What to Know: Section 179 for Auto Repair Businesses

Integrated payments help auto repair shops get paid faster by removing the steps between finishing a repair and collecting the money for it. When payments run inside the same platform as the repair order, the customer can pay from their phone the minute the work is done, the invoice closes itself out, and the day's totals reconcile without anyone rekeying a number.

What integrated payments actually means

Integrated payments means the payment function is built into your shop management platform rather than bolted on beside it. The repair order total flows straight to the terminal or the payment link. The payment posts back to that repair order. Refunds, disputes and deposits are handled in the same place you wrote the estimate.

A standalone processor works differently. Your advisor reads the total off one screen and types it into another. The two systems do not know about each other, so anything that connects them — the batch report, the deposit, the customer's payment history — has to be connected by a person.

That distinction sounds like a technicality. In a shop doing 20 cars a day, it is the difference between closing out at 5:15 p.m. versus 6:30 p.m.

Why the processing rate is the wrong place to start

Ask most owners what they pay to accept a card and they can tell you. Ask them how many days pass between a repair being authorized and the money landing, and it gets quiet.

Rate is worth negotiating. On high-ticket work it genuinely adds up, and any shop processing real volume should know whether they are on flat-rate or interchange-plus pricing and what that means for a $1,200 ticket. 

But rate is a percentage of money you have already collected. It does nothing about the money you have not collected yet. Cash flow is tight in this business — the average auto shop carries roughly seven days of cash on hand. At that margin, a week of delays costs more than a fraction of a percent ever will.

So start with the days, not the basis points for accepting cards and digital payments. 

The three places cash gets stuck

In almost every shop, delayed payment traces back to one of three bottlenecks.

1. The customer is not standing at your counter.

The work is done and approved. The customer is at their own job until 6 p.m. Someone has to be at the shop when they arrive, or the car sits overnight and the invoice sits with it.

Text-to-Pay solves this by sending the invoice as a secure link the moment the repair is finished. The customer opens it on their phone, reviews what was done, and pays. Because the invoice generates from the repair order, the advisor is not writing it up first. And because the payment posts back automatically, nobody has to remember to mark it paid.

Ron Rettig of Rettig Automotive Repair put it this way: "With Tekmetric Payments, my customers are paying online before I even finish the job.”

2. The repair costs more than the customer has today.

This is the expensive bottleneck, and it is not a payment problem. It looks like a declined estimate. A $2,400 job becomes a $700 job because that is what fits the customer’s budget this month, and the vehicle goes back on the road with the rest of the work unrepaired.

Buy Now, Pay Later changes the question from "can you cover this today?" to "can you cover this over a few months?" Tekmetric Payments includes Affirm, Klarna and Sunbit at checkout, and when Affirm and Sunbit are enabled, customers can pre-qualify inside the estimate link before they approve anything. The shop is paid on the transaction as normal. The customer carries the payment plan.

The effect on ticket size is not small. Shops that spread payments this way see up to three times higher ARO because customers say yes to the full recommendation instead of picking the cheapest line item on it.

Josh Anderson of Ideal Automotive on why financing mattered to them: "What really sold us on Tekmetric Payments was having financing built directly into our workflow. Our advisors can see everything in one place, and we can finally offer customers fair-term financing."

3. The day does not close cleanly.

The third bottleneck is not about collecting at all. It is about knowing what you collected. When payments live in a separate system, someone spends the end of the month cross-referencing batch reports against repair orders, hunting for the reason the bank deposit and the shop's sales record disagree by $340.

Usually the reason is a typo. An advisor keyed $1,050 as $150 on a busy Friday. With an integrated flow there is no keying, so there is no typo, and reconciliation runs in the background.

Jessica Butterfield at J&B Auto Service described what that gave back: "At the end of every month I go through and reconcile and Tekmetric has taken my process from hours down to just one hour." 

What to look for when you evaluate integrated payments

If you are weighing a move, these are the questions that separate real integration from a terminal sitting next to your computer.

• Does the repair order total reach the terminal without anyone typing it? If not, you still own the error rate.
• Does a completed payment close out the repair order on its own? Manual status updates are where invoices get lost.
• Can you send a payment link by text and take a card on file for the next visit?
• Is financing available at the estimate, not just at checkout? Pre-qualification before approval is what protects the bigger job.
• How fast is funding, and how fast is setup? Tekmetric Payments offers same-day setup and next-day funding.
• Are refunds, disputes and deposits handled in one place, or does each one mean calling a second vendor?
• Does reconciliation happen automatically, or does it happen on someone's Sunday?

Andrew Klement at Finley River Auto & Diesel summed up the integration case in a sentence: "All in one place. All integrated. One support number to call when there's an issue."

What getting paid faster changes in your numbers

Faster payment is not a soft benefit. It moves things you already measure.

Turnaround time from check-in to payment gets shorter because the last step in the repair order stops waiting on a person's schedule. Average repair order goes up when financing is available at the moment the customer is deciding, rather than after they have already trimmed the estimate. And customer satisfaction improves for a reason that has nothing to do with payments technology: nobody enjoys standing at a counter after a $1,400 repair bill. Paying from the couch is simply a better end to the visit.

Negotiate your rate. It is real money. Then go look at the three bottlenecks, because that is where the larger number is hiding. Integrated payments shorten the distance between finishing a repair and being paid for it.

One multi-shop operator switched to Tekmetric and doubled monthly revenue in two years. He shared how in a recent Tekmetric and PartsTech webinar.

Auto repair shops are under more pressure than ever. Tighter margins. A technician shortage that isn't going away. Customers who expect speed, transparency, and a frictionless experience every time they walk through your door.

Yet many shops are still running on disconnected systems, manual workarounds, and processes that haven't changed in a decade. The result? Bottlenecks that bleed time, stall revenue, and cap growth — often without the shop owner even realizing it.

This is the problem a recent ShopOwner webinar, sponsored by Tekmetric, tackled head-on. The conversation centered on one deceptively simple idea: the connected shop.

In this article, you'll learn what a connected shop workflow looks like in practice, how one multi-shop operator doubled monthly revenue after switching to Tekmetric, where the most common operational bottlenecks are hiding in your estimating process, and how features like SmartJobs, parts and labor matrices, and good/better/best estimates can raise your average repair order (ARO) — the average dollar amount collected per repair order — without adding headcount.

What a Connected Shop Actually Means

A connected shop isn't just about having software. It's about having the right systems talking to each other — and having your team actually use them.

John Phelps, director of channel partnerships at Tekmetric, put it plainly: "Just because you have an oven, that doesn't make you a chef. You can have the technology, but if you're not leveraging it properly, what good is it doing?"

That distinction matters. Technology for its own sake is another bill. Technology deployed with intention — one that connects estimates, parts ordering, inspections, payments, and customer communication into a single workflow — is a growth engine.

Tekmetric is built to be exactly that. With 70-plus integrations, built-in digital vehicle inspections (DVIs — digital inspection forms that capture photos, videos, and findings shared directly with customers), real-time reporting, and a native mobile app for technicians and service advisors, it's designed so every step of the repair order (RO) flows into the next without friction, duplication, or lost data.

One Shop Owner Doubled Monthly Revenue After Switching to Tekmetric

Tim Lanier knows what a revenue ceiling feels like. As president and CEO of Lanier Auto Group — which today operates four rooftops in the northern Atlanta suburbs — he spent years running a single shop that simply could not break through a certain monthly revenue level.

"We were stuck," Lanier said during the webinar. "We had our ways of doing things. A lot of copy-paste out of catalogs into the shop management system."

In March 2020, he made the switch to Tekmetric.

"As soon as we made that change, it opened the door to a lot of new possibilities — some of which we just didn't anticipate." He added: "We probably doubled our sales in about two years once we made the switch."

At the time of switching, Lanier's single rooftop was generating roughly $200,000 per month. Two years later, that number had climbed to approximately $400,000 — a structural shift in what the business was capable of, not just an incremental gain.

What unlocked it? A connected workflow that brought parts ordering, DVIs, payments, accounting, marketing, and inventory into one platform. The glass ceiling, as Phelps framed it, became a paper ceiling. And Lanier's team broke right through it.

The Estimating Bottleneck Is Costing Your Shop More Than You Think

When Phelps asked Lanier to name the single biggest operational bottleneck he's had to overcome, the answer was immediate: the estimating process.

"If you don't come up with systems to streamline things, that person becomes the bottleneck in the shop," Lanier said. "Some tickets can take 30 minutes to an hour to find all the parts and pieces you need for big jobs."

His solution? Get technicians directly involved — and give them the tools to act on that involvement.

"We've empowered the technicians by giving them a computer at their bay and a dual monitor setup so they can go straight into Tekmetric, pull up PartsTech, use diagrams and photos to quickly identify the exact part they need, and put the part on the ticket," he explained.

The result: estimates arrive at the service advisor roughly 90% complete. Advisors clean up grammar, add photos, and present. That's it. No back-and-forth. No shouting across the shop floor.

This is the connected shop in practice. Tekmetric's integration with PartsTech means technicians can search multiple suppliers in one lookup, confirm part specifications, and add items to ROs without leaving the platform. What once took an hour can be compressed into minutes — with fewer errors and fewer return trips.

Pricing Consistency Drives ARO Growth

One of the most overlooked drivers of ARO growth isn't sales technique — it's consistency.

Phelps highlighted this during the webinar: if a customer calls back a week later asking for a brake quote and gets a number $50 different from what they were told before, trust breaks down. Inconsistency in how estimates are built — varying labor rates, different parts markups, or service advisors quoting from memory — costs shops money and customers.

Tekmetric addresses this directly. Parts matrices and labor matrices create a consistent pricing foundation so every estimate reflects the shop's actual margins, regardless of which advisor builds the ticket or when. SmartJobs — Tekmetric's proprietary canned job system that automatically pre-populates parts, labor, and job notes for common services — takes this further by ensuring the right components populate every time, on every RO.

"If you're not using SmartJobs, powered by PartsTech, in Tekmetric, reach out to support, get your SmartJobs set up, and you'll be taking a massive step forward,” Jake Benson, director of strategic accounts at PartsTech, said during the webinar.

How to Present Good, Better, Best Estimates Without Starting From Scratch

Economic uncertainty means customers are making tighter decisions. Giving them options isn't just good customer service — it's good business.

In Tekmetric, shops can build a good/better/best estimate structure without starting from scratch three times. Build the base estimate, duplicate it, add parts or labor for each tier, and text all three options to the customer. A built-in checkbox at the job level keeps declined or unchecked options out of close ratio reporting, so advisors aren't penalized for presenting choices.

The same system works for tires, fluid services, brake packages, or any job where tiered pricing makes sense. Shops that present options consistently report higher approval rates and stronger customer relationships — because customers feel informed rather than pressured.

Tekmetric Is Built to Scale With Your Shop

Lanier's growth from one rooftop to four over the last four years didn't happen by accident. He credits systems and processes — and the ability to replicate them — as the core of that expansion.

"Once you figure out your systems and processes, things begin to click," he said. "It all becomes a lot easier."

Tekmetric is built to scale with that ambition. Whether you're running a single shop or managing multiple rooftops, the platform gives ownership real-time visibility into performance across every location — ARO, technician efficiency, close ratio, and more — without requiring an extra step to pull the data.

The connected shop isn't a future state. For shops like Lanier Auto Group, it's already the standard. The question is whether yours is built the same way.

Watch the full on-demand webinar from Tekmetric and PartsTech — How to Simplify Shop Operations and Increase Your Average Repair Order — and hear directly from shop owners and industry experts on the strategies and tools driving real results in 2026. 

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It is often said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  When it comes to vehicle inspections, you could even say a photo is worth a thousand happy customers. Digital vehicle inspections (DVIs), complete with photos and videos, give your customers a clear picture of their vehicle’s status and empower them to make well-informed decisions regarding repairs. This not only enhances the customer experience but also fosters a culture of trust and builds long-lasting relationships. Take a look at three ways DVIs can drive growth and success in your shop: 

1. Fostering trust with photos and videos of repairs for approval. 

Digital vehicle inspections provide the clearest way your associates can tell a customer what you found within their vehicle and the possible solutions. Using the media the technician captures, the vehicle owner is empowered to make a knowledgeable decision based on your technical knowledge and experience. 

Sending the customer six to eight photos and videos more than 50% of the time leads to a higher ARO. Not sending enough photos and videos may not give the customer enough information on the health of their vehicle. Conversely, too many images and videos can overwhelm the customer. Capturing the full state of the vehicle with just the right number of photos and videos facilitates a culture of transparency and builds trust with customers, enhancing their experience and leading to more repeat business.

2. Proactively monitoring overall vehicle health.

“I should only get my car inspected if something seems off.” Wrong! A great way to view DVIs is to think about them in terms of overall vehicle health. A thorough DVI can not only provide insight into the customer’s original complaint; it can also give you a full picture of other issues that might be impacting the vehicle or will in the future. Just as you might need blood work and X-Rays for a correct diagnosis from your doctor, a DVI done correctly can provide insight into the health of your vehicle and help technicians make strong, educated repair recommendations.

Completing a routine “check-up” with DVIs can verify if the vehicle is in top-notch shape or proactively identify issues a customer might not see. Even if a customer does not want regular check-ups, technicians can still complete a thorough DVI when the vehicle comes in for repairs and potentially prevent further issues down the road. DVIs go beyond simply making a profit. They are a tool used to build a relationship with customers and ensure their safety on the road.

3. Educating the customer with convenient, easy-to-understand explanations. 

DVIs seek to leave no questions unanswered. When vehicle owners are presented with the option for a repair, they need to know two things: information about the problem and the benefits of the repair. This is where DVIs come in as an opportunity to educate the vehicle owner and give them the information they need to make the right decision. 

With Tekmetric’s MotoVisuals integration, the recommended repairs in a DVI are accompanied by educational videos and animations that give more context to the issue and how the technician’s proposed repair can benefit the vehicle owner. This provides a greater understanding of the repair process for your customers – they can even share the videos with a car-minded partner or friend for a second opinion. By educating the customer on the purpose of a repair, it gives them more confidence in your shop.

Ultimately, DVIs lead to a higher close ratio and ARO because they present the information in a transparent manner that leads to greater trust. When vehicle owners can see the why behind their repairs and understand the value of the solutions you are offering them, they’re more likely to return. As a result, you are setting your shop to experience increased customer retention, stronger relationships with your customers and ultimately, greater profitability.