How to start an auto repair shop.
The business side of opening a shop: registrations, insurance, written estimates, pricing and the software that keeps the bays full.
Free forever Not a trial. No card, no contract, unlimited staff. Card payments cost 3.9% + 30¢. Our promise →
Free means all of it
Free software
Clients, appointments, checkout and reporting, for $0 a month.
Free booking
A 24/7 booking page with text confirmations and reminders.
Free accounting
A real double-entry ledger built in, so you can drop QuickBooks.
AI receptionist, with the phone system
Part of the $79/month* phone system: answers your calls 24/7, answers questions, books appointments into real openings, takes messages, and transfers to you.
Unlimited users
Every stylist, tech, trainer and front-desk person, $0 each.
The honest part
Card payments you take cost 3.9% + 30¢, and optional bill pay from your accounting is $39 a month per office.
The checklist
- Register the shop. Many states regulate repair shops. In Florida, motor vehicle repair shops register with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), and the state's repair-shop law sets rules for written estimates and customer authorization. Check fdacs.gov for current requirements.
- LLC and EIN. Form an LLC with your state and get a free EIN from the IRS.
- Insurance. Garage liability and garagekeepers coverage for customer vehicles; ask an agent.
- Price labor and parts. Set a labor rate from your real costs and a parts markup. Use the free price calculator.
- Get approvals in writing. Send the customer a repair order to approve before you start.
Run it free
TotalPro360 gives a new shop vehicles on each customer, repair orders with a customer approval link, bay booking, online booking with reminders, invoicing and books, for $0 a month. Free auto repair shop software · Compared with Shopmonkey.
What "free" means here, in plain numbers
- Software: $0 a month. Unlimited users. No contract, no setup fee, no card to sign up.
- Card payments you collect: 3.9% + 30¢.
- ACH bank payments: up to 1.8% (never more than $10).
- Online bill pay to your vendors (optional, from your accounting): $39 a month per office, only in months you pay bills through it, unlimited users, plus Stripe's cost at cost (bank debit 0.8% capped at $5, 0.25% + 25¢ per vendor payout, $2 per active vendor per month).
If you never take a payment through the platform, you never pay us anything. If you do, the fee is the same whether you have one employee or fifty.
“I’ve got a person for you.” Get paid for it.
Your clients ask you for recommendations all the time. On the TotalPro360 network, when your stylist sends a client to a massage therapist on the network and that appointment is booked and paid, your business earns a share of the network fee. The business that receives the referral pays nothing for the lead itself, only a network fee after the job is booked and paid. How the referral network works · Our sister network for home services.
Questions people ask
Does an auto repair shop need to register in Florida?
Florida requires motor vehicle repair shops to register with FDACS. Confirm the current rules on fdacs.gov.
Set up your account in about two minutes.
No card, no contract, no sales call. Pick your business type, and you'll land in your dashboard with a starter service menu and a short setup checklist.
Get started free*Included minutes and texts cover typical use. Usage above the included amounts is billed as overage, and larger or high-volume companies may be quoted higher phone and texting rates. See our Terms.