When you think of the must-have tools that make an automotive business successful, auto repair shop invoice software may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
But all successful automotive repair businesses understand one thing:
If you can’t get paid, your repair business can’t grow.
That’s why having a rock solid invoicing process in place is so important.
What is Auto Repair Shop Invoice Software?
Auto repair shop invoice software is any computer program designed to provide pricing estimates, generate work orders, and deliver invoices to customers of the auto repair industry.
If your repair business has any revenue or customers at all, having a rock solid invoicing strategy is a must. Invoicing software is a crucial part of this strategy.
A Quick History Lesson
Paper and carbon copy invoices were the previous automotive industry standard. However, today the majority of auto repair shops have moved to a paperless system.
If you are currently using paper invoices, don’t worry! We won’t spend time today trying to convince you to go paperless.
How do I Find the Best Automotive Invoice Software for my Garage?
At this point, perhaps you’re wondering: so what’s the best automotive invoicing software available today?
Out of all the available automotive software vendors on the market, which one should my garage choose?
The reality is this: there’s no one invoicing software that works for everyone. Every software vendor has different strengths and features to meet different needs.
If you do a quick online search for automotive invoicing software, you’ll find many different software solutions come up in the results. Dig into each one, and you’ll see that each software vendor has a list of features.
With so many vendors and features to choose from, how should you go about choosing just one solution?
Assess your auto repair shop’s specific invoicing needs.
What are your shops current pain points when it comes to invoicing? For example, is it currently taking too long to build an invoice? Are you tired of wasting paper using carbon copy invoices? Are you sick of re-typing the same customer data into invoices for regular and repeat customers?
Think through a list of these pain points. Also, make the distinction between true pain points and minor annoyances. After you have your list, move on to the next step.
Gather a list of software vendors and features
Now it’s time to gather a list of potential software features. You can do this with a quick online search. Most auto shop invoicing software vendors have websites with a specific section dedicated to features. Go through these websites and make a list of features that sound relevant to your business’s needs.
Getting Started with Invoicing for Auto Repair Shops
Invoicing isn’t rocket science – once you know what you need to include, you can easily get started. There are usually a few ways to go about creating invoices for your clients:
#1 Do-It-Yourself
Creating your own invoices might feel daunting, but this can be the cheapest way to give invoices to your customers. Especially if you’re just starting your auto repair business, every little bit helps!
You can use virtually any word processing tool or application to do this. There are also many auto repair invoice software, auto repair shop that you can use to get you started with a professional-looking invoice. Usually, these templates will just need some tweaking to add your business information and logo, and you’re ready to go.
#2 Use Invoicing Software
Invoicing software can also be the way to go, especially if you’re scaling up your business. While you’re still in control of what goes into your invoice and how it looks, using invoice software for auto repair shops like InvoiceBerry can make it easier to keep track of payments and invoice history.
Features like online payment processing, payment reminders, and even recurring payment handling can be a big time-saver (and money-saver) for you and your business.
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