Add labour services and rates

In AutoShop POS, labour is a service product: something you sell that has no stock. The price you set is your hourly rate and the quantity on a repair order line is hours. Set these up once and every repair order, estimate and invoice prices labour the same way.

Before you start

• Finish the getting-started guides so your business settings and currency are in place.
• Write down each labour rate you charge: for example general mechanical, diagnostic, electrical, body or tyre work.
• List any fixed-price jobs you sell often, such as an oil service, wheel alignment, AC regas or brake inspection.
• Decide whether your rates include tax or exclude it. This should match the setting you chose in business settings.

Steps

1. Create a category for labour. Go to Products → Categories and add a category called “Labour”. Add a second category such as “Fixed-price services” if you sell set-price jobs. Categories keep reports tidy.
2. Create an “Hour” unit. Go to Products → Units, add a unit named “Hour” (short name “hr”) and allow decimals so you can enter 0.5 or 1.25 hours.
3. Add your first labour service. Go to Products → Add product. Enter a name customers will understand, for example “Labour – general mechanical”. Set the product type to service (or untick stock management, depending on how your screen is laid out), choose the “Hour” unit and the “Labour” category.
4. Set the rate. Enter your hourly rate as the selling price. Leave the purchase price at zero or enter your internal cost per hour if you want profit reports to reflect technician cost.
5. Choose the tax. Pick the applicable tax rate. If labour is not taxed where you operate, choose none. Ask your accountant if you are unsure; rules differ by US state, and VAT in the UAE generally applies to labour.
6. Save and repeat. Add one service per labour rate, such as “Labour – diagnostic” and “Labour – electrical”.
7. Add fixed-price services. For set jobs, add a service with a “Job” or “Each” unit and the fixed price. Write what is included in the description so advisors quote it consistently.
8. Set trade or fleet rates (optional). Go to Products → Selling price groups and create a group such as “Fleet accounts”. Open each labour service and enter the group price. Then link the group to a customer group under Contacts → Customer groups.
9. Add a shop supplies line (optional). If you charge shop supplies, add it as a service product so it can be added to repair orders as its own line.

Check it worked

• Open the sell/POS screen, search for “Labour” and add the general labour service. Change the quantity to 1.5 and check the line total is 1.5 times your rate.
• Pick a customer in your fleet customer group and confirm the labour line uses the group price.
• Add a fixed-price service and confirm it does not ask about stock.

The parts and labour invoicing page shows how these lines look together on an invoice.

Common problems

• You cannot enter 1.5 hours. The unit does not allow decimals. Edit the “Hour” unit and turn decimals on.
• The labour line shows “out of stock”. The service was created with stock management on. Edit it and turn stock management off, or recreate it as a service.
• Tax is added twice or not at all. The product’s tax setting and the inclusive/exclusive choice do not match. See set up tax rates and groups.
• The fleet price is ignored. The customer is not in the customer group, or the group is not linked to the price group. Check both.