Ask what was done on that visit, and you get three different answers.
A job card is the record of one visit or one repair: the complaint, what the inspection found, who worked on it, which parts went in, and what it came to. It opens when the vehicle or the machine arrives and closes when the bill is settled. Everything in between stops being somebody’s memory.
The complaint is written at the gate on a printed sheet. By evening that sheet carries oil, two extra items in a second handwriting, and a signature nobody can read. At billing time half of it is guesswork, and the dent that was there on arrival turns into an argument at the counter.
One card per visit, with a number and a status the counter can read. Parts issued against it leave the store as they are fitted, labour goes on as it is done, and the approval the customer gave sits on the same screen. When he rings to ask if it is ready, the card answers.
What job cards does.
Complaint and what was found
What the customer said, what the technician saw, and the meter or odometer reading on arrival. Both versions are kept.
A status anyone can read
Received, under inspection, awaiting approval, in progress, ready, delivered. Nobody walks to the bay to find out.
Who is on it
The technicians assigned and the advisor who owns the job. Work done by two people is credited to two people.
Parts issued to the card
Every filter, bottle and fitting goes on the card and out of stock together. Nothing goes on the machine without going on the bill.
Extra work, approved first
The estimate is revised and sent again. Approval is recorded with the channel it arrived on, WhatsApp or a phone call.
Photographs at check-in
The scratch on the left door, photographed when the vehicle came in. It saves the argument rather than winning it later.
The people who open this every day.
Service advisor
Opens the card, builds the estimate, records approval, and tells the customer where his machine stands.
Technician
Reads the complaints and the inspection notes, and sees the parts issued to his job.
Storekeeper
Issues against a card number, not to a name shouted from the bay.
Accounts assistant
Bills from the card, line for line, and records what was paid.
It is one part of a system, not an island.
A module earns its place by what it passes to the next one. These are the connections we set up most often.
- Estimates and quotations
- Invoice management
- Spare-parts stock
- Technician scheduling
- Service reminders
Products that include it.
How we would put it in.
Questions owners ask about job cards.
Have you built this before?
Yes. Garage Management Software opens a card per visit with odometer, fuel level, complaints and inspection notes, and runs it through to delivery. Dealership service desks use the same idea.
Can the advisor update the card from the floor?
Yes. The card runs in a browser on a tablet, so a status changes where the machine stands. Most workshops keep one tablet at the gate.
We are two mechanics and an owner. Is paper still fine?
For two mechanics and an owner who sees every vehicle, paper is fine. It breaks the day you hire a third hand, or keep a parts shelf worth counting.
Does the stock really come down when a part is fitted?
It does, at the moment the part is issued to the card. Removing a part puts it back. That single link is what stops parts going out unbilled.
Businesses that ask for this.
Tell us how you handle job cards today.
A spreadsheet, a register or another system: say which, and we will tell you plainly what is worth changing.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private