Workshop documents and signature

Garage+ produces the workshop documents of a file: the vehicle reception form (R- followed by the file number), the repair estimate (not numbered), the repair order (OR-) and the vehicle return form (RS-). They are filled in from the work order page.

The reception form and the return form are optional: they are available when the Reception and return forms feature is turned on in Settings > Features. Without it, the work order page does not offer them; the estimate, quote, repair order and invoice are unchanged.

Repair estimate and repair order

The repair estimate and the repair order are meant for workshops with complex flows: the estimate is an informal estimate offered to the customer instead of a quote; the repair order hands the work over to the workshop as a signed PDF. Each is a feature to turn on in Settings > Features: Repair estimate and Repair order (key tag included). Off by default, they are offered nowhere on the work order page; the repair then starts without a repair order (Start the repair). Documents already signed can still be viewed, downloaded and sent. Everything below about the estimate, the repair order and the key tag assumes the matching feature is on.

Vehicle reception form

The vehicle reception form describes the condition of the vehicle on arrival. A file has only one: saving it again changes it. It can be filled in as long as the file is open (reception, quote, scheduled, in progress, waiting), including on a file that started as a quote, when the vehicle arrives later; a completed, invoiced or cancelled file no longer changes it.

It contains:

• the reception date;
• the mileage and engine hours: this is the file’s reading, the same as on the page (changing it in the form changes it on the page);
• the fuel and battery levels (0, 25, 50, 75 or 100%);
• the condition noted and the visual observations (2,000 characters each);
• the damage diagram: 50 marks at most, scratch (X), dent (O) or break (V), placed on four views of the vehicle;
• the items left in the vehicle and the key hook;
• the requested return date;
• the client’s intent: quote before work, work without a quote, or approval up to a cap (the amount is then required; it is cleared if the intent changes).

The client and the vehicle are not entered again: the form uses those of the file.

Once the form is signed, it can no longer be changed: it must be replaced by a new version, to be signed again.

Fill in the vehicle reception form step by step

1. Open the sheet. After Open the reception (dashboard’s New button, “Reception” document), the file page opens directly on the Vehicle reception form sheet. Afterwards, at the reception stage, it is the main button of the action bar (Vehicle reception form) as long as the form is not signed; at the other stages, it is under ⋯.
2. Check the client and the vehicle. The sheet shows them read-only, with the client’s request (subject, symptoms, requested work); they are edited on their records and in “Request and work”.
3. Note the vehicle’s condition: reception date and time, mileage, engine hours, fuel and battery levels (“Not noted” by default), notes and visual condition.
4. Place the damage on the diagram. Choose the symbol (Scratch X, Dent O, Break V), then tap the view (left side, front, rear, right side) where the damage is; tapping a mark removes it. With the keyboard, or for more precision, choose the View and the Area (three-by-three grid: “top left”…) then Add the mark; each mark is listed in full with Remove. Motorcycles have their outline; for cars and vans, the frames are empty for now.
5. Take the photos with Take a photo: they join the file’s documents (Photo category), and the form states how many there are.
6. Note the keys and accessories, the key hook, the requested return and the client’s intent (with the cap, for approval up to a cap).
7. Save, then Have signed: the sheet closes and the signature dialog opens (see below). Print produces the PDF of the saved form.

Once signed, the sheet is shown read-only; Modify replaces the signed form to open it for editing again.

Vehicle return form

The vehicle return form goes with handing the vehicle back. It is created on a completed or invoiced file, one per file. When it is created, Garage+ suggests:

• the technician handing the vehicle over: the person in charge of the file, if active;
• the person the vehicle is handed to: the file’s depositor (another contact of the client can be chosen, never a contact of another client);
• the pre-handover checks and the declaration of conformity from the garage settings, in the client’s language (without a setting, four checks and a declaration provided by Garage+).

You then tick the checks done, adjust the declaration and note the client remarks, the fuel level, the exit mileage and engine hours. The exit mileage is a reading separate from the reception one: the vehicle’s history keeps both. Once entered, it can be corrected but not cleared.

If no person is chosen, the printed form leaves the “Vehicle handed to” box empty, to be completed by hand. A declaration of conformity that has been emptied stays empty: the garage’s text is only suggested when the form is created. Choosing the person the vehicle is handed to requires viewing clients.

A reopened file freezes its vehicle return form; a signed form can no longer be changed.

Return the vehicle step by step

1. Open the sheet. Once the file is completed (or invoiced), the main button of the action bar is Vehicle return form as long as the file is not returned (Invoice stays next to it). The first time it opens, Garage+ creates the form with the checks and the declaration from the settings.
2. Fill in the handover: date and time, Handed over by (the technician), Vehicle handed to (a contact of the client; “To be completed by hand” leaves the box empty on the PDF).
3. Note the exit readings: mileage, engine hours and fuel; the sheet recalls the reception values (“At reception: 18,420 km, fuel 50 %”).
4. Tick the pre-handover checks, adjust the declaration of conformity if needed and note the client remarks. The sheet lists the related documents: vehicle reception form, quote versions, signed repair estimates, repair order, invoice.
5. Sign and close the job saves the form and opens the signature dialog: the technician signs first (they are suggested), then the client, on the tablet or with Send a signature link. Once both signatures are collected, the file is marked Returned: badge in the page header, Return step of the timeline, and in the Workshop list.

With built-in invoicing and the Payments and cash register feature, the vehicle return form has a Payment block: see Payment at vehicle return.

Payment at vehicle return

When the file has documents issued by Garage+ (invoice, deposit invoice), the vehicle return form shows the Payment block: each document and its balance due, then Balance due €X or Paid.

• Take payment opens the payment dialog on the documents still to be paid.
• Grant deferred payment: the customer leaves without paying in full (business customer, payment agreement). Enter a reason (3 to 200 characters), then Grant. A deferred payment is granted only once, before the form is signed; Garage+ keeps the date and who granted it. The reason is printed on the form: do not put more of the customer’s personal data in it than needed.

The form cannot be signed (on site or remotely) while an amount is still due and no deferred payment is granted: “Amount still due on this job: take payment or grant a deferred payment with a reason.”. Garage+ checks this when the signature is prepared, when the link is sent and when the form is finalised (a payment cancelled in the meantime blocks it again). The signed form shows Payment: Paid, Deferred payment granted — reason or, for a completed file that only has deposits so far, Not invoiced (deposits paid), frozen with the rest of the form. If the payment changes between preparation and finalisation (payment cancelled, deferred payment granted, invoice issued), finalisation is refused: “The payment changed since the form was prepared”; prepare it again. A deferred payment can only be granted while an amount is due.

A file without any document issued by Garage+ (invoices made in other software) has no Payment block and no check. Likewise, a completed file with no document issued yet (no invoice, no deposit) is returned without a Payment block: nothing is due while nothing is invoiced; invoice before the return if the customer has to pay. Seeing the balance due requires viewing payments; taking a payment and granting a deferred payment require the take-payments permission (Administrator and Reception roles), never in a support session.

Without the Payments and cash register feature, there is no Payment block and no deferred payment: the return form no longer depends on payment and is signed like any other form.

Print a document

Each document is printed as a PDF from the page, from the current data: nothing is stored in the file’s documents, and printing again picks up the latest changes. These copies carry the words “Unsigned copy” in the footer. Only signed documents are kept.

Document	Available	Content
Vehicle reception form (R-)	open file, form saved	client, depositor, vehicle, mileage, levels, observations, damage diagram (four views, X, O, V marks), number and days of the photos, items left, key hook, client’s intent, reception terms, signature box
Repair estimate	open file	“Not numbered, not a quote”; lines at prices incl. VAT, totals, notes, disassembly reservation, terms, details of the garage’s default bank account if any, “approved” box
Repair order (OR-)	from scheduled to completed	requested work, planned start and end, lines and totals, fuel and condition noted at reception, repair order terms, “approved” box; key tag at the bottom if the setting is on
Key tag	from scheduled to completed	see below
Vehicle return form (RS-)	completed or invoiced, form created	related documents (repair order, invoice), person the vehicle is handed to, technician, reception and exit mileages, ticked checks, declaration, remarks, signature boxes for the technician and the client

The PDFs are in the client’s language. No workshop document shows a balance due: Garage+ does not track payments.

The printed title of each document, the Reference column of the lines (repair order, estimate) and the footer texts are set in Settings › Documents. These options are fixed when the document is prepared: a signed document keeps them.

Printing requires viewing work orders and clients (the PDF carries the client’s name and contact details).

Key tag

The key tag hangs on the key ring. It carries the registration, make, model and color, the client’s title and name, the OR- number, the date, the key hook and a QR code. The QR code only contains the address of the file’s page in Garage+: scanning it with a tablet’s camera opens the page after signing in. A lost key ring therefore gives access to nothing.

The key tag is printed alone, or at the bottom of the repair order if the garage setting provides for it.

Have a document signed

The vehicle reception form, the repair estimate, the quote, the repair order and the vehicle return form are signed with a finger on the tablet. Tap Have signed on the document’s card, in the page’s Documents section (for the quote: on its pending version). The dialog fills the whole screen of a tablet or a phone: the document at the top, then, for each signer, their name (suggested: the depositor, or the file’s technician), a box to sign with a finger, a stylus or a mouse (Clear signature starts again) and Sign here. The box can also be signed with the keyboard: the arrow keys move the pen (faster with Shift), Space puts it down then lifts it. A blank signature is refused. Later closes the dialog: the document stays pending, and can be cancelled from its card in the Documents section. Having a pending document signed again asks for confirmation (Prepare again): the previous preparation, its signatures and its link are cancelled.

Signing takes three steps.

1. Prepare: Garage+ freezes the content of the document as it is at that moment (a snapshot) and computes its fingerprint. What is shown for signing is exactly what will be signed. Preparing the same document again cancels the previous preparation, and its signature link if there was one.
2. Sign: each required signer draws their signature and enters their name. The client signs every document (themselves or the person representing them); the vehicle return form is also signed by the technician handing the vehicle over. If the document has changed since it was displayed, the signature is refused: open it again. The signing time is set by the server, not by the tablet.
3. Finalize: once all signatures are collected, Garage+ produces the signed PDF and stores it in the file’s documents. It cannot be deleted and does not change category (except when the client is anonymized).

Effects of finalizing:

• quote: the version is recorded as accepted (mode “Signed at the front desk”, or “Online (link)” if the client accepted through the link; the former mode “Signed remotely (link)” is still shown for drawn remote signatures already collected), on the signing date; the file’s status does not change, except for an online approval (see “Sign remotely”);
• repair estimate: it counts as the client’s approval. When the “accepted quote required” setting is on, the file can leave the quote stage with a signed repair estimate, as with an accepted quote;
• vehicle return form: the file is marked “Returned”.

A signature is never collected in a support session.

Send a document by email

A signed and finalized document is sent to the client by email, through the Send dialog shared by all documents (recipient among the contacts of the document’s client, depositor suggested first, up to two contacts in copy, email preview: see Messages and notifications): its signed PDF, as stored in the file’s documents, is attached. The repair order can also be sent before it is signed: Garage+ then produces its PDF (“Unsigned copy”) and stores it in the file’s documents, to keep what was sent.

Choose the recipient among the contacts of the document’s client; a valid email address is needed (without an address, the sending is recorded as Not sent and no PDF is produced). It is an email the client asked for: it is sent even if the contact has not agreed to reminder emails. The same document cannot be sent again within two minutes. The email is sent as soon as the PDF has passed the antivirus scan; its tracking appears in the file’s Notifications section (see Client notifications).

Sign remotely

When the client is not at the front desk, a prepared document can be approved on their phone. For a quote, the simplest way is to send it by email with the Let the client accept online box (ticked by default): a single email, PDF attached and link (see Quotes). For any document: in the Have signed dialog, choose Send a signature link, the client contact who must answer (their address is shown masked), then Send the link. Garage+ sends them an email with a personal link, usable only once. The link opens a page showing the document as it was prepared; the client accepts or declines it.

Link duration. For a quote, the link is valid until the end of the quote’s “Valid until” day, in the garage’s time zone; for other documents (vehicle reception form, repair estimate, repair order, vehicle return form), 7 days. The email and the page state this date. An expired quote, or one that already has a response, can no longer be sent by link.

• Only one request is open at a time per document: sending a new one cancels the previous one, and preparing the document again cancels its link.
• An open request can be cancelled; if the email has not been sent yet, it is not sent.
• Resend the link, on the card of the pending document: choose the recipient, then Send a new link. The old link is cancelled (it shows “Link unavailable”). Use it when the client did not get the email, or the link has expired.
• Garage+ does not keep the link: only the email contains it. The contact must have a valid email address.

What the client sees. The page opens without an account or password, in the document’s language (a button lets them change language). It shows the garage’s name, the date until which the link is valid, the document (client, vehicle, work, amounts, terms), then:

• for a quote with at least one part, Reused parts wanted, Yes or No: the value suggested by the garage when preparing, No by default. The client’s choice is the one recorded and printed;
• their name (pre-filled with the depositor’s name when known);
• a checkbox “I have read and accept this document, approved for work” (wording specific to the document). Accept stays disabled until the name and the box are filled in. There is no remote drawing any more: drawing with a finger remains for on-site signing;
• Decline: an area lets them give a reason (optional, 500 characters at most), then Confirm the refusal (or Back).

Opening the link records nothing: only the response counts. If the document has been changed in the meantime, the page says so and shows the new version, to be read again; the box is unchecked. An expired, already used or cancelled link shows “Link unavailable”: the client asks the garage for a new link. Too many attempts on the same link block it for a few minutes.

As soon as they respond.

• Acceptance: the signature is recorded with the proof of agreement, and the document becomes finalized. For a quote, the version becomes Accepted (mode Online (link), with the client’s reused parts choice), and a work order at the Quote awaiting approval stage moves to Scheduled; at any other stage nothing changes. The sealed PDF “Accepted online on … by …” is produced the first time a member with the permissions opens the page; Finalize, on the document’s card, remains possible as a last resort.
• Decline: the quote becomes Declined (mode Online (link), reason as a note), the document is cancelled and the work order stays at its stage: it is up to you to decide. The Documents section shows “Declined online”, the date and the reason. To ask again, prepare a new document.
• A notification appears in the bell (The notification center) for the member who sent the request, the owners and the administrators: for a quote, “… accepted quote … online” or “… declined quote … online”; for another kind, “… accepted online: document kind” or “… declined online: document kind”. No email is sent to the garage.

What Garage+ keeps. As proof of agreement: the time (set by the server), the name entered, the exact wording accepted, the reused parts choice, and the client’s IP address and browser. The IP address and browser are never printed on the PDF. When the client is anonymized, the IP address, browser and decline reason are erased; the name, date and signed PDF are kept (legal retention obligation). Remote drawn signatures already collected remain valid.

Caution. While it is valid, the link shows the document (client contact details included) to anyone who has it and lets them accept it: only send it to an address of the client themselves. The page never asks for a password or a payment; tell your clients, so that they are wary of a fake signature email. This is a simple electronic signature.

The vehicle return form is also signed by the technician, on the tablet; the link is for the client’s approval.

Signed documents in the “Documents” section

In the page’s Documents section, the card of each document (vehicle reception form, quote, repair estimate, repair order, vehicle return form) shows, under Signed version, the latest signed or pending version: number (R-, OR-, RS-, quote number), version, state (Awaiting signature, Signed, Superseded, Changed since signed when the lines of a signed repair estimate or repair order have changed), date and signers. Depending on the state and your permissions:

• Signed PDF downloads the stored PDF; Verify checks its integrity (see below);
• Send emails the signed PDF to a contact of the client; Send the repair order, on the repair order’s card, sends the unsigned repair order;
• Modify replaces a signed document (see below);
• for a pending document: the signature link sent and its expiry (Cancel the link, Resend the link), Finalize when all signatures are there, Cancel.

Modify a signed document

A signed document can no longer be changed. To change a signed vehicle reception form, vehicle return form, repair estimate or repair order, use Modify: the document in force is marked “Superseded” (it can still be viewed, with its signatures and its PDF), the form can be edited again, and a new version must be signed. A superseded repair estimate no longer counts as approval. A signed quote cannot be replaced: issue a new version of the quote.

As long as the signed vehicle reception form is in force, the file’s mileage it states can no longer be changed either; the same goes for the exit mileage and the vehicle return form.

A document that is prepared but not yet finalized can be cancelled, with its signature link (and its PDF if it had already been produced). A quote awaiting signature is cancelled automatically if you issue a new version or record the client’s response. A signed vehicle reception or return form in force cannot be prepared again: first use Modify.

Verify a signed document

Verification recomputes the fingerprint of the signed content and reads the stored PDF again to compare its fingerprint with the one recorded at finalization. That each signature applies to the displayed content is checked at signing time: a signature on content that has changed is refused. After the client is anonymized, the signed content no longer has its personal data and its PDF is deleted: verification says so (“anonymized”).

This is a simple electronic signature: Garage+ does not provide a qualified signature.

Who can do what

Viewing the forms requires viewing work orders; filling them in requires editing them (the Technician role can do both). Each save is logged, without the content of the fields.

Preparing, having signed, replacing or cancelling a document requires editing work orders and viewing clients; finalizing also requires adding documents; a quote also requires editing quotes. Verifying requires viewing work orders and documents. Sending a document or a signature link by email also requires sending notifications (and adding documents to send a document); neither is possible in a support session. The Technician role can have documents signed on the tablet, but cannot send a link. The log keeps the kind, the version and the signer’s role, never their name or their drawing.