Service Estimates

The Service Estimate workflow for Advisors, Parts Counter, and Technicians is designed to streamline the process of creating and approving service estimates in a service department.

This article outlines the actions for each department, ensuring clarity among all team members who are involved and providing a seamless customer experience. 

Table of Contents:

• Parts Counter and Service Advisor: Providing the Estimate
• Technician: Inspections and Estimate Ops.
• Parts Counter and Service Advisor: Final Steps
  
  

Part A: Parts Counter and Service Advisor: RO Estimate

 #1. Advisor – Create or Open a Repair Order

• Create a new RO or open an existing one for the customer.
• Add Standard Operations as needed.
• Modify CCC (Concern, Cause, Correction), Op Code, and Labor Hours if necessary.
• From the Operation Detail screen, click [Estimate].
• Provide an Estimate from a Quick Add Op Code by selecting the Estimate box from the Quick Add screen.
  
  

The Advisor can now add: Labor, Parts, Sublets, Charges, Discounts, and Taxes  

If parts are required for the RO:

• Go to Action Ribbon > Request Parts
• Click [Send] – this sends a toast notification to the Parts Department to update P&A. Parts will default to P&A for Estimate Ops.

Previously Deferred Operations Popup

When creating a new RO, if any previously deferred operations are attached to the vehicle, a pop-up modal appears that allows the user to Add, Estimate, Defer, or Void the previously deferred operations.

The PDO popup includes:

Prefixed (Est) before the concern for previous estimated operations that were deferred.

Columns Included:

• Status: To show if the estimate is still active or expired.

• Parts: Will have an info icon hover tooltip.

Estimate is located in the Action Column, in case the job needs to be re-estimated.

Pending Parts Toast Notifications:

Price Review Notification: Users can click the Review Parts link to open the RO in the Back Counter.

#2. Parts Counter: Update Pricing

• Parts updates the pricing, prints a quote and must Share with the advisor.  Clicking [Share icon] sends a toast notification.   

 #3. Advisor: Share Estimate with Customer

• On the main Repair Order header screen, the Estimate total will display in the Estimate field 
  
  
   
• To print out the estimate, hover over the Print icon in the Action Ribbon and select the appropriate estimate report (Working Estimate, Combined Estimate, or Extended Service Estimate)
  
  
  • Working Estimate: Displays the estimate operations and totals only. 
  • Combined Estimate: Displays standard operations and totals first, then estimates operations and totals on a separate page.
  • Extended Service Estimate: Displays the Extended Service Warranty estimate operations and totals with part numbers. 
    
    

#4. Customer Communication 

• Using Update Promise (text or email), send the customer a message and attach the estimate (if needed)
• If not using Update Promise the advisor will call and provide a quote over the phone.

• Customer Declines Service – no further action
• Customer Accepts Service
  • The advisor goes into the estimate op and [Accepts Service]
  • The op is converted to a standard op.
  •  P&A parts move to Order Fill as Pending in the Back Counter  
  • Advisor adds Technician to the RO
  • Technician can begin working
    
    

Part B. Technician Inspection & Estimate Ops.

#1. Open the RO

• Tech opens the assigned RO from the Technician System (RO must be released).
  
  
• Click the MPI icon to open the inspection.
  • Select the correct MPI form if multiple are available.
  • If not assigned, the system prompts: [Yes, assign to me] or [No (read-only)].

#2. Perform the inspection

• Mark items as OK, May Require Attention, or Requires Immediate Attention.
• Add op code, Concern, and Correction for flagged items; attach photos if available.
• Click [Save].
• Recommendations appear at the bottom of the MPI:
  • [Estimate] – default, adds a new Estimate Operation.  
  • [Link Existing Op] – links to an existing Standard Operation
  • [Add] – adds a new standard operation (Advisor & Service Mgr. positions only) 
  • [Defer] - defers recommendation (Advisor & Service Mgr. positions only) 
• Advisor & Service Mgr. positions click [Tech Complete] 
• Click [Save to RO] to:
  • Create Estimate Ops on the RO
  • Generate a PDF (saved to RO attachments)
  • Track technician recommendations
  • Click “Return to Repair Order” to return to the RO; the RO now shows Inspection Completed.
    
    

#3. Updating Estimate Ops

From the RO, the Tech can update:

• CCCs
• Labor hours
• Estimate Ops details
• Can use an outside Service Price Guide (SPG) or Labor Time Guide (LTG) for labor times and parts lists.

To request parts:

• Click the Request Parts icon (from the operation, Action Ribbon, or Repair Order Operations modal).
• Click [Send] to notify Parts for pricing/availability updates.
• When finished with the MPI:
  • Click [Tech Complete] sends a notification to the Advisor that the MPI is complete with links to both MPI and RO
    
    

Part C. Parts Counter and Service Advisor: Final Steps

Parts Counter: 

• Parts updates the pricing and prints a quote.
• Clicks [Share icon] to send a toast notification to Advisor.

Advisor:

• Review and print the final estimate (attached to the RO automatically).
• Send or discuss the estimate with the customer (text/email/phone).

• To Void the Estimate, click on existing Estimate operation from within Repair Order to display the Operation Detail screen

  • As with a Standard op, users must remove/delete all Labor, Parts, Sublets, Charges, Discounts, and Taxes from the operation prior to voiding