Introduction

Welcome to parkm8.com. This guide covers the current platform end-to-end so your team can onboard quickly and run day-to-day operations with less admin overhead.

Recommended path: complete account setup, add properties and bays, add customers and rental periods, monitor expiring rentals, then configure billing and notifications so renewals and reporting stay on track.

Getting Started

Start in My Profile and complete your business profile so invoices, communications, and reports are accurate from day one.

1. Open My Profile from the top bar.
2. Review company identity, billing contact email, and address fields.
3. Set currency and timezone so totals and date logic match your region.
4. Review notification preferences for monthly KPI, enterprise reports, and expiring-rental alerts.
5. Save changes before moving to property setup.

Using Parker AI

Parker AI helps with quick operational queries, summaries, and guided actions using only your company-scoped ParkM8 data.

1. Open any page with the Parker assistant/chat control.
2. Ask clear, specific questions such as:
   • "How many bays are occupied today?"
   • "Show upcoming expiring rentals this month and next month."
   • "How many bays are left on my tier?"
3. Use Parker for supported actions like listing properties/bays/customers, rental checks, and guided updates.
4. For export requests, ask explicitly (for example: "Export customers to CSV").
5. Review AI output before making billing, legal, or customer-impacting decisions.

Important: Parker responses are assistive. You remain responsible for final verification before communicating or committing critical changes.

Properties, Bays & Quick Rent

Use Manage Bays for location setup, bay inventory, and fast occupancy workflows.

1. Add each property/location your business manages.
2. Select a property card to make it active.
3. Add bays with clear bay numbers, monthly pricing, and feature flags (CCTV, EV, security, covered, etc.).
4. Use rapid/bulk bay entry to create sequential bay numbers quickly.
5. Use Quick Rent from the bay list to assign a customer to a bay with dates in one flow.
6. Use Email Bay Details to send bay information directly to a selected customer or typed email address.
7. Attach and manage bay images so visual details are available during customer communication.

Bay View Mode & Bulk Edit

In Manage Bays, you can switch between Card view and Bulk edit mode to work faster on large bay sets.

1. Select a property first.
2. Use search and feature filters to narrow down bays.
3. Choose Card view for per-bay actions (edit, quick rent, email, images).
4. Choose Bulk edit mode to update feature flags across all currently filtered bays.
5. Set only the fields you want to change, then click Apply Feature Changes.

Important: Bulk mode updates feature flags only (CCTV, ANPR, lighting, gate, security, EV, covered, garage). Pricing is intentionally excluded from bulk edits.

• View Mode controls are hidden when no property is selected.
• View Mode controls are hidden when the selected property has no bays.
• View Mode controls are hidden when filters return no matching bays.
• Bulk edit panel is hidden in Card view and shown only in Bulk edit mode when matching bays exist.

Customers, Rentals & CSV

Use Customers to maintain profiles and assign bays for specific rental windows with conflict protection.

1. Open Customers and create a customer record.
2. In Customer Rental Spaces & Periods, choose customer, bay, start date, and end date.
3. Add one or more rows to cover multiple bays or separate non-overlapping periods.
4. Save to commit the schedule. Overlapping allocations are blocked automatically.
5. Use table exports (CSV) for customer lists and rental schedules when you need offline reporting.

Expiring Rentals & Renewals

The Customers page includes an Upcoming Expiring Bay Rentals section so you can identify leases ending soon and act early.

1. Filter by property and date range to focus on relevant renewals.
2. Use the no-immediate-renewal filter to surface higher-risk expiry gaps.
3. Export expiring rentals to CSV for outreach lists and pipeline tracking.
4. Use the Billing navigation alert dot to jump directly to expiry items affecting the current month.

Notifications & Reporting

Reporting is preference-driven per account user. Configure notifications in My Profile to control what is sent and when.

• Monthly KPI email reports for regular performance checks.
• Enterprise detailed report schedules where enabled.
• Expiring-rental email notifications for proactive renewal action.
• Welcome guidance modal for first-login onboarding flow.

Collaboration Integrations Setup Guide

ParkM8 supports collaboration notifications for Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Google Chat, and WhatsApp Cloud API.

1. Open My Profile → Collaboration Webhooks.
2. Select a Channel.
3. Enter the Destination (webhook URL, or recipient phone for WhatsApp).
4. Select one or more events: rental.created, rental.expiring, bay.contravention, payment.received, report.monthly.
5. Save, then run Test Webhook to validate delivery.

Jump to channel setup: Slack · Teams · Discord · Google Chat · WhatsApp

WhatsApp Template Notes

• WhatsApp messages are sent as template messages only.
• Template language defaults to en_US (override with WHATSAPP_TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE).
• Use Template Params for body placeholders (comma-separated), e.g. summary,company_id,event_type.
• Event-specific template fallback env vars are supported, e.g. WHATSAPP_TEMPLATE_RENTAL_CREATED.
• Event-specific param fallback env vars are supported, e.g. WHATSAPP_TEMPLATE_PARAMS_REPORT_MONTHLY.

Billing, Plans & Renewals

The Billing Dashboard provides KPI visibility for expected income and trend forecasts.

1. Open Billing Dashboard.
2. Use scope filters to view company-level or property-level performance.
3. Review current month and forward months to plan occupancy and revenue.
4. Open Subscription/Billing pages to change plan tier when needed.
5. If renewal auto-billing is enabled, the license renewal checkbox authorizes charge processing on due date.
6. Refer to Terms and Conditions for no-refund policy details on plan changes and paid periods.

Account, Security & Access

Access and security features are built into signup and account workflows.

• Email verification and secure password reset flows for user access control.
• Per-user preference storage for notification and onboarding controls.
• Data encryption key support for protecting sensitive stored data.
• Role-aware account pages for company profile, billing contacts, and preference management.

Data Rights: SAR & Data Portability

ParkM8 provides a self-service export to support Subject Access Request (SAR) and Right to Data Portability workflows for your business data.

1. Subject Access Request (SAR): You can request a copy of all business data held for your company account.
2. Right to Data Portability: You can download your submitted and generated company-scoped data in a structured JSON file.
3. Abuse Prevention: For security and abuse control, exports are limited to one download per company per calendar month.

Data Export & Reporting API

ParkM8 provides secure REST export endpoints for integrating with external BI tools such as Microsoft Power BI, Excel (Power Query), and Google Looker Studio. All export data is scoped to your company — one company's API key cannot access another company's data.

Available Endpoints

All endpoints are relative to /api/company/{companyId}/export/. Replace {companyId} with your numeric company ID (shown in My Profile → Integrations).

Authentication

API keys are managed in My Profile → Integrations → Export & Reporting API. You can generate up to 5 keys per company and revoke them at any time. The plain token is shown once only at creation.

Include the key with every request using one of:

• HTTP header: Authorization: ApiKey pkm8_your_token_here
• Query parameter: ?api_key=pkm8_your_token_here

Export endpoints also accept your normal ParkM8 session (browser login), so you can paste a JSON endpoint URL directly into a browser tab to preview data.

Date Range & OData Query Parameters

Supported $filter operators: eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le.

Connecting Power BI

1. Generate an API key in My Profile → Integrations → Export & Reporting API and copy it.
2. Open Power BI Desktop → Get Data → Web → Advanced.
3. Enter a .json endpoint URL (e.g. /api/company/42/export/occupancy.json).
4. Under HTTP request header parameters, add: Authorization = ApiKey pkm8_your_token_here.
5. Click OK. In the Power Query editor, expand the value list to load all rows.

Connecting Excel (Power Query)

1. In Excel, go to Data → Get Data → From Web.
2. Choose Advanced and enter a .json endpoint URL.
3. Add HTTP Header: Authorization = ApiKey pkm8_your_token_here.
4. In the Power Query editor, click the List result → Convert to Table to expand rows.
5. For CSV endpoints, use a .csv URL — Excel will import it directly.

How to Use the Enforcement Timeline

The Integrated Enforcement Module provides a chronological log of every enforcement action taken across your properties. Each entry records who acted, on which bay, at what time, and what outcome was reached — giving you a full audit trail for disputes, compliance, and reporting.

Viewing the Timeline on the Dashboard

1. Open Manage Bays and select a property.
2. Scroll to the Enforcement Timeline card within the property section.
3. The timeline lists events in reverse-chronological order. Use the date-range filter to narrow entries.
4. Click any row to expand the full event detail, including notes and any attached reference number.

Adding a Manual Log Entry

1. In the Enforcement Timeline card, click + Add Entry.
2. Select the bay, choose an Action Type (see below), enter the date/time, and add any notes or an external reference number (e.g. PCN number).
3. Click Save Entry. The new entry appears at the top of the timeline immediately.

Action Type Descriptions

Tip: Use the Observation type for any event that does not fit a standard category — the notes field supports up to 1 000 characters.

Permit Lifecycle Management (Zatpark & GTechno)

Permit Lifecycle Tracking lets you connect ParkM8 to your existing permit management platforms — Zatpark and GTechno — so that permit events (issue, renewal, suspension, cancellation) are reflected in your ParkM8 dashboard in real time via webhook callbacks.

Configuring Zatpark / GTechno Integrations

1. Go to My Profile → Enforcement Integrations.
2. Locate the Zatpark or GTechno card and click Enable.
3. Enter your platform API endpoint URL and API key (supplied by your permit provider).
4. Click Save, then Test Connection to verify credentials.
5. Copy the Webhook URL shown in the card and register it in your Zatpark / GTechno account settings as the callback destination.

Viewing and Managing Permit Events

1. Open Manage Bays and select the relevant property.
2. The Permit Events panel lists all incoming webhook events for that property's bays.
3. Each event row shows: permit reference, event type, bay, customer name, and timestamp.
4. Click a row to view the full webhook payload and any ParkM8-side actions taken.
5. Use Mark Reviewed to acknowledge an event and remove it from the unread count.

Understanding Webhook Callbacks

ParkM8 listens for POST requests at /api/webhooks/permits/{companyId}. The payload must include at minimum:

Webhooks are verified using a shared secret (HMAC-SHA256 signature in the X-Permit-Signature header). Rotate the secret from My Profile → Enforcement Integrations at any time.

Tax Advantage Tracker: Managing Deductible Maintenance Expenses

The Tax Advantage Tracker helps parking operators record and categorise maintenance and operational costs that may be tax-deductible. The tracker calculates yearly deductible totals and produces a summary you can hand to your accountant.

Important: ParkM8 does not provide tax advice. Always verify deductibility with a qualified accountant before filing.

Accessing the Tax Tracker

1. Go to My Profile → Tax Advantage Tracker.
2. The section shows a year selector (defaults to the current tax year) and the full expense list for that year.

Adding, Editing, and Deleting Expenses

1. Click + Add Expense to open the expense form.
2. Enter the date, description, amount, and select a category (see below).
3. Tick Deductible if you believe this expense qualifies for a tax deduction.
4. Click Save. The expense appears in the list and the yearly totals update instantly.
5. To edit, click ✏️ on any expense row. To delete, click 🗑️ and confirm.

Expense Categories Explained

Viewing the Yearly Summary and Deductible Totals

1. Use the Year selector at the top of the Tax Tracker page to switch between tax years.
2. The Yearly Summary card shows: total spend, total deductible amount, and a category breakdown chart.
3. Click Export Summary (CSV) to download a spreadsheet-ready version for your accountant.

Tenant Self-Service Portal

The Tenant & Resident Self-Service Portal gives your customers a secure, no-login-required view of their bay details via a magic link. Tenants can review their rental information and update their registered licence plates without needing to contact you.

Generating and Sharing Portal Links

1. Open Customers and locate the customer record.
2. Click the 🔗 Portal Link button on the customer card.
3. A unique magic link is generated and copied to your clipboard. You can also click Send via Email to dispatch it directly to the customer's registered email address.
4. Links expire after 7 days. Generate a new link at any time from the same button — previous links are immediately invalidated when a new one is created.

What Tenants Can Do in the Portal

• View bay details — property name, bay number, rental start and end dates, and monthly price.
• Update licence plates — add, edit, or remove registered vehicle plates linked to their bay.
• Download their rental confirmation — a PDF summary of their current rental period.

Tenants cannot modify rental dates, pricing, or any other administrative fields. All plate updates are logged against the customer record with a timestamp and the portal session ID.

Link Expiry

Portal links are valid for 7 days from the time of generation. After expiry, the tenant will see a friendly "link expired" message prompting them to contact you for a new link. You can regenerate links as often as needed at no extra cost.

Sustainability & ESG Reporting

The Sustainability & ESG Reporting module lets you track the environmental impact of your EV charging infrastructure. It records energy delivered, estimates CO₂ savings against an equivalent petrol journey, and produces ESG-ready metrics for corporate reporting or investor updates.

What ESG Reporting Covers

• EV charging sessions — number of charge events per bay and property.
• Energy delivered (kWh) — total kilowatt-hours delivered across all sessions.
• CO₂ savings (kg) — estimated carbon saving vs. an equivalent petrol vehicle distance.
• EV bay adoption % — percentage of your total bay inventory currently designated as EV bays.

Logging EV Charging Sessions

1. Go to Manage Bays, select a property, and open an EV-enabled bay.
2. In the bay detail panel, click + Log Charge Session.
3. Enter the session date, start and end time, and energy delivered in kWh. The vehicle registration is optional but useful for cross-referencing enforcement records.
4. Click Save Session. The session is immediately reflected in ESG metrics.

Sessions can also be imported in bulk via CSV upload (template available from the ESG dashboard) or pushed automatically if you have a smart charger integration configured.

Understanding the ESG Metrics

CO₂ Savings Methodology

ParkM8 uses the UK Government's published grid carbon intensity factor of 0.233 kg CO₂ per kWh (BEIS/DESNZ conversion factor for electricity, updated annually). This represents the carbon savings attributed to delivering electricity via the grid rather than burning petrol for an equivalent journey.

To update the carbon factor (e.g. when a new BEIS figure is published), go to My Profile → ESG Settings and enter the revised kg/kWh value. All historical metrics are recalculated automatically on save.

EV Bay Adoption Percentage

The EV Bay Adoption % metric shows how much of your portfolio is EV-ready. It is calculated as:

EV Bay Adoption % = (Number of EV-flagged bays ÷ Total active bays) × 100

Use the property scope filter on the ESG dashboard to see adoption at portfolio, property, or individual level. Export the ESG summary as PDF or CSV from the dashboard for inclusion in annual sustainability or ESG reports.

Helpful Tips & Recent Features

• Keep bay numbers consistent and unique per property so searches stay simple.
• Use complete customer details (especially valid email) for better communication and cleaner records.
• When changing rental dates, watch for overlap warnings before saving.
• Review expiring-rental filters weekly to avoid unplanned occupancy gaps.
• Use CSV exports regularly for backups and off-platform reporting.
• Dark Mode: Toggle dark mode for improved accessibility and comfort in low-light environments.
• Modern Date Pickers: All date fields now use native date pickers, styled for both light and dark mode.
• Quick Actions: New quick icons and card buttons for rapid entry, editing, and exports.
• Expiring Rentals: Enhanced filters and CSV export for renewal management.
• AI Chat Assistant: Use the chat icon for help with dashboard summaries, rentals, and more.

Quick Icons & Card Buttons

The platform uses a set of quick icons and card-related buttons to streamline actions across dashboards, customers, billing, and more. Here’s a reference for the most common icons and their functions:

Tip: Hover over any icon or button for a tooltip describing its action.

WARNING: How to close & cancel your ParkM8 Account

You can deactivate your current user login from My Profile via the Danger Zone flow.

1. Go to My Profile.
2. Click Cancel Account in the Danger Zone card.
3. Continue to the confirmation page and type your company name exactly (case-sensitive).
4. Submit to deactivate your login and trigger automatic logout.

Clear Warning: This action deactivates your current login immediately. You will lose access until an administrator reactivates your user account. It does not automatically delete company operational records or billing history.