Showrooms, spare parts and rentals
Three different businesses, one commercial registration
The showroom sells one serialised unit worth six figures. The counter sells thousands of SKUs over a barcode scanner. The rental desk runs a contract that invoices every month, holds a deposit, and receives a traffic fine two weeks after the car came back. Three different definitions of the word "sold".
- A vehicle is a serialised item with a chassis number, not a stock quantity
- The parts counter runs on barcodes and prints a simplified invoice on the spot
- Rental contracts invoice themselves monthly and recharge fines and fuel
- The refundable deposit stays a liability until it is returned or drawn against
The actual work
Three ledgers that have to read as one book
Running any one of the three is not the hard part. The hard part is that counter profit hides fleet losses the moment the numbers are read together.
A vehicle is a serialised item, not a quantity
Each vehicle stands on its own with a chassis number, a purchase cost and its share of customs, freight and preparation. You know the profit on that specific car when it sells — not the average margin on the model.
The parts counter
Thousands of items with part numbers and their cross-references, sold by barcode on a fast screen that works without a connection. The simplified invoice prints instantly and stock moves at the same moment.
Monthly rental contracts
The contract invoices itself on its date until it ends, and its renewal or expiry surfaces in advance. Daily and weekly hires are billed on the actual handover and return days.
Fines, fuel and late returns
Charges that arrive after the car is back get posted to the right contract and claimed with a debit note, instead of being forgotten or quietly netted off the deposit with no document behind it.
The refundable deposit
A deposit is not revenue. It stays a liability until it is returned to the customer or drawn against what they owe. Confusing the two is the most common error in rental books.
Profit per activity
A dimension per activity and branch: showroom, counter, fleet. You see which one is funding which, rather than letting a comfortable total conceal an activity that is losing money.
The documents
What actually leaves the business
Three activities means three families of documents — and two different classes under e-invoicing.
- Vehicle sales invoice
- A high value against a serialised unit, usually in a company’s name. Cleared by Fatoora before it is handed to the buyer. Standard tax invoice (B2B) — cleared before delivery
- Parts counter invoice
- Printed for the customer immediately, stamped and carrying a QR code, then reported to Fatoora within 24 hours. Simplified tax invoice (B2C) — reported within 24 hours
- Rental agreement
- Vehicle, term, rate, deposit, kilometre allowance and fuel terms. The basis of every invoice and note raised against the contract afterwards.
- Recurring rental invoice
- Issued on its fixed date for the life of the contract without anyone touching it, and stopping automatically when the contract ends.
- Debit note for fines and charges
- A further claim after the contract ends: a traffic fine, missing fuel, a late return, damage. Its own document rather than a silent deduction from the deposit. In scope for e-invoicing
- Credit note for a parts return
- A returned or exchanged part. Linked to the original invoice, and it puts the item back into stock. In scope for e-invoicing
Mezan products
The parts of the platform you actually need
This sector uses more of the platform than any other: stock, till, contracts and payments.
Mezan Core
Serialised stock for vehicles and quantity-based stock for parts in one system, with purchasing, recurring invoicing for contracts, customer receivables, and dimensions that keep showroom, counter and fleet apart.
Learn moreMezan POS
The parts counter: barcode selling on a fast screen that runs offline, printing simplified invoices already stamped with a Phase 2 QR code.
Learn moreMezan Pay
Take payments and deposits on the same device — SoftPOS tap-to-phone, mada, Apple Pay and Google Pay — with the receipt posting straight to the contract or the invoice.
Learn moreMezan Workflows
Approve the discount on a vehicle deal before it is signed, and any waiver of a late or damage charge. Two places where showroom margin leaks quietly.
Learn moreE-invoicing
The car does not leave before the invoice is cleared
A vehicle invoice is high value and usually issued to a company, which makes it a standard tax invoice: under Phase 2 it does not reach the buyer until Fatoora has cleared it. The parts counter waits for nobody — the simplified invoice prints stamped, goes straight to the customer, and is reported within 24 hours. In practice that difference shows up the day the connection drops: it stops a handover, it does not stop the counter.
Read the e-invoicing page- The vehicle invoice is submitted for clearance and returned stamped before the keys change hands
- The parts counter keeps trading offline and sends its queued invoices when the connection returns
- A fine or late charge after the contract ends is claimed with an electronic debit note tied to that contract
- A parts return is handled with an electronic credit note, not by cancelling the original invoice
Frequently asked
Does the system track every vehicle by chassis number?
Yes. A vehicle is a serialised item: it carries its chassis number and purchase cost, and freight, customs and preparation costs are loaded onto it, so you know its landed cost and the profit on that specific unit at sale. Spare parts run by quantity and barcode in the same stock system, without splitting the two apart.
How are traffic fines that arrive after the car is returned handled?
They are posted against the contract the vehicle was on at the time of the offence and claimed from the customer with a debit note. If a refundable deposit is held, the claim can be settled against it while the document still stands — so nothing comes off a deposit without a record explaining it.
We run a showroom, a parts branch and a rental fleet. Does each need its own system?
No. All three sit on one platform with dimensions separating their results, so you can read the profitability of each activity on its own and read the business consolidated when you want to. That is the difference between knowing you made money and knowing where you made it.
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