What a car workshop job card is and what goes on it

What is a job card, in plain words?

It's the record of one visit by one vehicle. A job card says which car came in, what the customer asked for, what the technicians did, and which parts were used. One car, one visit, one card.

The name causes some confusion, because it can mean two things. One software maker's help page says "job card" can be the printed or emailed sheet, "the document you hand to a technician or keep as a paper record". It can also mean the job itself. The maker calls that "the digital record in Auxo Workshop where you manage services, parts, labour, and invoicing"¹. Most people use the word for both. This site does too, and says which one when it matters.

What actually goes on a job card?

A maker's printed card, checked on 9 November 2026, shows a useful example. The header has a job number, drop-off and pick-up times, estimated hours and the technicians on the job. Then come the customer's name and contact details, and the vehicle's registration, make, model, fuel type and VIN (the long vehicle identification number). It also has an odometer field, which is left blank for hand completion¹.

Below that sit the job notes, the list of services and a table of parts and labour lines. At the bottom is a signature field for the customer¹.

Other software will lay it out differently. The pattern is the same, though. Who, which car, what work, what was used, and who agreed.

How is it different from a quote or an invoice?

Think of three documents with three jobs.

• A quote or estimate says what the work should cost before it starts.
• A job card says what's being done and what was done, as the work happens.
• An invoice says what the customer owes at the end.

One maker's guide describes the chain like this: "A booking with the customer and vehicle information turns into a job card, a job card turns into an invoice"². The software copies details forward, so nobody types them again.

The job card is the middle step, and the working one. A quote can change. An invoice is fixed. The card is where changes get written down.

Is a quote or invoice required by law?

That depends on where the workshop is. Don't assume one country's rules apply in another.

California's Bureau of Automotive Repair, for example, says a repair business there must give the customer a written or electronic estimate before starting. After the work it must give an invoice with the final price for parts and labour³. That's one US state. Workshops in other states, in Australia and in the UK should check their own consumer or motor-trade regulator, or ask a lawyer.

The job card isn't named in that rule. Still, it's where many workshops keep the notes that back an estimate and an invoice.

Who writes on the card?

Several people. One maker's guide lists reception checking a vehicle in and creating the job card, and technicians clocking on and off a job and adding labour, parts and notes². In software, each person sees the same card. On paper, there's one sheet and it has to be carried around the workshop.

The next pages go through each part in turn: booking in, work lines and handover.