This instructional guide provides comprehensive coverage of product creation within the Marina module. A crucial prerequisite is the establishment of the Booking Type in Marina → Settings. When adding a product to an existing Booking Type, there is no necessity to create a new booking type.
How can you determine if it's necessary to create a new product? If you've introduced a new type of product, such as a dock or a new dry storage building with distinct rates or rules compared to other products, then creating a new product is required. However, there are exceptions for some marinas that were initially configured with only limited products due to being associated with multiple rate plans tied to one product. For marinas falling into this category of 1 or 2 marina products, it may be advisable to create a new rate plan and link it to that specific product.
Creating the Product
The process of creating the product will be divided into four sections. The first section involves gathering general information, followed by assigning units in the second section, setting up bookings in the third section, and finally determining pricing in the last section. If you are not creating a new product the information below is useful for updating products.
To begin, locate and click on the Marina module within the navigation pane on the left-hand side.
Next, navigate to Products from the menu ribbon.
Select Add New located at the top right-hand corner of your screen.
Following this, make a selection for the appropriate Time Period, which will typically be either Long Term, Seasonal, or Transient. If you are uncertain about which option to choose, consider using other products within the marina module as a reference point.
General Information
Field | Function |
Item id | This id is automatically generated when the product is saved. |
Name (Required field) | Name of the item. |
Item Type (Required field) | Typically, a Service item type is used to categorize and manage different types of assets. |
Booking Type (Required field) | This field must be set up before creating the product, as it is a prerequisite. |
Booking Period | Selected during Step 4 above. It will already be populated. |
Product Category | You have the option to organize products into different categories, but this will require some initial setup in Marina → Settings → Product Category. |
Description | The description that appears on the invoice. |
Images | The image that is displayed during the creation of a reservation and online. |
Description displayed in search results | If the product is accessible for online booking, this description box will be displayed online below the picture. |
Tax Code (Required field) | Tax or Non tax. |
Account (Required field) | If there is no deferred scheduling, enter the income account for the asset. If the product is deferred, then this feild would involve the unearned or deferred account. |
Accounting Class | For companies with multiple outlets, it is advisable to choose REIT or Slips if the option is available. If not, then you can leave it blank. |
Price | Base pricing with out any constraints. |
Price Calculation Method (Required field) | You have the flexibility to set your pricing as a monthly or yearly fee. |
Additional Taxes | Additional taxes, such as occupancy tax, should be indicated as applicable. |
Payment Schedule | Add a payment schedule if applicable. |
Fill out this page as much as possible. If there is a field that is required and is not filled it will not allow you to Save later on.
Units
Select Units from the sub-menu on the left or click the Next Step button.
If you have already created the units you can assign them here. If not and you wanted more information on how to create Units please visit this link: Creating Spaces for Marina Products
Booking Setup
This section outlines the rules that this product will adhere to.
Field | Function |
Virtual toggle | Virtual products are for assets that do not require tracking of occupancy. Special cases. |
Hide in search results toggle | If this product’s Booking Type is showing online, it will hide this specific product from being viewed online by the customer. |
Inactive toggle | Makes product inactive, even for advanced reservations by the user |
Online URL | Contact admin |
Confirmation BCC Emails | Confirmation emails from this product only will be bcc’d to whatever email is here. |
Reservation Caption | Quick Books has a character limit. If you notice your product is being cut off use this field to name your product to what it should be for online booking. |
Deposit Policy | Assigns the deposit policy to the product |
Invoice Offset Days | If the automatic invoice batch job is running, whatever number here will determine when the invoice generates. For example, if the next invoice date is 4/1 and the number in this field is 10 the invoice will generate on 3/23 with an invoice date of 4/1. Contact Sharper support to enable any type of batch jobs. |
Minimum Book in Advance | Minimum days before a booking can be created. For example, setting to 1 would make a booking require at least 24 hours before the start date of the reservation. Essentially prevents same day online bookings. |
Maximum Book in Advance | Maximum days a booking can be created in advance. For example, setting to 30 would make a booking not available if booking more than 30 in advance. |
Base Pricing/ No Constraints Button | If the product does not require special rate plans. Will use the Base Price in General Information tab. |
Advanced Pricing/ Constraints Button | If the product requires rate plans. If this is selected the Base Price on the General Information tab becomes irrelevant |
Product Contracts | Assigns contracts to product |
Custom Reservation Status | Custom statuses that can be assigned to product. More information here: “Coming Soon” |
Extra/ Price Adjustments | Assign price adjustments here. |
Vessel Constraints | Vessel constraint options |
Sort Order | The order the product shows online after searching. 1 will start at the top. |
Invoice Frequency | Frequency invoices are generated. |
Payment Term | Payment term when product is used. If blank it will default to global setting. More info here: Payment Terms |
First Invoice | Determines if the first invoice is defaulted to fixed, no charge, or pro rated. Can be changed in reservation itself during creation. |
Next Invoice | If pro-rating the invoice, this option will get the next invoice ‘back on track’ for regular billing cycle. |
Prorated Frequency | If prorating, always set to daily for monthly or quarterly invoices. Monthly for annual invoices. |
Co-Term Date | When prorating, if Next Invoice does not give an option the user needs, they can manually set the co-term date to get billing ‘back on track’. |
Enable Deferred Income toggle | If the invoice frequency is Monthly, there is no reason to defer. Enables the deferred income scheduling when invoice is generated. |
Deferred Frequency | If the invoice frequency is Monthly, there is no reason to defer. Annual and upfront invoice frequency should have a Monthly deferred frequency. Transients should have a daily deferred frequency if transients should be deferred at your marina. Contact admin if you have questions. |
Sales Income Account | If deferred is turned on this will be your income account. This SHOULD NOT be the same as the account found in the General Information section. |
Further reading on Deferred Revenue here: Deferred Revenue Setup and Recognition
If all the necessary setup is in order, proceed to Save. The advanced pricing section can be set up after saving if that is the route we need to take.
Advanced Pricing & Constraints
This section of the product setup will only be visible if the Advanced Pricing/ Constraints button is chosen in Booking Setup. Advanced pricing will have slightly different functionality depending on the Period of the product.
Start by choosing Add Effective Date, Add Season, or Add Year to Calendar.
Include any necessary rate plans by selecting Add Rate Plan.
Enter prices for each rate plan. Remember that it can be priced per month, per year, upfront, per hour, for a set number of hours, per day/night, or for a number of days/nights. This is determined in the rate plan itself.
Please use this link for more information on the setup of rates: Updating Rate Plans