The One-Screen Report: an auto shop weekly report template you will read on Monday

The report in the order the video builds it

The one-screen report has three parts, and they go on the page in this order:

1. Four numbers at the top. Tekmetric names four numbers that drive shop performance: average repair order, car count, parts margin and effective labor rate. Those four sit in the first row.
2. Each number against your own last four to eight weeks. One week on its own is noise. A small trend line next to each number shows whether this week is normal for your shop.
3. A short list of stuck work. Estimates with no reply, repair orders sitting in one stage, parts that are late. Averages hide the cars that are waiting, so the list sits right under the numbers.

On top of all three goes a strip of three plain sentences on what changed. That strip is the part AI is good at writing. It is also the part you check most carefully.

Who this template is for

Owners and service managers who already have a shop management system full of reports and still go into Monday without a clear picture. It works for one shop. It works better for a group with two or three locations, because the same page can show each shop side by side. You don't need new software to start; a spreadsheet and twenty minutes on Monday morning will do.

What you need first

• Access to your shop system's sales and employee reports. Tekmetric, for example, has real-time reports for sales, employees and declined jobs, and most shop systems have something similar.
• A list of your open estimates and repair orders with their last update.
• The last eight weeks of the four numbers, so the trend line has something to compare to.
• One person who owns the report each week. It can be you.

The template, line by line

Copy this into a spreadsheet or a single page. Keep it to one screen; if it scrolls, cut something.

Line	What goes in it	Read it against	Source of the definition
What changed	Three plain sentences, one per thing that moved	Last week	Written by a person or AI, checked by a person
Average repair order	Total revenue divided by cars serviced	Your last 4 to 8 weeks	Tekmetric
Car count	Vehicles serviced, new vs returning	Your last 4 to 8 weeks	Tekmetric
Parts margin	(Retail minus cost) divided by retail	Your last 4 to 8 weeks	Tekmetric
Effective labor rate	What you collect per labor hour after discounts and packages	Your posted rate and your trend	Tekmetric
Stuck: estimates	Estimates with no reply after your limit	Count and oldest	Your shop system
Stuck: repair orders	ROs sitting in one stage past your limit	Count and oldest	Your shop system
Stuck: parts	Parts past their promised date	Count and oldest	Your shop system
Data status	Each source, last refreshed time, or "unavailable"		Your shop system

Optional lines, once the first four are a habit

• Gross profit on labor. A 2023 Ratchet+Wrench piece (labeled sponsored content) defines it as job revenue minus the cost of labor, excluding overhead.
• Close ratio by advisor. The share of estimates customers approve. Tekmetric lists it among its employee report metrics.

Add one at a time. Every line you add should earn its place by leading to a decision at least once a month.

Step by step, every Monday

1. Pull the four numbers for last week. Same report, same date range, every week.
2. Add last week to the eight-week trend. Note anything with a known cause next to it: a holiday, a tech out, a big fleet job.
3. Pull the stuck list. Set a limit per stage first. Many shops use two or three days for an estimate with no reply.
4. Write the three sentences. One sentence per thing that moved, in plain words. "Car count was down six from last week, mostly Route 9." Not "performance trended negatively."
5. Check the data status line. If a feed was down or a shop hasn't closed its repair orders, write "unavailable" for the affected number. Do not estimate it.
6. Write down one decision. Who follows up which estimate, which part gets chased, which advisor you talk to. If the report never leads to a decision, cut a number.

How to read it without fooling yourself

Compare a shop to its own trend first. Outside numbers are context, not targets. For example, when Ratchet+Wrench asked owners in its 2025 survey for their gross profit margin, 38% reported 50 to 59%, 19% reported 60% or more, 16% reported 40 to 49%, and 7% said they do not track it. Those are answers from shops that chose to respond, and shops define margin differently. Use them as a sense of range, not a grade.

A number moving one week is a question. A number moving three weeks in a row is a pattern worth an hour.

Where AI helps, and where it needs checking

AI is useful for the three sentences, for flagging a number that moved more than usual, and for combining several shops or systems into one page. It is not useful for the math you already have, and it is risky when the data under it is incomplete.

Three checks keep the AI part honest:

1. Does every figure show its source system?
2. Does it show when that source was last refreshed?
3. Are gaps labeled "unavailable", or quietly filled in?

If the parts feed went down at 6:40 in the morning, the honest report says the parts margin is unavailable today. A report that guesses is worse than no report, because you will act on it.

Finance numbers need the most care. Profit depends on closed books, and the SBA's small business guide says to maintain proper bookkeeping and a basic knowledge of business finances. The one-screen report is an operating view for Monday. It does not replace your accountant's statements.

What to watch out for

• Adding lines because they exist. The shop system can produce dozens of reports. The template works because it is short.
• Industry averages as targets. Your own last eight weeks are the fairest comparison.
• A stuck list with no owner. Every stuck item needs a name next to it by Monday noon.
• Silent gaps. A missing number should look missing.

How to tell it is working

After a month, look back at the decisions you wrote down. If there is one most weeks, the report is doing its job. If whole weeks pass with no decision, remove a line and see whether anyone misses it. Owners who stick with a short report usually find the stuck list is the part they read first.

For the numbers behind the report, see auto repair profitability software and AI business intelligence for auto repair. For a group, the RevvOS executive visibility view shows a short list of what needs a decision, with the source system and last-updated time on every line and missing connections marked unavailable.