FOR COLLISION SHOP OWNERS AND MANAGERS

Straight answers for collision shops

Use these guides to compare software, understand estimating connections, plan a switch, protect your shop data, and improve the repair workflows that affect every day in the business.

COLLISION SHOP SOFTWARE GUIDES

Practical guides for your shop

See AutoHound in the demo

Each guide answers a specific buying or operating question in plain shop language. Read one for the immediate answer or use the full set as a checklist before your next software decision.

Total loss billing

Getting paid for total loss work

Build a clear total loss billing file with authorization, completed work, itemized charges, supporting records, and a practical payment follow-up checklist.

Total loss storage

Documenting total loss storage

Document total loss storage with clear dates, customer notices, rate history, billable-day calculations, pickup records, and a printable collision shop checklist.

Total loss closeout

Closing a total loss file

Use a practical total loss closeout checklist to reconcile completed work, parts, sublets, release documents, pickup, payments, and vendor credits.

Total loss follow-up

Following up on total loss decisions

Keep a pending total loss decision moving with named contacts, a clear timeline, customer updates, milestone follow-up, and a documented pickup plan.

Total loss reporting

Understanding total loss revenue

Compare completed total-loss revenue with delivered repairs, distinguish invoices from collections, and keep open storage separate in a practical shop review.

Parts and purchasing

Parts, orders, and vendor credits

Keep collision repair parts connected from purchase order through receiving, invoice matching, returns and vendor credits, with a practical shop checklist.

Scheduling

Booking against shop capacity

Build a body shop schedule around bookable labor hours, repair readiness and known interruptions, with a worked example and scheduling checklist.

Cycle time

Finding collision repair delays

Define collision repair cycle time, separate waiting from tracked work and investigate overlapping delays with a worked example and review checklist.

Shop communication

Team and vendor communication

Give collision repair handoffs a repair-order link, action owner, deadline and recorded decision, with practical routines for team and vendor follow-up.

Multi-shop operations

Comparing multiple shops

Compare collision locations using consistent definitions, meaningful groups, weighted rates and coverage checks, then assign a clear improvement action.

Vehicle check-in

Collision repair check-in checklist

Build a clear arrival record with vehicle details, photos, keys, authorization, and a practical checklist for the handoff.

Reporting and shop performance

A reporting routine for your shop

Build a practical collision shop reporting routine: daily action queues, weekly bottlenecks and margins, and monthly trends, customers, and business performance.

Estimating integrations

CCC ONE Repair Workflow Alternatives: Keep Estimating in CCC ONE

Keep writing estimates in CCC ONE while a connected shop management system handles production, parts, updates, payments, and reporting.

Pricing

Collision Shop Management Software Pricing: What Shops Actually Pay

See what collision shop management software really costs, including subscriptions, users, setup, add-ons, payments, migration, and data access.

Software guide

Estimating Software vs. Collision Shop Management Software

Learn what estimating software does, what collision shop management software does, where they overlap, and how to connect them without rekeying.

Switching systems

How to Switch Collision Shop Management Systems Without Losing Repair History

Plan a safer collision shop software switch, preserve repair history, move active work carefully, and launch without stopping the shop.

Buyer’s guide

Collision Shop Software Buyer’s Guide

Compare collision shop software by workflow, integrations, production, parts, messaging, reporting, security, onboarding, data access, and cost.

Data ownership

Who Owns Your Collision Shop Data? What You Should Be Able to Export

Learn what collision repair data your shop should control, what a usable export includes, and how to test data access before choosing software.

Estimate files

EMS, XML and CIECA BMS Explained

A plain-language guide to EMS estimate exports, XML files, CIECA BMS messages, and how collision shops move estimate data between systems.

Customer communication

Collision Repair Status Update Templates Shops Can Actually Use

Copy practical collision repair status texts for check-in, parts delays, supplements, production, pickup, payment, and post-delivery follow-up.

SEE IT IN THE SHOP

Move from research to a real repair

Create a private demo shop and see how AutoHound keeps each repair moving from booking through payment.

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