Five-Unit Fleet PMS Quote and Two Disputed Invoices
Your shop holds a monthly preventive-maintenance contract for a five-unit delivery fleet of 125 cc motorcycles. The agreed labor rate is PHP 350 per hour and the manual time for a PMS is 1.5 hours per unit. Parts per unit: engine oil 0.8 L at PHP 320 per litre, oil filter PHP 180, spark plug PHP 150, air filter PHP 260 (this month all five units are due), shop consumables PHP 50. VAT is 12 percent. All five units are at 12,000 to 14,000 km and none is under warranty. Last month two jobs exceeded their written estimates: one by 18 percent after a seized axle bolt had to be extracted, and one by 27 percent after a worn chain and sprocket set was replaced following a phone call but no signature. The fleet manager now disputes both invoices, and a technician has since left without turning in his job orders.
1. Build the estimate for one unit and for the five-unit package, and state the assumptions that must appear on the quotation.
Read the worked answer
Per unit: labor 1.5 h x PHP 350 = 525. Oil 0.8 L x 320 = 256. Oil filter 180. Spark plug 150. Air filter 260. Consumables 50. Subtotal = PHP 1,421. Five units: 5 x 1,421 = PHP 7,105. VAT at 12 percent = PHP 852.60. Total = PHP 7,957.60, presented as 7,957.60 or rounded to 7,960 with the rounding stated. Assumptions to write on the quotation: all five units need the air filter this cycle; no unit needs brake fluid, tires, cables or alignment beyond standard time; no seized or stripped fasteners; time charged is the manual 1.5 h, not actual time; prices valid 15 days and subject to parts price movement; work performed in the shop. Add the variance clause: any part or labor outside this scope is quoted and authorized in writing, by signature or logged text message, before it is performed. State payment terms and the warranty on the PMS, and note the next service interval in km.
2. How do you resolve the two disputed invoices and rebuild the fleet manager's trust?
Read the worked answer
Start with facts, not argument. Reconstruct both jobs from parts invoices, technician notes and time records. The seized axle bolt is a legitimate extra: penetration oil, extraction time, a replacement bolt. The chain and sprocket were visibly worn. But neither was approved in writing, and the 27 percent job had only a phone call. That is the shop's failure, and admitting it costs less than losing a five-unit contract. Proposal: show the old parts and photographs; absorb part of the unapproved labor as goodwill, say half the extraction time; issue a credit note rather than an informal discount so the books match; and set a written rule that any addition above 10 percent of the estimate or PHP 200 needs a signature or a logged text confirmation before work continues. Then offer the fixed-price PMS package and put the whole agreement in writing the same day, so the next invoice is predictable.
3. What must a proper job order contain, and how do you reconstruct the missing ones?
Read the worked answer
Minimum fields: job order number, date in and out, customer and fleet unit ID, plate and engine/VIN numbers, odometer, the complaint in the customer's words, technician name, every part with number, quantity and price, labor operations with time, measurements recorded against spec (valve clearance, belt width, battery volts), consumables, subtotal, VAT, total, and signatures at drop-off, at any additional work, and at release. Add next service due in km and date, plus warranty terms. For the missing orders, rebuild from supplier invoices, charge slips, the technician's notebook and the odometer history. Write them up as reconstructions, dated the day they were rebuilt and naming who did it, and have the fleet manager countersign. Never backdate them. Then lock the process: job orders filed the same day, no unit released without a signature, and a handover checklist when a technician leaves.