REFERENCE LIBRARY
The collision software glossary.
Plain-language definitions for the records, measurements, and handoffs behind a better-running shop.
Use these working definitions when comparing products and reading reports. Agree on the precise rules your shop uses, then ask each vendor to demonstrate the same records and calculations.
Repair order (RO)
The working record for an individual repair. It connects the vehicle and customer with the repair scope, assignments, parts activity, documents, communication, and financial record. A useful RO gives the next person enough context to act without rebuilding the job’s history.
Read the practical guide ↗Work in progress (WIP)
Work that has entered the shop’s process and has not reached its defined completion point. A WIP count, a value of open repairs, and a forecast of future billing are different measures. State which one a report uses before comparing periods.
Read the practical guide ↗Collision estimate
A structured description of proposed repair operations and amounts. An estimate can change when additional damage is identified. Its existence does not, by itself, establish payer approval, customer authorization, or readiness to start every operation.
Read the practical guide ↗Supplement
An addition or revision to the estimate as the repair scope or amounts change. Track the version, the decision being requested, the response, and any operational effect separately so the parts desk and floor know what is ready to act on.
Read the practical guide ↗Cycle time
Elapsed time between specified milestones in a repair. An arrival-to-delivery measure and an assignment-to-delivery measure answer different questions. Record the start, end, calendar or working-day convention, and group of repairs included.
Read the practical guide ↗Touch time
A defined measure of repair-work hours relative to included days. The numerator may differ by reporting system, so identify whether the hours are tracked, estimated, or credited. Do not compare two values until their hour sources and day rules match.
Read the practical guide ↗Stage dwell
The elapsed time a repair spends in a production stage. Define how repeated visits, pauses, and stage corrections are handled. A long dwell time identifies a record worth investigating; it does not establish the cause of the delay.
Read the practical guide ↗Blocker
A specific condition preventing the next useful action, such as a missing part, an unresolved approval, or unavailable capacity. Record the reason, the responsible person, and the next review rather than relying on a general waiting status.
Read the practical guide ↗Production capacity
The work a shop or department plans to complete within a defined period, given available people, time, equipment, and its planning assumptions. A drop-off slot is an intake appointment; it is not proof that every required trade has capacity.
Read the practical guide ↗Promise date
A delivery commitment communicated for the repair. Keep it distinct from the date the vehicle arrives and from an internal planning target. Changes should follow a consistent process that identifies the reason, reviews the remaining work, and assigns customer communication.
Read the practical guide ↗Purchase order (PO)
The shop’s record of an order to a supplier, including the items and quantities requested. Ordering, receiving, supplier invoicing, and paying are separate events. Match those events rather than assuming a purchase order proves that a part arrived.
Read the practical guide ↗Return and vendor credit
A return records the decision or action to send an item back. A vendor credit records the supplier’s financial acknowledgment. The part leaving the building is not the same as receiving the credit; keep both visible until reconciled.
Read the practical guide ↗Receivable
An amount the business expects to collect. For a collision repair, distinguish the customer’s responsibility from the insurer’s responsibility and identify payments already applied. An approved estimate total and the currently collectible balance are different figures.
Read the practical guide ↗Reconciliation
Comparing related records and explaining the differences. For a repair, this can mean matching invoices, payments, credits, and the accounting entry. An export or successful synchronization should still be reviewed against the source records and any unresolved exceptions.
Read the practical guide ↗Quality gate
A defined check before work is accepted into the next stage or the vehicle is released. Specify the evidence, who can sign off, and how exceptions are recorded. A stage change alone does not prove that every required repair procedure was completed.
Read the practical guide ↗Rework
Work repeated or corrected after an earlier operation did not meet the shop’s requirements. Record the relevant job, operation, reason, and corrective action. Review patterns to improve the process without treating an isolated record as proof of individual fault.
Read the practical guide ↗Role-based access
A permission model that gives employees access according to their responsibilities. Review what each role can view, change, approve, or export, and test it with that role’s account. Shared hardware should not require shared identity.
Read the practical guide ↗Multi-shop operator (MSO)
A business operating more than one repair location. Software evaluation needs to cover each shop’s daily workflow as well as group visibility, local accountability, access boundaries, and consistent definitions for comparing locations.
Read the practical guide ↗Connect the terms to a real workflow
Explore AutoHound in context.
Follow the guides from the repair record through production and closeout.