Record-Keeping Tips to Use After Automotive Parts Training
The work that most auto repair shops do requires a lot of technical input and some physical effort to accomplish. And so other everyday tasks like record keeping may often go under the radar.
Record keeping is critical to auto shop management. If you’re considering an automotive parts training program, read on for some tips for effective record-keeping in an auto repair shop.
Maintain an Inventory After Automotive School
It is often challenging to track down equipment stock that runs out or goes missing in an auto parts shop, but an excellent inventory-keeping habit can help.
It’s important to stock all work tools, supplies, and equipment around the auto shop and represent each with an entry note in your inventory. Let the entries depict the position of each tool in the shop, its available number, description, and even purchase costs. This simple action will help you account for every item in the shop, and it is a core subject activity taught in our automotive parts training school.
Record Work Orders and Maintain Financial Records
Work orders can provide a means to check a vehicle’s repair history or review the auto shop’s operations. The entries typical of a work order (for a car) include the problem description, repair procedure, parts purchased/used, labour hours, customer information, and other relevant information. This information may interest you or your customers in the future, whether it is for making insurance/warranty claims or carrying out audits of your business.
It is important to record information about your auto shop’s finances to keep its wheels in continuous operation. So you must account for every cash flow around your business and record it for future reference.
You can achieve this by keeping a file of invoices, payment systems, ledgers, and other materials that record cash flow. Use accounting software to record all your cashflows – expenses, income, and profit to get better results. Our auto parts training program prepares you for the working world to help manage the business and assist clients.
Create Backups and Review Regularly
After successfully creating a primary record system for the shop, it is also important to back up the records. This is so you have something to fall back on if there’s loss or damage to the original records.
If you use a digital storage system, copy all files to an external hard drive, cloud storage, or any other online storage service. Alternatively, if you use a physical storage system, photocopy all relevant files/documents and store them in a different location, or scan them directly to a computer.
It is important to review records every once in a while. You could stumble on information that is useful at that time, and you could also find information that is no longer relevant.
Additionally, you could find a depleted stock in your inventory or find something that’ll help you reconcile your account. Regular reviews of your records can help you make relevant updates to your records and give you a broad view of your shop’s current state of affairs.
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