Regular deliveries and collections

Set up a schedule once and Bottle creates an order for each visit. You can manage schedules from Regular orders, under Deliveries, or from a customer’s record.

Finding a schedule

Choose Cards or Table to change the view. Both views let you edit, pause, resume or end a schedule.

Select a stat to filter active, paused, completed or upcoming schedules. Due in the next 7 days includes active schedules with their next visit between today and six days from today.

Search by customer, address or product, or filter by schedule type and frequency. Delivery schedules include those that also collect empty cylinders; Collections only shows visits with no delivery. Choose Clear filters to see all schedules again.

Use Add schedule at the top, or the Add a regular delivery or collection card, to create a schedule. The customer’s record keeps a simpler list of that customer’s schedules.

Setting one up

Choose Add schedule, then select Delivery or Collection.

1. Search for a customer and select the address.
2. Choose weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly or monthly visits.
3. Set the first date. New schedules cannot start in the past.
4. Add an optional end date, or leave it blank to continue until you stop the schedule.
5. Choose the products and quantities.
6. For deliveries, choose pay later, payment link or cash on delivery. Leave Collect empty cylinders ticked to collect returns on the same visit, or untick it for delivery only.
7. Add any driver notes and select Create schedule.

Weekly intervals count from the first date. Monthly visits use the same date each month, or the last day in shorter months.

For delivery and collection schedules, Bottle calculates expected returns when each order is created, matching the delivery against cylinders the customer holds. You do not need to enter a separate collection list. The driver confirms the actual returns. Changing this option affects future orders, not orders already created.

For a collection, the quantities are cylinders to collect on every visit. Nothing is delivered or charged on that order. This is a driver collecting cylinders from the customer, not a customer collecting goods from your yard. The driver records the quantities actually collected.

Automatic order creation

Bottle checks schedules daily and creates orders for the next ten days. If a visit falls on a closed day, it moves to the next open day.

Each generated order appears in Orders and can be planned onto a round. You can edit, reschedule or cancel it without changing the regular schedule.

Delivery prices use the customer’s agreed rates when the order is created, or your list prices where no rate is agreed. Changing a rate does not reprice orders already created.

Bottle does not create visits for past dates. Running the daily check again does not create duplicate orders.

Pausing and ending

Pause stops new orders being created. Resume starts the schedule again.

End schedule stops it permanently. Existing orders remain unchanged. Cancel any unwanted orders separately.

Skipping a visit

Cancel that visit in Orders. Leave the schedule active so later visits continue.

For an overview of taking orders in Bottle, see Taking orders on the Bottle website.