Introduction to the inventory calendar

Read this introduction to the refreshed Inventory Calendar, including understanding how information is organized and presented and adding new Staff-side bookings.

The entire series of articles can be accessed at the side and bottom of this page, where you can learn more about the full management capability of the Asset Calendar.

Which plan do I need to use this feature?

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

Calendar > Item/Product > Inventory Calendar

What more do I need to use this feature?

Admin or restricted permissions to View calendars, Change Daily Inventory Availability, Create Bookings, and View events and rules with Manage events and rules for Product Closures.
Inventory (items/products) configured within Checkfront.

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic, new or both?

Our newest, refreshed version of the Inventory Calendar works with both those using items (Inventory > Items), a key feature of our classic version of Checkfront and those using products (Inventory > Products), a key feature of our newest version of Checkfront.

New to Checkfront - Products ✨

Products (Inventory > Products) is the successor feature to (Inventory > Items) and is available in our newest version of Checkfront.

Not yet on our newest version and interested in upgrading? Please reach out to our Technical Support team for more information.

Discover more product-related help articles here: Products (New).

Classic ---> Newest version (2022)

This inventory calendar replaces the classic versions of our calendar.

Please reach out to Customer Support with any questions or concerns.

How do I know which version of the Inventory Calendar is enabled for my account?

Only a select few historical accounts still have the classic inventory calendar enabled.
A banner displays at the top of your calendar inviting you to check out the newest version if you are on the classic version.
If you are on the newest version, your calendar looks like the screenshots in this series of articles.

Inventory Calendar Overview

Overview

The Inventory Calendar provides a complete, visual overview of availability with the option to edit availability for that inventory.

Learn more about your other reporting options here:

Understanding how inventory is organized

The inventory is organized and presented as follows.

Inventory by Category, then Item/Product

Category then Product

By default, your Inventory Calendar displays data starting today for four weeks.

Inventory data is presented by day, organized by category and then by item/product.

Category weighting (weight) is honoured first, and then item ordering (sort order) within those categories second.

The order in which categories are displayed is determined by the display Weight configured for each category.

The order in which items/products are displayed is determined by the Sort Order configured for each item/product.

The higher the number, the higher the category, item, or product is displayed on the page.

Learn more here:

Categories: Creating a new inventory category
Items: Items - Inventory Builder: Description
Products: Setting up details, visibility, and media on products

Product Groupings: Child Items Nested Under Parent Items

For items configured as product groupings, the child item displays indented directly under the parent item. There can be multiple child items displayed depending on your inventory configuration. The parent item cannot be manually adjusted as the child items control inventory. As adjustments are made to the child item, the total is adjusted for the parent. As such, the parent's total cannot be manually adjusted and remains greyed out. Product groupings for products are not supported at this time.

Simple items, items configured as package add-ons, and aliased items are listed independently under their configured category.

Product upsells are also listed independently under their configured category.

To learn more about configuring items or products, please see the following series of articles:

The Inventory Calendar excludes items that are not date-based inventory:

Items with the Date Based Inventory Control disabled (OFF).
Items created as Gift Certificates.

Understanding availability numbers

The following inventory and booking data are displayed for each timeslot.

Inventory Data		More Info
Available Inventory		This is the available inventory (items/products), considering any existing bookings. If you are using products configured with assets, this is the number of primary assets available.
Quick booking details		Hover over a cell to view additional booking availability information. Quantity/capacity available Number of bookings Total inventory* *If you are using products configured with assets, this is the number of primary assets available.

Understanding availability at a glance

Availability is communicated through colour-coded cells and icons.

Inventory Data		More Info
50% or more availability		Inventory cells displayed in light green indicate availability of 50% or more. Bookings have yet to be made. How can inventory be below 100% without bookings? This is possible if inventory numbers have been manually decreased before bookings have been received. The corner of the cell is also flagged to indicate that a manual adjustment has been made.
50% or more availability with bookings		Inventory cells displayed in dark green indicate availability of 50% or more. Bookings have been made.
Less than 50% availability		Inventory cells displayed in light yellow indicate availability of less than 50% where no bookings have been made yet. How can inventory be below 50% without bookings? This is possible if inventory numbers have been manually decreased before bookings have been received. The corner of the cell is also flagged to indicate that a manual adjustment has been made.
Less than 50% availability		Inventory cells displayed in dark yellow indicate availability of less than 50% where bookings have been made.
Sold Out		Inventory cells displayed in red indicate that the inventory is sold out or has been adjusted to zero availability for that interval.
Adjusted		Once you adjust inventory, the corresponding cell within the calendar is flagged so that adjusted inventory is easy to spot.
Calendar or Product Closure Events		Days listed for products with associated full closure events display as closed. Learn more here: Determining availability on products Also, see which days you have configured as available within Calendar Setup. Setting up your calendar
Unlimited Inventory		Intervals for items with unlimited inventory display with an infinity icon (∞).

Understanding how allocation is displayed

Inventory allocation is indicated in the first column for each item/product.

Inventory Data		More Info
Timeslots		If timeslots allocate availability, then a row displays for each timeslot configured for that item/product, for example, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM.
Per Day/All Day		Each row in the calendar represents an allocation period—for example, per day (items) or all day (products).
Per Night/Nightly		Each row in the calendar represents an allocation period —for example, per night (items) or nightly (products).
Per Time/Flex Time		Each row in the calendar represents an allocation period —for example, per hour (30, 20, 15, or 10 minutes).