Loans Check Out and In

Loans — check out & in

Lend a tool to a friend, sign kit out to a colleague, take something home for the weekend — loans track items that are temporarily out with a contact, and bring them back to exactly where they came from.

Where to find it: an item's actions (Check out), and the Contacts screen for what's currently out.

Checking out

Check out an item to a contact and Gubbins records who has it and, optionally, when it's due back. The stock leaves your available count while it's out, so your numbers stay truthful.

If the contact doesn't exist yet, you can create them right from the checkout — no need to set up the contact first.

Prerequisites go with it

If the item you're lending requires another one — an access point that needs its power injector, a printer that needs a particular build plate — the checkout lists those prerequisites and offers to lend them at the same time. Each shows how many are on hand, and the ones you have stock for start ticked, so the common case is a single click.

Untick anything you don't want to send. A prerequisite with nothing on hand is still listed, so you can see the gap, but it can't be selected.

ℹ️ Note This is a prompt, not a block — the loan always goes ahead whether or not you bring the prerequisites along. Record the dependency on the Related tab of the item that needs it; see Related items.

Checking in

When the item comes back, check it in. Gubbins returns the stock to its original location and lot, so a returned item lands exactly where it belongs rather than in a limbo pile.

Overdue tracking & audit trail

• A loan with a due date that passes becomes overdue and surfaces in Alerts and the Upcoming agenda.
• Every checkout and return is recorded in the activity log, giving a full history of who had what, and when.
• Time on loan accrues checkout-hours, which can drive usage-based maintenance.

💡 Tip Set a due date when you lend something out — it's the difference between "I think Sam has it" and a clear overdue reminder that prompts you to chase it up.

ℹ️ Note A loan is temporary and comes back. To reserve an item for someone in advance over a date range, use a booking; to record something leaving for good, use sales & disposals.

Related pages

• Contacts — the people you lend to.
• Bookings — reserving items ahead of time.
• Upcoming agenda — due-backs and other deadlines.