Free Equipment Rental Purchase Order Template & Generator
A rental purchase order authorizes time rather than an item, so the line has to say how time is being counted. Equipment class and model, the hour the machine goes out and the hour it comes back, the rate basis it bills on, and the meter hours that rate already includes. Around those sit the charges that only appear on the final invoice: delivery and pickup, damage waiver, fuel returned short, and hours run over the allowance.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scissor lift weekly rental | 2 | $685.00 | $1,370.00 |
| Delivery and pickup | 2 | $175.00 | $350.00 |
| Damage waiver | 1 | $165.00 | $165.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a equipment rental purchase order
Rental is the one purchase where doing nothing costs money. A machine sitting idle behind a locked gate through a rained-out week is still billing, and it stays on rent until you call it off and get a pickup ticket number, not until your crew stops using it. The invoice then arrives carrying charges nobody authorized: a damage waiver whose exclusions went unread, fuel topped up at the yard's per-gallon rate, and meter hours past the allowance the weekly rate quietly included. If the purchase order was written as one not-to-exceed number before any of that existed, accounts payable now holds an invoice it cannot match, and the release waits on a revision while the vendor's terms keep running.
- renter, vendor, project, and PO number
- equipment class, model, and quantity
- rental period and rate basis
- delivery, pickup, fuel, and operator terms
- insurance, damage, overtime, and authorized total
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scissor lift weekly rental | 2 | $685 |
| Delivery and pickup | 2 | $175 |
| Damage waiver | 1 | $165 |
Complete it cleanly
State equipment class or model, quantity, start and return time, daily or weekly rate, delivery and pickup, operator needs, insurance, damage waiver, fuel, and project contact.
How to make an equipment rental purchase order in 6 steps
Open the purchase order generator
Start from this page so the purchase order opens with fields and sample lines already set up for contractors, event companies, and operations teams. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the supplier name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the equipment rental lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows renter, vendor, project, and PO number, equipment class, model, and quantity, rental period and rate basis.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the purchase order a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
State equipment class or model, quantity, start and return time, daily or weekly rate, delivery and pickup, operator needs, insurance, damage waiver, fuel, and project contact. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
Two weeks on a culvert job, returned 16.4 hours over the allowance
Thistledown Site Works rents a mini excavator and a light tower from Granite Belt Equipment Rental for the Bell Creek culvert replacement, out Monday September 7, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. and returned Monday September 21 at 7:00 a.m. on contract 88-4412.
- Mini excavator, 8,000 lb class with thumb - 2 weeks at $1,180.00/week (day rate $395.00), 40 meter hours included per week
- $2,360.00
- Light tower, 4 x 1000 W diesel - 2 weeks at $295.00/week
- $590.00
- Hydraulic breaker attachment, added on day 6 - 4 days at $265.00/day
- $1,060.00
- Rental subtotal, 14 calendar days including two weekends and one rained-out day
- $4,010.00
- Damage waiver at 14% of rental, accepted; exclusions printed on contract 88-4412
- $561.40
- Environmental and fuel-recovery fee at 3% of rental
- $120.30
- Delivery and pickup, round trip to Bell Creek at $185.00 each way
- $370.00
- Refuel on return: tank at three-quarters, 9.5 gal at the yard's $7.40/gal
- $70.30
- Overtime meter hours: excavator returned at 96.4 hrs against 80 hrs allowed, 16.4 hrs at $29.50
- $483.80
- Final invoice against PO ER-2026-077, written not-to-exceed $4,950.00; the $665.80 over needs a revised PO
- $5,615.80
A weekly rate buys calendar days and a bucket of meter hours, and the two run out on different days. Two weeks at 40 hours allowed is 80 hours; the machine came back at 96.4. Put the included hours and the overtime rate on the line.
When this document is the right choice
Use this purchase order to authorize a purchase before a supplier fulfills it. A purchase order comes from the buyer and authorizes an order. The supplier later sends an invoice that references the PO number for matching and payment.
Frequently asked questions
Does the rental clock stop on weekends and rained-out days?
Usually not, unless the rental agreement says so, and standby or idle-time relief is something you negotiate before the machine leaves the yard rather than after. The practical control is the off-rent call: a machine stays on rent until you tell the vendor to pick it up and get a ticket or confirmation number back, so make that call the moment the work stops and write the number on your copy of the order.
The weekly rate includes 40 meter hours. What happens when the machine runs longer?
The hours past the allowance bill at an overtime rate on top of the rental. Two weeks at 40 hours allowed is 80 hours, and a machine worked ten-hour days comes back near 96, which in the example above is 16.4 hours at $29.50, or $483.80 the weekly rate never covered. Put the included hours and the overtime rate on the purchase order line so the charge is expected rather than disputed at invoice.
Should I accept the damage waiver?
That is a commercial decision rather than a rule, and it turns on what your own coverage already handles and what the waiver excludes. Waivers commonly carve out tires, glass, undercarriage, theft without forced entry, and anything the vendor classes as misuse, so read the exclusion list on the agreement instead of assuming it behaves like an insurance policy. Whichever way you decide, put the decision and the percentage on the order so the charge is not a surprise.
The order said not-to-exceed $4,950.00 and the invoice came to $5,615.80. How do I get it paid?
Issue a revised purchase order covering the additions before accounts payable sees the invoice, not after. Break the $665.80 into what caused it, the breaker attachment added on day six, the fuel shortfall, and the overtime meter hours, and have the same person who approved the original sign the revision. An invoice that exceeds its authorization with no revision behind it sits unmatched, and the vendor's payment terms keep running while it does.
Who fuels and greases the machine while it is on rent?
Daily checks, fuel, and greasing normally sit with you and scheduled service sits with the yard, but that split is written into the rental agreement rather than fixed by custom, so read yours before the machine leaves. Two things belong on your copy of the order: the fuel policy, because a tank returned short is billed at the yard's per-gallon rate rather than the pump price, and the meter reading and fuel level recorded on the delivery ticket, which is the only baseline you get.
More purchase order templates
Start with the closest business workflow and adjust the details.