Workflow is the screen your shop runs from: every open job as a card, in the column that says where the car is. This article is about setting the board up. For what an order's status means and what changes when it moves, see the order workflow.
Columns are where the car is
Every shop starts with six columns: Estimates, Dropped Off, Waiting for Parts, In Progress, Completed and Invoices. They are yours to change.
A column records where a job physically is. It is separate from the order's status, which is what its paperwork says (estimate, repair order, invoice). Moving a card from Dropped Off to Waiting for Parts changes nothing about the order's number, price or PDF; it just tells everyone the car is waiting. The order sidebar shows both, as Workflow Status and Board Column, and you can change either from there.
Changing the columns
Each column has a ⋯ menu (Column options):
- Rename and Colour. Renaming only changes the board; the orders in the column keep their status.
- Delete column. If jobs are still in it, you choose the column they move to. Nothing is deleted except the column.
- Automations, below.
Add column puts a new lane on the board. Nothing moves into it on its own: drag jobs in, or use a card's Move to menu. Drag a column by the grip in its header to reorder the board.
Changing columns needs the Manage the workflow lanes permission, which owners and managers have by default.
Moving jobs
Drag a card by its grip to another column, or open the card's menu and use Move to, which is easier on a phone or tablet. Moving cards is open to everyone, mechanics included: knowing where the car is shouldn't need a manager.
The List view shows the same jobs as a table. Its tabs are your columns, with All in front and Archived at the end.
Automations
A column can act on the jobs dropped into it. Open the column's ⋯ menu and choose Automations. Everything is off until you switch it on, and a column with an automation shows a ⚡ in its header.
| Automation | What it does |
|---|---|
| Convert to repair order | A job dropped here moves to In Progress. Estimates nobody has authorized yet are left alone. |
| Convert to invoice | A job dropped here is invoiced and locked. Nothing is emailed; send the invoice yourself when you're ready. |
| Archive paid jobs | Once an invoice in this column is paid in full, the job leaves the board for Archived. A refund puts it back on its own. |
| Archive when inactive | Jobs nobody has touched for the number of days you set are archived overnight. Anything with money still owed is left where it is. |
A column can convert to a repair order or to an invoice, not both.
Automations only move work forward. They never touch an order that's already been invoiced, and they never send a completed job back to In Progress.
Note
When a conversion can't happen, the card still moves and a message tells you why: nobody has authorized the work yet, there is nothing on the order to bill, or a required checklist item is incomplete. The column answers "where is the car", so you can always record that; only the paperwork waits.
Archive paid jobs is switched on for the six columns every shop starts with, which is why fully paid work leaves the board without anyone archiving it. A column you add has it off until you turn it on.
What a card shows
Customize Cards in the Workflow header chooses what each card carries. There are two layouts, Standard and Condensed, each with its own set of items, so you can keep roomy cards on the office screen and tight ones on a laptop.
Items you can switch on include tags, the due date, the order total and the amount due, authorized labor hours, vehicle, plate, VIN, customer and phone, service writer, technicians, messages, appointments, notes, inspections and authorization status.
- Due date is the date you promised the car back, set as Due date in the order sidebar. The card says Promised back today or Overdue when it matters.
- Authorized labor is a bar of how many authorized labor hours are still to do, for example 2.5 h left / 6 h. Hours only count once the work is authorized, so a fresh estimate shows none.
- People who can't see prices never see the total or amount due.
Tags
+ Add on a card adds a tag to the order: Waiting on customer, Loan car, Comeback, whatever your shop needs. Pick a colour, and tick Save tag for reuse to keep it in the list. Tags can be added at any time, including on an invoiced order. The Filter menu narrows the board to orders with any of the tags you pick, or to particular statuses.
The order checklist
Settings → Order Checklist decides which checks appear on every order, and which of them must be complete before an estimate becomes a repair order or an order is invoiced. Each item is Off, Optional or Required.
| Group | Items |
|---|---|
| The work | Technician assignments · Authorizations · All services priced · Inspection completed · Parts reserved · Tire identification numbers |
| Customer & vehicle | Customer selected · Customer contact details · Vehicle selected · Vehicle VIN · Vehicle plate number · Mileage in · Mileage out |
| Billing | Payment term |
Out of the box, technician assignments, authorizations, mileage in and mileage out are optional and everything else is off. Nothing is required until you make it so.
- Optional items show in the order sidebar as a list to work through. They never stop anyone.
- Required items are checked at two moments: Start Work (estimate to repair order) and invoicing. If one is incomplete you see what's missing, and can fix it or press Convert anyway.
Convert anyway is always available, because the checklist asks for acknowledgement, not permission. The override is recorded in the order's timeline with the items that were outstanding, so you can see who skipped what.
Note
A column automation that would convert a job counts as one of those moments. If a required item is incomplete, the card moves but the conversion is skipped.
Troubleshooting
"I dragged the card but its status didn't change." Columns don't change the status unless the column has a conversion automation. Change the status on the order, or add the automation.
"The job moved columns but wasn't invoiced." The automation was blocked. The message at the time said why: nothing authorized, nothing to bill, or a required checklist item.
"I can't rename or add a column." Your role doesn't have Manage the workflow lanes.
"A paid job is still on the board." It's in a column without Archive paid jobs. Switch it on for that column, or archive the job from the list view.
"Start Work keeps asking me to confirm." A required checklist item is incomplete. Fix it, press Convert anyway, or set the item to optional under Settings → Order Checklist.