Bookings

A rental booking progresses through a lifecycle from the initial inquiry to final settlement. Rentals gives you control at every step while automating the parts you don’t need to touch.

The booking lifecycle

Inquiry → Quote Sent → Quote Accepted → Pending Approval → Approved
       → Deposit Paid → Confirmed → In Progress → Completed → Settled

Plus side states for unusual flows: Cancelled, Expired, No-Show, On Hold, Amendment Pending, Dispute.

Every status transition is recorded in the audit trail with the actor (admin username or “system” for auto-transitions) and timestamp.

Managing bookings

Navigate to NetterTech Events → Bookings to see all bookings.

Filtering

• Status – inquiry, approved, confirmed, cancelled, etc.
• Space – only show bookings for a specific space
• Date range – event date or creation date
• Search – by renter name, email, or booking title
• Source – public form vs. admin-created bookings

Booking detail view

Each booking has a detail page showing:

• Renter contact information
• Space, dates, and selected configuration
• Selected add-ons
• Full pricing breakdown (subtotal, add-ons, tax, total)
• Payment history (deposits, balance, refunds)
• Status transition timeline with timestamps and actors
• Internal notes (admin-only, not visible to the renter)

Status transitions

From the booking detail page, action buttons transition the booking:

Actions in parentheses happen automatically or via the renter (not an admin button).

Auto-approval

Bookings can skip the approval step when they meet all configured criteria:

• Booking total is below the auto-approve maximum
• Space is in the auto-approve eligible list
• Trusted-customer-only flag is satisfied (if enabled)
• The nte_rentals_should_auto_approve filter returns true

Auto-approved bookings transition straight from Quote Accepted to Approved with “system” as the actor.

Auto-expiry

Bookings in certain states auto-expire if no action is taken:

Expiry is handled by the plugin’s cron service. Expired bookings transition to the Expired terminal state – they can’t be reactivated, but they remain in the database for reporting and audit.

Payment flow (with WooCommerce)

When WooCommerce is active:

1. Booking approved. A hidden WooCommerce product is created for the deposit amount.
2. Renter pays deposit. Standard WC checkout flow. Booking transitions to Deposit Paid.
3. Balance order created. A second WC product is created for the remaining balance.
4. Balance reminder sent. Email notification X days before the balance due date (configurable).
5. Renter pays balance. Booking transitions to Confirmed.
6. Event occurs. Admin transitions the booking through In Progress to Completed.
7. Settlement. Admin settles the booking after final reconciliation.

A 30-minute cart hold reserves the time slot while the renter completes checkout. If checkout is not completed, the hold auto-expires and the slot becomes available again.

Cancellation and refunds

Cancellation uses a tiered refund schedule defined in Rental Settings:

When a booking is cancelled, the cancellation policy is enforced automatically based on how many days remain before the event. Admins can override the calculated refund amount if the situation warrants it.

Tips

• Use the filter on the bookings list to find bookings needing action today (e.g., “Approved, older than 3 days” = bookings about to auto-expire).
• Internal notes are useful for tracking renter conversations, special requests, or agreed-upon exceptions that aren’t in the booking data itself.
• The audit trail is your friend in disputes – every status change has an actor and timestamp, so you can always reconstruct what happened.