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The Basics You Need to Always be Profitable

This series includes 24 key numbers. If you work on getting all of them in the ranges mentioned, your shop should be solidly profitable. There is a fill-in-the-blank form where you can automatically calculate many of these numbers for your shop in our Business Calculators area available to Premium Members.

This is a great learning and working tool for anyone in your shop who should know what the key numbers need to be.

Twenty-three different forms where you enter numbers from your shop. Key management numbers are then automatically calculated, including Gross Profits, Effective Labor Rate, and Average RO. These are excellent tools for service advisors to use when creating estimates, and monitoring shop and individual goals progress.

Key #10 – New Customers Percentage

For this key number, we want to know what percent of customers were first time customers. That is, what percent of RO’s are for customers who have never been to the shop in the past.

 

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Key #13, 14, 15 Labor Sales vs. Parts Sales

For key number 13, we want to know what percent of total sales is labor sales.
For key number 14, we want to know what percent of total sales is part sales.
For key number 15, we want to know the difference between 13 and 14.

 

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Key #18 – Average Hours per RO

For this key number, we want to know the average number of hours that are produced on an RO.

 

 

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Key #20 – Sales Per Production Employee

For this key number, we want to know the average total sales a production employee generates per month.

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Key #21 – Average RO

We want to know the average dollar amount per RO (repair order) for this key number.

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Key #22 – Sales Per Available Tech Hour

For this key number, we want to know the total sales amount generated for each hour a technician was available (or punched in) for work while at the shop.

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Key #23 – Effective Labor Rate

For this key number, we want to know the true labor rate – in other words, how much per hour is the shop really getting as opposed to their posted or normal billing rate.

 

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Why Auto Shop Owners Need Business Calculators

Whether you're tracking your shop’s labor rate, monitoring gross profit, or measuring how your monthly sales compare to the same period last year, having access to these calculations removes the guesswork from shop management. Instead of estimating, you get clarity, which leads to better decisions.

What Makes These Calculators Different

Our calculators are specifically designed for auto repair shops and service centers. Each calculator targets a metric that directly affects your bottom line, from new-customer rate and oil-change capture rate to gross profit per sold hour and true labor rate.

These aren't vanity metrics. They're the KPIs that profitable shop owners track consistently to stay ahead of rising costs, efficiency challenges for technicians, and shifting customer demand.

Benchmark Your Shop Against Industry Standards

It's not enough to know your parts' gross profit percentage; you need to know whether it's within the range of a healthy, thriving shop. These calculators provide a benchmark, helping you identify gaps and set realistic, data-backed goals.

Ready to put these calculators to work for your shop? Join over 15,000 auto shop owners and managers in the Automotive Management Network community. Become a Premium Member to unlock full access to all of our business calculators and hundreds of additional management resources.