Shopmonkey: How do I use the Service Writer View?

Access estimate information from the service writer perspective, which includes costs, profitability, and customer messages

Zack Buffum avatar
Written by Zack Buffum
Updated over a week ago

With the Service Writer View, you can see Services with pricing information, Perform digital vehicle inspections (DVIs), clock in and out with Time Clocks, order parts with Parts Procurement, send messages to customers, and get access to powerful options in the side panel.


Tabs

The tabs on the work order let you switch between different information like Summary, Services, Inspections, Time Clocks, and Messages. Clicking on the tab will switch the view to that tab info. You can click and drag the tabs to reorder them. The first tab (the tab furthest to the left) will be the tab that shows each time you open an order. Use this to make sure you always see what you want when an order opens. The position of your tabs is just for you and won’t change what others in the shop see.


Summary

This tab shows important order information at a glance.

At the top, you’ll notice a tracker to help you see how close the job is to being complete. All of the services and Inspections will be tracked with a percentage to completion.

The to-dos will show each of the labor items and inspections to be completed on the order. As the orders are completed they can be marked done by clicking the check box next to each item. This will update the tracker at the top.

You can see internal notes and leave notes of your own in the Recent Internal Notes section. If you want to see more past notes click View All to open the messages tab and see the full history of messages.

Information about who created the order, when it was created, when it was invoiced, and where it is in the workflow is shown near the top of the second column.

The customer comments field can show you the information that the customer has sent over, and the recommendations will show comments that the shop has made related to the order.

Underneath comments, you’ll see the scheduled appointment info including the date and time the customer will bring their vehicle into the shop.

The Activity section will show important steps that have been taken in the order including labor assignments, customer messaging, authorization, and more.


Services

The Services tab will show you all of the services for that order.

Each service will be separated from each other and grouped to include parts, labor items, tires, subcontracts, and fees specific to that service. Each line item will include the pricing information for the service. You can assign techs to the order, and add and edit items as needed.

If it is a new order a new service can be created, canned services can be added, and subscription tiers that include an integration with MOTOR can automatically add parts and labor from MOTOR guides.

For more information on editing and creating services check out our help article.


Inspections

The Inspections tab will show you any inspections that need to be performed, allow you to mark status, add notes, add photos and video, and more.

For more information about inspections check out our help article.


Time Clocks

The Time Clocks tab will allow you to add technicians, Clock in, switch, and clock out of services. You’ll be able to see statistics like total hours tracked and average time on a service, and view a list of time clock entries.

For more information on Time Clocks check out our help article.


Parts Procurement

In the Parts Procurement tab you can connect to part ordering options like Partstech, Nexpart, Epicor and Worldpac, to get the parts you need and add them to your services.

For more information on Parts Procurement check out our help article.


Messages

The Messages tab will show you all of the communications with the customer and internal notes for the order. You can send messages to customers, and read the message replies from this tab. You can also create and type in new notes and comments as internal notes just for your shop. You’ll also be able to upload files and photos to keep a record of important documents and pictures that you’ll always be able to return to and review.

For more information on customer messaging check out our help article.


Service Writer View Side Panel

The Side Panel in the Service Writer View is designed to show you detailed information about items in the order. Clicking on an item will show its expanded information in the Side Panel.


Side Panel

The Service Writer View side panel shows order information at the top including the order number, who created the order, when the order was created, assignments on the order, and appointment information.

You can set the due date at the top of the side panel. This will record the date and make it visible to the rest of the shop. You’ll also be able to see the due date on the workflow tile. For more information on workflow tiles check out our help article.

For more information on assignments check out this help article, and if you’re interested in more information on creating appointments check out this help article.

You’ll also be able to manually authorized the order from the Service Writer side panel. For more information on authorization check out our help article.

You can change an estimate to an invoice with the buttons in the side panel, and also change the Workflow column of the order. For more information on Invoicing check out our help article, and for more information on Workflow columns check out this help article.

The side panel will also let you review the totals and subtotals for the order, allow you to record payments, and show profitability information for the order.

For more information on payments check out our help article.

The Activity section of the side panel will show important steps that have been taken in the order including assignments, authorization, invoicing, payments, and more.


Service Item Side Panel

The side panel in Service Writer View can also show you detailed information about line items on the service. Clicking on Parts, Labor items, Tires, Subcontract, and fee will each show their own side panel.


Accessing the Service Writer View

There are two views in Shopmonkey the Service Writer View and the Technician View. If you have access to both views, you’ll be able to change the view in the ellipsis at the top of the order.

For more information about the Technician View check out our help article.


Enabling the Technician View

Permissions for the Service Writer View and Technician View are set in the user settings. Just go to Settings and click on Users. From there select the user to update view permissions.

In Section Permissions under Workflow and Order you’ll have the option to set Service Writer View Only, Technician View Only, or Both.

With Service Writer View enabled you’ll have other permissions for Authorizations, Invoicing, Profitability Info, and Completion Status.


Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us through the Chat Icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. Thanks for reading!

Did this answer your question?