Webinar 15 - Warranties

In Shop Manager, warranty is a process for tracking materials and/or labor items where a Supplier credit is expected. This process begins with specifying item(s) to be covered and concludes with receiving a credit for the warranty claim.

This webinar focuses on features for processing warranties.

Watch the video segments below to see walkthroughs on how to fix errors in Shop Manager.

Part 1 - Processing Warranties

Part 2 - Processing Warranties

Part 3 - Processing Warranties

Part 4 - Processing Warranties

Below is a summary of each of the subtopics that we cover in this webinar. You can find more help in the links given in each section, and you may also want to also review the slide deck that can be seen throughout the webinar videos. For more help on warranties, including tutorial videos, see the Warranty article.

Warranty

In the aftermarket automotive industry there are normally two different warranty types:

Manufacturer/Supplier warranty - Where a product or service is purchased from a supplier and the product or service is or has gone defective. In this type of warranty the supplier will replace or credit the shop for the defective product and/or service.

Shop Internal warranty - Where the shop will absorb the costs of the warranty.

In Shop Manager, warranty is a process for tracking materials and/or labor items where a Supplier credit is expected. This process begins with specifying item(s) to be covered and concludes with receiving a credit for the warranty claim.

Warranty Supplier Setup

For each supplier that allows warranty claims, set the supplier type to include a Warranty by checking the box in supplier settings. This can be done under the Details section on the Supplier contact record, or within the supplier node of Setup.

There are two ways of processing a warranty, a manufacturers/supplier warranty or an internal shop warranty.

If you have an internal warranty program, then create a contact for the business and setup that contact as a warranty supplier.

You may want to manage and track manufacturer/supplier and internal shop warranties separately. Consider establishing a internal shop warranty service category to track and monitor all internal shop warranty costs, if not already setup in your shop manager software.

Processing a Manufacturer/Supplier warranty

If you're process a manufacturer/Supplier warranty, continue reading in this section.

To process an Shop Internal warranty, see the section below: Processing an internal warranty for your customer.

Follow these steps to process a manufacturers/supplier warranty:

1. Open a work order for the customer and vehicle.

2. Add the repair - service package to the work order.

3. Source and process the material item(s) and/or labor operation(s) that will repair the defective item(s) or service(s) as you would for any regular service or repair.

4. Right-click on the line item(s) and select Warranty from the context menu.

5. The Warranty Type dialog displays a few options. Check the box for the appropriate calculation method:

• Simple - the warranty calculation is not according to usage or time.

• Prorated - the warranty calculation is according to usage (mileage / kilometers) or time.

• Tread Wear - the warranty calculation is according to the tread depth on a tire. Only available and applicable to tire warranties.

5. Click the Next button to proceed to the remain steps for the warranty type that you've chosen. See the section below.

Simple Warranty

Follow these steps to process a simple manufacturers / supplier warranty:

1. Select Simple from the warranty context menu then select Next.

2. If the Total Charge needs to be changed, select Edit at right and make any required edits to the line entries.

3. The amount To Be Paid By Vendor is an automatic calculation and will match the Total Charge amount.

4. If the customer is paying any portion of the warranty line item, enter that amount in the To Be Paid By Customer field. Any amount entered in this field will automatically adjust the To Be Paid By Vendor field. The To Be Paid By Customer and the To Be Paid By Vendor fields will adjust to match the Total Charge amount.                      

5. Click on the drop-down arrow to choose the Vendor for which the warranty line item claim will be made.

6. Add a Comment for this particular warranty line item if desired. These are internal comments, and are not visible to the customer or vendor.

7. If the line item selected is a Labor line, the same features are available as Material lines in addition to the option  to charge back labor time against a technician. Check the Charge Back box, the Total Labor Hours will be the hours  entered on the work order labor line. To edit the Total Labor Hours, select Edit at the Total Charge. In the Charge Back Hours field, enter how many hours you wish to charge back against the technician, and select the Technician to associate with this charge back.

8. Click the OK button to commit your changes.

Prorated Warranty

Follow these steps to process a By Time Prorated manufacturers / supplier warranty:

1. In the Coverage field select in the days, months, or years of Coverage for the warranty item.

2. Set the Start date for the warranty coverage.

3. The End date will automatically calculate according to the coverage duration and the value of the start date.

4. The Current date will automatically calculate using today's date or change the Current date using the drop-down calendar.

5. The Used field will display – as a percentage – the amount of warranty already consumed. This is the percentage of warranty coverage already used for the warranty item.

 Follow these steps to process a By Mileage Prorated manufacturers / supplier warranty:

1. In the Coverage field, enter the Total Mileage (Miles or Kilometers) coverage for the warranty item.

2. Enter the Start mileage for the coverage.

3. The End mileage will automatically calculate according to the coverage duration and the starting mileage.

4. Enter the Current mileage.

5. The value in the Used field will display – as a percentage – the amount of warranty already consumed.

For either a By Time or By Mileage prorated warranty, complete the processing with these steps:

6. If the Total Charge needs to be changed, select Edit at right and make any required edits to the line entries.

7. The To Be Paid By Customer and Vendor fields are automatically calculated based on the By Time or By  Mileage Used entries. Edits can be made to the To Be Paid By Customer and By Vendor fields, if needed. Also, any edits here will automatically update the Used fields.

8. Click on the drop-down list to choose the Vendor for which the warranty claim will be made.

9. Add a Comment for this particular warranty claim. These are internal comments, so they won't be visible to the customer or vendor.

10. If the line item selected is a Labor line, the same features are available as Material lines in addition to the option  to charge back labor time against a technician.

11. Check the Charge Back box, the Total Labor Hours will be the hours entered on the work order labor line. To edit the Total Labor Hours, select Edit at the Total Charge. In the Charge Back Hours field, enter how many hours you wish to charge back against the technician, and select the Technician to associate with this charge back.

12. Click the OK button to commit your changes.

Tread Wear

A tire Tread Wear warranty provides coverage according to the amount of wear on the tire tread.

Follow these steps to process a tread-wear warranty for your customer:

1. The Minimum Tread Depth will be an automatic entry from the software.

2. Enter the Tread Depth When New, which is the tire tread depth at the time of purchase.

3. Enter the Current Tread Depth of the tire, at the time of warranty claim.

4. The value in the Used field will display, as a percentage, the amount of warranty already consumed (according to the Tread Depth When New).

5. If the Total Charge needs to be changed, select Edit at right and make any required edits to the line entries.

6. The To Be Paid By Customer and Vendor fields are automatically calculated based on the Used percentage. Edits can be made to the To Be Paid By Customer and By Vendor fields, if needed. Any edits here will automatically update the Used fields.

7. Click on the drop-down list to choose the Vendor for which the warranty claim will be made.

8. Add a Comment for this particular warranty claim. These are internal comments, so they won't be visible to the customer or vendor.

9. Click the OK button to commit your changes.

Processing an internal warranty for your customer

To process a Internal Warranty, refer to the warranty setup at the beginning of this article.

While there are several ways to process a internal warranty, we recommend you discuss internal warranty processing with your accountant so that all monies are allocated to their desires.

Follow these steps to process an internal warranty for your customer:

Option #1

1. Add the warranty service package to the work order.

2. Add the warranty materials, source and process the materials as you would with any other work order.

3. Edit the selling price to the total amount the customer will be billed.

4. Add the warranty labor, source and process the materials as you would with any other work order.

5. Edit the labor line, change the labor rate to a Fixed Total and set the total to the amount the customer is paying. Remember to set the labor hours.

6. If the labor warranty needs to be a charge back against a technician, use the warranty module against your internal supplier.

7. All associated warranty costs will be allocated. The warranty is recorded in the customer and vehicle records.

Option #2

1. Add the service package to the work order.

2. Process the warranty using the Simple and/or Prorated type, ad described above.

3. Use the Shop Warranty Supplier (your shop) for all warranty supplier entries.

4. All internal warranty monies will be under the Shop Warranty supplier in the warranty module.

5. Process a warranty claim.

6. Post the warranty claim to move these monies to the shop warranty - payable account.

7. Adjustments can be processed to move these monies to an shop warranty expense account.

Again, we recommend you discuss processing internal shop warranties with your accountant.

Processing a warranty with a supplier

Processing a Supplier Warranty Claim is done from the Purchases module.

Follow these steps to process an supplier warranty for your customer:

1. Select Purchases located in the main ribbon.
2. Locate Pending Claims in the left-hand pane under the Warranty category.
3. Select a Supplier from the list.
4. Optionally, enter other search terms for warranty item, line item descriptions. Or, leave the search terms empty to return all available claims for the selected supplier.
5. Click the Search button in the ribbon and, for a list of matching items.
6. To Edit details of a specific item, double-click the item and make changes to the Vendor or the Amount and click the OK button.
7. To view the invoice, select the item and then click the View Invoice button in the ribbon.
8. To create the claim, choose one or more items from the list (choose multiple items by holding the Shift or CTRL key).
9. Click on the Create Claim button located in the Action group of the ribbon and the Warranty Claim dialog will open containing your selected items.
10. You can change to a different Vendor , if necessary.
11. Enter the Claim #, or choose an existing one. Typically, this claim number is often written onto a slip given by the vendor.
12. Click the OK button to proceed. The claim will no longer appear in the Pending Claims listing.

When you receive credit for your claim, you'll need to return to Purchases > Warranty Claims and post the credit to the vendor's payable account or make any adjustments.

Follow these steps:

1. Search and select the Supplier Warranty Claim to be processed using the search parameters.
2. Select Edit from the Line Item menu group or from a Right Click.
3. Below are the actions you can take by using the available ribbon functions:

• Save – save any changes and close the warranty claim editor without changing the status.
• Post – Posts the credit to the vendor's payable account.
• Print / Print Preview – Print or preview the warranty claim document.
• Export to PDF – Saves the warranty claim document to PDF format.
• Email – send a copy of the warranty claim to a recipient you specify.
• Adjustment – post an adjustment to the claim for any differences. This can be a positive or negative adjustment.
• Tax Adjustment – adjust any taxes or other charges.
• Claim Number – change the claim number. (The credit invoice will often differ from the original claim number.)
• Edit – change the Vendor or Claim #. If you change the vendor that is handling the claim, the item will be moved to that supplier's node under warranty. You can also change the claim number to a different claim number for the same vendor.
• Remove – remove a chosen item from the warranty claim. Any item removed will be moved back to Pending Claims.
• View Invoice – review the invoice for the warranty item.