The workshop board

The workshop board shows work orders in progress sorted by status: one column per status of your garage, in the order and colour set in Settings › Statuses. It complements the work orders list without replacing it.

To open it: Work orders page, List / Board toggle at the top right. The Board entry of the menu, in the Workshop section, also leads straight to it; the Work orders entry always opens the list. The board requires the right to view work orders; moving a card or changing a line requires the right to edit them (see Roles and permissions).

Columns and cards

By default, the board shows work orders in progress: statuses of the invoiced and cancelled stages are hidden. Tick Show invoiced and cancelled (last 30 days) to see them as well. A deactivated status no longer has a column, unless it still holds work orders.

Each card shows:

• the work order number and the registration;
• the subject, the vehicle make and model and the client;
• line progress (“2/5 lines done”);
• alerts: Quote awaiting approval, parts awaited (lines with progress “Waiting for part”), Timer running;
• the next appointment and the workers: those of the labour lines and the work order’s lead worker.

Without the right to view vehicles or clients, the registration, model or name are not shown.

The board shows 300 work orders at most. Beyond that, a message says so: use the list and its filters.

Moving a work order forward

Drag a card to another column (with the mouse, or with a finger after a long press). While dragging, only reachable columns stay active; the others are greyed out. A column is reachable if:

• the transition between the two statuses is configured in Settings › Statuses;
• the work order may go there: reopening a done or cancelled work order requires the right to reopen a work order; when the “accepted quote required” setting is on, a work order at the quote stage only leaves it (except to be cancelled) with an accepted quote or a signed estimate.

The invoiced column is never a target: an invoice is always issued by an explicit action, from the record (see Invoicing). Leaving the invoiced stage is done with a credit note, also from the record.

The card changes column immediately. If Garage+ refuses the change (the work order changed in the meantime, a rule forbids it), the card goes back to its place and a message explains why.

With the keyboard or on mobile, open the card’s ⋯ menu: Move to… offers the same reachable columns.

When you drop a card on a done status, Garage+ offers Invoice (opens the record and its invoicing flow) and Notify the client (“vehicle ready” message, see Notifications), or Later.

Acting from the card

The card’s ⋯ menu offers, depending on your rights and the enabled features:

• Open: the edit window (below);
• Move to…;
• Start timer or Stop timer (Time tracking feature, account linked to an active worker; see Time tracking). From the card, the timer starts on your first labour line of the work order, or on no line; the window lets you choose the line;
• Notify the client: at the done and invoiced stages, with the right to send notifications;
• Open the full record.

The edit window

Click a card (or Open in its menu): a window opens, full screen on mobile. It lets you:

• change the status (same reachable statuses as dragging);
• set the progress of each line (to do, in progress, done, waiting for part) and the worker of a labour line;
• assign a worker: they are set on every labour line that has none yet;
• read and add comments;
• start or stop the timer;
• open the full record.

Prices, quantities and discounts are edited in the full record. Lines and workers can no longer be changed once the work order is done, invoiced or cancelled.

Finding your work orders

• Search: number, registration, client, subject or vehicle model.
• My work orders: the work orders you work on (on a labour line or as lead worker). This filter requires an account linked to an active worker (Settings › Workers); Garage+ remembers it for you on this device.
• Filter by worker: the work orders of a given worker.

The board refreshes on its own every 30 seconds and when you come back to the tab: changes made elsewhere (record, another computer) show up.