Specialty and fast-service shops
Builds that run for months, costed to the last bracket
A build is a project, not a repair order. Parts arrive over weeks, the spec changes twice, and the customer has paid a deposit against a number that has to hold up.
- Vehicle 2015 Subaru WRX
- Job 1: Turbo upgrade In progress
- Job 2: ECU tune Awaiting approval
- Quote Signed, with its timestamp
- Parts 9 needed, 6 ordered, 4 received
- Hours, job 1 38 sold - 41.5 clocked
- Stage Awaiting parts
The number the customer agreed to is the signed copy, kept as signed. If the spec changes, edit the quote and send it for signature again.
Deposit recorded for this stage.
What gets in the way
Sound familiar?
- A build spans months and the estimate was written on day one.
- Special-order parts each have their own lead time and their own invoice.
- Deposits, stage payments and the final bill have to reconcile at the end.
A build, from the brief to the handover
A build is not a repair order. It runs for months, the spec changes, and the number has to hold up. Here is what MecanoPro does at each step.
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The brief
What the car is, and what it is going to be Growth and up
Start from the vehicle's record, with its VIN, mileage, photos and everything done to it before. Build your own baseline inspection, field by field, with brake and tire readings at four corners, and keep it on the record.
- Make as many forms as you need: a baseline, a pre-build check, a post-build check. A form you change later never alters inspections already completed.
- Up to five photos on any line, and the odometer reading goes into the vehicle's mileage history.
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The quote
Revise the quote, keep what was signed
The spec changes twice, so the quote does too. Edit it and send it again for signature by text or email. The signed copy is kept as signed, with its timestamp, IP address and a certificate page, so the number the customer agreed to is never in question.
- Each job on the work order is approved on its own, so the customer can say yes to the turbo and wait on the tune.
- A job cannot go beyond its quote plus a percentage you set without a new approval. It starts at zero.
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Weeks 3 to 8
Parts arrive over weeks, each with its own lead time
Every part moves from Needed to Ordered, Received and Installed, with its own purchase and PO number. Special-order parts are tied to the vehicle they were ordered for, with what they cost and what they are billed at.
- When every part is on order, the work order moves to Awaiting Parts, and the person holding the job gets an alert when a purchase is received.
- With Accounting, a purchase sits as inventory in transit until the goods arrive, then moves into inventory.
- Send a part from a supplier's own website straight onto the job.
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The bay
Sold hours against clocked hours
The technician clocks on and off each job. Job Margin sets the hours you sold against the hours actually clocked, so a build that is running long shows up while it is running, not after the invoice.
- Labour can be billed at sold hours, the flat rate, or at clocked hours.
- The Technician Efficiency report totals clocked, sold and available hours for each person, with a CSV export.
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Each stage
Take a payment as a stage lands
Record a deposit or a partial payment when a stage is done, instead of carrying the whole build to the end. The amount starts at the full balance, but you can enter less, and what is outstanding is tracked with how long it has been.
- For a card payment, send a Stripe payment request the customer pays on Stripe's own page, or charge a card they have saved with you.
- Invoices go out by email and text. The work order closes once, into one invoice, so the stage payments are recorded against it.
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Handover
Checked, photographed, handed over Growth and up
Run the post-build inspection, photograph the finished work, and close and invoice. The photos and the report stay on the vehicle, and the work you did is the answer to the question asked a year later.
- A finished inspection prints as a PDF in the panel's language, with the readings, photos and comments.
- Your website can show the work in a gallery with captions, and a customer's own review can be shown after you approve it.
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 build is a lot of weeks and a lot of money. Here is what MecanoPro leaves to you.
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It is a work order, not a project planner
A build runs as jobs on one work order, with parts steps and stages. There is no project timeline or milestone chart, and no place for tune files or dyno sheets.
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Stage payments are recorded, not planned
A deposit is a payment type you record against an invoice. MecanoPro does not work out a deposit percentage or schedule a stage-payment plan, and it does not invoice a build in parts: a work order closes once, into one invoice.
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The hours are your numbers
Job Margin is only as honest as the clock. A technician who forgets to clock on makes a job look cheaper than it was, and a job awaiting approval is locked against the clock.
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.