Software for auto repair shops

Auto repair shop software for several service bays and a parts room of your own

At any moment an auto repair shop has cars at different stages: one is waiting for diagnostics, another is up on a lift without the part it needs, and a third is being washed before pickup. Auto repair shop software has to show which bay is working and which is idle, and where a part is needed right now.

A lift that sits empty for half the day

Every bay and every mechanic is set up as a separate resource, and services are linked only to the resources that perform them, so a wheel alignment never lands on a bay without the alignment rack. Resource statistics show whether it is time to hire another mechanic or whether the existing bays are simply underused. The breakdown of bookings by source is shown too, which makes it clear how many cars came in through online booking and how many were booked by the front desk.

A larger shop can create resource types of its own, for example bays and mechanics kept apart. They are then grouped together on the schedule, and a service price can be segmented by resource type, so an hour on a bay equipped for electrical diagnostics can cost something different from an hour on a standard one.

Filters and pads before the repair season

Parts are kept in the warehouse catalog with an SKU and a barcode, and the item list can be pulled in from an .xlsx file. The parts balance can be checked for any date you choose, a future one included, so purchasing ahead of seasonal repairs is planned in advance. Balance control rules flag the items that are running low, such as filters, brake pads and fluids. Seasonal jobs such as a pad or fluid change each deserve a service of their own with a fitting duration, so online booking holds the bay for exactly as long as the job needs.

A repair that ran past its scheduled hours

If the mechanic finds another fault during the job, the booking on the schedule is stretched in time or moved to another bay that performs the same service. The new part goes into the orders tab right inside the booking and raises the amount the client pays, and it leaves the warehouse once the booking is marked as paid and saved. Small consumables are adjusted separately on the consumable materials tab of the same booking and do not change the price of the repair.

A knock in the suspension that might come back

A client finds out whether the repair worked on the road, not at the shop gate. The post-visit survey is set up through mailing planning. A regular client with a large repair job can get a discount based on the receipt total. How this fits with the other lines of work is shown in the overview of automotive businesses, setting up bays is covered in detail in the article on resources and their statistics, and a small one-person garage will find the description of a mechanic working solo closer to home.