AV Hire Software Built for Real-World Event Work

AV Hire Software Built for Real-World Event Work

AV hire software is a set of digital operations tools that helps audio visual rental businesses manage quotes, equipment availability, crew scheduling, timesheets and invoicing in one place. AV hire companies — from one-van sound and lighting operators to multi-rig production houses — use these tools to turn enquiries into confirmed jobs faster, keep track of complex kit lists, and make sure the right crew are briefed and on site when they need to be.

If you hire out AV equipment for events, the admin can be relentless. You are juggling fragile, high-value kit across multiple jobs, managing freelance and casual crew, dealing with last-minute changes, and expected to produce detailed quotes and site plans at speed. GoodEvent tools fix the admin without adding a new system to learn. And most of them are free.

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The Real Challenges AV Hire Businesses Face

AV hire is not like furniture or marquee hire. Your kit is technical, high-value and often irreplaceable. A double-booked console or a missing flight case can derail an entire show. Here are the challenges that come up again and again for AV hire businesses.

1. Quoting complex kit lists takes too long

A quote for a corporate conference might run to 40 line items — microphones, stands, cables, consoles, screens, projectors, speakers, amps, rigging hardware, flight cases. Building that from scratch in a spreadsheet for every enquiry is slow, error-prone and stops you responding at the speed clients expect. Miss a line item and you either eat the cost or have an awkward conversation on the day.

2. Kit availability is hard to track across multiple jobs

When you are running several events across a weekend, knowing exactly what is available, what is out on hire and what is due back is genuinely difficult without a live system. Spreadsheets go out of date the moment someone makes a booking by phone. And in AV, a double-booked piece of kit cannot be solved by borrowing from a neighbour.

3. Crew coordination is messy and unreliable

Most AV companies use a mix of permanent staff and freelancers. Getting the right people to the right venue at the right time — with the right kit list in their hands — involves a lot of phone calls, WhatsApp messages and crossed wires. When plans change on the day of a show, getting that information to crew quickly is critical.

4. Timesheets are a weekly headache

Crew work odd hours. Load-in at 6am, show at 8pm, de-rig at midnight. Tracking those hours accurately, making sure break rules are applied, and getting it all into a format your accountant can use is painful when it relies on paper timesheets or memory. Errors cost you money in either direction.

5. Kit goes missing or comes back damaged with no paper trail

Without clear delivery notes and return checklists, disputes about damaged or missing equipment are hard to resolve. Who signed for it? What condition was it in when it left the warehouse? If you cannot answer those questions, you absorb the cost.

6. Sub-hire is difficult to track

Most AV companies sub-hire kit at some point — from other suppliers, manufacturers or dry-hire houses. Keeping track of what is yours, what you borrowed, what needs to go back and when is a separate admin job in itself. Get it wrong and you either miss a return deadline or realise on the morning of the job that you forgot to book it.

7. Site plans and stage layouts are hard to share

Production riders, venue techs and clients all want to see the layout. Emailing a PDF sketch and updating it every time something changes is slow and creates version confusion. If the wrong plan is on site, people build to the wrong spec.

8. H&S paperwork is a compliance risk

Risk assessments, method statements, PAT testing records, crew briefing sign-offs — AV hire companies generate a lot of compliance documentation. Managing it on paper creates real risk. If something goes wrong on site and you cannot produce the paperwork, the consequences can be serious. The Health and Safety Executive expects businesses to keep accurate records, and a digital system makes that straightforward.

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How GoodEvent Helps AV Hire Businesses

GoodEvent Business — Quote, Invoice and Track Your Kit

GoodEvent Business is the core tool for AV hire operations. It handles your quotes, invoicing, stock management, CRM and reporting in one place.

Build a quote template for your most common show types — corporate conference, live music, exhibition stand — and pull it up for each new enquiry. Add the kit, adjust quantities, attach notes, hit send. The client gets a professional, itemised quote they can approve and pay online. No PDFs going back and forth, no chasing.

When a quote converts to a booking, your stock availability updates in real time. You can see exactly what is free across all upcoming jobs before you commit to anything. Stock warnings flag up while you are building quotes, so you catch conflicts before they become problems. As Marcus from Bristol Party Hire puts it:

“Really great company that really understand the equipment hire world. Very good at communicating and coming up with solutions where needed. It’s so much better than our previous invoicing software! Would recommend checking them out.”

Picking lists auto-generate every time a quote is created or changed. Your warehouse team pulls the right kit for the right job without a separate document to maintain. Delivery notes go out with the kit and come back signed. If there is a dispute later, you have a paper trail.

For AV businesses using Xero, invoices sync automatically — no double entry. See the Xero integration for details.

GoodEvent Time — Track Crew Hours Without the Paperwork

GoodEvent Time is the tool for AV businesses with field crew. Engineers, technicians, riggers and drivers clock in and out from their phones using geofenced time tracking — the system only allows clocking when they are physically on site. No more crew clocking in from the van, or forgetting to log hours until Thursday.

Schedule your crew for each job, assign roles and shifts, and let the system track the hours. Break rules apply automatically. At the end of the week, your payroll export is ready in minutes rather than hours. For businesses with a mix of full-time and casual or freelance crew, Time handles both without extra configuration.

Joel from TL Marquee Hire describes the impact on his business:

“The team can access everything they need online from their phone or iPad. Now I no longer worry about the general stresses of running a rental company, such as ensuring jobs are loaded, quoted, and paid. I now have 10x more time to grow the business.”

GoodEvent Docs — Replace Paper Forms With Digital Ones

Every AV job generates paperwork. Risk assessments, method statements, crew sign-off sheets, equipment return checklists, client briefing documents. GoodEvent Docs lets you build those forms digitally, send them online, and have them completed on site without a printer in sight.

Forms work offline and sync when connectivity returns — useful when you are in a venue basement or a rural field with no signal. Submitted forms are stored automatically. Health and safety documentation is complete, accessible and ready if you ever need to produce it. Contracts are signed digitally with e-signatures. No more unsigned documents discovered on the morning of the show.

GoodEvent Maps — Plot Your Site in Minutes

For outdoor AV work — festivals, outdoor concerts, garden events — GoodEvent Maps gives you a drag-and-drop site planning tool with Google Maps integration. Drop a pin on the venue, mark your stage position, plot cable runs, note power source locations and access routes. Share the site plan with your crew and the event organiser in one link. When something changes, update it once and everyone sees the new version.

No more emailing image files or hoping the venue tech has the right version of the PDF on the day.

GoodEvent Layout — Stage Layouts and Venue Plans

For indoor shows, GoodEvent Layout is a drag-and-drop floor plan designer that needs no AutoCAD knowledge. Draw the room, position the stage, place the FOH desk, mark the speaker positions. Share it with the venue and client in one click. Attach it to your quote so the client sees exactly what they are getting before they commit.

As Guys from Vibert Marquees notes about sharing visual plans with clients:

“Feedback from clients has been positive, with clients stating they love being able to see the images, plans and quotes all in one place and to be able to share this with their partners and team via the portal.”

GoodEvent Network — Find Work, Find Suppliers

GoodEvent Network is the B2B marketplace for the events industry. AV hire companies use it to connect with event professionals, respond to tenders from planners and production companies, and get visible to the organisers who are actively sourcing AV suppliers. If you want to win more B2B bookings from corporate event managers, wedding planners or festival organisers, Network puts you in front of them.

You can also use Network to find the sub-hire kit you need, quickly. Browse supplier profiles, check availability and make contact — all in one place.

GoodEvent Planner — Source Suppliers Fast

If you are coordinating a large event and need to bring in additional kit or services from other suppliers, GoodEvent Planner lets you put a tender out to multiple suppliers at once. Set your requirements, invite your preferred suppliers or find new ones, and compare quotes side by side when they come back. Every decision has a documented paper trail — useful for corporate clients who need to see procurement records.

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A Week in the Life of an AV Hire Business

Here is how a busy AV hire company uses GoodEvent tools across a typical working week.

Monday — Two new enquiries in the inbox. Both get quotes built in GoodEvent Business — kit lists populated from saved templates, images attached, pricing confirmed. Both quotes sent before lunch. One client pays the deposit online that afternoon. Stock is automatically reserved.

Tuesday — The weekend’s festival job is being prepped. Picking lists pulled directly from the booking in GoodEvent Business. Warehouse team works through the list on tablets, checking items off as they are packed into flight cases. No separate document to maintain, no risk of working from an old version.

Wednesday — Crew scheduled for Friday through Sunday in GoodEvent Time. Engineers, riggers and drivers each get their shift and role assigned. Job sheets sent to their phones from GoodEvent Business. The site plan for the festival is updated in GoodEvent Maps after a call with the production manager — shared link updated automatically, everyone sees the new version.

Thursday — Risk assessments and method statements for the festival sent out via GoodEvent Docs. Crew sign-off sheets pre-loaded and ready for site. Final invoice sent to the client for the corporate show that just completed — they pay online. Outstanding balance cleared.

Friday to Sunday — Crew clock in on site via geofenced check-in on their phones. Hours tracked automatically. Any site changes communicated via the job sheet on their phones rather than by phone call. De-rig completed, equipment return checklist completed digitally on site.

Monday again — Payroll export from GoodEvent Time sent to accounts. Week accounted for. No timesheet chasing, no missing signatures.

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Key Features for AV Hire Businesses

Kit-level stock tracking
Every item in your inventory tracked against every booking. Stock warnings flag conflicts while you are quoting, before you have made any promises to a client.

Auto-generated picking lists
Create or update a quote and your picking list updates instantly. Warehouse team always works from the current version. Kit gets on the right van every time.

Digital delivery notes and returns
Kit leaves the warehouse with a signed delivery note. It comes back with a return checklist. Disputes about condition or missing items have a documented answer.

Geofenced crew clocking
Crew clock in from site using their phones. Geofencing confirms they are actually there. Hours tracked automatically, payroll export ready at the end of the week.

Digital H&S forms and contracts
Build any compliance document in GoodEvent Docs. Risk assessments, method statements, crew sign-offs, client contracts — completed and stored digitally. Works offline on site.

Professional quotes with images
Build quotes from saved templates in minutes. Attach product images so clients see exactly what they are getting. Online payment links included. Deposits paid without a phone call.

Drag-and-drop site and stage plans
Plot outdoor sites in GoodEvent Maps or design indoor venue layouts in GoodEvent Layout. Share via link. Update once, everyone sees the change.

B2B tender marketplace
Get found by event planners and production companies who are sourcing AV suppliers. Join GoodEvent Network and respond to live tenders for events in your area.

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What Event Equipment Businesses Say About GoodEvent

Marcus, Bristol Party Hire:

“Really great company that really understand the equipment hire world. Very good at communicating and coming up with solutions where needed. It’s so much better than our previous invoicing software! Would recommend checking them out.”

Laura, BAR Events UK:

“We began using Good Event earlier this year and we’re unsure how we managed so long without it! It’s been a game changer for us in terms of productivity. The Good Event team have been brilliant to work with!”

Annabel, CMC Marquees:

“Our transition to using Good Event was such a good move! It has allowed us to take review of all our stock and make sure everything is correct on the system. Whilst also allowing quotes to be put together much more easily. There are developments constantly to the system and the team always consider any ideas of changes we might find helpful.”

James, Trafalgar Marquees:

“Good Event has enabled our entire team — office to onsite — to connect digitally. Everyone knows their daily jobs and management can easily share event info, load lists, schedules and so on to their team. We’ve seen a huge decrease of expensive mistakes and an increase of time saved.”

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Getting Started

Most AV hire businesses are up and running within a day. Start with the tool that solves the biggest pain you are feeling right now. There is no long-term contract and most tools are free.

Step 1: Set up GoodEvent Business (free)
Add your equipment inventory, set your pricing and build a quote template for your most common job type. Most businesses send their first quote within an hour of signing up. Start your free trial.

Step 2: Sort out crew hours
If timesheet chaos is costing you time every week, set up GoodEvent Time next. Add your crew, set up your first job, and let them clock in from site. Payroll export runs in minutes. GoodEvent Time costs £3 per employee per month.

Step 3: Go paperless on forms
Pick one document you currently handle on paper — a risk assessment, a delivery checklist, a crew sign-off sheet — and build it in GoodEvent Docs. Send it digitally on your next job and see how it compares.

From there, you can add site planning, layout design and network access as your business needs them. No pressure to use everything at once.

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Related Resources

GoodEvent Tools for AV Hire:

• GoodEvent Business — Quotes, invoicing, stock management and CRM
• GoodEvent Time — Crew scheduling, geofenced clocking and payroll export
• GoodEvent Docs — Digital forms, risk assessments and contracts
• GoodEvent Maps — Outdoor site planning with Google Maps
• GoodEvent Layout — Indoor venue and stage layout design
• GoodEvent Network — B2B marketplace for event suppliers

Related Industries:

• Party and Prop Hire — Operations tools for event equipment businesses
• Festival and Large-Scale Events — Tools for complex multi-supplier events
• Corporate Event Management — Tender management and supplier coordination
• Stage and Staging Suppliers — Tools for production and structural suppliers

Solutions:

• Staff Management — Scheduling and time tracking for event crews
• Paperless Events — Replace paper forms across your whole business
• Supplier Coordination — Manage multiple suppliers across complex events
• Stock Availability — Real-time kit availability across all bookings

Further Reading:

• Event Staff Management Guide
• Tender Management Guide
• Going Paperless: A Practical Guide for Event Businesses

External Resources:

• Health and Safety Executive — Event Safety — Regulatory guidance for event industry businesses
• Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) — UK trade association for event suppliers including AV and production companies