🧱 Core Concepts of Patio

🧱 Core Concepts of Patio

By Julien·Updated August 24, 2026

Core Concepts of Patio (Overview)

Patio is built around a practical workspace flow: prepare catalog, serve customers, run checkout and check-in, then reconcile money movement. Understanding these concepts helps teams use the product correctly day to day and helps admins configure it safely.

1. Products

Products are the catalog definitions of what your organization offers. A product stores shared metadata (name, description, media, category, pricing setup, and rental or sale behavior). Products do not represent a physical item by themselves; they define the template used by operations. For more details, see the Products page.

2. Inventory Units

Inventory units are the physical, trackable instances attached to a product. Checkout and check-in operate at the inventory-unit level. Unit status (available, checked out, maintenance, unavailable) drives whether an item can be borrowed. For more details, see the Inventory Units page.

3. Rental Rules

Rental rules define the borrowing policy applied at checkout. They control constraints such as duration, pricing behavior, deposits, and fee logic. Rules are the policy layer between catalog setup and frontline operations, so clear rule design prevents inconsistent outcomes. For more details, see the Rental Rules page.

4. Customers

Customers are the member records used across operations. A customer profile links identity and contact information with orders, subscriptions, and transaction history. In workflow terms, customer selection is the first step in most checkout and payment actions. For more details, see the Customer page.

5. Orders

Orders are operational records that represent what happened during checkout and after. They track items, status transitions, and return outcomes through the order lifecycle. Check-in updates the same operational history rather than creating an unrelated record. For more details, see the Orders page.

6. Locations and Sections

Locations and sections structure physical storage and branch operations. A location is a site, and sections are structured subdivisions inside that site. This model improves retrieval accuracy, stock organization, and multi-site coordination. For more details, see the Locations and Sections page.

7. Memberships

Memberships define plan-based access and customer entitlements. They support subscription workflows and can influence what members can borrow or how they are charged. Membership data is part of both operational context and billing context. For more details, see the Memberships page.

8. Transactions

Transactions are the financial ledger entries of the workspace. They include rental payments, sales payments, membership charges, refunds, and adjustments. In Patio, financial reporting and reconciliation depend on transaction records, so transaction accuracy is critical. For more details, see the Transactions page.

9. User Balance

User balance represents money owed or credited to a customer outside immediate point-in-time payment. It reflects outstanding amounts and available credits and is derived from ledger behavior rather than treated as an isolated feature. For more details, see the User Balance page.

10. Access Control

Access control defines which workspace pages and actions each role can use. It is not only an admin setting; it directly shapes operator workflow by gating customer, checkout, check-in, transaction, and settings actions. Correct role configuration is required for smooth frontline operations. For more details, see the Access Control page.

How These Concepts Connect

In daily operations, teams typically follow this chain:

  1. Setup

    • Configure products, inventory units, rental rules, and location structure.

  2. Serve customer

    • Select or create customer and start checkout.

  3. Complete operational cycle

    • Process check-in and resolve late or damage exceptions.

  4. Reconcile money movement

    • Record transactions and verify resulting customer balance.

  5. Govern access

    • Use access control to keep permissions aligned with responsibilities.

This is the core operating model of the Patio workspace.