SAM · Guide
What is SAM (Smart Motor Manager)?
EnglishUpdated Sep 13, 2026
SAM (Smart Motor Manager) helps a vehicle workshop organise customers, vehicles, repairs, parts, invoices and payments. Owners can review the business, service advisors can coordinate visits, technicians can record their work, and authorised staff can manage billing.
How the main records fit together
- Customer — What it means: The person or company you serve. What normally comes next: Add their vehicle.
- Vehicle — What it means: The vehicle and its service details. What normally comes next: Book a visit or open a work order.
- Service booking — What it means: A requested appointment. What normally comes next: Confirm it and convert it when the vehicle arrives.
- Work order — What it means: The vehicle's visit, complaint and coverage. What normally comes next: Inspect the vehicle and add an estimate or job order.
- Estimate — What it means: The proposed work and price. What normally comes next: Obtain agreement, then convert it to a job order.
- Job order — What it means: The tasks, packages, parts and technician work. What normally comes next: Approve the cost, complete the work and approve it.
- Invoice — What it means: The customer's bill. What normally comes next: Issue it, then record payment.
An appointment is optional: you can open a work order for a walk-in. A work order can have more than one job order. An estimate is useful when the customer must agree to a price before work starts.
Choose your starting point
- New workshop: follow Your first workshop job.
- Reception or service advisor: start with customers and work orders.
- Technician: open Track technician work.
- Billing staff: read Create and issue an invoice.
Access and editions
Your workshop's permissions and subscription determine the screens and actions you can use. A missing option does not necessarily mean something is broken. The hosted edition includes Plan & Billing; a standalone installation does not have the same subscription screens.
Vehicle owners use the workshop's separate customer portal or the individual links staff share with them. They do not need a staff account to open a shared inspection or tracking link.