Auto Shops
You make money two ways: parts and labor. If you're not tracking both carefully, profit leaks out faster than you'd think.
Two Ways to Make Money
An auto shop has two profit centers. Parts and labor. You buy a part for $80, charge $120, and pocket the $40 markup. You bill three hours at $95 and pay the tech for two hours of actual work. Both margins matter. Both are easy to lose track of.
Most shop owners have a feel for how things are going. Busy week, slow week. But when margins shrink, it happens slowly. A point here, a point there. By the time you feel it, you’ve been leaking profit for months. We track both sides so you see the real numbers, not just the gut feeling.
Who This Is For
Who This Is For
Independent repair shops, tire shops, transmission specialists, body shops, quick lubes, diesel repair. Any shop billing for parts and labor.
The Problem
The Problem
Your shop management system tracks jobs. Your accounting tracks cash. The two don’t always match, and the gap is where profit disappears.
Parts: The Markup You Think You're Making
You mark parts up 40%. That’s the plan. But your tech grabs a filter from the shelf and forgets to write it up. A brake job needs an extra caliper you didn’t quote. A part comes back defective and sits in a box for three weeks before anyone deals with the core return. The markup on paper doesn’t match the markup in reality.
Inventory is cash sitting on shelves. If you don’t track what comes in, what goes out, and what gets used on each job, you’re guessing at cost of goods sold. That means you’re guessing at profit.
Inventory Tracking
Inventory Tracking
What’s on the shelf, what’s been used, what needs reordering. Parts tied to jobs so nothing slips through unbilled.
True Cost of Goods
True Cost of Goods
Actual parts cost against actual parts revenue. Not the theoretical markup. The real one.
Labor: The Hours That Don't Add Up
You bill a customer three hours for a job. The book says three hours. But your tech took four because the bolt was rusted or the lift was busy or he’s just slower than the book assumes. You billed three, paid four. That math catches up.
On the other side, a good tech beats the book time. You bill three, he finishes in two. That’s where the real labor margin lives. But if you’re not tracking billed hours against actual hours, you don’t know which techs are making you money and which ones are costing you.
Billed vs. Actual
Billed vs. Actual
Hours billed to customers compared to hours paid to techs. The gap tells you if your labor rate is working or if you’re losing money on every job.
Tech Efficiency
Tech Efficiency
Which techs beat book time? Which ones don’t? Data to make decisions about training, scheduling, and pay.
Real Numbers for Real Decisions
Should you raise your labor rate? Are your parts margins slipping? Can you afford another tech? Is it time to drop that fleet account that pays slow and beats you up on price? These questions have answers when you’re working from accurate numbers.
We reconcile your shop management system with your books so the numbers match. Monthly reports that show parts margin, labor margin, and overall profitability. When something’s off, you see it in weeks, not months.
Monthly Reporting
Monthly Reporting
Parts gross profit, labor gross profit, overhead, net. Broken out so you can see which side of the business is carrying the other.
Pricing Decisions
Pricing Decisions
When you know your real costs, you can price with confidence. Raise rates where you’re undercharging. Hold the line where margins are healthy.
Greater Richmond's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
Fifteen minutes to tell us what you're dealing with. We'll let you know how we can help and give you a clear price quote.
