For the owner
Run the counter and the bays from one system
Meridian is truck repair shop software for owners whose business is really two businesses: a parts counter and a set of service bays, which most software makes you run separately. A counter sale and a repair order are the same workflow over the same inventory, and both land in the same ledger without an export.
Counter sales and repair orders are one workflow
A counter sale, an RO, an internal work order and a partner PO all move through the same flow. What separates them is what they are for, not which system they live in. The part sold over the counter and the part consumed in bay three come off the same on-hand number.
- One inventory behind both halves of the business
- Price levels, so a fleet account and a walk-in price off the same part record
- Internal work orders for your own equipment, kept out of sales
- One place to look when a customer asks what they have spent with you
The three questions an owner actually asks
Most shop software answers these with an export and an evening.
What did I make on that job?
Gross profit reporting is built on what the work actually consumed, in the same system that consumed it. You are reading a report, not rebuilding the month from an average cost.
Who owes me money?
AR aging lives in the system that wrote the invoice, so the list you are looking at is current and not a snapshot somebody exported on Friday afternoon.
Is the counter carrying the shop, or the other way around?
Revenue by type separates counter sales from service work. The half that is paying for the building becomes a number instead of a hunch.
The customer side runs itself a little more
Customers approve estimates, look up their own history, and pay from a portal. The scheduling board keeps the bays honest. Every customer record carries the history, the units, the documents and the balance in one place.
A customer portal that is actually the customer's
Estimate approvals, service history and account balance. The call that starts "what did you do to unit 14 back in March" turns into a link instead of a search.
Scheduling with names on it
A visual calendar with tech assignment, appointment type and customer confirmations, so a booked bay is a commitment and not a note.
The books are underneath, not alongside
AR, AP, the general ledger, recurring billing and ACH batch export are part of the same system. If you run more than one location or more than one legal entity, that keeps working. Per-branch P&L and intercompany settlement are the same platform, not an upgrade to a different product.
See both halves of your business in one place.
Tell us how much of your revenue is counter and how much is bays, and we will show you what that looks like running on one system.
Where this fits
- Parts & Service edition
The package that turns on the parts counter, purchasing, and the full back office.
- Parts inventory management
Per-location stock, bin locations, price tiers, and more than one supplier per part.
- Heavy-duty truck repair
Repair orders, inspections, and the labor side of the bay.
Questions
- Can it run a parts counter and a service shop together?
- Yes. Counter sales, repair orders, internal work orders and partner purchase orders share one workflow over one inventory, and both halves post to the same ledger.
- Can we charge fleet accounts different prices from walk-ins?
- Yes. Every part carries cost, list, retail, fleet, wholesale and special price levels, so the price follows the customer instead of the person standing at the counter.
- What reporting is included?
- KPI dashboards, revenue by type, gross profit, advisor sales, tech productivity, AR aging, and tax reporting.
- Can customers approve estimates themselves?
- Yes. The customer portal carries estimate approvals, service history and account balance, and scheduling supports tech assignment and customer confirmations.
- What happens when we open a second location?
- Inventory is already per-location, branch-to-branch transfers are built in, and per-branch profit and loss reporting is part of the same system, not a different product.
Start your free trial.
Set up your shop and run real work through it before you decide. If Meridian is not the right system for you, we would rather find that out together than sell you into it.