Glossary

Plain-language definitions for the shop, parts, fleet, and money terms Meridian uses.

Every term Meridian uses on screen, defined in plain language. If a page in this manual uses a word you don't recognize, it's here.

The front counter

Term	What it means
3C	Complaint / Cause / Correction — the three text fields on every service order describing the problem, the diagnosis, and the fix.
Advisor	Service advisor — the front-counter person who writes up orders, talks to customers, and sells work.
Estimate	A quote — work proposed but not yet authorized. Converting an approved estimate creates the working repair order.
RO	Repair Order — the working ticket for a job. Also called a service order; the printed working copy usually says RO.
WO	Work Order — another name for a repair order.
Invoice	The final bill given to the customer after the work is complete.
DVI	Digital Vehicle Inspection — a multi-point checklist done at intake (brakes, fluids, tires, and so on) with photos, sent to the customer for approval.
Labor guide	The standard time book — a "this job should take this long" reference used for quoting and billing.
Flat rate	Paying a tech by the labor hours billed (a brake job pays 1.8 hours whether it took 1.5 or 2.5).
Sublet	Work farmed out to another shop — for example, transmission work sent to a transmission specialist.
Tech	Technician — the person actually turning wrenches.
Bay	A physical work area in the shop where a vehicle is being serviced.
LOF	Lube, Oil, Filter — a basic oil change service.
R&R	Remove & Replace — a common abbreviation in labor descriptions.
Mileage in / out	The odometer reading when the vehicle was dropped off and when it was picked up.

Vehicles and fleets

Term	What it means
VIN	Vehicle Identification Number — the 17-character unique ID stamped on the vehicle.
YMM	Year / Make / Model — the three fields that identify what kind of vehicle it is.
Unit ID	The customer's own vehicle identifier ("Truck 42", "LSL-001") — separate from the VIN. Fleets live and breathe by unit numbers.
Fleet	A customer with multiple vehicles, usually a business — typically gets discounted pricing and its own reporting.
GVW / GVWR	Gross Vehicle Weight Rating — the maximum loaded weight. Important for class 4–8 trucks.
PM	Preventive Maintenance — scheduled service (every X miles, Y engine hours, or Z months) done to prevent failures instead of reacting to them.
Meter	A vehicle's odometer (miles) or engine-hour reading — the numbers that drive when PM comes due.
Deferred work	Recommended or declined work tracked as a to-do with a due date and a dollar value, so it resurfaces on the next visit instead of being forgotten.
Service truck	A mobile service vehicle that does fleet work in the field. In Meridian a truck acts like its own location — it carries its own van inventory and its own profit numbers.
Mobile job	A service order worked in the field by a service truck instead of in a shop bay.
Windshield time	A mobile tech's drive time between jobs. It counts toward what the truck costs to run, but doesn't count against the tech's wrench efficiency.

Parts and purchasing

Term	What it means
PO	Purchase Order — an order sent to a vendor for parts.
BOM	Bill of Materials — the list of parts that make up a kit.
Kit	A bundle of parts (and sometimes labor) added to an order as one line — for example, an LOF kit.
OE / OEM	Original Equipment / Manufacturer — parts made by the same company that built the vehicle.
Bin	A specific shelf slot at a location ("Aisle 3, Shelf B, Bin 04") where a part lives.
Transfer	Moving stock between your locations (shop to shop, or shop to service truck).
Core	A rebuildable part (alternator, starter, turbo) the customer is expected to return so it can be rebuilt. Carries a refundable deposit.
Core charge / core deposit	The refundable amount charged when a core-bearing part is sold. It's money you owe back until the old part comes in.
Core credit	The refund issued when the customer returns the old part. It can be less than the deposit if the core comes back damaged.
Dirty core	The actual used part the customer removes and returns — it goes on your shelf until it ships back to the supplier for credit.
Return window	How many days you have to send a dirty core back to the supplier for credit. Miss it and the supplier keeps your deposit.

Money

Term	What it means
AR	Accounts Receivable — money customers owe the shop.
AP	Accounts Payable — bills the shop owes its vendors.
Aging	How old a debt is. AR aging buckets are 0–30, 31–60, 61–90, and 90+ days.
Statement	A monthly summary of a customer account's invoices, payments, and balance.
Posting to your books	When an action (invoicing an order, taking a payment) is recorded in your accounting — it shows up on your reports and AR from that moment.
Text-to-pay / email-to-pay	A payment link sent to the customer by text or email. They pay from their phone; no login needed.

Pricing tiers

Each customer can be assigned a price level; each part carries several prices.

Tier	Typical use
List	MSRP / sticker price.
Retail	Standard customer price — often equal to List or slightly less.
Fleet	Discounted price for fleet customers.
Wholesale	Lower price for resellers and large accounts.
Special	Custom pricing set customer by customer.
Cost	What the shop pays the vendor — never shown to a customer.

When you add a part to an order, the price fills in automatically from the customer's tier.

Payment terms

Standard business terms used on vendor bills and customer accounts.

Term	Meaning
Due on receipt	Pay immediately.
Net 15	Pay within 15 days.
Net 30	Pay within 30 days.
Net 60	Pay within 60 days.
EOM	Due at the end of the month.

Sales tax varies by state, county, and city. A tax area is a named rate (for example, "TX-TRAVIS at 8.25%"). Each customer defaults to a tax area, orders inherit it from the customer, and individual lines can be marked non-taxable when something is exempt.

Looking for order statuses?

The full order lifecycle — what Open, In Progress, Completed, Invoiced, and Closed mean and who moves orders between them — has its own page.