Estimate, approval and work
On hold by who it waits on, the customer's own parts and waiting time
Put a job card on hold with why and who it waits on: the customer, a supplier, the insurer or your own side. Holds for the customer's own parts, special orders and insurance claims start and end by themselves. The Waiting Time report shows where the days go.
PlansEvery plan
The problem it solves
- A car sits in the yard for a week and nobody can say whether it waits on the customer, the parts dealer or you.
- The customer brings their own battery, it is forgotten, and the car cannot be finished.
- Promised dates slip and the customer hears about it only when they call.
- There is no number for how many days cars wait on suppliers or insurers.
How it works
- 01
Click Put on Hold, choose Waiting On (Customer, Supplier / Parts, Insurance or Our Side), type the reason and confirm.
- 02
The job card and the board show "On hold, waiting on ..." with the reason and since when.
- 03
When the wait is over, click Resume. The hold keeps its start, end and days.
- 04
For a part the customer brings, set Supplied By to Customer on its line. It is not charged, and the job card waits on the customer until you tick Part Received.
- 05
Open Garage > Reports > Time and Bays > Waiting Time to see the days on hold by who it waited on, by branch and by month.
Everything it does
A hold
- Waiting On: Customer, Supplier / Parts, Insurance, Our Side
- Reason, Parts Awaited, Put on Hold By, start, end and days (one decimal, refreshed every hour)
- The job card shows On Hold, Waiting On, On Hold Since, Hold Reason and Days Waiting on the Customer
- Closing the job card (delivered or cancelled) ends its holds
Holds that start and end by themselves
- A part the customer brings, approved and not yet received: waiting on the customer until Part Received
- With Scale: Order Parts for a job card waits on the supplier until the parts are received
- With Scale: an insurance claim that is filed waits on the insurer
- With Enterprise: parts asked from another branch wait until they arrive
The customer's own parts
- Supplied By: Shop or Customer on each part line
- Not charged when the customer supplies it
- Part Received and the date it arrived
- The job card cannot move to Ready or Delivered while such a part is still awaited
Where you see the wait
- The Holds tab of the job card
- Board label "Waiting on ..." and the filters On Hold and Waiting on the Customer
- Waiting Time report: days and count by Waiting On, as a pivot or list
- Customer page: the status says when the job card waits, on whom and why
- With Growth: the floor TV board shows what a car waits for
Who uses it
Where you use it
- Web: Put on Hold and Resume on the job card, the Holds tab, Garage > Reports > Time and Bays > Waiting Time
- The SmartMy Garage app: Hold and Resume on the job card, kept on the phone without signal and sent later. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet.
- Customer page: the status line says what the job card waits for
What you control
Settings
- None to set: holds work from the start; the message Waiting on the Customer is switched on or off per branch in Garage Messages
Messages and alerts
- Waiting on the Customer: to the customer when a hold waits on them, with the link to their job page. It goes at once by WhatsApp, else SMS, else email, and in the app for customers who sign in
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Does the customer see that we are waiting on a supplier?
The job page status says the job card waits and on whom, with the reason you typed. Write the reason as you would say it to the customer.
What if the customer's part arrives?
Tick Part Received on its line. The hold ends and the job card can move on.
How is waiting time counted?
From the start of each hold to its end, in days with one decimal, refreshed every hour while it is open.
Which plan has it?
Every plan, from Starter.
Related
Related features.
Job card board by stage, with list and calendarEvery plan
See every car in the shop on one board, a column per stage. Each card shows the plate, the customer, the promised time and labels for approval, alerts, holds, vehicles out and reworks. Switch to a list, a calendar, a pivot or a chart.
Ordering parts for a job, reorder rules and supplier billsFrom Scale
When an approved part is not in stock, Order Parts buys the shortage from the part's vendor for that job card. The job card waits on the supplier until the delivery is received. Reorder rules buy for each branch and van by themselves, and the supplier's bill is made from the purchase order.
Insurance claims with the insurer's and the customer's invoicesFrom Scale
Run accident repairs paid by an insurer from the job card: policy, claim number and surveyor visit. It also holds the insurer's approved amount, the policy excess and depreciation on parts and labour. At invoicing, two invoices are made: what the insurer pays and what the customer pays, worked out line by line.
Messages to the customer at every step, with the invoice on deliveryEvery plan
Customers hear from you when the car is checked in, the estimate is ready, extra work is found, the car is ready, delivered and paid. Each message carries the link to their job page, and the delivered message carries the invoice. Messages go by WhatsApp, else SMS, else email, on every plan.
Stage checks before in progress, ready and deliveredEvery plan
A job card moves on only when the work allows it. The car is checked in before work, work is approved before In Progress, tasks are done before Ready, and the invoice is confirmed before Delivered. When there is a good reason, a workshop manager moves it anyway and writes why.
Floor TV board for the workshopFrom Growth
Put the workshop on a TV, by stage or by bay. Each car shows its plate, model, technician and promised time, with late cars in red and holds marked. The screen opens by a private link with no login and refreshes by itself.
Want to see it on your own job cards? Book a demo and we walk you through it with your workshop's work.