The invoicing software for car repair workshops
The workshop is one of the few businesses where a quote up front is compulsory by law and the invoice has to be itemised. On top of that come the insurers, parts from different suppliers and a customer who wants to know what it is going to cost before leaving the car.
What is particular about invoicing in car repair workshops
The regulations for vehicle repair workshops impose obligations no other trade has, and most of the sector's consumer penalties come from there.
The quote up front is compulsory
Article 14 of Real Decreto 1457/1986 says it without hedging: work can only start once the customer has signed the quote or has waived it in a verifiable way. The quote is valid for a minimum of twelve working days, and if a hidden fault appears during the repair you have to tell them within 48 hours and wait for their express agreement.
The invoice is itemised
Article 15 requires a written, signed and stamped invoice, properly itemised: the work carried out, the parts or components used and the hours worked, with the amount for each item. A workshop invoice with a single «repair» line does not comply, and it is the first one a customer disputes.
The deposit receipt
Whenever the vehicle stays at the workshop — to be quoted for or to be repaired — you have to hand over a receipt with the workshop's, the customer's and the vehicle's details, what is going to be done and the expected delivery date. If there is a quote signed by both parties, that acts as the receipt. It is the document that avoids half the arguments about what was agreed.
The insurers pay when they feel like it
Part of the work is invoiced to companies with their own loss-adjusting circuit and their own timescales. Without keeping an eye on due dates, the workshop finances the insurer without noticing.
How it is done today, and how it looks with Cairos
In the workshop the paperwork gets done in the gap between two cars, and it shows at the end of the quarter.
Without Cairos
- The quote is given verbally and then the customer argues about the amount.
- The invoice comes out with one line and without itemising the hours.
- Parts are ordered by phone and the delivery note turns up two weeks later.
- Nobody knows how much each insurer owes or since when.
- The margin per repair is not worked out: it is assumed.
With Cairos
- The quote is issued, sent and accepted before work starts.
- The invoice comes out of the quote, with labour and parts already separated.
- Supplier orders are recorded and the delivery note is matched with its invoice.
- Due dates by customer and by insurer are in plain sight.
- Every repair order says what it cost and what it left.
The workshop's VAT, item by item
In vehicle repairs almost everything goes at the standard rate. The exceptions that do exist are few, and worth knowing so as not to apply them where they do not belong.
| Item | VAT | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Repair labour | 21 % | The standard rate: there is no reduced rate for vehicle repairs. |
| Parts and spares | 21 % | They are invoiced separately from the labour, even though they carry the same rate. |
| Tyres, oil and consumables | 21 % | The same. |
| A repair invoiced to an insurer | 21 % | What changes is who pays, not the rate. The invoice is made out to whoever the policy says. |
| Sale of a used vehicle bought from a private individual | The special regime for second-hand goods | VAT is not charged on the total but on the margin. It is a separate regime, with its own record book. |
| Handling the ITV, the roadworthiness test, on the customer's behalf | Suplido, no VAT | Only if you pay the fee in the customer's name, under their express instruction, and keep the receipt in their name. That VAT, if there is any, you do not deduct. |
With the second-hand goods regime the opposite of what people believe happens: it applies by default to purchases made from private individuals, and what you have to do expressly is opt out of it, transaction by transaction and without telling Hacienda (art. 120.Cuatro of the VAT Act). It is only available when the vehicle was bought from a private individual, from a reseller who already applied the regime or in an exempt supply: if you bought it with an invoice and deductible VAT, you go to the general regime. It deserves a conversation with your accountancy firm before you start.
The modelos you end up filing
| Form | When | Why in your case |
|---|---|---|
| 303 | Quarterly | The VAT on the repairs less the VAT on the parts and the utilities. |
| 390 | January | The annual summary, which has to reconcile with the four quarters. |
| 111 | Quarterly | The withholdings for the mechanics on the payroll. |
| 115 | Quarterly | The withholding on the rent for the unit, which there almost always is. |
| 347 | February | Spare parts suppliers go over €3,005.06 easily. |
| 130 or 200 | Quarterly, or July | Depending on whether you are an autónomo or a company. |
What you will actually use
What gets used between one car and the next, with no screens you are never going to open.
Quotes and orders
A written quote, the customer's acceptance and a direct step to invoice without typing anything again.
Parts and suppliers
Spare parts stock, orders and price comparison between suppliers.
Payments and insurers
Due dates by customer, with a warning about anything outstanding for too long.
VeriFactu
A chained record and a QR code on every invoice, included in the free plan too.
Try it with your workshop's invoices
Free plan with up to 30 documents a year, no card needed. And if it does not work for you, your data leaves with you.
Questions from car repair workshops
Your workshop invoices differently. So does the program.
No minimum term · VeriFactu included · Native support in Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Basque and English