Write a repair order

Start a new ticket. In the sidebar, click Service → Tickets, then New Ticket at the top right. (Coming from an appointment? Create Work Order on the appointment gets you here with the customer already filled in.)

Pick the customer. In the Customer box, search by name, phone, or account number and click the match. If they're not in the system yet, click Create new customer at the bottom of the dropdown — see Add a customer on the fly.

Pick the vehicle. The customer's units appear as a list — click the one in your bay. If it's a unit you haven't seen before, click Add another vehicle and enter it (a 17-character VIN plus the decode button fills year/make/model for you).

Fill the order details. Leave Order Type on Repair. Set the Service Advisor (you), the Tax Area, a Customer PO # if the fleet requires one, and the Promised Date & Time — promise honestly; overdue promises show up on the dashboard. Enter the odometer in Mileage / Hours In (this field appears once a vehicle is selected, and it feeds the unit's service history and PM tracking).

Capture the complaint. In Customer Complaint, write what the customer told you, in their words. Click Add more detail to open Cause / Diagnosis, Correction / Work to be Performed, and Internal Note (internal notes never print on customer documents). These are the 3 Cs — the tech fills in cause and correction as the job unfolds.

Click Create Ticket. The ticket opens at Open status with a fresh RO number.

Add the labor line. In the Line Items card, click Add line item and switch the type to Labor. Type into Search labor guide — matching operations appear with their book hours. Click one: the description fills in, the hours land in Qty, and the customer's hourly rate lands in Price (line total = hours times rate). Adjust if the job warrants it, then click Add.

Assign the tech. The labor line appears in the Time on Job panel. Pick the technician from the dropdown on the operation — that puts the job on their My Work list in the field portal, and their clocked time accrues against this line.

Add the parts. Click Add line item again with type Part. Type a part number or a few letters of the description in Part # or search — the picker shows each match with its price, the on-hand quantity at your location in green, and warnings when you're short: "Out here" with the sibling location that has stock, or "Out of stock everywhere". Click the part, set the quantity, click Add. The customer's pricing tier (fleet, wholesale, retail...) picks the price automatically.

Know the special part behaviors. A part flagged KIT expands into all of its component lines in one click. A part flagged CORE automatically adds a separate core deposit line alongside the part — don't delete it; it's how the customer gets their core money back.

Add sublet and fees. For work you farmed out (alignment, machine shop), add a line with type Sublet, a description, and the price you're charging. Shop supplies, disposal, and similar charges go on as type Fee or Supply. A type Note line adds a comment that prints on the invoice without a price.

Check the totals. The Invoice Summary card keeps a running Labor / Parts / Sublet / Fees breakdown with tax and Balance Due. Lines can be edited (pencil) or removed (trash) any time before invoicing.

Move the status as the job moves. Use Actions at the top right: Mark In Progress when a tech starts, Waiting on Parts if you're stuck on a backorder, Mark Completed when the work is done. Statuses keep the shop board truthful — see order statuses for the full lifecycle.

Finalize as Invoice. When the work is done and the lines are right, click Actions → Finalize as Invoice. The document becomes an invoice, the status moves to Invoiced, and the line items lock — this is the point of no casual edits, because the sale just hit your books.

Record the payment. In the Payments card, click Record Payment. The amount defaults to the full balance — take it all or a partial. Pick the Method (Cash, Check, Credit Card, Debit Card, ACH / Bank Transfer, Account Credit, Financed, Other), add the check or authorization number when asked, and click Save Payment. The balance updates instantly; when it hits zero the card shows PAID IN FULL. (Taking a card at the counter? Use Take Payment, which opens the POS checkout instead.)

Email the invoice. Click Actions → Email Invoice. The customer's email is prefilled in Send To — change it if the bill goes to someone else — and click Send. "Invoice sent!" confirms it went out.

Close the order. Once it's invoiced (and ideally paid), Actions → Close Order archives the ticket off the active board. On-account customers can pay later — the open balance follows them into AR aging and statements.