Auto repair shop management software, module by module

The nine modules, and what to ask of each

"Shop management software" is a bundle. Below, each module has the question that separates a system that looks complete from one that fits your shop, followed by what BayStacker does and does not do today. For the general vendors, the comparison matrix records, with a source for every cell, which of these each publishes.

1. Intake and scheduling

Ask: can the front desk take a complaint, identify the vehicle and book the bay in one pass, and does the customer see a booking page?

BayStacker: intake records the complaint and decodes the VIN; there is an appointment calendar and a booking page per location. Analysis A, the diagnosis assistant, will not run until the VIN is decoded.

2. Estimates and approval

Ask: does the customer approve from a link, what exactly does the approval cover, and are revisions kept so quote one and quote three can be compared?

BayStacker: estimates and invoices are part of the Full OS edition. The estimate goes to the customer as a link that approves that estimate and does nothing else, and the case keeps its revision history. More on the buyer's side: auto repair estimate software.

3. The work board

Ask: can you see every open repair with its phase, its state and how long it has been there, and does a late part show on the row or only in someone's memory?

BayStacker: the work-order board shows each open repair with its phase, state and time in phase. A part the shop marks as blocking turns the row to Waiting on parts.

4. Inspections

Ask: are findings and photos attached to the repair, and can the customer see and approve them?

BayStacker: evidence and photos attach to the diagnosis case. There is no customer-facing inspection report, so a shop that sells on a shared inspection should read digital vehicle inspection software first.

5. Parts, inventory and cores

Ask: can you see requested, ordered, received and installed against the job, can you order from your suppliers inside the system, and what happens to a core?

BayStacker: parts requests and purchase orders are recorded with their status and landed cost, and a blocking part holds the repair. Ordering happens at the supplier, not inside BayStacker. The unit carries its core until the vendor's credit lands.

6. Invoicing and payments

Ask: can an invoice go out before the work is proven, and does the system take card payments or only record them?

BayStacker: on a diagnosis-managed job the invoice, delivery and closeout stay locked until verification — a road test and a code recheck — passes or is waived. Payments are recorded on the invoice; BayStacker does not process card payments. See auto repair invoice software.

7. Customer communication and CRM

Ask: is texting two-way, are reminders and review requests automatic, and is there a customer list you can market to? Searches for an auto repair shop CRM usually mean this module.

BayStacker: no two-way texting, no marketing campaigns and no review requests. If your counter runs on those, a general system covers them; the published prices for those systems are on the pillar guide.

8. Accounting

Ask: does the system sync to your accounting package or keep its own books, and what is the fee for the link?

BayStacker: it keeps its own ledger per location, with a chart of accounts, payables and payment reconciliation, and records export as CSV files.

9. Reporting

Ask: are the reports started from the job (what came back, where it stalled) or from the invoice (what was billed)?

BayStacker: reports include rebuild verification, QC bottlenecks, comebacks by transmission family and core aging, read from the records the floor works.

Users, roles and data

Two questions sit across the modules. First, who is charged: some systems charge for each user beyond an allowance, so count the diagnostician, the parts counter and the bookkeeper. Shopmonkey, for example, includes 3 to 5 users depending on plan and charges $20 a month for each additional one (shopmonkey.io/pricing, read 22 October 2026). BayStacker has no per-user charge. Second, who sees what: BayStacker scopes each person to the locations they work in. How access works is documented, including what the audit log records.

Records leave as easily as they arrive. History comes in as a CSV file, one row per repair, after a dry run; every record exports at any time as a zip of CSV files. There is no direct import from another vendor. The walk-through is How do I import my history?

What it costs

BayStacker is $149 (Intelligence) or $499 (Full OS) per location per month, billed monthly, with a 7-day free trial and 1,000 analysis runs a month. Work orders and invoices are in Full OS. A shop with two locations bills two subscriptions. General systems publish $199 to $399 a month at entry and $439 to $1,299 at the top plan, with add-ons on top; the table and sources are in auto repair shop software: what it costs.

How to run the evaluation

1. List the modules above that your shop uses every day and the ones it uses once a month. Weight the first list.
2. Take your last ten repair orders, including one that came back, and run them through each system's trial.
3. Price the whole bill: users, add-ons, payments, setup or migration fees.
4. Ask each vendor for the export format before you sign.