When should I use a package instead of an auto-add rule in Books?

TB Books · products · Last updated November 10, 2026 · Version 1

This process works in apps: TB Books, TB POS

This article will teach you how to choose between a package (bundle) and an auto-add rule so the right lines land on the ticket.

Both features add extra lines for you, but they solve different problems. A package is a list of items you normally sell together and would otherwise add one by one — an oil change needing oil, a filter, and labor. A staff member has to add the package code, so nothing appears unless they ask for it. An auto-add rule attaches one service or fee whenever a matching product is added — a tire disposal fee on specific brands or rim sizes — and it fires by itself, sometimes and not always, depending on what the customer buys.

Steps

• Use a package when you always sell the same group of items together and want to add them in one shot (oil change, brake job, mount-and-balance kit).
• Use an auto-add rule when one service or fee should follow a product automatically, only for certain brands, models, tire types, or rim diameters (disposal fee, tire tax, mount and balance on tires).
• Build packages in Books under Inventory & Services → Packages, or in POS under Lookup → Packages. Give each one a code, a name, and each item plus its quantity.
• Build auto-add rules in Settings → Auto-add Rules, choosing the service and the include/exclude criteria.
• On the ticket, package items appear indented under the package code and say "Included in"; rule-added lines appear indented under the product and say "Auto-added with".
• Either way, edit quantity or price on the ticket when a job differs — the saved package or rule is not changed.

Conclusion & best practices

If the answer to "should this show up on its own?" is yes, it is a rule. If the answer is "only when we sell that job," it is a package. They work together: add an oil-change package and four tires on the same ticket, and the disposal-fee rule still fires for the tires only. See How to add a package deal in Books? and How to add a package deal in POS?.