Workshop software: jobs, vehicle history, parts
Author:
Paweł Matusiak
·
A reception notebook and “car ready” texts do not scale past the third bay. Workshop software holds the job from check-in to invoice, VIN history and parts stock — the mechanic knows what to do and the customer stops calling every hour.
A workshop earns on bay hours and parts, not on hunting a slip for “what we did at the last service”. Garage software collects check-in, quote, status, stock and invoice. The customer gets an SMS instead of calling “can I pick it up yet” in the middle of a diagnosis. The mechanic does not guess which car is priority and which is waiting on a seal from the wholesaler.
The usual mess that eats margin
A small shop survives on a notebook. At the third bay and the second mechanic the notebook lies. The quote lives in email, parts in a text to the sales rep, the invoice in another programme, VIN history in the owner’s head. Each crack costs: parts ordered without approval, a doubled job, a customer who collects “because a neighbour said it was ready”.
- Check-in on paper, quote in email, parts in a text to the wholesaler, invoice in another programme.
- No VIN history — the same seal leak “surprises” you every season.
- The mechanic does not know which car is priority and which is waiting on a part.
- The customer never approved the estimate, but parts are already on order and will not go back free.
- Stock bought “just in case”, and you still lack a filter on Friday after 3 pm.
- Seasonal tyres in a second building — nobody knows which wheel belongs to which VIN.
How a job flows through the system
Good workshop software is not “a CRM with a registration plate field”. It is a flow: from the gate to the invoice, with a place for “we do not touch it until the customer confirms”. The shop-floor board shows the same thing the office sees and — in a cut-down form — the customer on the phone.
- Check-in: vehicle data (VIN, mileage, plate), fault description, photos, contact, who took it in.
- Quote: labour + parts, variants (“minimum / recommended”), customer approval by email, SMS or in a portal.
- Bay and mechanic: a shop-floor board “to do / in progress / waiting for part / ready to collect”.
- Stock: reserve parts on the job, order from the wholesaler, returns, a shelf number.
- Handover: “car ready” SMS, payment, invoice, advice and the next service date.
- After handover: VIN history, postponed advice, a reminder in 10,000 km or a year.
History that sells the next visit
On the next check-in you see what was done, which parts went in, which advice the customer postponed. That is the base for a periodic service and a “pads will last 5k km, discs will not” conversation. Without a vehicle card you are guessing, and the customer feels you “always find something”. With a card you talk about the last visit, not a hunch.
Parts stock, tyres and wholesaler orders
A workshop loses twice on stock: once when it buys “just in case” and the part sits for a year, again when there is no filter on Friday and the car sits through the weekend. Software will not place the perfect order for you, but it will show what is reserved on open jobs, what is missing for tomorrow’s check-ins, what has not moved. Seasonal tyres are a separate store: season, wheels, rack location, VIN link, in and out dates.
A wholesaler integration makes sense when there is an API and volume. At the start an order from the job card is enough (SKU list, qty, job number in the email subject). Later, if one wholesaler is 70% of purchases, we wire the catalogue and stock. Same idea as a B2B portal for wholesalers — from the other side of the counter.
The customer: status, SMS, booking an oil change
The customer does not want “a system”. They want to know whether they can plan collection and what it will cost. An SMS on status change (checked in, waiting for part, ready) cuts half the reception calls. A link to approve the estimate cuts the “I never agreed to that” fight. Online booking makes sense for services with a predictable time: oil, tyres, inspection. Diagnostics and bodywork stay on check-in and a quote — the calendar should not sell “engine repair at 10 am”.
A driver app for a fleet or a regular “car status” portal is a common second phase, not the MVP. First the shop-floor board and SMS. Then a portal when there really is a fleet or a branch network. It is a cousin of the field service app: there the bay is at the customer, here the customer comes to the bay.
Invoice, till and KSeF 2026
You do not have to throw out the till or the accounts tool. Workshop software joins the shop floor and the customer. The receipt stays on the till you have. A company invoice — from the panel or an export to accounts. From 2026 invoices between VAT payers go through KSeF. Dates from ksef.podatki.gov.pl: 1 February 2026 for taxpayers with 2024 sales (including VAT) over PLN 200 million; 1 April 2026 for the rest. Invoices to private individuals in KSeF are optional.
If all B2B already goes through a KSeF-ready accounts tool — stay on it, and let the workshop pass lines (labour, parts, job number). If the panel itself invoices a fleet or a dealer, it must speak the schema, not a PDF. Integration notes: KSeF in a company app. We do not advise here whether a given NIP receipt is enough — that is your accountant and current Ministry rules.
When off-the-shelf, when custom
There are mature garage packages. They are worth a look when the process is textbook: check-in, quote, parts, invoice. A custom system makes sense with an unusual process (fleets, multi-brand, seasonal tyres + body shop + recovery), several sites, a “car status” app, or stock a package cannot handle. Sometimes we only add booking and SMS on top of what you already run. Decision criteria sit in SaaS or custom.
Signals that a package is no longer enough: two halls and one spreadsheet “because the programme cannot”; mechanic commission done by hand; a fleet client wants one login for 40 cars; parts from three wholesalers with no reserve on the job; the owner cannot see which bay sits empty on Tuesday.
How we deploy on the shop floor, not in a slide deck
- One pilot bay: check-in, statuses, SMS. The rest of the floor works the old way for a week.
- A service and time dictionary — with mechanics, not the marketing price list.
- Import of regulars’ cars (plate, VIN, phone) from a spreadsheet, not a promise to “move it somehow”.
- Stock and tyres — phase two, once jobs stop vanishing.
- Fleet, second branch, wholesaler integration — when the first hall does not go back to the notebook.
Shop-floor training is an hour, not a day. Large statuses, a photo at check-in, a “ready” button. If the mechanic must “fill in a corporate job card”, they will go back to paper. Describe bay count and whether check-in, parts or customer comms hurt more. You get a quote from a job board — not from “automotive ERP”.
Fleets, a used-car desk and a second branch — without mixing flows on day one
A fleet (30–200 cars, one client) wants one login, one consolidated invoice and VIN history per plate. A used-car desk wants listings, contracts and commission. A second branch wants a shared car card and a separate shop-floor board. Those are three flows. Custom workshop software can carry them on one engine, but not in the first sprint. The MVP is your hall: check-in, status, SMS, quote. The fleet gets a portal once mechanics are not back on the notebook. The desk is added beside the job board, not instead of it.
The usual mistake: you want “automotive ERP” because a neighbour has five slides. Then the rollout lasts half a year and check-in is still on paper because nobody had time to train. A week of truth on one bay beats a quarter of configuration the floor will not open. Same argument as in SaaS vs custom.
Warranty, a claim and a fight over the estimate
A claim with no VIN history and no check-in photos is word against word. The system holds: mileage, description, photos, the approved estimate, part numbers and the handover protocol. When the customer returns with “you already did this”, you open the card instead of a drawer. Labour warranty and part warranty have different dates — mixing them in a spreadsheet ends in either unpaid rework or a one-star review.
An estimate with variants (“minimum to leave / recommended / full”) cuts the dispute. The customer taps approval on the phone. A mid-job scope change (it was the hub after all) is a new quote, not a pen note on the old PDF. The office sees whether parts may be ordered. Stock does not move without that yes — the simplest brake on “we already bought it, so you have to pay”.
A shop-floor report you cannot get from a notebook
- Bay occupancy Tuesday vs Saturday — whether to hire a third mechanic or cut the rota.
- Time from check-in to handover and time “waiting for part” — that is where margin leaks.
- Labour vs parts mix, wholesaler returns, parts that do not move.
- No-shows on a booked oil change and booking source (Google, referral, fleet).
- Which mechanic closes jobs and who leaves “almost ready” for tomorrow.
A report does not replace walking the floor. It gives an argument when you decide on a second lift or whether a tyre hotel even adds up. Without numbers you are left with “it always feels full”, which does not survive the first weak month.
Multi-brand, recovery and diagnostics — without promising “every integration”
A multi-brand shop wants history from several diagnostic protocols, not one plugin “for every tester”. Recovery and a roadside check-in are a separate status and a separate customer SMS (“car collected, heading to the hall”). A tester or insurer integration — only with an API and volume. At the start a photo of the diagnostic screen on the job settles 80% of disputes. The rest is a separate quote line, not an “industry 4.0” slide.
VIN, mileage and a vehicle card a notebook cannot replace
VIN is the key to history, not decoration at check-in. On the next visit the card shows mileage, parts, advice the customer postponed and claims. Without it “the seal is leaking again” sounds like a pushy upsell. With a card you talk about the last protocol. Check-in photos (bumper, odometer, wheels) end “it was already like that”. Keeping them on a mechanic’s private phone ends when they leave — files should live on the job, with a role and retention.
Mileage typed at every check-in builds a curve that shows whether a “in 10,000 km” service still makes sense. An SMS before the service date is cheaper than an empty bay on Tuesday. A fleet (many cars, one tax id) gets the same card per plate and one consolidated invoice — phase two, not a condition for the shop-floor board.
Parts, a reserve on the job and a wholesaler return
A part ordered without estimate approval is either a loss or a complaint. Reserving a SKU on an open job shows what you really lack tomorrow, not “what sits on the shelf just in case”. A return to the wholesaler with the job number in the subject can be booked. A return “from memory” vanishes. A catalogue integration with a named wholesaler makes sense with an API and volume; at the start a list from the job card is enough. That is the other side of a B2B portal.
- You do not order parts until the customer confirms an estimate variant.
- A filter at 3 pm on Friday is dearer than a Wednesday minimum alert.
- Tyres: season, wheel, rack, VIN, in and out date — a separate store.
- A part that has not moved in a year is a cost, not an asset — the report shows it.
KSeF and the fleet invoice: the panel is not a till
The receipt stays on the fiscal till you have. A company or fleet invoice — from the panel or an export to accounts. From 2026 invoices between VAT payers go through KSeF. Dates from ksef.podatki.gov.pl: 1 February 2026 when 2024 sales (including VAT) exceed PLN 200 million; 1 April 2026 for the rest. Invoices to private individuals in KSeF are optional. We do not interpret a NIP receipt or the PLN 10,000 limit here — that is the accountant and current Ministry rules. App path: KSeF in the panel.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a customer book an oil change online?
- Yes — for services with a predictable time. Diagnostics and bodywork usually go through check-in and a quote, because you do not sell an hour you do not know.
- Will it manage a tyre hotel?
- It can: season, wheels, rack location, linked to VIN, in/out date. That is a common second phase after jobs, not a go-live condition.
- What about parts wholesalers?
- A manual order from the job card at the start. A wholesaler integration if they have an API and the volume justifies it. We do not promise “every wholesaler in Poland”.
- How long to go live?
- Check-in + statuses + SMS is weeks. Stock, fleets and a second branch — the next phase. Migrating old VIN history is quoted separately.
- Will you replace the fiscal till?
- No. The receipt stays on the till. The panel holds the job, the estimate and the company invoice.
- What about a used-car desk?
- A different process (listing, contract, commission). It can sit beside service, but we do not mix the dealer spreadsheet with the shop-floor board in phase one. Related: used-car lot software.
- Does every mechanic need an account?
- A bay account or a person account is enough — large buttons, status change, parts used. Not every helper needs a login.
- GDPR and damage photos?
- Photos live on the job, not on a private phone. Access only for people on the car. The customer can get selected shots with the quote.
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