Legend:There are guided tours for the Work Order Editor available at http://www.protractor.com/en/tours.htm
A work order document contains all the current information about each job. The work order is created using the New Work Wizard and is maintained in the Work In Progress Manager. You update the work order using the Work Order Documents Editor. The Editor combines the features of a word processor for text creation, with the features of a spreadsheet program to automatically recalculate totals and analyze profit margins.
As a job progresses through the software's workflow stages, the contents of a work order may be viewed or printed as any of the following document types or modes:
Customer Estimate – Estimates are easily created and printed. They can be saved until the customer decides to have the work completed. Deferred work (work that was estimated but put off until later) can be added to a future work order by the New Work Wizard.
Customer Authorization – In most shops, the customer signs an Authorization when they drop the vehicle off.
Technician Inspections document – This is the printed document the service advisor gives the technician, which details each point to be inspected. The technician uses this form to record inspection results.
Technician Instructions document – The service advisor gives this printed document to the technician to detail both the work that was authorized and the work that was declined by the customer. The technician uses this document to perform the authorized work, then record labor times and parts used. This document also prints the parts grid location and can be used as a pick slip.
Customer Invoice – The invoice is presented to the customer for payment. Computerized records of invoices form a vehicle's Maintenance History.
You can easily switch the work order from one document mode to another, to meet your specific requirements. Each document mode presents the work order data in a different way. The data is organized under headings that are easy for the customer or technician to understand. For example, on the Authorization, information is organized under the headings:
Reported Problems
Inspections Requested
Services Requested
Materials Ordered
On the Invoice, the headings are:
Problems Resolved
Inspections Performed
Services Performed
Materials Received
The Work Order Documents Editor functions are organized into five tabs:
Print Layout – Shows how the work order document will look when it is printed, including the header and body. In this mode, you can modify the header information, but not the body of the document.
Work Order – Shows the service packages that the customer has accepted. In this mode you can add, edit, and remove service packages in the body of the work order, as well as add, remove, or edit the line items in service packages. You can also update other charges, and update or remove a document's comments.
Deferred Work – Shows the service packages that the customer has deferred until later. You can edit the deferred work in this mode. Because this work will not be completed on this visit, it is shown as estimated work.
Inspections – Shows all Inspection detail lines. The technician's inspection results are entered on this tab. Problems found during inspections can be moved to the work order's Reported Problems section.
Analysis – Each line item, each service package, and the work order as a whole, are dynamically analyzed in real time to show a comparison of actual profit margins generated with your shop's target profit margins. Because the margin column is color-coded, the service advisor can see at a glance whether profit margins exceed (green), meet (black), or fall below (red) the shop's target margin for each service category. When an Invoice is posted, the Posting Wizard will caution the service advisor if it contains work that falls below target margins.
Online Order - Shows the ordering status of all parts on the Work Order tab that have not been received. Once a part is received, it is removed from the online order tab. Parts are separated into groups; Parts Not Sourced, Response Received, Parts Waiting to be Ordered, and Confirmed Orders. There are tools to inquire for parts pricing and availability with your suppliers and place orders.
Legend:
Magenta material line items: these signify that the material line item has not been resolved and is incomplete. This is most likely a result of the part not being received or sourced from inventory.
Magenta labor line items: these signify that the labor line item is not complete. This is most likely to be a result of the labor description being forced and it has not been updated yet.
Magenta quantity or labor time: The quantity or time has not been updated and / or the magenta box has not been unchecked to signify the quantity is correct.
Magenta company name below the labor line item: This signifies a technician has not been assigned.
Blue supply item: This color is used to denote that the item detail will not be visible to the customer.