What is garage software?
Garage software is the system a workshop uses to keep track of its customers, their vehicles and every service it does: what was done, what it cost, what was paid, who did the work and when the car is due back. Without it, that history lives in a job book, on the back of receipts and in the mechanic's memory.
Afritelligence is garage software for workshops and mechanics across Africa. Each customer has their vehicles on file — plate, make and model, mileage — and each service is recorded straight from the customer's page, with the price and what was paid now. Whatever isn't paid stays on the customer's account until it's cleared.
Who uses a garage management system?
Independent mechanics, service centres, tyre and alignment shops, auto electricians and body shops in towns and cities across Africa all have the same questions: what did we do on this car last time, who still owes us, and which mechanic did the work. A garage management system answers them from one place.
- ✓Independent garages and service centres
- ✓Tyre, wheel alignment and battery shops
- ✓Auto electricians, panel beaters and spray painters
- ✓Workshops serving fleets, taxis and company cars on account
Garage management system features
These are the parts of Afritelligence a garage uses day to day.
- ✓Customers and their vehicles: plate, make and model and mileage saved on the customer
- ✓Services recorded from the customer: what was done, price, amount paid now and who served
- ✓Paid in full or in part: the balance goes on the customer's account automatically
- ✓In progress or complete: mark the service complete when the car is ready
- ✓Service history per number plate: every visit, mileage, work done, mechanic and cost
- ✓Mechanics' commission: a percentage or flat amount per service, with monthly payouts
- ✓Service reminders: set the next service by date or mileage and send the owner an SMS
- ✓Statements for fleet and company clients, and receipts showing the plate
How a job flows through the workshop
A new customer arrives. You add them with their car — plate, make and model, mileage. When the work is agreed you record the service on their page: what's being done, the price, what they paid now by mobile money, card or cash, and the mechanic. If the car stays overnight it shows as in progress; when it's ready you mark it complete.
Next time the same car comes in, its full history is there: last mileage, what was done, who did it and whether anything is still owed. When the next service is due, the car appears in the list of vehicles due and you can send the owner a reminder.
What garage software replaces
The job book, the debtors' list on the wall and the reminders that never get sent. When everything sits in one garage system, you stop losing track of unpaid jobs, mechanics' commission is calculated rather than argued about, and returning customers feel known because their car's history is in front of you.
How to choose a garage system
Before you choose garage software, check that it can do the following:
- ✓Keep vehicles on the customer and show the service history by plate
- ✓Record part payments and keep a running balance per customer
- ✓Show which jobs are in progress and which are complete
- ✓Work out mechanics' commission
- ✓Send service reminders by SMS
- ✓Record mobile money, card and cash, in your currency
Getting started
Sign up as a car garage, add your mechanics with their commission rates, and add customers with their vehicles as they come in — there's no need to load everything on day one. Ask us on WhatsApp for a demo or for the price for your garage. It's a monthly subscription per branch, with 10%, 15% or 20% off for 3, 6 or 12 months paid at once.
