Made in New Zealand
Workshop software, built in a working workshop.
Jobs, bookings, timesheets, parts, purchase orders, invoicing and WOF and COF reminders in one place, with a clean sync to Xero. Made by The Workshop est 1924 in Pukekohe, for workshops like ours.
- Runs in your browser, nothing to install
- Xero stays your ledger
- GST, WOF and COF built in
- Phone screens for the floor
WOF failed on front brakes: pads and rotors
Hours
2.5 of 3
On the job
$567.50
Parts on order
None
Labour
Parts
Charges and sundries
Built from the floor up
Spanner was written for a real workshop with mechanics, a WOF and COF lane, fabrication and parts sales. Every screen has been shaped by the people who use it all day.
Fewer clicks, less double entry
Time is keyed once and flows to the job, the invoice, the reports and payroll. Each person opens Spanner on their own work, not a menu.
Clean books, every time
Every line knows its department and account code, so what reaches Xero is right the first time. No end-of-month untangling.
What it does
Everything from booking in to getting paid
One system for the front desk, the floor, the parts room and the office.
A dashboard for every role
Each person opens Spanner on their own work. Admin sees time to approve and overdue invoices, management sees every department's day, marketing sees who is due a reminder, and the parts room and techs see what is waiting for them.
Jobs and bookings
Every job on one page: labour, parts and charges in their own groups, the money beside it, and a job card to print for the floor. A bookings board with a row per tech and small chips you drag to move.
Timesheets that feed everything
Time is entered once, by the tech or from the clock on their phone. It puts the labour on the job, waits for approval, then goes to the invoice, the reports and payroll.
Parts room and suppliers
Techs ask for parts from their phone with a photo; the parts person works them in one place. Ask several suppliers at once, and keep a record of exactly what was sent.
Purchase orders and bills
Order against the job, receive it into stock, and the part lands on the job at sell price. Supplier bills match to their order and flag any cost that has moved.
Invoices customers can read
Labour shown as one clear line with hours and rate, parts and charges below. Emailed from Spanner with your own signature, and pushed to Xero when finalised.
WOF, COF and service reminders
See who is coming due, tick and send by email or text. Replies come back onto the job, and the reports show which reminders turned into work.
Estimates that get followed up
Build an estimate from your stock list, email it as a PDF, and get a nudge when it is time to follow it up. Confirmed? Turn it into a job in one click.
Reports by department
Revenue and margin by department, staff efficiency, work your WOF lane generates, parts margin and unbilled work, on screen, as graphs or in Excel.
The bookings board: a row per tech, a chip per job. Drag to move.
On the floor
Simple phone screens for your techs
No clutter, big buttons, and only what someone with greasy hands needs.
- Clock on and off jobs. Tap a job and Start. Smoko pauses it. Forgot to stop? Fix the time afterwards.
- Ask for a part. Say what is needed, add a photo, and chat with the parts room until it is ready to pick up.
- Nothing to install. Add it to the home screen once and it opens like an app.
Morning, Sam
On the clock
Job 30142 · Hiace
1:24:08
Front rotors, Hiace
Ready to pick up
Xero
Xero stays your ledger
Spanner runs the workshop. Xero keeps the books. Spanner never tries to be your accounting system; it hands Xero clean, finished paperwork and reads the payments back.
- Finalised invoices go to Xero automatically
- Approved supplier bills go across, matched to their purchase orders
- Every line carries its account code and department tracking
- Payments come back from Xero, so you can see who has paid
- Optional: approved hours go to Xero Payroll as draft timesheets
From a workshop that has been at it since 1924
The Workshop est 1924 in Pukekohe runs vehicle repairs, a WOF and COF lane, fabrication and steel, performance parts and a cutting lab. We couldn't find workshop software that fitted how we work, so we built Spanner and are moving our own workshop onto it. Now we're making it available to other New Zealand workshops.
Free transfer
Switching from Mechanics Desk? We'll move you across free.
Looking for a Mechanics Desk alternative? Send us your Mechanics Desk export and we'll bring your workshop across into Spanner at no charge. We built the transfer for our own workshop, which ran on Mechanics Desk, so we know exactly where everything lives.
What comes across from Mechanics Desk
- Customers, with their contact details, and your customer numbers carry on where Mechanics Desk left off.
- Vehicles, regos, makes, models and WOF/COF dates, with past owners kept as history and your vehicle numbers carrying on.
- Suppliers, with their numbers and contact details.
- Stock, every item with its quantity on hand, cost and sell price.
- Open jobs, carry on as live jobs, with the time already logged and the parts and labour waiting to be invoiced.
- Open purchase orders, so orders already with suppliers keep going.
- Past jobs and invoices, kept as history you can look back on.
Mechanics Desk is a trademark of its owner. Spanner is not connected with or endorsed by Mechanics Desk.
Switching
Moving across without the pain
Free from Mechanics Desk, and quoted for other software. Either way, we know what matters on the day.
- 1
Bring your records
Customers, vehicles, suppliers and stock come across, with your customer and vehicle numbers carrying on.
- 2
Try it with your team
Your staff practise on your own customers and jobs before you go live, so the first real day is not the first day.
- 3
Go live and connect Xero
Open jobs carry on as live jobs, and Spanner connects to your Xero organisation.
Pricing
One simple price per workshop
$99per month + GST
- Up to 5 office users
- Phone logins for your techs free
- Everything on this page included
- Updates included, nothing to install
- Connects to your Xero
Pay as you go: text messages and NZTA vehicle lookups are charged only when you use them. Need more than 5 office users? Talk to us.
Moving across from Mechanics Desk is free. From other software, the cost depends on the system you're coming from, and we'll give you a price before you start.
Book a demoQuestions workshops ask
Is it an app I have to install?+
No. Spanner runs in your web browser on any computer, so there is nothing to install or update. Techs add the phone screens to their home screen in a few seconds, and it works like an app from there.
Does it work with Xero?+
Yes. Finalised invoices and approved supplier bills go to Xero with the right account code and department tracking on every line, and payments come back. Xero stays your ledger.
We run more than one department. Does that work?+
That is how it was built. Every line on a job, invoice or bill carries its own department, so one job can include repair work, a WOF and fabrication, and each lands in the right place in Xero and the reports.
Can we bring our customers and vehicles across?+
Yes. We bring across your customers, vehicles, suppliers and stock, and your customer and vehicle numbers carry on where they left off. Open jobs come across as live jobs.
Can you move us from Mechanics Desk?+
Yes, and it's free. Send us your Mechanics Desk export and we bring across your customers, vehicles, suppliers, stock, open jobs and open purchase orders, with past jobs and invoices kept as history. Your customer and vehicle numbers carry on where they left off.
Where is our data kept?+
On servers in Sydney, Australia, close to New Zealand so screens are quick. Each workshop's data is kept separate from every other workshop's.
Can it text our customers?+
Yes, through a New Zealand text provider. Job updates and reminders can go by text, and customers' replies come back onto the job.
See Spanner running a real workshop
Tell us a little about your workshop and we'll be in touch to show you around.
Or email hello@spanner.nz