the hire invoice arrives, it is matched against your records for that event, and differences are highlighted.
- Breakages attributed to the client can be added to the final invoice, subject to your terms and your decision.
| Stage | What is recorded | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Quantities received, damage photos | Shortages found before service |
| Service | Breakages as they happen | Evidence for recharging |
| Pack-down | Crate counts | Your own figure to compare |
| Hire invoice | Matched to event records | Differences visible |
We design the counting screens for real pack-down conditions: big buttons, counts by crate rather than by item, and working offline.
After the next hire invoice
When the hire company bills for missing glasses, you open the event and see your delivery count, the breakages logged during service and the pack-down count. Either the numbers agree and you pay, or they do not and you have a clear basis for a conversation.
Over time you learn which venues, event types and packing routines lose the most, which is often more useful than any single dispute. And the client invoice can carry breakages you are entitled to charge, with the evidence behind them.
Does this sound familiar?
- Hire company invoices for missing and broken items get paid without checking.
- Nobody counts hired items at delivery or pack-down.
- You rarely charge clients for breakages, even when your terms allow it.
- Hired and owned kit end up in the same crates.
- You cannot say which events cost the most in hire losses.