The eight operations body shops forget to bill most

Ask an estimator whether they blend adjacent panels and they will say of course. Pull a stack of their estimates and you will often find it missing on some of them. That gap is not a knowledge problem. It is a Thursday afternoon with three customers at the counter problem. Here are eight lines that commonly fall out.

Every one of these depends on the vehicle, the repair, and the documentation. Bill an operation when the work was needed and performed, and keep the proof in the file.

1. Blend adjacent panels

Painting a door often means blending the panels next to it so the color matches. Paint manufacturers publish refinish guidance on when a blend is needed for color match. It gets left off because the estimator is thinking about the door, not the panels beside it.

2. Set up and measure

A structural pull needs setup and measuring time on the frame equipment before the first pull. Estimating guides generally treat that as its own operation, so check the guide pages for your system. It gets left off because it feels like part of the job instead of a line item.

3. Feather, prime and block

Repaired panels need it before refinish. Estimating guides generally list it as a not-included operation, which means somebody has to add it by hand. That is exactly why it is not there.

4. Hazardous waste disposal

You pay a hauler. It is a real cost of running a paint department. It gets left off when the estimate is written from a template that did not have it.

5. One-time-use parts and clips

Bumper clips, door clips, moldings, and fasteners that break on removal or that the OEM repair procedure says to replace. Small dollars each. On a large job they add up to real money. Look up the procedure and list them.

6. Refinish adjacent panels

Different from blend. When a repair crosses onto a second panel, or an edge needs to be painted, that panel may call for full refinish time. It is easy to write it as a blend out of habit, which is less time than the work took.

7. ADAS calibration

Bumper cover off? Windshield out? Mirror replaced? Check the OEM repair procedure, because many of those jobs call for a calibration afterward. It gets missed because it happens at the end of the job and the estimate was written at the start.

8. Pre and post repair scans

Many vehicle manufacturers have published position statements calling for diagnostic scans before and after a collision repair. Look up the statement for the vehicle in front of you and keep the scan reports in the file. Scans get left off because the scan tool lives in the back and the estimate is written at the front.

How to stop missing them

Two ways that work. First, a written shop standard: this is what we bill for when the work is done, with the documentation that supports it. Second, a check on every estimate before it leaves. A person can do it if you have the person. Estimate Guard does it on every estimate without one.

Want to know what your estimates are missing right now? Send us three and we’ll show you.