Case Study
Kilhof Vehicle Rental Krnov

Kilhof Vehicle Rental Krnov

Kilhof Rental and Service is based in Krnov in the Moravian-Silesian Region. The company offers trailer, van, car transporter and passenger vehicle rentals. It has a strong local reputation — but the entire administration was handled manually.

The owner spent significant time on evenings and weekends managing reservations by phone, issuing invoices and tracking payments. The system worked, but it could not scale.

Starting Point

Before the project, the operation looked like this:

• reservations recorded in a paper diary
• invoices issued manually for every reservation
• payment status monitored manually
• customers had to call to check availability
• access codes for the key box delivered in person or via messages
• contracts signed physically

The result was a high time burden on the owner, risk of double bookings, and no practical way to grow without hiring more staff.

What Needed to Be Solved

Datilo analyzed the operation and defined the key goals:

• online reservation system with real-time availability per item
• automatic generation of contracts and advance invoices
• integration with Moneta Money Bank for real-time payment matching
• connection to Fakturoid for automated invoice issuance
• automatic delivery of access codes at the start of each reservation
• minimizing the owner's personal time spent on operations

Design and Implementation

Datilo designed the complete system architecture. AP Development built the application from scratch — without a framework — as a custom web application optimized for desktop, tablet and mobile.

The project was completed in six phases:

• Analysis and design — requirements audit, data architecture and integration points (Datilo)
• Design and prototype — visual design matching the Kilhof brand, intentionally simple style for the trade audience (AP Development)
• Custom development — reservation engine, availability management, PDF generation (AP Development)
• Integration — Moneta Money Bank API, Fakturoid API (AP Development / Datilo)
• Automation — mailing, payment checks, access code delivery (AP Development)
• Testing and launch — hosting, Google Analytics, SEO (AP Development)

Total implementation time: 2 months.

How the System Works Today

A customer visits the website, selects an item, checks availability in the online calendar and fills in a reservation form. The system immediately generates a contract in PDF format and sends an advance invoice with a QR payment code.

Once the bank records an incoming payment, the system automatically matches it to the reservation, issues a final invoice and confirms the booking. At the moment the reservation begins, the customer receives an access code for the key and document box — with no owner intervention.

Unpaid reservations are automatically cancelled after the payment deadline passes.

Key Architectural Decision

The system was intentionally built without an off-the-shelf reservation solution or framework. Every automated rule — cancelling a reservation, sending a code, matching a payment — is unambiguous, auditable and easy to extend.

This is the foundation that makes unmanned operation possible.

Results After Three Months

• 120 completed reservations in the first three months after launch
• Near-zero cancellations — customers book deliberately and pay
• Minimal owner time — the system runs autonomously 24/7
• customers book in the evenings, at night and on weekends without contacting the owner
• all administration — contracts, invoices, payment matching — runs fully automatically

"I received several recommendations for websites, but nothing ever worked out because most of my ideas, weren't possible'. At the first meeting with Mr. Peter from Datilo, I discovered that everything was realistic and feasible. Once the system was fully live, I was pleasantly surprised how well it serves customers in the evenings, at night and on weekends. Thanks to Mr. Peter, I no longer spend so much time on administration and can focus on other things."

— Josef Kilhof, owner of Kilhof Rental Krnov

Investment and Context

The total investment was 90,000 CZK including VAT. It covered architecture design, custom web application development, both integrations (Moneta Money Bank, Fakturoid), full process automation, visual design, hosting, SEO and security.

The system replaces work that would otherwise require a part-time administrative employee. The investment paid for itself within the first quarter of operation.

Technologies Used

• custom development without a framework
• REST API and custom data layer
• automated tasks (cron, event-driven)
• Moneta Money Bank API — real-time payment matching
• Fakturoid API — automated invoicing
• PDF generation — contracts and invoices
• automated mailing
• private hosting by PETER HOLDING s.r.o.
• Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEO