Shop language, defined.

A

• As-built#

  The drawing or record of what was actually installed and where, as opposed to what the plan intended. The document the next tech silently thanks you for.

C

• Callback#

  A return visit because earlier work failed, or the customer says it did. With records it arrives as evidence and a pattern; without them, as an argument.

• Change order#

  A written, priced change to agreed scope, approved before the extra work happens. The alternative is work done free and argued about at closeout.

• Closeout#

  Finishing a job’s record: final invoice, photos, warranties, and as-builts handed over. Easy when the record built itself as the job ran.

• Cutover#

  The switch from the old system to the new one: the day the whiteboard retires and the board takes over. Best done on a chosen quiet day, not mid-crisis.

D

• Dispatch#

  Deciding which truck goes where, in what order, and what moves when the day changes. A craft, not a clerical task.

• Dry run#

  A trip that ends without billable work: nobody home, wrong part, bad address. Good intake and access notes exist largely to prevent them.

F

• Flat rate#also: flat-rate pricing

  One set price for a defined job, quoted before the work starts. The shop carries the risk of a hard day and keeps the reward of a clean one.

I

• Intake#

  Turning a call into a scheduled job while the caller is still on the line. Details captured once, so nothing is re-typed and nothing leaks.

L

• Labor unit#

  The honest time a price book entry assigns a job: an average tech on an average day, including setup and cleanup, not the best tech’s best hour.

N

• NTE#also: not to exceed

  Not to exceed: an approved cap on a T&M job. Work pauses for the customer’s approval before the cap is passed, so the surprise has a ceiling.

O

• On-call rotation#

  The published schedule of who carries the after-hours phone: one name at a time, swapped by agreement, and paid even on quiet nights.

• One-way posting#

  Thorbis posts invoices and payments to QuickBooks; nothing flows back. One direction means one source of truth to audit.

P

• PM visit#also: planned maintenance

  A planned-maintenance visit: scheduled inspection and upkeep, usually under a service agreement. Movable by nature, which makes it route-friendly.

• Price book#

  The shop’s catalog of services with materials, labor units, and prices. Estimates pull from it, so the same job gets the same price from every tech.

• Progress billing#also: draw

  Invoicing a long job in stages instead of one bill at the end. Each stage’s invoice is a draw, and each draw is tracked until collected.

• Punch list#

  The short list of small items standing between almost done and done, walked and written at the end of a job.

R

• Reconciliation#

  Matching the bank against the books: every deposit traced to the invoices inside it. With itemized payouts it is a check, not an investigation.

• Rough-in#

  The stage where pipe, wire, or duct goes into open walls, before they close. Inspected before cover-up on permitted work.

• Route density#

  Jobs close together in space and time. The measure of how little of a paid day the windshield eats.

S

• Service agreement#also: maintenance plan

  A standing contract for recurring maintenance visits, usually with priority scheduling. The steady work that smooths a seasonal trade.

• Service location#

  The property where the work happens, as distinct from the billing address. History, equipment, and access notes hang on it.

• Supplement#

  An addition to an approved insurance scope when opened walls reveal more work than the estimate saw. Common in restoration and roofing.

T

• T&M#also: time and materials

  Time and materials: the customer pays for actual hours and parts at posted rates. Fair when scope is honestly unknown, and fairest with an NTE cap.

• The board#also: dispatch board

  The dispatch screen: every job, every truck, every state on one screen. Drag a job to a tech and their phone already knows.

• The record#

  Everything the shop knows about a customer and a property: jobs, photos, notes, equipment, estimates, invoices, calls. History hangs on the property, so it survives a sale.

• The week#

  The owner’s weekly read: booked, closed, collected, and open, built from the records the crew created by doing the work. No Friday spreadsheet ritual.

• Trim-out#

  The finish stage after walls close: fixtures, covers, grilles, and devices. The visible end of work the rough-in made possible.

• Truck stock#

  The parts a truck carries so common jobs finish in one trip. What counts as stock is a pricing and dry-run question as much as a shelf question.

U

• Usage credit#

  The $15 of metered usage included with the company plan each month, and once for the whole Start period. The shop’s phone number, for instance. You see the price before anything runs.

W

• Warranty callback#

  A callback on work still under the shop’s warranty, done at the shop’s cost. The record of the first visit decides quickly whether that is what this is.