Processing options for your business
Explore auto body guides for repair payments, customer approvals and day-to-day shop decisions. Browse every article, calculator and worksheet, then use your own figures to work through the questions that matter to your shop.
All 43 industry resources
How Dual Pricing Works in an Auto Body Shop
A customer's choice of rewards card can cost a body shop thousands each month, taking money out of hard-earned repair revenue.
Work Out Body Shop Card Fees on Deductibles and Supplements
Find the shop's actual processing cost by separating insurer payments from customer balances paid by card.
Explain Dual Pricing Clearly to Auto Body Customers
Keep a complicated repair order understandable: show both prices in advance, explain the balance due and leave the choice to the customer.
Keep Clear Body Shop Records for Deposits, Refunds and Chargebacks
Prepare the records before a dispute arrives: approved scope, payment authorization, customer messages, delivery and refund history.
Compare Flat Rate, Interchange Plus and Dual Pricing for Body Shops
Use the same card volume and payment mix for every offer. Then compare the cost of operating each program, not just its advertised rate.
Get Your Body Shop Ready to Launch Dual Pricing
Start with processor approval. Finish by testing real repair-order scenarios and matching the payments to your records.
Auto Body Shop Effective Processing Rate Audit
Work out how the advertised rate compares with the full card-processing bill.
Body Shop Payment Mix: Insurer, ACH, Card, and Cash
Identify who pays and which method they use before calculating the cost of collecting repair revenue.
What Rewards Credit Cards Cost Auto Body Shops
See the fee on large card-paid tickets and compare it with the profit left on the repair.
How Card Fees Cut Into Body Shop Profit
Compare card fees with what remains after parts, materials, labor, sublet work and overhead.
Body Shop Estimating and Payment Integration Scorecard
Compare a standalone terminal with payment integrations for estimating, shop management and accounting.
Body Shop Vehicle Release and Payment Record Checklist
Check that vehicle delivery, the current payer breakdown, customer payment and release record are connected.
ADAS calibration sublets: match the work, invoice and payments
A calibration invoice shows what the vendor billed, not whether the work passed review or the payer paid. Match all three records to the repair order.
Body shop paint material recovery: match billing to consumed cost
A supplier invoice shows stock purchased. The repair order needs materials consumed on that job. Match those costs before calculating recovery.
Auto glass split payments: check customer and insurer balances
The deductible doesn't explain the whole payment file. Reconcile confirmed payer amounts with the final invoice and distinguish balances from receipts.
Insurer virtual cards: what a body shop should check before processing one
An insurer's virtual card has a processing cost. That cost doesn't increase the vehicle owner's deductible.
A supplement after payment: calculate only the new customer balance
Check who owes the increase before sending the customer a payment link for a supplement.
Parts returns and customer refunds: reconcile both sides of a canceled body-shop line
Track the supplier credit and customer refund separately. Their amounts and timing can differ.
Fleet collision payment handoff: the driver, purchase order, and payer are different
Permission to collect the vehicle doesn't necessarily let a driver approve invoice changes or pay for the company.
Insurance checks at a body shop: reconcile payees, received money, and available funds
Matching a check to the repair is a start. Its payees, deposit status and available funds still need checking.
How many lost repairs would erase a body shop's payment-program savings?
Check remaining costs and any genuinely lost contribution before judging a lower processing bill.
Measure body-shop website inquiries through accepted repair orders
A submitted estimate request is the start of a recorded process. Follow the same inquiries through actual shop decisions before reporting accepted work.
Ask for collision-repair reviews after delivery without review gating
Use a neutral completed-experience rule. A dissatisfied customer should not disappear from the invitation process because their answer might be critical.
Design a body-shop referral program around introductions, not accidents
A referral offer should explain a qualifying introduction and completed job. Price the fulfilled reward without inventing a repeat-accident marketing schedule.
Review local body-shop search visibility without calling rankings sales
A map point is an observation, not a customer. Keep neighborhood search coverage separate from recorded inquiries and accepted repair orders.
Build a body-shop customer update queue from recorded repair milestones
Parts arriving, repair work progressing and a vehicle being ready for delivery are different facts. Give your front desk a source-backed update queue.
Separate the collision customer, insurer and rental contact in your CRM
Who asks about the car, who reviews the claim and who handles a rental question are different roles. Record the actual contact purpose before routing an update.
Keep body-shop estimate follow-up separate from insurer authorization
An insurer response and a customer’s repair authorization answer different questions. Keep the current estimate and each unresolved decision visible.
Use body-shop review themes to improve repair-status communication
A review about an unanswered update needs a source check and a staff action. A star average alone will not tell your front desk what to change.
Organize body-shop delivery instructions with a clear customer handoff
Keep the actual repair summary, applicable care information and next service contact together. A planned handoff does not authorize release of the vehicle.
Write a collision-shop FAQ around estimate and scheduling questions
Answer what the customer needs before requesting an estimate. Use actual shop policies and explain which decisions still require staff review.
Insurer virtual cards: track expiry and collection status
Track insurer virtual-card expiry, allowed amounts and collection status. Use the body-shop register to keep an issued card separate from a completed payment.
Body-shop deductible links: confirm the payer first
Route body-shop deductible links to the correct payer. Use the handoff sheet to separate the vehicle contact, accepted amount and confirmed collection.
Body-shop overpayments: trace the original funding source
Resolve overlapping body-shop customer and insurer payments. Use the allocation register to trace the approved excess back to the original collection.
Body-shop sublet prepayments: measure the approval gap
Compare body-shop sublet cash due with collected job funds. Use the funding worksheet to keep an approved supplement separate from cash available for a vendor.
Body-shop rental questions: route billing to the right contact
Route collision-shop rental billing questions to the responsible contact. Use the CRM handoff worksheet without promising coverage or exposing claim details.
Collision parts price changes: reconcile approval and payment
Reconcile collision parts price changes before collecting a revised balance. Use the approval worksheet to connect the current estimate, payer and payment.
Body-shop disputes: control the submission deadline
Keep collision-shop dispute deadlines and evidence owners visible. Use the submission register to distinguish insurer paperwork from the actual card dispute notice.
Body-shop refunds: investigate a rejected submission
Resolve a failed collision-shop refund from the provider status. Use the exception tracker before promising completion or sending a second payment.
Insurer cards and partial collections: get written approval
Check whether an insurer card permits a proposed partial collection. Use the approval sheet without assuming payment limits or automatic authorization support.
Body-shop dual pricing: train staff on exceptions
Build a collision-shop pricing exception matrix for customer and insurer payments. Keep approved rules, debit treatment and invoice corrections visible to staff.
Body-shop review requests: handle delayed delivery records
Send neutral review requests after collision repair without hiding delayed jobs. Use the delivery follow-up sheet to separate service questions from review eligibility.
Body-shop payer programs: allocate actual collection costs
Compare insurer-program collection costs using actual remittances and merchant statements. Use the allocation sheet without confusing net deposits with repair profit.
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