Invoice, payment and delivery
Storage charges for cars left after the work
A finished car that is not collected is charged by the night after free days, up to a maximum. A car kept with you for storage is charged by the day or the month. The charge grows by itself, the customer is told before it starts, and a manager can waive it.
PlansEvery plan
Why it matters
A finished car that sits for two weeks takes a bay or a parking slot you could have used. Most shops never charge for it, because nobody counts the days or tells the customer in time. When the bill finally carries a storage line, the customer says they were never warned. SmartMy Garage counts the nights from the moment the job card is ready. It tells the customer the day before charges start, and again when they start. One storage line on the job card is kept up to date every hour. Delivery waits for it to be invoiced like any other work. When the delay was the shop's own, a manager waives it with the reason on record.
The problem it solves
- Finished cars stay in the yard for days and block bays, and nobody charges for the space.
- A storage charge added at pickup starts an argument because the customer was never told.
- Days are counted by hand, so two advisors bill the same wait differently.
- Cars kept for a customer travelling abroad have no clear monthly bill.
How it works
- 01
Switch on Storage After Work for the branch, with the free days (3 to start with). Then set the rate per day and, if you want, a maximum.
- 02
When a job card becomes Ready, the count starts. The customer gets Ready for Pickup as usual, and the job page shows Free storage until a date.
- 03
The day before free storage ends, the customer gets Free Storage Ends Tomorrow with the daily rate. When charges start, Storage Charges Started tells them again, with the maximum.
- 04
A storage line on the job card grows each night. An hourly job and every invoice or delivery bring it up to date.
- 05
At pickup, the storage up to that day is invoiced with the rest. The car is delivered once it is invoiced, or paid where the branch asks for it.
- 06
If the delay was yours, a workshop manager clicks Waive Storage and takes off all of it or some days, with a reason.
- 07
For a car kept with you without work, open a job card of the kind Storage and check it in with the Agreed End. It is Stored at once and charged from check-in.
Everything it does
Storage after work
- Off for every new branch: nothing is ever added, and no message sent, while it is off
- The count starts when the job card became ready (the last time), never before the branch switched storage on
- Counted by the night: collected the day it is ready, nothing; the next day, one day
- Free days first (3 to start with), then the rate per day, up to the maximum if one is set
- Closed Days Count: on to start with; when off, days off in the branch's working schedule and public holidays are skipped
- Sent back to work: the wait so far is kept on its own line, and a new wait starts when it is ready again
Vehicle storage (storage job cards)
- The kind Storage is offered only when the branch switches Vehicle Storage on
- Checked in as usual, with an Agreed End; no estimate and no Ready for Pickup message
- Free days (0 to start with), a rate per day and a rate per month
- Monthly rate: each full calendar month from the first charged day costs the monthly rate. The days left over cost the daily rate, never more than a month
- Billed At Pickup (the default) or Every Full Month: a confirmed invoice as each month ends, with catch-up if one was missed
- Next Storage Bill shows the date; an advance taken at check-in pays the monthly bills (Growth)
- Storage End Reminder: the customer is reminded 3 days before the agreed end to start with
Rates and the storage line
- The Storage Product ("Vehicle Storage", a service) carries the taxes; without taxes of its own, the branch's default sales tax
- Rates by vehicle category: after work per day, storage per day and per month; 0 uses the branch's rate
- One storage line, approved by the branch's terms, with no task; it is never free under warranty
- Shows on the job card, the estimate, the totals, the customer's page and the staff app as it grows
- A further invoice takes only the days not invoiced yet
Waivers and special cases
- Waive Storage (workshop managers): all, or a number of days, with the reason in the job card history
- A waiver changes only what is not invoiced; storage already invoiced is corrected with a credit note
- Switched off later: storage not yet invoiced is removed
- Scale: always on the customer's invoice of an insurance claim, never the insurer's
- Scale: on a fleet's monthly invoice; memberships and AMC discounts do not reduce it unless a contract item covers the storage product
- Growth: no shop supplies charge on storage
What the customer sees
- Free storage until a date, then the rate a day (or a month) and At most the maximum
- Agreed until, Next bill and Charged so far, with months and days
- No charge when it was waived; the status Stored for a storage job card
Who uses it
Where you use it
- Web: Garage > Configuration > General > Settings > Storage Charges, Garage > Configuration > Workshop > Storage Rates, and the Storage tab of the job card
- The SmartMy Garage app: the Storage card with days, amount, free until and rates. Waive for managers; the Storage kind and agreed end. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet.
- Customer job page: the Storage card
What you control
Settings
- Storage After Work: off; free days 3; rate per day; maximum (none); Closed Days Count on
- Vehicle Storage: off; free days 0; rate per day and per month; billed At Pickup; reminder 3 days before the agreed end
- Storage Product: Vehicle Storage
- Rates by vehicle category: none to start with
Messages and alerts
- Free Storage Ends Tomorrow: to the customer, the day before charges start, with the daily rate; WhatsApp, else SMS, else email; in-app with a login
- Storage Charges Started: to the customer when charges start, with the maximum; same channels
- Storage End Reminder: to the customer before the agreed end of a storage job card; same channels
- Each is sent once per wait, and only while the branch charges storage
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Does storage start counting on old cars when we switch it on?
No. The count never starts before the day the branch switched storage on.
Do Sundays count?
To start with, yes: storage is space taken whether you are open or not. Switch off Closed Days Count to skip the branch's days off and public holidays.
Can we charge more for vans and SUVs?
Yes. Add rates by vehicle category: after work per day, storage per day and storage per month. A category without its own rate uses the branch's.
What if the car waited because we were late with a part?
A workshop manager waives the storage, in full or by days, and the reason is kept on the job card.
Can a customer pay for long storage in advance?
Yes, with Growth. Take an advance at check-in; the monthly storage bills are paid from it as they are made.
Is storage ever billed to the insurer?
No. On an insurance job it always goes on the customer's own invoice.
Related
Related features.
Invoices from approved work, part invoices and deliver only when paidEvery plan
Bill exactly the work the customer approved, in one invoice or in parts, with the taxes already on each line. Invoiced lines are locked, and a branch can choose to hand cars back only once the bill is paid.
Delivery with reading, photos, belongings returned and signatureEvery plan
Hand every car back the same way. Take the odometer and fuel at the gate and the photos your branch asks for. Return the belongings noted at check-in, add remarks and take the customer's signature. It all stays on the job card.
Advances (deposits) on a job cardFrom Growth
Take money from the customer before the work, for example before ordering an expensive part. The advance is held against the job card and pays its invoices by itself when they are confirmed.
The customer's job page by a private link, no loginEvery plan
Every job card has its own page for the customer, opened from a link in their messages with no password. They see the status, the estimate, the photos, the damage, the readings and their invoices. It comes with every plan.
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.
Fleet accounts on monthly creditFrom Scale
Taxi firms, leasing companies and delivery fleets get an account with a credit limit and their own approvers. Every job card carries a purchase order number. Their job cards are delivered without an invoice. They are billed once a month in one invoice with a section per job card, with a printed statement.
Want to see it on your own job cards? Book a demo and we walk you through it with your workshop's work.