Digital estimates with shareable approval links. Line-by-line customer authorization with digital signatures. Auto-convert to invoice. Text-to-pay. Split payments. PDF generation. Get paid faster with Shop Commander — for $0/month.
Here's what the estimate-to-payment workflow looks like at most shops: Service writer creates an estimate on the computer. Prints it out. Calls the customer. Reads the estimate over the phone. Customer says "let me think about it." Service writer calls back an hour later. Voicemail. Calls again. Customer finally answers, approves some items, declines others. Service writer writes down the decisions on the printout. Work gets done. Customer comes in to pay. Card gets run. Paper receipt goes in a folder. Nobody knows if the customer actually signed off on everything.
This is slow, error-prone, and it loses you money. Every minute your service writer spends on phone tag is a minute they're not selling the next job. Every estimate that sits in voicemail limbo is revenue delayed. Every unsigned authorization is a liability risk.
Modern shops need a digital estimate-to-payment pipeline. Customers receive estimates on their phone, approve work with a tap, and pay via text. No phone calls. No paper. No chasing.
Most shop management platforms include some version of this, but they charge $199–999/month for the privilege. Shop Commander includes the complete invoicing and payment system — digital estimates, customer authorization, invoicing, text-to-pay, split payments, and PDF generation — for $0/month.
Shop Commander's digital estimate system is designed for one thing: getting customers to approve work faster. Here's how it works.
Every estimate generates a unique URL that customers view on any device — phone, tablet, computer. Send the link via SMS with one click. No app download. No login required. The customer sees a professional, branded estimate with all services, parts, and costs clearly laid out.
Customers approve or decline individual services, not the whole estimate. They can say yes to brake pads and no to the transmission flush. This flexibility dramatically increases overall approval rates — customers are more likely to approve part of the estimate than reject the whole thing because one item was too expensive.
Customers sign directly on their device's touchscreen. The signature is captured and stored with the authorization record. No paper signatures to file, no "I never approved that" disputes. Clean, digital, legally defensible.
Every authorization captures the customer's IP address for compliance. Combined with the digital signature, timestamp, and decision history, you have a complete audit trail of who authorized what, when, and from where.
Timestamped PDF copies of each authorization are generated and stored automatically. These include the customer's signature, every line item with their approve/decline decision, IP address, and timestamp. If there's ever a dispute, you have the documentation.
When a customer authorizes work, your shop staff receive an instant WebSocket notification. No checking email. No refreshing the page. The moment the customer taps "approve," your team knows and can start scheduling the work.
The best invoicing system is one where you never actually have to "create" an invoice. It just happens. Shop Commander connects every step from the initial inspection through final payment:
No duplicate data entry. No copying numbers from one screen to another. No manually creating invoices. The estimate becomes the invoice when the work is done. Every dollar is tracked from recommendation through payment. And declined work isn't lost — it feeds into an automated recovery pipeline that brings customers back for the work they deferred.
This closed-loop workflow is one of the biggest revenue drivers in Shop Commander. For more strategies, read our guide on increasing your average repair order.
Send a payment link via SMS. Customer taps the link, sees their invoice, pays on their phone. No phone call, no counter visit, no "I'll pay you next week." The fastest way to close the loop between completed work and cash in your account.
Record payments by cash, debit, credit card, e-transfer, cheque, or other. Every payment method is tracked and reported. Your books stay clean, and you can see exactly how customers prefer to pay.
Apply multiple partial payments to a single repair order. Customer wants to put $500 on a credit card and $200 cash? Done. Track any combination of payment methods on the same invoice with real-time balance calculation.
Real-time balance due calculation on every repair order. See what's been paid, what's outstanding, and the exact remaining balance. No manual math. No spreadsheets. The number is always current and always accurate.
Void a payment with reason tracking and user attribution. Full audit trail of who voided what, when, and why. Keeps your records clean while maintaining accountability.
Professional, print-ready PDF invoices with your shop branding. Itemized services, parts, labor, taxes, shop fees, and payment status. Optimized for both printing and digital viewing. Generate and send in one click.
Invoicing doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's the final step of a repair order that's been managed from the moment the customer walked in. Shop Commander's RO system handles every detail:
Auto-numbered ROs (RO-1042, etc.) with a clear status workflow: Scheduled, Estimate, Authorized, In Progress, Waiting Parts, Completed, Invoiced, Paid. Everyone on your team knows exactly where every job stands.
Add as many services as the job requires. Each line has individual labor, parts, and sublet totals. Customer can approve or decline each line independently. Drag to reorder. Assign specific technicians per line item.
Full parts management per repair order: part number, description, vendor, brand, quantity, cost, price, markup. Core charges tracked with return status. Parts status workflow: Needed, Ordered, Received, Installed, Returned.
Pre-built service templates with labor hours, parts, pricing, and warranty terms. Add a complete brake job to an RO in one click. Parts kits bundle commonly-used parts for one-click application. Massive time saver for your service writers.
Set warranty months and km per service line with automatic expiration tracking. Active warranties are highlighted when the same vehicle comes in for future work. Full warranty claim management with vendor tracking.
Automatically flags a repair order when the same vehicle returns within 30 days. Your service writer sees the comeback flag immediately and can review the previous work before talking to the customer. No surprises.
Parts margin is where a lot of shops either make or lose money. Price too high and customers decline work. Price too low and you're working for free on the parts side. Shop Commander gives you the tools to get it right:
For a deeper dive into parts pricing strategy and how to optimize your margins, read our guide on increasing your average repair order. Your markup matrix is one of the most important settings in the entire system — get it right and everything else follows.
You can't improve what you don't measure. Shop Commander includes 15+ report types to give you complete visibility into your shop's financial performance:
Every report supports date range filtering and CSV export. Download any report as a spreadsheet for your accountant, your partner, or your own analysis. This level of reporting is what shops pay $300–500/month for at Tekmetric or Shopmonkey. With Shop Commander, it's free.
| Feature | Shop Commander | Tekmetric | Shopmonkey |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0/mo | $199–439/mo | $179–475/mo |
| Digital Estimates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Line-by-Line Authorization | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Digital Signature | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Text-to-Pay | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS Estimate Delivery | ✓ (free) | Scale tier ($439) | ✓ |
| Declined Job Auto-Follow-Up | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| AI Job Suggestions | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Markup Override Audit | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
The invoicing basics are similar across platforms. The difference is price — and what happens around the invoice. Shop Commander includes free SMS delivery, automated declined job follow-ups, AI job suggestions, and markup audit trails. Competitors either don't offer these features or lock them behind their highest pricing tiers.
See our full head-to-head comparisons: vs Tekmetric | vs Shopmonkey | vs Mitchell 1 | vs Shop-Ware
Every feature, unlimited users, $0/month forever. See why shops are switching from $300–500/mo platforms.
Photo/video markup, AI note cleanup, offline PWA, customer approval via SMS, and shareable inspection reports.
Online booking widget, drag-and-drop calendar, bay assignment, SMS confirmations, and customer self-service.
Two-way SMS, automated status updates, marketing campaigns, text-to-pay, review requests, and declined job follow-ups.
Digital estimates, line-by-line authorization, auto-invoicing, text-to-pay, split payments, and PDF generation — all included free. Stop paying hundreds per month for invoicing software.
Free setup. Free migration. No credit card.