How to add parts and labor to a repair

A repair ticket with a price and nothing else tells you what you charged. A ticket with the part on it tells you what it cost you — and takes that part out of stock so your shelf count stays true.

1. 1

   Add the issue

   On the repair, add an issue and pick the job from your repair services. The price comes from the service list, so the number on the ticket is the one you decided in advance.

2. 2

   Add the part

   Use Add part on the line and pick the part from your parts inventory. This is the step that most shops skip, and it is the one that makes every repair report meaningful — margin per repair is the price minus the parts, and with no part attached the margin looks like everything.

3. 3

   Watch what happens to stock

   Attaching a part commits it. The unit moves into the In repair state: out of sellable stock, but not lost — it is accounted for as being in someone's hand. If a count comes up short on a part, open repairs are the first place to look.

4. 4

   Handle the part you do not have

   If the part is not in stock, the device waits for it. That is a real state, not a failure: the part shows how many devices are parked waiting for it and how many units would clear them, which is what turns a repair queue into a purchase order.

5. 5

   Assign the technician

   Assign a technician to the repair. This is what makes repair performance and technician reports possible, and what lets a customer's question be answered by the person holding the phone.

6. 6

   Add a free line when nothing fits

   Labour that is not one of your services, or a charge that has no part behind it, goes on as its own line with its own price. Better an honest extra line than a service price quietly inflated to cover it.

7. 7

   Mark the line done as you finish it

   A ticket with three jobs on it is three pieces of work. Marking each one done as you finish it is what lets somebody at the counter answer "is it ready" without walking to the bench.