Highlights in Version 8.4

Brief Summary of New Major Features in Version 8.4

• The new MyCARFAX Signup button to register your customers for MyCARFAX, for automatic service alerts.
• The new Tire Atlas, which includes up-to-date photos and tire specs for your tires (Tire Module required.)
• We now interface with CIMS for registering DOT numbers (Tire Module required.)
• Pricing Matrix for Labor Hours, where the hourly rate changes based on the size of the job.

Point of Sale

• The Workorder now has a MyCARFAX Signup button. Every time you sign up a customer from within the AutoFluent system, your shop is automatically selected as the customer’s Favorite Shop. A recent CARFAX survey found that myCARFAX app users make 20% more service visits than a typical customer, driving increased traffic to your shop.
  • The myCARFAX App (available in the iOS and Android app stores, and at myCARFAX.com) allows consumers to track their service history and get mobile and email alerts for both service and open recalls.
• In the Workorder, click the C button next to the Recommended Service button to get a CARFAX report of recent maintenance history.
• The Tire Atlas is now included free for all shops with the Tire Module who are current on support.
  • You can now see photos and specs for all the tires in your inventory and vendor catalog whose manufacturer part number matches either your Catalog number or your Manufacturer Part #. Information includes:
    • Up to 6 photos per tire
    • Description, along with Features and Benefits
    • Ply, Sidewall, Rim, Psi, Load, Weight, & UTQG.
    • Tread type, depth, and category
  • Just click the Tire Atlas button in either the Inventory Search window or the Vendor Catalog window.
• A new Employee Permission lets you disallow invoicing without sufficient available quantity.
  • This is in the Invoicing section of the Employee Permissions Window.
• You can now create a Cash Paid-Out for outside parts from within the Workorder.
  • When you click the P or T button on a line with an outside part or tire, the Outside Part Window gives you the option of creating a Paid-Out rather than a Bill after you enter the Reference number.
• There are more options as to what is required in outside parts. These are in the Defaults – W/O tab of System Settings. There are 4 checkboxes in the section Require for Outside Parts:
  • Vendor checkbox – Require a vendor for every outside part with a cost
  • Reference checkbox – Require a reference # for every outside part with a cost
  • Cost checkbox – Require a cost for every outside part
  • Bill / Pd Out checkbox – Require selecting Make Bill or Make Paid-Out for every outside part with a Reference #. Note that in the Defaults – Misc tab of System Settings, you can check the box to normally select Make Bill for all outside parts with a Vendor and a Reference #.
• You can now change the cost of labor lines in a Workorder after the the line has been marked as Done.
• You can now print a Shop Copy from within a Workorder. When you mouse over the Preview button, you are given this option.
• You can now create a Bill for a stocked part from within a Workorder.
  • When you click the P or T button on a stocked part or tire, you can enter the quantity billed along with the quantity ordered and received. When you do this and Process All Changes, you are prompted to enter the information required to create the Bill.
• There is now a system option to start inspections with no lines marked as OK (green). With this option, the technician will need to check each item inspected. This setting is at the bottom of the Vehicle Inspections tab in System Settings.
• You can now set up a Pricing Matrix for labor items, so that the hourly rate will vary, depending on the number of hours in the job. To set this up, do the following:
  • In the Inventory / PO’s tab of System Settings, check the box to Use pricing matrix for labor items. (It is in the bottom left.)
  • Optionally, check the box to Don’t use matrix after the W/O is saved or printed. If you do not use this box, the price could change whenever the quantity or hours changes.
  • In the Item Groups window, select the group containing the labor items for which you want to set up the Pricing Matrix.
  • In the Up to column, enter the number of hours, and in the next column, enter the hourly rate.
• You can disallow marking any job as done from inside the Workorder before it is invoiced. This is in the Defaults – W/O tab of System Settings.

Customers / Sales Reports

• The Comprehensive Sales Report and the Comprehensive Group Report now take holidays into account when projecting future sales
• The Mechanic Efficiency Report has some new features:
  • It now reports on the proportional hours bills, rather than the total hours billed on a labor line. For example say a job is billed at 3 hours, and Joe and Matt each spent a half hour on it. In the Billed Hours / Mech column, Joe’s hours would be 1.5 hours and the actual hours column would show 0.5. This way the total billed hours for the report will match the billed hours on the report when printed by date.
  • The percentages in the % of Billed column raise as the efficiency improves.
  • It now shows both the Workorder number and the Invoice number.

Inventory

• You can now add up to 4 additional part numbers to the Lube Package, rather than just one.
• In the Price Changes window, you can now exclude obsolete items.
• There is now a column for the Sales Rep ID in the Inventory History tab of the Inventory Entry.
• Special Price Levels can now be based on Last Cost.

Inventory Reports

• Now most of the inventory reports now let you select which of the three costs (Last Cost, Average Cost or Catalog Cost) to use in the report.
  • Each report with this cost drop-down selection will remember which cost was selected the next time you run that report.
• The Inventory Transfers report now shows the Sales Rep ID. To run this report, run the Inventory Transaction Report, select transfers only, and sort by Location.
• The Inventory Transfer Packing List now shows bin numbers.

Miscellaneous

• We now interface with CIMS, to expedite the registration of DOT numbers for your customers. The Tire Module is required. (See www.cimstireregistration.com), or call 855-444-5120. After signing up with them, contact our support team to set up your integration. Once set up, you will be able to do the following:
  • In a Workorder, when you click the T button on a tire or an outside tire, you can click the DOT button to enter the DOT information for that tire.
  • When you post the first daily report of the month, this information will automatically be sent to CIMS.
  • You can click the Send DOT button on the Daily Report window to see a log of batches sent to CIMS.
  • Normally, you never need to click the Send Now button in this window, because it is sent automatically.
  • Note that if you enter the DOT information on your tires before signing up with CIMS or setting up the interface, this information will be sent to CIMS after getting set up. (Until signing up, any DOT information you enter will not be accessible.)
• The Timeclock Summary Report can now hide dollar amounts.
• If you are using AutoAware, you can now reassign Vendors to your AutoAware suppliers. Select the Epicor tab of the Interfaces tab of System Settings, and click the Reassign Vendors button.