WrenchDesk compared
WrenchDesk vs paper job cards and a notebook
A carbon-copy job card and a notebook at the counter have run workshops for decades. They're fast, they never crash, and every mechanic understands them. What they can't do is tell you anything afterwards.
What paper does well
- Writing a job takes seconds, with no screen and no sign-in.
- It works in a power cut, with greasy hands, in any bay.
- Nothing to learn, and no monthly cost.
What it costs you
- Jobs get lost. A card falls behind the bench, and the car waits two days for a part nobody ordered.
- Prices get argued. "You said 400" against a scribble nobody can read. With no approved estimate, the customer's memory wins.
- Parts leak. Parts taken from the shelf and never written on the card are never billed.
- Customers call to ask. "Is it ready?" takes your advisor away from the counter ten times a day.
- The month is a guess. What you made, which technician is fastest and which service sells best all wait for someone to add up a pile of carbon copies.
- Tax invoices still have to be typed somewhere else, with the right numbers on them.
Side by side
| Paper | WrenchDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Writing a job at the counter | Seconds | Under a minute, on a phone or a PC |
| Photos and fuel level at check-in | ✗ | ✓ |
| The customer signs the check-in | On paper | On the screen, kept with the job |
| Estimate approved in writing | Sometimes | ✓ From the customer's phone |
| Every part used gets billed | If someone writes it | ✓ Parts come off stock on the job |
| "Is my car ready?" | A phone call | ✓ A live tracking link |
| Tax invoice | Typed elsewhere | ✓ From the job, with VAT |
| The month's figures | Added up by hand | ✓ Always current |
| Works in a power cut | ✓ | On a charged phone |
Keeping what works
You don't have to take paper away from the bay overnight. Many workshops start by putting only the counter on WrenchDesk: the advisor opens the job, sends the estimate and invoices it, and the job card still prints for the technician. When the technicians are ready, the shop-floor view on their phones replaces the printout.
See it on your own counter: book a demo, or start the free trial with demo data and print a job card.