CarSignalCarSignal never asks you to drag a card or set a status. You change the underlying facts (price the work, send the quote, order the parts, take payment) and the stage follows.
The stages
| Stage | Board lane | What put the car here |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming | Incoming | A booking or lead exists; the car has not been checked in |
| Intake | Needs quote | Checked in with a complaint that has no priced work yet |
| Quoting | Needs quote | Work is priced but the quote has not been sent |
| Pending approval | Waiting approval | The quote was sent; the customer has not decided |
| Approved / ordering parts | In shop | The customer approved; parts still need ordering |
| Waiting on parts | In shop | All approved work has parts on order |
| In progress | In shop | A tech has started the work |
| Ready for pickup | Ready | Work is done; payment or pickup remains |
| Paid | Ready | The invoice is paid; mark picked up to close it out |
A maintenance-only booking skips Intake entirely: there is nothing to diagnose, so it goes straight to Quoting.
What triggers each move
- Sending a quote moves the car to Pending approval.
- Customer approval moves it to In shop and flips the next action to ordering parts.
- Ordering parts (through PartsTech or your inventory) advances it to Waiting on parts once every approved item is handled.
- Starting the job moves it to In progress.
- Marking it ready moves it to Ready, and a paid invoice moves it to Paid.
- Mark picked up removes it from the floor. If that customer approves new work later, the car reactivates by itself.
Active work always wins: adding or revising a job on a "done" car pulls it back onto the board automatically.
Tip
If a car seems stuck in the wrong stage, check its facts instead of looking for a status dropdown: is there an unsent quote, an unordered part, an unpaid invoice? Fix the fact and the stage corrects itself.