Every dollar your shop earns moves through the same cycle: a technician inspects the vehicle, an advisor builds an estimate from what they find, the customer approves (or declines), the work gets done, and payment gets collected. This article is the map of that loop — the sub-articles linked below each handle one job-to-be-done within it.
The Loop at a Glance
Inspection → Estimate → Send → Customer Approves/Declines → Work → Complete → Payment → Close
Each stage is a handoff between roles:
| Stage | Who Does It | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Inspection | Technician | Tech inspects the vehicle, marks items Good/Fair/Poor, adds photos. Findings become concerns on the work order. |
| 2. Build Estimate | Service Advisor | Advisor turns concerns and inspection findings into billable services with parts, labor, and pricing. |
| 3. Send Estimate | Service Advisor | Advisor sends the estimate to the customer via SMS or email. Customer gets a portal link. |
| 4. Customer Decides | Customer | Customer opens the portal link, approves or declines each service individually, signs. |
| 5. Work | Technician | Approved services go to the WIP tab (WIP = work in progress). Tech clocks in, does the work, clocks out, marks done. |
| 6. Complete | Service Advisor | When all work is done, the advisor completes the work order. |
| 7. Payment | Service Advisor | Advisor collects payment (cash, card, e-transfer, or posts to A/R for fleet accounts). |
| 8. Close | Service Advisor / Owner | Work order is closed as paid. Receipt sent to customer. |
Partial Authorization Is the Default
Customers don’t have to approve everything or decline everything — they approve some services and decline others in the same submission. Whatever isn’t checked as “Approve” is declined.
This matters because it means the loop often continues with a partial estimate. A customer might authorize the brake service but decline the tire rotation. The authorized work proceeds to completion and payment; the declined services are preserved in Service History and can be resuggested on a future visit.
What Happens at Each Handoff
Inspection → Estimate
When a technician marks an inspection item as Fair or Poor, Wenmar Pro automatically creates a concern on the work order. The advisor sees these concerns on the Estimate tab and can turn them into services with one click — either as a custom service or by attaching a package.
If a technician selects a preset finding that’s linked to a package, the package’s services are added to the estimate automatically.
Estimate → Send
Before sending, draft services are published — this makes them visible to the customer. Draft services show a “Draft — not visible to customer” badge; published services show “Needs authorization.”
The advisor clicks Share Estimate (in the Authorize dropdown) to send. All draft services get published, and the customer receives an SMS or email with a portal link.
Send → Customer Decides
The customer opens the portal link and sees each service listed with Approve and Decline buttons. They choose per service, then tap Authorize (which opens a signature pad) or Decline All.
The advisor gets a real-time notification in the app the moment the customer acts.
Customer Decides → Work
If the customer approves any services, the work order automatically moves from “Estimate” to “In Progress.” Approved services appear on the WIP tab (work in progress), ready for the technician to start.
Work → Complete → Payment
When the technician finishes and marks services done, the advisor completes the work order (moving it to “Completed” status). At that point, the Payments tab becomes active and the advisor can collect payment.
The Authorize Button vs Share Estimate
These are two different actions that often confuse new users:
- Share Estimate — sends the estimate to the customer’s phone/email for them to approve online
- Authorize — opens the Record Authorization drawer for capturing an offline authorization (in-person signature, verbal approval, text confirmation, etc.)
Both publish draft services first. Use Share Estimate when the customer isn’t standing in front of you. Use Authorize when they are.
Roles in the Loop
| Role | What They Touch |
|---|---|
| Technician | Inspection (marking items, photos), WIP tab (clocking in/out, marking done) |
| Service Advisor | Estimate tab (building/sending estimates), Record Authorization, Payments tab, completing and closing work orders |
| Owner / Manager | Everything an advisor can do, plus refunds, voids, credit resolution, and hard delete |
Related Topics
- Inspections & DVI — How technicians inspect vehicles and how findings become estimates
- Sending Estimates — Building and sending an estimate to the customer
- Collecting Payments — Taking payment after work is complete
- Managing Work Order Status — How work orders move through the shop
- Adding Parts and Labor — Building estimates with services, parts, and packages
- Technician Assignment — Assigning techs and tracking time
Questions? Contact us at help@wenmarpro.com