The Top KPIs for a Rental Business

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are an essential part of any business in any industry, and equipment rental is no exception.

In the spirit of the old adage “what gets measured gets managed,” you first need to know exactly what you want to measure, and why those specific KPIs are the most impactful. Is it driving revenue? Customer happiness? Retaining customers and expanding with them? Winning new ones? Managing cash flow and optimizing asset utilization?

So here’s the scoop on KPIs – how they work, what your options are, and which ones you need to be tracking if you’re in the equipment rental business.

Table of Contents

  1. What is a KPI, and How Is It Used?
  2. What Makes a Good KPI?
  3. The 3 Key Types of KPI for Equipment Rental
  4. What are the Top 5 KPIs for an Equipment Rental Business?
  5. What Are the Top 5 Financial KPIs in Any Rental Business?
  6. What are the Top 5 KPIs for Sales and Marketing in an Equipment Rental Business?
  7. What are the Top 5 KPIs for Customer Satisfaction for Rental Equipment?
  8. Construction Equipment Rental KPIs
  9. What Software Tools Should I Use to Manage KPIs?

A Quick Refresher: What Is a KPI, and How Is It Used?

The fundamental principle underlying key performance indicators (KPIs) is that you need something measurable. You can’t estimate or just feel things out in the world of business.You need to know what works and what doesn’t if you’re going to succeed.

KPIs are the specific data points you’re using to measure your success. While revenue is a huge part of it, there are other things along the way that you also need to measure to make sure you’re able to make that revenue.

In equipment rental, margins can become tight, and breaking even on equipment is important. It’s a unique industry with unique needs.

Whether you’re looking into equipment rental KPIs, regardless of the equipment type, the common factor is that the factors that they represent are going to be solid and measurable.

So what makes for a good KPI, one that’s worth measuring?

The right KPIs will have certain characteristics:

  • Owned. People in your equipment rental company need to be responsible for overseeing, measuring, and refining KPIs. It needs to be obvious who to talk to if you need something relevant to them.
  • Understandable. Everyone working at your equipment rental company needs to understand what KPIs you’re using, and how they’re measured.
  • Actionable. You need your folks to know what to do to influence your KPIs. It needs to be something you can take action on.
  • Measurable. This is a big one. It has to be something you can directly measure and quantify. It can’t be something soft and vague.
  • Leading. Good KPIs help you predict and enhance how well your business does in the future.
  • Timely. You need to make sure you can keep the data for every KPI consistently up to date. (Our software is designed to help you do this.)
  • Strategic. KPIs need to be tied to something very important – your vision for your equipment rental business. How do you want to grow? Where do you want to be in five years? Do you want to expand your fleet? To grow and hire more employees? To make more money?

These are the most important aspects that, for your business, will help you figure out the right KPIs. A good KPI should meet these criteria.
KPIs aren’t just about where your company is right now. They’re about where you want to go.

The Three Key Types of KPI for Equipment Rental

There are three subtypes of KPI that are important for you to track:

  1. Core business KPIs
  2. Sales and marketing KPIs
  3. Customer satisfaction KPIs

 

All of these are important for making sure your equipment rental business is successful. We’re going to break these core KPIs down category by category.

What are the Top 5 KPIs for an Equipment Rental Business?

equipment rental business KPIs image

The nature of a rental business model brings its own unique challenges. You have to manage things like availability and booking, not just inventory alone. Margins can become strained if you’re pricing your equipment wrong, or struggling to track your equipment.

Because equipment rental has these specific elements involved, you need to measure different things than a company that outright sells its product, or a business that offers a service rather than a product per se.

Here are the top KPIs that tend to bring the best results in the world of equipment rental:

  • Return on Investment
  • Net Profit
  • Time to Break Even
  • Stock to Rental Ratio
  • Income to Maintenance Ratio

Now, there are also other KPIs to track, which are more geared towards your sales and marketing efforts. You’ll read about those a bit further down.

The five above are the most important ones for your core business operations. 

Whether you’re renting out heavy construction equipment or general tools and light equipment,, these are the ones that really matter.

Here’s a rundown of each of these KPIs – what they mean and why they matter.

Return on Investment

return on investment KPI image

Return on investment (ROI) is a KPI that sees use across pretty much any industry, including yours. Why? Because it’s important. Indispensably so.

ROI is pretty simple: it’s the profit from your investment divided by the input costs. It demonstrates how much money you’ve made compared to how much you’ve spent.

This tends to be the primary KPI for just about any kind of business.

So how do you guarantee a good ROI in the rental industry? One major way you can do this is by focusing your fleet on high ROI equipment.

If you’re getting a low ROI on a piece of equipment, it can mean one of two things:

  1. You’re not charging enough for people to rent it, and you need to raise the price.
  2. The market is saturated, driving down the prices.

Market saturation can happen with all kinds of different equipment. It’s too widely available, with too many people offering it, and the high competition drives down the price. This means it takes too long to break even on the cost of the machine.

Look at ROI on each type of equipment you’re renting out. Look at what the market landscape might be like. If an item has a consistently low ROI, it might be time to discontinue offering it, and focus on the items in your fleet or inventory that are actually making you money.

Net Profit

net profit KPI image

“Profit is its own reward.” – the Ferengi aliens from Star Trek.

Optimizing your cash flow and profit leads to long term viability and success.  This is as true for equipment rental as it is for traditional retail, a restaurant, or a law practice.

Time to Break Even

time to break even KPI image

How long is it taking you to break even on the cost of a piece of equipment you bought?

How many times do you need to rent it, and at what price, for you to make your money back on what you spent to buy it?

If you’re not pricing your equipment right, or you’re buying at too high a price, you may need to reassess how you’re investing in that equipment, and what the market for it looks like.

One way to reduce the time to breaking even on equipment is to strategize carefully about who you’re buying it from. For most pieces, there are multiple companies that make the same kind of product. For example, both John Deere and Caterpillar offer very similar equipment.

Make sure you’re getting the best deal on what you’re buying, so it doesn’t take as long to recoup the expense.

Utilization Rate

utilization rate KPI image

Utilization rate is another KPI that you have to track in equipment rental. Maximizing time on rent is a critical path to running an efficient, profitable rental company. .

What it means is this – how much of your inventory is on rent at any given time?

It’s the total number of pieces of equipment in your inventory, divided by the number that are typically rented out at any time.

You want this number to be low. If it’s too high, that means that you have excess inventory.

Utilization rate is incredibly important in the equipment rental business. But it’s especially integral to heavy construction equipment, where downtime is even more costly given the higher price points and dollar value of equipment.

We talk a little more about utilization in detail about this further down. Click here to jump to that section.

Income-to-Maintenance Ratio

income to maintenance ratio KPI image

Equipment rental businesses have significant maintenance costs. It’s just part of this kind of business. Any kind of equipment – boats, bulldozers, bounce houses, any of it – undergoes regular wear and tear when your customers use it.

The income to maintenance ratio shows whether your revenue can cover your maintenance costs. It’s your income divided by your maintenance costs over any period.

One effective way to offset your maintenance costs is to charge customers extra – in the construction rental space, this is often 10-15% on top of the total – in exchange for a damage waiver.

That extra income can help you build a buffer fund that can cover the cost in a worst case scenario.

Especially for equipment that gets rented out long-term, it’s essential for the customers themselves to perform routine maintenance and keep your equipment in good shape.

If they aren’t doing that, or something goes wrong with a rental for that reason, this ratio can get out of hand fast.

Another way to help mitigate maintenance and repair costs is to make sure you document the condition of each piece of equipment, with photographs, both before and after each rental period.

That way, if they didn’t pay for a damage waiver and they’re at fault for serious damage to your equipment, you have photographic proof that they damaged it – smoothing out the process of sending them the repair bill.

These are the most important for core business operations. Now let’s talk about sales and marketing.

These five are The Big Ones. But there are others as well.

What Are the Top 5 Financial KPIs in Any Rental Business?

Debt to Equity Ratio

The ratio of debt to equity – that is, the total amount of debt that your company has, divided by your total equity – is a key indicator of how much financial leverage you have.

For equipment rental companies, an ideal ratio is generally considered to be around 3% or lower. This, however, is relatively uncommon. Many rental companies report ratios totaling as much as 50-70%.

Realistically, you may want to consider taking action if your debt to equity ratio exceeds around 20% or so. The more aggressive your company is about financing business growth with debt, the more open it becomes to the potential for financial problems.

Aging Accounts Receivable

This KPI refers to the number of accounts that have long payment times, and ideally, this metric should remain as low as possible.

A reliable invoicing solution like Quipli can help you with managing timely invoicing and payments.

You can also implement financial measures to help offset these problems, such as late payment fees, strict terms for financing, a discount for early payments, and other measures to help lower this metric.

Rental Rates & Revenue Generated

This metric assesses the total equipment revenue for a specific time period – often daily – versus the total amount of equipment revenue paid and rented during that time frame.

This helps benchmark results by day, month, quarter, and year.

Financial Utilization

Financial utilization is a very important metric for rental businesses’ finance and accounting departments. You want your equipment out on rent enough to generate adequate revenue to cover its expenses and loan debt.

That said, though, too high a utilization rate can also increase the equipment’s general wear and tear, driving up your maintenance and repair costs.

As an example, if you have a $25,000 piece of equipment that’s bringing in $23,000 per annum, it has a financial utilization rate of 92%.

While rates do vary depending on what kind of equipment you specialize in renting, typical recommended targets for financial utilization are around 65% for national enterprises, and 100% for small local rental businesses.

What Are the Top 5 KPIs for Sales and Marketing in An Equipment Rental Business?

For your core business to succeed, you need to make sure people know about you. You use sales and marketing to achieve that goal.

Your business needs customers in the first place. These KPIs are how you make sure you get them.

Change in Rental Business Value

Is your business worth more now? Take your total assets minus your debts at any point and compare them at different points in time. Has your business been growing consistently?

In the equipment rental industry, one of the biggest things you need to account for is depreciation. This is especially true in the construction rental industry, or any kind of vehicle rental.

Construction equipment, boats, and similar items depreciate quickly over time – just like cars do.

This needs to be accounted for in your financial calculations. The more time passes, the lower the ROI gets.

Equipment Rental Growth

Rental growth is a key sales and marketing KPI for the equipment rental industry.

It’s measured by taking the difference in revenue between this year and last year. Then, you take that number, and divide it by last year’s revenue.

If your business is doing well, you should get a result of at least 10%.

Customer Acquisition Cost

Your customer acquisition cost shows how much you’re paying to get new rental customers.

Any advertising and marketing incurs costs. This also applies to your sales team and your marketing agency.

You need to make sure that your sales and marketing campaigns and strategies are bringing in more money than you’re spending on them.

To calculate CAC, divide your total costs for sales and marketing. Then, divide it by the number of new customers that you’re successfully getting from those channels over a specific period of time. (Like a per month, per quarter, or per annum.)

This will give you your cost per new customer that you’re getting.

How much are you spending to bring in each new customer who rents from you? Are they spending more than you’re paying to get them to rent from you?

Further on, we’re going to talk more about business-to-business construction equipment rentals. This involves different methods of acquiring customers than most business-to-customer rentals, like wedding equipment rentals or kayak rentals.

Click here to find out more about CAC in B2B construction equipment rentals.

Marketing Revenue Attribution

Marketing revenue attribution is the measure of how much of your marketing spend goes to securing which equipment rental sales you’re making..

You can determine this by finding out how each customer found you and dividing the totals by total market spend.

So let’s break this down. Basically, you’re looking at the data from each type or channel you’re using for marketing and sales, and seeing which ones are bringing in the most revenue because they’re leading to most rentals. You’re comparing your spend for each campaign to the revenue it produced.

This makes sure you’re not spending your budget in the wrong places.

Traffic-to-Lead Ratio

So you’ve got marketing campaigns going. People are visiting your website. You’re getting clicks and traffic. That’s great!

But it’s not the whole story. You’re an equipment rental business, not a media company.

Traffic is worthless unless it converts. 

You don’t just need people to visit your website. You need them to actually rent something from you.

Take your site’s total traffic, and divide it by the number of actual equipment rental sales that result from them.

This should be a low number. If the number is high, that means that people are visiting your site, but they’re not converting into actual customers.

These KPIs are the key to honing your marketing efforts. Next comes customer satisfaction.

Tracking these KPIs can help you bring in new leads. But what about returning customers?

What Are the Top 5 KPIs for Customer Satisfaction for Equipment Rental?

Customer satisfaction is unbelievably important for equipment rentals.

When you’ve got a customer that needs to rent a piece of equipment, there’s a strong chance that at some point, they’re going to need it again.

You want them to come back to you – not go to a competitor because you didn’t give them a good enough customer experience.

Keeping your customers satisfied means more return business, so keep a close eye on these customer satisfaction KPIs for equipment rental companies:

Customer Lifetime Value

Customer lifetime value refers to how much revenue you expect from each customer. A satisfied customer will come back when they need you again.

Divide your total revenue by your total number of individual customers. (All of them ever, not just the new ones.)

This gives you an average for how much money each customer usually spends with you. Are they coming back repeatedly to rent from you again? Or is it a low number suggesting that most of your customers are a one-and-done?

If you’re renting to businesses, not consumers, then CVC plays an even bigger role.

Click here to read further down, about customer lifetime value in B2B construction equipment rentals.

Social Media Engagement

Social media. It’s been here for 15 years, and it’s not going anywhere. Businesses need a real presence there.

Your social media traffic numbers can indicate how your customers react to your business, and these values are available through any social media platform.

Now, social media engagement is a complex thing. A lot of companies try to measure traffic, or followers, or other stuff that doesn’t matter. These are called “vanity metrics.”

You could have 500,000 followers and get nothing but crickets.

You want people to like your posts, to comment on them, to share them. You want people to actually engage and talk back and forth with your brand, not just hit “Follow” then forget about you.

Satisfied customers tend to add you on social media. And guess what, if those satisfied customers are sharing your posts with their friends, they’re probably going to reach out to you next time they need to rent a piece of equipment.

Net Promoter Score

You can measure this KPI by asking customers how likely they are, on a scale of one to ten, to recommend your business to a friend and average the results.

One way to implement this is by creating a customer satisfaction survey to send to people after they’ve rented from you. (Quipli can help you do that.)

If you’re B2B, you might also consider having one of your sales reps call customers individually, to ask them for feedback about their experience.

Once you have enough of this information to work with, the next step is to analyze it. Compile your findings into a report.

Are customers happy with their rental experience? If not, why not? Are there any common recurring customer complaints or issues?

This information can be extremely valuable in helping your business grow and improve over time. If there’s anything you need to work on or fix, this is a great way to find out about it.

Customer Reviews

You can find customer reviews for your business on multiple platforms, and tracking those scores is a great way to gauge overall satisfaction

All of us have, at one point or another, decided against buying something from a company because they had a lot of bad reviews. The last thing you want is to be that company.

You generally want to make sure your total review score across various platforms – Google searches, online directories, your website – is at least a 4 out of 5.

Customer Churn Rate

This rate is the percentage of your customers who are first-time customers. A lower churn rate indicates more repeat business.

If your churn rate is too high, you might need to change what you’re doing to make sure that people come back again.

With that said, though, the hard reality of the business world is that you’re always going to have churn. You could be the best business in your entire industry, the creme de la creme of equipment rental, and you’d still lose the occasional customer.

You can work to lower your churn rate, but it’s never going to hit zero.

What you can do to offset churn, though, is to set goals for your sales team. Have them bring in a set number of new customers per month or per quarter. You need an influx of new customers to replace those that leave.

Construction Equipment Rental Business KPIs

Construction equipment rental businesses are a distinct and important sector within the equipment rental industry.

So far, we’ve mostly been talking about equipment rental in general. But if you’re renting out backhoes and bulldozers, well, that’s a totally different matter than someone who’s renting out kayaks or party equipment.

If your business rents out heavy construction equipment, this section is for you. This sector comes with its own unique needs, and there are some additional KPIs that you need to be measuring.

A big one is utilization. The more that a given piece of equipment rents out, the more money it makes for you. If it’s just sitting there in your warehouse and no one’s using it, all it’s doing is eating up your money.

Another thing that differs is how you approach customer acquisition cost. Customer lifetime value is much higher with B2B construction equipment rentals than it is for B2C companies.

We’re going to talk about each of these in detail.

Utilization Rate: A Key Factor for Construction Equipment Rental Success

Your utilization rate is basically a measure of how many of your machines are currently on rent, versus how many total you have in your fleet.

You don’t want that number to be too high, with equipment collecting dust in a warehouse instead of out there making money for you. But, you don’t want it to be too low, either.

A good utilization rate to shoot for is 70-80%, with 75% being about ideal for construction rentals. 

If your utilization rate is lower than 70%, then you’re not bringing in enough customers relative to how much equipment you have. Solving this could mean bringing in more customers through better sales tactics, or it could even mean selling off equipment that doesn’t have high enough demand to justify its cost.

But if it’s over around 80% or so, that’s also a problem.

Keep in mind that not all of your equipment is just sitting in storage.

Some of it might be under repair. Let’s say 5%, as an example.

Other equipment might be recently off rent, but undergoing routine maintenance before it can be rented out again.

That leaves 15% total that’s out of commission temporarily. This needs to be accounted for.

Too high a utilization rate means that you might not have a piece of equipment on hand when someone calls you asking to rent it. They’re not going to wait, so you essentially have to turn them away.

And the last thing any business wants to do is to turn away paying customers.

New deals can come in fast, especially if you’ve got a good sales team. A 75% utilization rate is perfect for keeping plenty of equipment on rent and making money, while still having enough inventory for the new customers that come in.

Fleet Age

Another KPI that’s relevant for heavy construction equipment rentals is fleet age – the general age of the vehicles in your rental fleet, in comparison to when the units first went into service.

This metric plays into maintenance for used and refurbished construction equipment, as well as for determining the value of your fleet in light of depreciation over time.

Fleet Apportionment

This KPI measures the partitioning of your fleet into a “base fleet,” and then an “other fleet” category.

“Base fleet” should generally refer to equipment that has rental activity across multiple time periods (e.g. weeks, months, quarters, or years). “Other fleet” generally includes changes to your equipment fleet – that is, units that were added, or that were sold off or eliminated.

This can give you meaningful insight into changes in revenue, and can also help you improve utilization data by restricting to your base fleet only.

Customer Acquisition Cost: The Power of a Great Sales Team

When people talk about customer acquisition cost, they’re referring to both marketing and sales. But the type of business you’re running, and the kind of customers you have, makes a big difference in where and how you’re acquiring those customers.

Let’s get real: you’re not landing that $2 million deal because someone saw a Facebook ad, or read a blog post on your website.

At that kind of level, in B2B construction rental, you’re looking at using knowledgeable professional sales representatives to cultivate real relationships with prospects and customers.

Paying a top-tier salesperson salary and commission brings a higher CAC than, say, running some Facebook ads. This cost, however, is well worth it if you have a strategic sales process in place.

Customer Lifetime Value: Building Long Term Customer Relationships

In construction equipment rental, you need to build long term relationships with satisfied customers who keep coming back to you.

For B2B rentals, you’re looking at a much higher CLV than with B2C rentals. You’re building a relationship with another business.

If you lose a customer – due to messing up with a rental, or your equipment failing unexpectedly – that means you’re losing a lot of money.

When you’re working with contracting outfits as a B2B renter, you need to be extremely responsive to customers. Sometimes, if something goes wrong, you’ll lose a lot less money if you take a short-term loss and do something like compensate them or pay to fix the problem.

Losing a customer in this industry is something you absolutely want to avoid.

What Software Tools Should I Use to Manage KPIs?

The most important aspect of implementing KPIs is to track them accurately and reliably.

A good way to do that is to use software that’s specifically designed to manage every aspect of your equipment rental business.

At Quipli, that’s where we come in.

Tracking by hand, juggling multiple apps and spreadsheets, can be exhausting and hard to maintain. Quipli puts everything in one place, from inventory tracking to digital marketing and business growth.

Everything you need for your business to thrive, all in one convenient, easy-to-use app you can access from anywhere.

With Quipli, tracking your KPIs has never been easier.

Touch base with us any time to find out more about what Quipli can do for you.


MANAGE YOUR KPIs WITH QUIPLI’S RENTAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

The Most Rented Construction Equipment

ANALYSIS UPDATED 3/8/2023

The construction industry is on the rise, making now a great time to open an industrial tool rental business. However, you still have to figure out exactly what kinds of equipment your customers want.

Online research can let you know the relative search frequencies for equipment, showing which are in the most demand. We used an online search tool called Ahrefs to find the numbers behind how many people are searching for common construction equipment each month, so we could help find what equipment has the highest demand in the construction equipment rental industry.

Our analysis compares data from 2023 and 2022. That way, you’ll have an up-to-date understanding of how equipment demands change within the rental industry.

Table Of Contents

  1. The Top 10 Most Popular General Tool Rentals
  2. The 10 Most Popular Heavy Equipment Rentals
  3. The 25 Most Popular Rental Equipment

General Tool Rentals Versus Heavy Equipment

While some rental businesses focus on general tools for smaller projects or homeowners, others might focus on heavy equipment rentals for contractors and construction teams. The following data represents each of these niches to provide deeper insight into how consumer behavior might impact your specific business.

The Top Ten Most Popular General Tool Equipment Rentals

Every year, more people perform DIY maintenance on their homes, especially as contractors charge higher prices. This might explain why we’re seeing such enormous growth in products like paint sprayers (+111%). However, consumers are also seeking outdoor equipment like log splitters (+46%) and sod cutters (+17%).

The greatest losses occur with products such as concrete mixers (-11%) and stump grinders (-3%), with no change in the search frequency of pressure washers or trenchers.

Most Rented Tools

The Top Ten Most Popular Heavy Equipment Rentals

Scissor lifts have seen the greatest increase in demand, with a 130% increase in search frequency in 2023 as compared to 2022. However, consumers are also increasing their searches for items like cranes (+70%), forklifts (+46%), and scaffolding (+33%).

At the same time, 2023 has seen a decline in searches for lifts (-18%) and bucket trucks (-14%). Boom lifts and excavators have held mostly steady, with only a 1% decrease in search frequency compared to last year.

Most Rented Heavy Equipment

Here is the full breakdown of the top 25 most popular equipment to rent for 2023.

1. Stump Grinder Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 33000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 34000

Year Over Year Growth: -3%

Estimated Rental Price: $75 to $100 per hour

Stump grinders are one of the most efficient ways to remove tree stumps and prevent future tree growth. Most equipment rental businesses rent out this equipment by the hour, though some may choose to charge customers by the number of tree stumps.

2. Scaffolding Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 28000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 21000

Year Over Year Growth:  +33%

Estimated Rental Price: $15 to $40 per day

Always in need of any type of exterior renovation and construction work, scaffolding is something that contractors need from time to time but can’t justify purchasing. Instead, this equipment is almost always rented.

3. Scissor Lift Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 23000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 10000

Year Over Year Growth: +130%

Estimated Rental Price: $100 to $300 per day

Scissor lifts are available in electric, gas, and diesel configurations, providing access to high and narrow places that can come up in certain jobs. There are even rough terrain scissor lifts for outdoor environments.

4. Forklift Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 19000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 13000

Year Over Year Growth: +46%

Estimated Rental Price: $225 to $750 per day

There are a wide variety of forklifts that are among the most rented equipment out there. For warehouses or rough terrain, forklifts are specialized equipment that companies with limited demand are sure to rent.

5. Pressure Washer Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 12000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 12000

Year Over Year Growth: 0%

Estimated Rental Price: $40 to $100 per day

A pressure washer makes it fast and easy to remove grime from a home’s deck, patio, or siding. Since pressure washers can cost as much as $400, many consumers prefer to rent this equipment.

6. Trencher Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 12000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 12000

Year Over Year Growth: 0%

Estimated Rental Price: $125 to $300 per day

Trenchers are tools that dig long, narrow trenches. They vary widely in size, from walk-behind models to ride-on trenchers. They see wide use for creating drainage or dealing with roots.


Grow Your Business with Construction Rental Software

7. Paint Sprayer Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 12000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 5700

Year Over Year Growth: +111%

Estimated Rental Price: $40 to $100 per day

While brushes and rollers are effective for indoor use, a paint sprayer is ideal for large or outdoor applications, such as painting a backyard fence. Because it’s usually for one-time use, many homeowners will usually rent a sprayer rather than buy their own.

8. Mini-Excavator Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 12000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 9500

Year Over Year Growth: +111%

Estimated Rental Price: $200 to $500 per day

These miniature excavators are perfect for landscaping and other small projects, often rented out to homeowners trying to handle projects on their own. They generally range from 1 to 5 tons, providing a versatile range of options.

9. Auger Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 11000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 10000

Year Over Year Growth: +10%

Estimated Rental Price: $25 to $100 per day

Augers are important pieces of equipment for digging post holes or other narrow, medium-depth holes. They come in different blade widths, along with either two-person operation or trailer-mounted versions.

10. Sod Cutter Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 11000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 9400

Year Over Year Growth: +17%

Estimated Rental Price: $75 to $125 per day

Gas-powered sod cutters come in a variety of cutting widths and cutting depths, giving homeowners and contractors the power they need to easily cut through the sod to prepare a lawn for re-sodding.

11. Floor Sander Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 10000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 8600

Year Over Year Growth: +16%

Estimated Rental Price: $50 to $100 per day

Floor sanders are used in the refinishing of hardwood floors and other floor types, removing protective finish elements and smoothing the floor itself. There are different types for different flooring, and they are popular rental equipment during home improvements.

12. Backhoe Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 10000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 8700

Year Over Year Growth: +15%

Estimated Rental Price: $150 to $500 per day

Backhoe rentals are used for all kinds of small to midsize renovation and landscaping projects and are often rented out by contractors for individual jobs. Larger companies can need rentals for specific contracts or emergency jobs.

13. Excavator Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 9300

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 9400

Year Over Year Growth: -1%

Estimated Rental Price: $225 to $750 per day

Excavators come in a wide range of sizes that are suitable for many different jobs. They’re an essential part of all kinds of industrial work, from working on pipes and cables to construction and foundation work.


Grow Your Business with Quipli’s Contrusction Rental Business Software

14. Log-Splitter Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 9200

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 6300

Year Over Year Growth: +46%

Estimated Rental Price: $50 to $100 per day

Anywhere that firewood is widely used for heat, you’ll have plenty of log-splitter rentals. These are typically gas-powered hydraulic splitters that apply powerful force to split logs without the trouble of swinging an ax for hours on end.

15. Lift Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 9000

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 11000

Year Over Year Growth: -18%

Estimated Rental Price: $100 to $400 per day

There are many different kinds of lifts out there for interior warehouse work, electrical line work, exterior repairs, and more. There are also many different types, ranging from articulated lifts to boom lifts and scissor lifts.

16. Ladder Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 8300

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 7500

Year Over Year Growth: +11%

Estimated Rental Price: $20 to $50 per day

Many homeowners don’t need regular access to a ladder, or they might not feel the need to own a 32’ or 40’ ladder. In any case, this is a low entry-point equipment category that will get plenty of rentals.

17. Crane Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 7800

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 4600

Year Over Year Growth: 70%

Estimated Rental Price: $200 to $1,000 per day

Crane rentals can vary widely in height, use, and size. These expensive pieces of equipment are rented out by construction companies and contractors for a wide variety of projects.

18. Boom Lift Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 6600

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 6700

Year Over Year Growth: -1%

Estimated Rental Price: $250 to $400 per day

Boom lifts provide versatile reach and height for construction, cleaning, repairs, and landscaping. There are both articulating and telescoping boom lifts, along with bucket trucks or cherry pickers.

19. Concrete Mixer Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 5700

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 6400

Year Over Year Growth: -11%

Estimated Rental Price: $40 to $200 per day

Concrete mixers can assist with projects such as creating a new walkway, building a backyard patio, or laying a small foundation. They come in several different sizes, and some are even portable which makes them an appealing rental for consumers and contractors.

20. Engine Hoist Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 5500

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 5200

Year Over Year Growth: +6%

Estimated Rental Price: $30 to $40 per day

Engine hoists have limited function, but they’re capable of hoisting as much as 1,500 pounds. Rental businesses typically rent these out by the day, though it’s not uncommon to charge a flat weekly rate for projects like extended car repairs.

21. Chainsaw Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 5200

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 4100

Year Over Year Growth: +27%

Estimated Rental Price: $70 to $90 per day

Chainsaws are invaluable for maintaining trees or clearing away fallen branches and debris. Rental costs can vary depending on the type of saw, blade length, and power type.

22. Lawn Mower Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 4700

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 4100

Year Over Year Growth: +15%

Estimated Rental Price: $30 to $100 per day

Both push and ride-on mowers see plenty of rental traffic. While they have relatively low purchase prices for rentals, maintenance can be a concern, and the rental season will vary based on your region

23. Bucket Truck Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 4200

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 4900

Year Over Year Growth: -15%

Estimated Rental Price: $650 to $950 per day

The Bucket Truck, also known as a Cherry Picker, is an essential tool for working on hard-to-reach areas common for installers & arborists.

24. Pallet Jack Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 3900

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 4700

Year Over Year Growth: -17%

Estimated Rental Price: $40 to $50 per day

A pallet jack can be a helpful piece of equipment when moving, and many can handle loads in the thousands of pounds. They can be either electric or manual, and it’s worth noting that rental businesses can make more revenue off of electric models.

25. Bulldozer Rental

2023 Average Monthly Search Volume: 3100

2022 Average Monthly Search Volume: 3300

Year Over Year Growth: -0.6%

Estimated Rental Price: $300 to $1,000 per day

Larger equipment rental businesses can also rent bulldozers, the price of which will depend on the size of the machine. Some rental businesses can charge additional fees by delivering the equipment to the job site.

A Rental Platform for All Kinds of Equipment

No matter what your most rented piece of equipment is, Quipli provides an all-in-one system that combines an innovative inventory management and reservation system, equipment rental website template, POS, and built-in reporting you need to make running your business that much easier.

Bonus equipment rental idea! Explore our how to start a trailer rental business guide for more information.


Learn More About Quipli’s Construction Rental Software

The Most Expensive Construction Equipment: The 5 Priciest Items in 2023

As a rental business owner, you are probably aware that the most expensive construction equipment not only has a high initial purchase price — it’s expensive to maintain, too. 

For machines costing around $1 million to purchase, parts and labor can be costly as well.

Renting out equipment may be your bread and butter, but you also need to know what happens when that excavator comes back with malfunctioning hydraulics. What will it cost you to repair the problem? Will you still be able to make a profit? 

The Top 5 Most Expensive Types of Construction Equipment

The most expensive kinds of construction equipment to purchase and maintain are the following five:

  • Cranes
  • Excavators
  • Motor graders
  • Concrete mixing trucks
  • Wheel loaders

While the reasons for these high prices vary, the general rule is that the more expensive the equipment, the more expensive maintenance for that equipment will be.

Cranes: One of the Priciest Types of Construction Equipment

Cranes are one of the costliest pieces of construction equipment on the market. They can cost as little as $50,000 and as much as $5 million. Those figures do not include the expense of licensing and insurance. There are also different kinds of cranes for different jobs, which each carry their own price range:

  • Rough Terrain: Between $50,000 and $500k
  • All-Terrain Cranes: Between $100k and $1 million
  • Truck Cranes: Between $100k and $2 million
  • Crawler Cranes: Between $1 million and $5 million

Remember that cranes experience a lot of torque and pressure over their lives, so parts experience high amounts of stress. The more maintenance you do, the less you’ll have to worry about a part failure causing expensive damage. Pay attention to average repair costs for the size and brand of crane you want.

Construction equipment rental rates for cranes can bring in $200 per day for smaller models and $1,000 per day for larger ones. Crawler or tower cranes should be rented out by the month because they are generally not going to complete a job in a single day. Plan for about $15,000 for a month of rental time.

Excavators Are Often Surprisingly Expensive

To purchase a new excavator, you’ll need between $100k and $500k. They’re one of the more expensive pieces of machinery you can buy. 

Small excavators weigh between 10 and 15 tons and can cost $100k to $150k. Mid-sized models weighing anywhere from 15 and 20 tons will run closer to $200k. Once you’re to full-sized excavators, the cost of purchase can be anywhere from $200k to $500k.

Like cranes, excavators experience high stress and are under constant use. They can rack up thousands of hours quickly. Excavators are also complex machines that have to articulate in many directions. The more complex the machine, the more there is to break, and the more costly the result when something does. 

When renting out an excavator, you can charge about $500 daily for smaller models, and over $1,300 per day for larger ones. The more training your rental customers get, the better. Misuse will cause the quickest breakdowns.

Motor Graders

Motor graders have the advantage of being able to last for 10 to 15 years. This advantage does come at a price; full-sized models can cost between $200k and $500k to purchase. 130hp graders will run on the low side of that spectrum, while 250hp machines are typically on the high end. 

Fortunately, motor graders don’t usually need as much maintenance as cranes or excavators because they are performing low-impact work. However, when something does wear out or break, replacing the part is not cheap. A set of tires alone can cost $7,500 or more, especially if you choose radials over bias-ply tires.

Renting out your motor grader can bring in between $1,000 and $1,500 per day. This is because graders are rarer, more specialized pieces of equipment that not too many construction crews need very often.

Concrete Mixing Trucks

Concrete is in high demand as new construction begins again in earnest. This means that concrete mixer trucks will be in high demand, too. 

To purchase one, expect to spend between $100k and $150k. These are massive vehicles, weighing over 26,000 pounds on their own, and over 40,000 with a full load of concrete. The truck you buy needs to be kept in tip-top shape to handle the pressure.

Because of this, maintenance costs can be high. The trucks will need mandatory regular inspections, and there are plenty of moving parts to consider. 

Not only does the vehicle itself need maintenance, from engine components to suspension to chassis and frame parts, but the concrete mixing apparatus also needs attention. Without regular attention, parts can fail quickly.

Most people tend to rent a trailer-mounted mixer for about $120 per day. Renting an entire concrete mixing truck would be considerably more expensive and unnecessary for homeowner projects. 

However, if you’re renting to a construction crew, you can charge somewhere between $500 and $800 daily.

Wheel Loaders

A common sight during construction, wheel loaders are available in a staggering variety of sizes. Smaller models with about 110hp come at about $40,000, up to $130k. 180hp models range between $120k and $180k. 350hp models are between $150k and $500k. Once you’re up to 500hp, you’re looking at a cool million dollars.

Maintenance costs will be proportional to the cost of the machine. Set aside around $4,000 for an average-sized wheel loader’s maintenance and repair every year. If you’re using a large, name-brand wheel loader, $10,000 would be best.

To rent a wheel loader, your customers should be paying between $400 and $1,000 per day, depending on size.

Have more questions about construction rentals? Check our our guide for the most popular rental equipment and which construction rental equipment is trending.

Quipli Is Improving the Construction Equipment Rental Experience

Just because owning and maintaining construction equipment is expensive doesn’t mean renting it has to be. Quipli simplifies the construction equipment rental process. Our rental software embeds easily into any website, allowing customers to enjoy a smooth rental experience without the traditional headaches. 

Explore Quipli for information ranging from starting a equipment rental business plan to boosting your business’s revenue with construction equipment rental business ideas and rental market statistics.

If you’re ready to simplify how you rent, we’re ready to show you how we do it. Contact Quipli today!


Learn About Quipli’s Construction Equipment rental Software

How Does Quipli’s Rental App Work?

Quipli’s equipment rental web app is a comprehensive solution for rental businesses. With website features and integrations, payment processing options, customer relationship features, and much more, Quipli has everything you need to manage your business and scale it to the next level.

How does it do all this? Here’s a detailed guide to Quipli’s many features and capabilities.

Create Your Online Rental Storefront

Quipli offers two options for setting up a customer-facing digital storefront: building your own through the platform itself or integrating Quipli into your current website.

Build Your Perfect Rental Website

With Quipli’s template, you can build a responsive, user-friendly rental website. Quipli is easy for beginners to learn and use, allowing business owners like you to build high-performing websites that meet the expectations of your customers

Quipli’s website builder is a sophisticated design tool tailored specifically to rental businesses. It allows you to list all of your products in a modern Ecommerce format so that users can easily select products based on what categories they are searching for. Here are just a few of its many useful features:

  • Cloud-based website builder allows you to work from anywhere rather than having software and programs downloaded onto your computer
  • No knowledge of coding required
  • The ability to either transfer in your own domain or purchase a new one through Quipli
  • Full editing capabilities for pages and product info
  • Product data imports that allow you to quickly upload all of your product information from a spreadsheet rather than manually creating each one
  • A fully-integrated checkout process that integrates with your POS system
    • Includes QR code functionality
    • Includes payment processing

Quipli’s website builder also allows you to establish a customer portal so repeat buyers can easily create their own accounts, and leverage cycle billing.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is important for ensuring that customers find your business. SEO determines where you rank on search engines and how often your site appears to consumers. The higher up you rank, the more customers in your area will see you. Given the prominence of Google search, getting this right or wrong can make or break your ability to win new business in your geography. Quipli has designed its platform for SEO out of the box (at a basic level). You can be rest assured that all of the basic elements of your SEO will be there without having to think about it. 

Last but certainly not least, Quipli’s website builder is responsive and 100% mobile-friendly. Most customers do their shopping on their phones, making this a critical feature.


Learn more about how to build your online storefront with quipli

Integrate Your Inventory Seamlessly with Quipli

If you already have a website for your business, Quipli can work for you too. You can seamlessly integrate Quipli into your existing site to take advantage of the streamlined checkout process, payment processing, and customer portal features.

Manage and Track Your Inventory

The Quipli equipment rental app lets you easily manage and track your rental inventory. Quipli comes with a robust inventory management system with many essential features, including:

  • Effortless renting
  • Inventory calendar
  • Location management
  • Product and category management
  • Product data importing
  • Reporting data

Quipli’s app is adaptable for either multi-location or single-location rental businesses. If you have many different types of products, Quipli allows you to create both rental categories and individual product items.

Another useful feature of Quipli’s app is the inventory calendar, which gives you a bird’s-eye view of the products you have available, out for rent, or due for return. This feature is essential for preventing double booking, which can result in awkward phone calls and costly corrections.

The inventory management software integrates fully with Quipli’s POS features so your customers can easily rent and pay for their desired equipment. The app even aggregates your data so you can disseminate info on your customers, product demand, and bestsellers.


learn more about managing your inventory with quipli

Manage Booking and Scheduling With Ease

Quipli’s equipment management app automatically pulls product availability information when booking and scheduling equipment rentals to prevent overbooking or double booking. The scheduling and booking features also integrate with Quipli’s POS system.

This feature also comes with an inventory calendar that helps you easily track what’s currently out and when certain equipment is due to be returned so you can plan future bookings. Gone are the days of analyzing a slew of spreadsheets before making a sale!

Make Double Booking a Thing of the Past

Double booking, or renting the same piece of equipment to two different customers within the same time frame, is a major issue that many rental companies run into when using manual systems for scheduling. With an integrated booking, scheduling and inventory management system, you won’t miss critical information like product availability when making a sale.

Additionally, when customers make rental reservations directly through your website, they won’t be able to book equipment that’s already rented. In other words, Quipli’s advanced inventory management capabilities make double booking impossible.


Learn About Quipli’s Booking & Scheduling Features

Unify Your Checkout Process with Quipli’s POS System

Quipli’s POS rental system enables omni-channel selling, which involves marketing your products online and engaging with customers directly. You can integrate your offline and online booking sales into a single, streamlined system to store all your financials and records in one place.

Quipli also integrates with Stripe, one of the leaders in digital payment processing. Many business owners and consumers use Stripe because of its secure, dependable functionality.

Quipli’s checkout process was designed to enhance the user experience, making it easy, intuitive, and hassle-free for customers to rent from you.

The customer profile functionality built into Quipli also makes it easy for repeat customers to store their information, such as payment info, addresses, and preferences. The customer profile has a dual function since it also serves as a data collection source.

What’s more, you can send digital invoices and receipts for paperless sales processes, allowing you to manage the accounts receivable aspect of your business while also reducing your organization’s ecological footprint.


find out more about quipli’s point of sale features

Keep Track of Financials with Quickbooks Integration

Quipli works with leading organizations to bring the best possible solutions to customers. For financial tracking, Quipli has developed an integration with Quickbooks, the global leader in accounting and bookkeeping software.

Quickbooks allows you to document and manage orders, invoicing, and taxes for stress-free financial tracking and reporting. With Quipli’s Quickbooks rental software integration, all of your systems will be integrated to allow full consistency between booking and your accounting.

Integrating Quickbooks

Integrating Quickbooks into Quipli is easy for the tech-savvy and tech-stunted alike. You can sync your customer and product information between the two platforms with a few clicks. Syncing Quickbooks and Quipli helps you and your team avoid potential mixups or mistakes.

Quickbooks is just one of the integration features Quipli offers. The platform can also integrate with the following:

  • Google Analytics
  • Google Maps
  • Stripe
  • Avalara

Quipli is the all-in-one solution you need to manage and scale your rental business.


Learn How Quipli’s Quickbooks Integration Works

Rent with (Cyber)Security

Data breaches grew by 68% from 2020 to 2021 and continue to grow each year.  Because Quipli is a cloud-based solution, as opposed to several competitors that rely on on-premise solutions, Quipli is a more flexible, more secure and more stable solution. Quipli has several servers in various state-of-the-art, highly secure facilities across the country which only helps to provide some of the best cybersecurity on the market.

Customer Service

At Quipli, we consider our customer service a core part of our app. We provide you with an onboarding team to get your business started off right. Quipli offers phone, email, chat and text support – if you need to contact us, we’re available. We also pride ourselves on our 5-minute response time that is available any time during our business hours.

The Best Equipment Rental App

With so many features, capabilities, and integrations, Quipli is without a doubt the best equipment rental app for rental businesses.

You can use Quipli on your desktop, laptop, or mobile device via the Quipli mobile app, making it possible to manage your business from your phone.

To make sure Quipli is right for you, schedule a demo with one of our expert representatives. They’ll give you an informative overview of the app and its features and answer any questions you may have about adapting Quipli to your needs.


Ready to grow? Book your free demo with QUipli


Unsure about the Options? Read our Software Comparison Guide

Equipment Rental Agreement Terms & Conditions: What to Include

When you rent out equipment to customers, you’ll need an equipment rental Terms & Conditions agreement for them to sign.

A Terms & Conditions agreement constitutes a legally binding contract, so it’s important that you make sure that it includes the right information, in the right language. If it’s not written and worded correctly, you could end up having to go through formal litigation in the event of a dispute with a customer.

Here’s what you’ll need to include in a Terms & Conditions agreement for equipment rentals – the types of clauses involved, what they mean, and how they help protect your rental business and your equipment

Since Terms & Conditions agreements are important legal documents that need to be written in the right kind of legalese, we recommend consulting with a contract lawyer to have yours created.

What to Include in The Terms & Conditions for Your Equipment Rentals

The terms and conditions agreement for an equipment rental contract should include certain kinds of clauses, so that you can cover all of your bases and make sure that everything is clearly outlined and delineated in the document. 

The clauses and information that you need to include here will help protect your business and property in case your  equipment is damaged or lost, if a customer defaults on payments, or if things otherwise go wrong. 

You’ll definitely make sure that you include the following information in your Terms & Conditions agreements:

  • Indemnification clause
  • Rental period
  • Stipulations for the use of the equipment
  • Loss or damage clause
  • Transportation stipulations
  • Information about your insurance coverage and warranties for the equipment
  • Event of default clause

Here’s some more information about each necessary section.

What to Include in Your Terms & Conditions Agreement for Equipment Rentals

The terms and conditions agreement for an equipment rental contract should include certain kinds of clauses, so that you can cover all of your bases and make sure that everything is clearly outlined and delineated in the document. 

The clauses and information that you need to include here will help protect your business and property in case your  equipment is damaged or lost, if a customer defaults on payments, or if things otherwise go wrong. 

You’ll definitely make sure that you include the following information in your Terms & Conditions agreements:

  • Indemnification clause
  • Rental period
  • Stipulations for the use of the equipment
  • Loss or damage clause
  • Transportation stipulations
  • Information about your insurance coverage and warranties for the equipment
  • Event of default clause

Here’s some more information about each necessary section.

Indemnification Clause

In commercial contact agreements, an indemnity clause helps determine where the risk involved in the agreement is allocated between the two parties involved. 

The term “indemnification,” also referred to as “indemnity,” refers to when one party involved in a contract compensates the other party for costs and expenses. 

In the case of a rental equipment terms and conditions agreement, this covers what’s known as “direct claims.” That just means that the claim is made by one of the two parties against the other. For example, if a customer damages your equipment by using it in an irresponsible way that’s forbidden by the contract, they’d have to compensate you for the associated costs.

Here’s a quick overview of the typical components of an indemnification clause that would apply for an equipment rental Terms & Conditions agreement. If you want a more in-depth explanation, we highly recommend checking out this comprehensive breakdown from Thompson-Reuters, a world-renowned data firm that works closely with law firms, corporate legal departments, and governmental regulators.

  • Obligation to indemnify. This requires the customer to reimburse you for specified costs and expenses.
  • “Hold harmless” provisions. The language used in indemnification clauses in typical contracts, like your own T&C agreement, requires the indemnifying customer – which, in this case, is the customer who’s renting from you – to “identify and hold harmless” the “indemified party” (which is you). 
  • Recoverable damages. This defines what kinds of damages are covered by the indemnification clause – the cases where the renter needs to pay you back.

Rental Period

This section just specifies how long the renter has agreed to rent the equipment from you, and when they need to return it.

Use of Equipment

This section outlines how the renter is allowed to use your equipment. It’s meant to prevent them from using it in irresponsible or inappropriate ways that could lead to damage or losses.

Loss or Damage Clause

This clause specifies what happens if the customer loses or damages your equipment during the rental period. It says that the customer is agreeing to assume this risk and responsibility.

Transportation Information

This specifies how and when the equipment is permitted to be transported.

Insurance and Warranty Information

This section provides some information about what kinds of damage your insurance, and any applicable warranties on your equipment, will cover.

Event of Default Clause

An event of a default clause is a must-have in a commercial contract like a T&C agreement. It specifies what happens when one party fails to uphold their end of the agreed-upon deal.

In this case, it allows you to terminate the agreement, declaring all outstanding amounts owed immediately due and payable, in the event of a breach of contract on the renter’s part.

Simplify Your Rental Business Management with Quipli

Quipli makes it easy to manage multiple aspects of your business from one convenient, user-friendly software platform. It’s a great solution for handling inventory management, your online storefront, and more.

Explore additional helpful resources like our equipment purchase agreement template or our equipment rental form excel template.

Hit the button below to book your demo today and find out more about what Quipli can do for you!


Learn About Quipli’s rental Software

How to Track Your Rental Inventory with Excel or Google Sheets (With Free Spreadsheet Template)

When you’re running an equipment rental business, inventory management is a central aspect. Having a good system in place is crucial to keeping everything running smoothly.

There are a number of different options for rental inventory tracking, from old fashioned paper records, to dedicated rental business software solutions like Quipli.

If you don’t have an inventory tracking system in place yet, using Excel or Google Sheets can be a great low-cost, yet effective, solution.

We’ve created a free rental inventory tracker template for Excel and Google Sheets, which you can use to keep track of the status of your rental equipment.

Download Our Free Equipment Rental Spreadsheet Template

We’ve put together a free downloadable Excel and Google Sheets template for inventory tracking. Just hit the link below to download it, so you can start using it today!


need better inventory tracking? click here to download our free spreadsheet template

Why Inventory Management is Crucial to Your Business

If you’re renting out equipment, you absolutely need to keep track of the status of each item in your inventory – whether it’s currently being rented out, whether it’s been inspected or undergone maintenance prior to being rented out again, and ongoing trends in rental patterns over time. 

Using digital spreadsheets via Excel or Google Sheets makes it simply to update an item’s status, keeping everything up to date and accurate.

How to Track Your Rental Equipment Inventory with Google Sheets or Excel

Here’s how you can use our free equipment rental tracking spreadsheet template to keep tabs on rentals and equipment status.

Our spreadsheet contains five pages for tracking:

  • Equipment
  • Orders
  • Top Customers
  • Inventory Calendar
  • Revenue Trend

1. Enter the equipment and its stock number into the Equipment sheet.

This sheet is for listing all of the assets from your equipment inventory. At the top, you can list the total number of items, the number rented, and the number left in stock.

For each item, you can specify:

  • Daily Rental Rate
  • Asset Name
  • Asset Description
  • Number of that item in the total inventory
  • Number of items currently being rented out
  • Number of items left in stock

This tab is for tracking your current inventory – what’s rented out and what’s available to be rented.

2. Input your contract rental orders into the Input Orders sheet.

For each rental contract, enter the details into the Input Orders tab in the spreadsheet. You’ll need to specify the following information:

  • Order Number
  • Order Total
  • Order Date
  • Asset Information
  • Quantity Rented
  • Date of Rental
  • Return Date
  • Customer Name
  • Customer Address
  • Customer Phone Number
  • Customer Email

There’s also a Notes column for additional information about each rental.

3. Add each customer’s information into the Top Customers sheet to track and sort by total revenue.

The Top Customers sheet lets you keep tabs on which customers are generating the highest amounts of revenue.

4. Use the Inventory Calendar tab to track revenue over time for the various products you have available to rent.

In this tab, you can track price, inventory, and total revenue for your products, over monthly periods of time. You can view how many of an item are rented out, versus still in stock, for each day of a month, helping you pinpoint trends over time in rentals and revenue.

5. The Revenue Trends tab lets you plot and graph revenue over time, based on return dates.

You can enter the order totals for the day for each return date, generating a graph of daily revenues.

Learn How Equipped Saved 10 Hours a Month by Automating Inventory Management with Quipli


Read Our Case Study

Quipli Makes Rental Inventory Tracking Easier Than Ever

If you’re looking for more robust inventory tracking functionality and features, check out Quipli. Our inventory management software lets you view product categories, inventory calendars, product availability, and more, all in one centralized and user-friendly interface. You can also integrate your inventory tracking with your rental Point of Sale systems, data and analytics tracking, and customer-facing website.

Ready to get started? Reach out any time to book your demo with Quipli!

Looking for more useful templates to grow your business? Explore our equipment rental agreement form or our equipment rental terms and conditions form.


Learn About Quipli’s rental Software

Equipment Purchase Agreement Template

The world is full of equipment that can be rented or sold to consumers or business interests, from medical and construction equipment to golf carts and water sports vehicles. Even dumpsters, scaffolding, and party equipment. 

As an entrepreneur, you can use your knowledge and interests to launch a business that offers equipment rental booking, outright sales, or both.

With that being said, when you sell equipment, you want to make sure everyone understands the terms associated with the transfer of ownership, especially since something like a medical ventilator machine could go for $30,000 to $50,000, while a Caterpillar Excavator could cost anywhere from about $100,000 to $850,000

These large sums are why you need an equipment sales contract in place. What are equipment purchase agreements, and what should you include in yours?

Free Downloadable Equipment Purchase Agreement Template

Need to create a standardized purchase agreement for selling used equipment? We’ve created a free downloadable PDF template you can start using today!

Need a rental purchase agreement? Click here to download your free template!

*Consult with your lawyer to ensure this template correctly applies to your location, county and contains the proper terms and conditions before use. 

What Are Equipment Purchase Agreements?

As a business owner, you’ll turn to all kinds of targeted software solutions to run your operation, from QuickBooks for managing your finances to Google Analytics for tracking the success of your online efforts and gaining insights that help you improve. 

You can also find a range of templates to help you do everything from sending out email blasts to creating professional invoices.

An equipment purchase agreement is a legal contract that spells out the terms of a sale, as agreed upon by the seller and the purchaser. It serves to protect both parties in different ways.

The agreement protects the seller from claims that the equipment is not what the buyer agreed to purchase. However, it also protects the buyer if they actually receive the wrong piece of equipment or the condition is not as stated. 

A proper equipment purchase agreement template will include everything you need to ensure that both parties understand the terms of a sale, but you may have to tweak it a bit to make it suit your particular needs.

Free Equipment Purchase Agreement Template

The easiest way to get started when it comes to making your own sales contract is with a simple equipment purchase agreement template. After all, why start from scratch when someone has already done the heavy lifting for you? 

Even if it’s not exactly what you need for your business, it acts as a blueprint from which you can create a customized contract.

What Should an Equipment Sales Contract Include?

If you’ve offered equipment rental for a while, you probably already have some idea of what should go into your equipment sales agreement template. However, since you’re not booking rentals temporarily but instead turning over equipment ownership outright, there will be a few differences. A standard sales contract should include:

  • Names and contact information for all involved parties
  • Description of the equipment
  • Payment terms
  • Delivery terms
  • Warranties and guarantees

While you might choose to include additional information or terms, either as part of your regular contract or for individual sales, these elements are the basics that will serve to protect you in the event of a dispute after the fact.

Names and Contact Information for All Involved Parties

The legitimacy of contracts can turn on a misspelled name, so it’s really important to make sure you nail down the correct names and contact information for all parties involved in your equipment purchase agreement.

Description of the Equipment

A major part of equipment sales management is making sure everyone knows exactly what pieces are being purchased. A generic equipment name such as “ventilator,” “excavator,” or “jet ski” won’t do the trick. What information do you need to include in the equipment description portion of your contract?

Naturally, a basic equipment purchase agreement template won’t include the specifics, so for each individual sales contract, so prepare to fill in details like:

  • Manufacturer
  • Model name and/or number
  • Serial number
  • Visual description of the equipment

You might also include the condition of the equipment at the time of sale. This wording could include terms like “new,” “used,” “as is,” “excellent,” “good,” “fair,” or “poor.” If there are known issues, you may want to spell them out, so everyone is aware of what they’re agreeing to. This approach could help to prevent disputes and legal action later on.

Payment Terms

Before you jump right into scheduling delivery, you need to make sure the payment terms are understood by the purchaser. Payment terms are relatively simple to add to a contract. Include the total amount to be paid for the purchase, as well as acceptable forms of payment and the due date.

If you offer payment plans, you will have to stipulate them, as well as any penalties for late or missed payments. Don’t forget to include that the buyer is also responsible for sales tax or other taxes associated with the sale.

Need help nailing down your equipment pricing? Here’s a handy guide on rental equipment values.

Delivery Terms

Whether you offer delivery as part of the purchase price or you charge extra for this service, it’s best to include your terms as part of the equipment purchase agreement so the buyer knows what to expect. 

In some cases, you may expect the buyer to arrange for pick-up from a storage location. You can make any arrangements you like where equipment delivery is concerned. Just make sure the buyer is aware and agrees to your terms.

Warranties and Guarantees

Any time someone purchases an expensive piece of equipment, whether it’s for business or personal use, they’re going to want some kind of guarantee that it’s not going to fall apart or fail immediately. They’ll also want to make sure they’re not buying something that “fell off a truck.”

The average equipment sales contract template should include some standard language to the effect that you are the rightful owner of the equipment and that when it is delivered to the buyer, legal ownership will be transferred. 

It should also stipulate that the buyer agrees to take the equipment in its current condition and that the buyer indemnifies you against damages that may occur later.

If the equipment includes any transferrable manufacturer warranties or if you offer a warranty through your business, you should also include the information in the agreement.

Download SAMPLE PURCHASE AGREEMENT TEMPLATE

The Value of Equipment Purchase Agreements

Equipment purchase agreements are an important part of any business operation that sells new or used equipment. With careful planning and attention to detail, these documents help to protect both your company and your clients.

If you’re looking for a platform that gives you the tools to better manage rental business inventory, orders, and more, book a demo today to learn more about Quipli and what it can do for you.

Learn About Quipli’s rental Software

Equipment Rental Receipts & Invoices: Best Practices & What to Include (With Free Template)

Equipment rental receipts and invoices are two key documents for your customers. Receipts are usually provided when your customer pays for their rental, while invoices are used when you agree to bill them for a rental, allowing them to pay later. 

Both include key information, however, such as details of the equipment rented, the length of the rental, itemized rental rates, and the total cost.

Need a rental invoice template? click here to get yours for free!

What to Include in Your Rental Invoices & Receipts

As mentioned, each rental invoice or receipt you create should contain essential information, including your company name and contact information, as well as the customer name and contact information. In addition, you’ll want to include a thorough analysis of the rented supplies, detailing the make and model of the equipment and a breakdown of the amount due.

If multiple pieces of equipment are rented, or if there are other items purchased, such as consumables like water or cleaning fluid, each will have its own line in the invoice or receipt. 

For an equipment rental receipt, you’ll include the amount paid and the payment method used (credit card or check). For invoices, you’ll include a due date for the amount owed and how the customer can pay. You can provide a link for credit card checkout or a mailing address if they choose to remit a paper check. 

You’ll also want to provide any other relevant information for the order, such as the purchase order number. Make sure to print the due date on the invoice as well to clear up any confusion and prevent issues. For example, an invoice created on Jan. 1, 2023, with “due in 30 days” terms means you’d arrange a due date of Jan. 31, 2023. 

Should You Offer Invoicing for Your Rentals?  

Generally speaking, equipment rental invoices or receipts are provided to a customer renting your equipment. 

Equipment rental receipts are typically provided once a customer pays for the rental service. You can provide an equipment rental invoice at the time of rental, but they are commonly provided (either mailed or emailed) after the rental is completed. However, invoices may be sent intermittently (such as weekly) for long-term rentals.

Say you have an excavator that’s been rented out for six months, and your customer is a state agency that has asked to be billed instead of having to pay upfront. You agree to invoice them weekly, and so every Monday, you’ll send them an invoice for the previous week’s rental period costs. 

Send Out Invoices in a Timely Manner

Invoicing is a great way to get a leg up on the competition, extending credit to your customers. Though your cash inflows might be delayed, offering invoicing options signifies that you’ll open your business to more potential customers.

If your equipment rental company does decide to offer invoicing services, you’ll want to ensure you get them out promptly. Set a precise schedule for invoicing, such as the same day each week, as delays in getting invoices out correlate with payment delays.

On the other end, make sure the payment process is as easy as possible. Include information about how your customers can pay their invoices, such as a direct link to making credit card payments if you’re emailing invoices.

Getting invoices out on time is integral to managing the accounts-receivable process. Invoices are often reconciled with purchase orders and need authorization from various department heads, which can take time — another reason to get invoices out as soon as possible.

Additional reasons to be timely with invoicing include keeping your invoice amount smaller — which is more likely to be paid quickly. Multiple approvals might be needed for larger invoices, which can delay payment. 

As well, some larger customers may batch their payments, meaning you might miss a payment cycle if the invoice comes in later than expected. 

Consider Using an Automated Invoicing System

A good rule of thumb is to invoice your customer as soon as possible. In order to remain transparent and clear about your expectations, keep the time between when the rental was completed and when the invoice is sent to a minimum. 

Providing rental receipts or invoices for each transaction or customer can be cumbersome — not to mention time-consuming. Thankfully, there’s software that can streamline the process and generate customer invoices and statements automatically. This software can speed up the billing process and remove the need for physical paperwork.

Utilizing invoicing software also means you’ll get your invoice in the hands of your customers sooner, and the quicker you get your invoices out, the faster you’ll get paid. Payment delays mean less cash inflow for you, leading to missed opportunities or additional interest spent on financed equipment. 

Free Equipment Rental Invoice Template

See below for a free equipment rental invoice template that you can use for any type of rental, such as farming, construction, or cleaning equipment. 

A suitable equipment rental invoice like the one below will contain details about the customer’s rental and an itemized breakdown of the costs. It’ll benefit both parties even further if it’s delivered automatically. 

Download Our Equipment Rental Invoice Template

Simplify Payments, Invoicing and Accounting With Quipli

Quipli is the all-in-one solution for rental businesses. Integrate your website builder, inventory management, scheduling, pricing, customer pick-up and invoicing all with Quipli. 

If you’re interested in finding out what Quipli can do for your rental business, book a 15-minute demo with our team today.

Learn About Quipli’s rental Software

10 Construction Equipment Rental Business Ideas

Searching for tips to increase revenue for your heavy equipment rental business? Want to grow your business but aren’t sure where to begin? Need to reinvigorate your marketing efforts using proven tactics?

If any of these questions describe your situation, our list of construction equipment rental business ideas can give you some direction.

Here are ten surefire ways to help your rental business flourish.

1. Make Sure Your Product and Category Pages Have Good On-Page SEO

One of the first and most crucial steps to growing your business is ensuring your category and product pages are easy to find. You can accomplish this by reviewing the on-page search engine optimization (SEO) of both page types. 

On-page SEO refers to the process of optimizing elements like keyword usage, content length, and location targeting (name-dropping the areas you serve). By leveraging on-page SEO, you can make your category and product pages more visible on the first few pages of top search engines like Google.

2. Keep Your Brand Top of Mind with Regular Email Campaigns

Most customers that rent heavy equipment do so on a recurring basis. With that in mind, how do you guarantee that past and prospective clients think of your brand first when they need to rent construction machinery?

While there are many ways to keep your business top of mind, launching regular email campaigns is one of the most effective approaches. You should be keeping up monthly email campaigns to remind clients about your services and notify them of potential deals, inventory changes, and other useful info.

For your campaigns to be effective, you’ll first need to build a mailing list. You can gather email leads by publishing a monthly newsletter and encouraging users to sign up when they visit your site.

Once you’ve compiled a list, create separate audience segments and target each group based on their rental needs and equipment preferences.

3. Analyze Poorly Performing Products and Look for Possible Solutions

Do you have a particular product that rarely gets rented? If so, you should begin exploring why. Is the equipment priced too high? Explore how to determine your equipment rental costs or is there simply not enough demand for a certain type of machinery in your area?

Once you’ve determined why a product is underperforming, you can explore possible solutions. If the rental cost for a piece of machinery is excessive, consider running a special for a few months to see if it remedies the issue. Conversely, if demand is too low, consider reducing your inventory of that particular type of machinery.

4. Automate Your Booking and Inventory Management

You can easily automate inventory management and booking processes by investing in a technology solution like Quipli. Doing so will make it easier for your clients to find, reserve, and pay for the equipment they need, leading to increased sales and higher total revenue for your business.

You can integrate Quipli into your existing website, which makes it easy to start using. Alternatively, you can build a whole new website powered by Quipli’s inventory management technology.

Regardless of which route you take, Quipli’s powerful platform is guaranteed to remove friction from the rental process and help you sell more.

5. Invest in a Dedicated Rental Business Management Software Solution

While Quipli’s core functionality is to automate booking and inventory management, it’s a dedicated rental business management software solution, meaning it merges with your point-of-sale technology, makes renting easy, and provides detailed insights into renting trends and available inventory.

Quipli includes POS tools, rental business software, inventory management capabilities, and e-commerce storefront features among its many outstanding features. Put simply, it’s the ideal software for managing your rental business.

6. Get Creative with Your Social Media and Content Marketing

Construction equipment can be tough to market. Consequently, you may struggle to come up with ideas to highlight your machinery rental options. But with a little creativity, you can stand out from your competitors and attract new clients. 

Check out these seven equipment rental marketing ideas to get more inspiration and valuable food for thought.

7. Invest in PPC Campaigns

Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns are a great way to generate leads and rapidly boost sales. Strategically investing in PPC campaigns will enable you to supplement your SEO efforts and grow your business.

While there are several ways to launch and manage PPC campaigns, Google Ads is the most popular method. With Google Ads, you can create several different types of campaigns and precisely target potential clients in your area. You can set customized per-bid clicks and have total control over your marketing budget.

8. Offer Training on How to Operate Machinery to Users

Sometimes, potential clients will fall by the wayside because they’re not confident in their ability to operate machinery. You can recapture these potential leads by offering on-site machinery training.

Providing operational and safety training courses will create an additional revenue stream for your business, and it’s also a great way to provide your clients with exceptional customer service.

9. Don’t Write Off Traditional Marketing Channels Like Broadcast Advertising

Digital marketing is undoubtedly the best way to get the word out about your business, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect other time-honored marketing channels.

If you’re looking for cost-effective ways to extend your reach, consider investing in billboards or radio advertisements. These media will help you connect with old-fashioned and less tech-savvy customers looking to rent heavy machinery.

10. Rent Seasonal Equipment in the Off-Season

Rounding out our list of construction equipment rental business ideas is a practical tip for expanding your inventory.

If you’re interested in adding new machinery to your lineup of rental options, consider purchasing seasonal equipment in the off-season. For instance, you might buy a snow plow in mid-July rather than waiting until the dead of winter. By thinking ahead, you stand to save thousands and free up revenue to pursue other growth opportunities.

Creating a Thriving Rental Business

There are tons of great construction equipment rental business ideas you can use to expand your reach and generate more revenue. To maximize the effectiveness of your efforts, however, you need a great equipment rental business plan and the right technology in place. You need a solution like Quipli.

Quipli’s equipment rental software lets you streamline the rental process by providing equipment rental website templates, collecting payments online, and offering a frictionless experience to your clients.


Learn About Quipli’s Construction Equipment rental Software

Equipment Rental Checklist Template

The construction industry has been burgeoning in recent years, and the United States Census Bureau reported that construction value in the United States reached a new all-time high in 2022, surpassing $1.7 trillion. This growth is expected to continue.

As the construction sector continues to expand, so does the demand for construction equipment. Many businesses have turned to renting vehicles instead of purchasing them outright to meet this demand.

Renting equipment can be a fantastic way to save money and avoid the hassle of maintenance and repairs. Nevertheless, if you’re in the business of renting out construction vehicles, it’s important to have a solid rental agreement in place.

A well-crafted equipment rental agreement will help ensure that both parties are clear on the terms of the contract and can avoid any misunderstandings down the road. This article will go over some crucial points that should be included in your equipment rental checklist template.

Downloadable Equipment Checklist Template


rental-inspection-checklist-PDF-screenshot

Understandably, not everyone is familiar with drafting a rental agreement. To help you get started, we’ve created a downloadable equipment checklist template. This template includes all the key points that should be covered in your agreement and a few extra clauses that can be added depending on your specific needs.

So if you’re looking for a starting point, download our template and use it as a guide while drafting your agreement. It will help make sure that you don’t forget any important details.

Before we look at the checklist, let’s first go over inspecting the equipment.


Click here to download our free equipment checklist template pdf

When Should You Inspect Your Rental Equipment?

As an entrepreneur, your vehicles are one of your most important assets. Not only are they essential for getting the job done, but they also represent a significant investment. That’s why taking care of them and performing regular inspections is important.

Before renting out any of your vehicles, you should always perform a thorough inspection. This approach will ensure that the equipment is in good working condition and help you avoid costly repairs down the road.

Ideally, it would be best to scrutinize your vehicles before each rental. However, we understand that this isn’t always possible. If you can’t check the equipment before each rental, you should still try to do it at least once a week.

How often you inspect your vehicles will depend on several factors, such as how often they’re being used and how well they’re maintained. However, as a general rule, we recommend inspecting your equipment before and after each rental.

A partial inspection might also be a good idea to ensure that the equipment is still in good condition during long-term rentals.

Key Things to Include in an Equipment Rental Inspection Checklist

Having gone over when you should inspect your equipment, let’s now consider what you should include in your equipment inspection checklist. Please note that this isn’t an exhaustive list and that you may need to add or remove items depending on the type of vehicle you’re renting out.

1) Basic Inspection

Here’s a quick overview of the things you should check for during a basic inspection:

2) Tire Condition

Check the tread depth and search for any signs of damage. Any nails or other foreign objects should be removed. If the tread depth is less than 1/16 of an inch, you should replace the tires.

3) Vehicle Lights

The vehicle’s lights should be checked, including the headlights, taillights, turn signals, and brake lights. The last thing you want is for your renter to get pulled over because a light is out.

4) Undercarriage

You should check the undercarriage for any leaks, as well as any damage that could have been caused by rocks or other debris.

5) Hydraulics

Obviously, this inspection is only relevant if you rent a vehicle with hydraulic equipment, such as an excavator. You’ll want to check for leaks and ensure that all hoses are in good condition.

6) Brakes

The brakes are probably the most important of everything on this list. After all, they’re responsible for stopping the vehicle. You should check both the brake pads and the fluid level.

7) Lifts

These are another set of items that are only relevant if you’re renting out a vehicle with hydraulic equipment. You should check the fluid level and look for any leaks.

8) Engine Inspection

In addition to the basic inspection, you should also perform a more thorough examination of the engine. This inspection is particularly essential if you’re renting out a vehicle with hydraulic equipment, as such equipment puts a lot of strain on the engine.

9) Engine Oil

More often than not, you’ll be able to check the engine oil level without having to remove the dipstick. However, even if that’s not possible, you should add this examination to your checklist.

10) Spark Plugs

Spark plugs are easily one of the most vital engine components, as they’re responsible for igniting the air-fuel mixture. Yet, they’re often overlooked. Give them a check, and ensure they’re gapped properly.

11) Air Filters

The air filter keeps dirt and other pollutants out of the engine. Over time, it will get clogged and will need to be replaced.

12) Equipment Cab

This section is the final part of our list. If renting a vehicle with a cab, you should check to ensure that all the safety equipment is in good working condition. This equipment includes:

13) State of the Cab Interior

Considering the time your renter will spend in the cab, you should ensure it’s in good condition. Sports to check include the floor, the ceiling, and the walls. They should all be free of dirt, dust, and other debris.

14) Equipment Controls

Like the brakes, the controls are an extremely important safety feature. You should ensure that all the levers and switches are correctly positioned and labeled. They should also be within easy reach of the driver.15) 

15) Window Condition

A clear view is paramount for safe driving. As such, you should ensure that all windows are clean and free of any cracks or other damage. Any windows that are cracked or damaged should be replaced.

Strict scheduling can often be the factor that differentiates between a successful rental business and one that struggles. It allows you to avoid many common problems that rental firms face.

So use the template to create a setup that helps you manage your business more efficiently. And if you require a more comprehensive solution, consider using a software platform like Quipli.

An All-in-One Equipment Check Process

With so much planning and commitment going into your equipment rental business, you should implement the best possible inventory and reservation management system.

Quipli provides equipment rental software that integrates your inventory with online equipment scheduling software, along with other benefits. You can reach out to our team today to book a demo and find out what Quipli can do for your equipment rental business.

Looking for more ways to grow your business? Learn more about equipment values and how to keep track of rental equipment with Quipli.


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