Start a repair with a clear plan.
A practical starting guide for shop teams preparing repair work, labor estimates, and the handoff to invoicing.
Have these ready.
- Your shop administrator has provided your account and sign-in address.
- Customer and vehicle or equipment details, the reported issue, and any inspection notes.
Work through the basics.
Open the right shop
Sign in using your shop’s supplied address and confirm the correct organization before reviewing customer or repair records.
Bring the repair facts together
Confirm the customer, unit, reported concern, and inspection findings. Separate the requested work from additional work that still needs approval.
Review the estimate
Keep estimated labor, parts, and customer approval together. Use available labor references as estimating context and confirm applicability to the actual repair.
Follow the service work
Record progress and changes through your shop’s approved workflow. Keep estimated, billed, and actual labor distinct; follow your shop’s time-tracking settings.
Review the billing handoff
Before invoicing, confirm completed services, approved changes, parts, and billed labor. Verify payment status using your shop’s authorized process.
A repair reveals another worn component: document the finding, revise the estimate as needed, obtain customer approval, and keep the added work tied to the same repair history.
Check this first.
- Wrong customer or unit? Verify identifying details before adding work.
- A labor reference looks unsuitable? Check the equipment and repair conditions rather than treating a reference as a guaranteed time.
Common questions.
Where do I sign in?
Use the Crank sign-in URL supplied by your shop administrator. This marketing website does not open or display your shop’s records.
Is the Crank Labor Library the same as a repair order?
No. The Labor Library provides labor-hour reference and estimating context; the repair record tracks the work for a specific customer and unit.
Does a forgotten timer have to stop the repair?
Time tracking follows your shop’s configuration. In optional mode, missing actual hours should not block completion; ask an authorized teammate to correct time records through the app’s audited process.