Specialty and fast-service shops
Photograph everything, approve in writing, deliver on the date you promised
A body job is a long cycle with an anxious owner at one end and supplements in the middle. What protects you is a photographic record and an approval you can produce.
- Vehicle 2021 Ford Escape
- Photos at check-in 12, before any work
- Job 1: Rear bumper Approved
- Job 2: Quarter panel Approved
- Job 3: Supplement Awaiting approval
- Parts 2 ordered, 1 received
- Promised Friday 4:00 p.m.
The supplement waits on a signed quote. The approved jobs carry on, and the owner can see the status without calling.
What gets in the way
Sound familiar?
- Pre-existing damage becomes your problem the moment nobody photographed it.
- Supplements need a second approval, and the vehicle waits for it.
- The owner calls for an update because there is nowhere else to get one.
One repair, from the drop-off to the delivery
A body job is a long cycle with an anxious owner at one end and supplements in the middle. Here is what MecanoPro does at each step.
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Drop-off
A photographic record, from the first minute Growth and up
Photograph the vehicle on arrival into its own gallery. Draw on the vehicle picture where each piece of damage is, add up to five photos to any line, and have the customer sign the work order on a tablet at the counter.
- Pre-existing damage becomes your problem the moment nobody photographed it. The photos are dated, kept on the record, and can be marked private.
- The Damage Inspection field lets you draw in red, blue or black, and the finished inspection prints as a PDF with the drawing on it.
- Check In opens the work order from the appointment, with the mileage in, a key tag, the advisor, the bay and the promised date.
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The estimate
Each piece of work approved on its own
Each job has its own technician, concern, cause and correction, and its own lines for labour, parts, sublet and fees. The customer can accept the bumper and decline the rest, because each job is approved on its own.
- Quote for Approval puts the waiting jobs on one quote, sent by text or email for signature. A signed quote approves the jobs, and a cancelled one declines them.
- Sublet is its own line type, for the work you send to another shop.
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The supplement
Found halfway through, and priced before it is done
The technician raises a Finding: what needs doing, what was found, suggested labour hours and up to three suggested parts, with photos. The advisor prices it as an additional job, and it goes to the owner on a second quote.
- The approved jobs carry on while the supplement waits, and a job cannot exceed its quote plus the percentage you allow without a new approval. It starts at zero; check your provincial rules.
- The clock is locked on a job that is awaiting approval, so nobody is working on something the customer has not agreed to.
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The parts
Parts arrive over days, not all at once
Each part moves from Needed to Ordered, Received and Installed, and the work order moves to Awaiting Parts when every part is on order. Receiving a purchase sends a Part received alert to whoever holds the job.
- Special-order parts are tied to the vehicle they were ordered for, with their own purchase and PO number.
- Send a part from the supplier's own website straight onto the job. We work with NAPA, Nexpart, Distribution Stox, Worldpac and DT Tire today.
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The wait
The owner calls for an update because there is nowhere else to get one
Give them a private status page that needs no sign-in. It shows the stage the vehicle is at, the expected date, the jobs with their amounts, the photos, and a quote waiting for their signature.
- The stages are Checked in, Being worked on, Quality check, Ready and Picked up. The page expires 90 days after the work order closes unless you change it.
- A courtesy car for the wait is its own module: a fleet, a diary that refuses a double-booking, and a check-out and check-in with odometer, fuel and condition, and a driver licence with its expiry.
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Delivery
Checked, closed, handed over
Send the vehicle to quality control against your own checklist, pass it with the mileage out, then close and invoice. Declined or deferred work keeps a follow-up date and can be quoted again later.
- A closed work order cannot be changed, and one already on an invoice cannot be cancelled.
- The invoice goes out by email or text, and a Stripe payment request lets the owner pay by card on Stripe's own page.
The parts of MecanoPro this shop uses
Each one is a real module, and each is explained on its own page.
Where it stops and you start
A long repair cycle has a lot of promises in it. Here is what the software leaves to you.
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Approval lives on the quote
A job is approved by a signed or accepted quote, never by ticking it on the work order. A supplement is only approved once the owner has signed the second quote.
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The courtesy car does not bill itself
Its daily rate is recorded only, and the amount charged is typed in by hand. Staff book it, overdue alerts go to your administrators rather than the customer, and a lapsed insurance or registration blocks the hand-over unless an administrator allows it.
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The board is for looking, not dragging
The work order board shows every stage and flags a promised time that has passed in red, but a card moves when the work does, not when you drag it. It shows at most 500 work orders.
See it on your own jobs
Book thirty minutes and we will walk through it on your own work orders. No pressure and nothing to sign.
See it running on your own work orders
Thirty minutes, at a time that suits the shop. We load a few of your real jobs in and you tell us where it would break.