Garage job card formatWhat to write on every job card.

One card, one visit

A job card is the record of one vehicle visit. The front desk opens it, the technician works from it, and the bill is made from it.

If the work is not on the card, it is not on the bill. Most lost money in a garage starts there.

The fields to fill in

Fill these at check-in, before the car goes into a bay:

• Job number and date
• Customer name and mobile number
• Registration number, make and model
• Odometer reading
• The complaint, in the customer's own words
• Photos or notes of dents and scratches already there
• Promised delivery time

Fill these as the work happens

Each line should be something you can bill:

• Labour lines, each with a price
• Parts lines, each with a quantity and a price
• The estimate total, and who approved it and when
• The technician and the bay
• Status: waiting, in bay, ready, delivered

Mistakes that cost money

• Writing a diagnosis instead of the complaint. "Compressor gone" is your guess; "AC not cooling since Sunday" is what the customer said.
• No odometer. The next service reminder has nothing to count from.
• A part fitted but never written down. It never reaches the bill.
• Two open cards for one car. Nobody knows which one is billed.
• Starting expensive work before the estimate is approved.

On paper and in Garage Master

A paper card works until it gets lost or dirty, and someone types it again for the bill.

In Garage Master the card finds the car by its plate, keeps one open job per vehicle, and its labour and parts lines become the invoice without typing them twice.