Taxable Services and Rates

Taxes:

You may need to charge tax on your services.  Each area has a space to enter a Y or N for charging tax, and a field for the tax percentage.  These amounts will be charged for all taxable services when entered on a workorder. You must enter the amount as a whole number, not the decimal equivalent of the percentage (ie. Six percent is 6.00%,  not 0.06). If no tax is charged, leave the amount at 0.00 %.The tax flag here is the starting value.  However, tax will not be charged if either the inventory tax flag, or the client tax flag, is set to false.

Labor Rates:

The setup menu also provides for Default Labor Rates.  This would be your normal hourly charge.  This amount may be overwritten when writing aworkorder.  In fact, you will have a lookup table, and may have an unlimited number of rates, with descriptions.  There are five labor rates available,although you can add any rate to a workorder.  The five levels correspond to the pricing level assigned in the labor flag to each client.

Margin:

The Auto Shop Writer can guarantee you never lose money on a sale.This is done by implementing the minimum margin you wish to obtain on allparts, labor, and sublets that are provided.  Enter in the percentage ofmargin you wish in each category.  Be sure to use whole numbers, and not thedecimal equivalent.  You may wish to start with one margin initially, and revise it with experience.Whenever you enter service, or parts, on a workorder, the system will automatically check to be sure this margin is attained.  If not, it will alert you to the actual margin involved, and allow you to adjust the price by simply entering the desired margin. If you do not want to use this feature, enter 0.00 in each category and the system will accept all entries.

Assessment Rates:

This screen allows you to enter information about a specific surcharge you may assess for services.  This may include a small percentage for incidental consumed parts, or for hazardous waste disposal.  The system asks for thepercentage to be charged for parts, the percentage for labor, and the maximum amount for any given workorder.If you wish to make any charges, enter the amounts in the appropriate fields as prompted.  If you do not wish to assess these charges, the percentage and ceiling rates should be 0.00.  All shop owners have individual preferences forhow, and how much, should be charged.  It is customary to charge about 3%,with a $5 ceiling.  Check your state laws regarding this option.   Some states require that all "miscellaneous shop supplies" be itemized under parts, or no charge is permitted.

System Counters

The system automatically assigns account numbers to clients, invoices, receivable accounts, and vendors.  The default installation sets each area to 1, but you can set the starting number higher if it is productive.  Generally, unless you have used other programs which assign numbers, the defaults are acceptable.

Print Totals

On invoices, companies have a preference for totals being listed either in a Vertical  column on the right side of the paper, or using less space by printing all totals on Horizontal lines.   The choice of how this should be printed is personal and neither format is considered to have an advantage.