Estimates in Progress Window

The Estimates in Progress window is open by default when you first open R.O. Writer. If you don't see it, click the Estimates button on the main toolbar The estimates in progress button in the main toolbar.. The Estimates in Progress window opens.

The Estimates in Progress window showing a list of estimates.

The Estimates in Progress window displays the following ticket types with a Status of OPEN:

NOTE: Saved or deleted tickets do not appear on the Estimates in Progress window.

Title Bar

The title bar displays

Columns

Click any of the column headers to sort the list by the content in that column.

The following table describes each column on the Estimates in Progress window.
Column This column displays the:

Est #

Estimate number.

Fleet/Unit No.

Fleet or unit number assigned to the vehicle.

Est Authorization

Status of the estimate authorization:

The Est Authorization column showing different values on each row.

  • Approved (green) means the ticket has been authorized.
  • Approval Needed (red) means the ticket needs to be authorized.
  • $0 Repair Order means that the ticket has been authorized at $0.

Customer

Name of the customer.

Phone

Telephone number of the customer. This is the number that appears in the Phone 1 field of the Edit Customer window.

Vehicle

Year, make, and model of the vehicle.

See Vehicle Information.

License

License plate number of the vehicle.

Appointment

Time and date of customer appointments created in Scheduler.

Appointments created in Calendar appear here if those appointments were created from an open estimate.

In

Date and time that the repair order was created.

Promised

Date and time the customer was promised repairs would be completed by.

  • Red means a promised time has been set.
  • "Waiting" in green means the Waiting box was checked and the customer is waiting in the shop.

Writer

Service writer that created the ticket.

Hours

Labor hours remaining before all services can be marked as Finished.

This number is the sum of the Billed Time of all labor posted to the ticket.

Comments

Any text in the Estimate Notes section of the Notes tab; if no text is entered there, then this column is blank.

For parts-only estimates, this column always displays "*PARTS ONLY*".

Status

The status of each ticket. Only tickets with a Status of Open appear on this window, which means all tickets have "OPEN" in this column.

Primary Tech

Technician with the most billed hours assigned to the repair order.

Profit Center

Selected profit center profit centers.

Original RO#

Original repair order number if the estimate was converted from a repair order.

Searching for Estimates

Type in any criteria in the Criteria field and click Search.

The search section.

You can use any information in any field in any of the columns visible on the window. For instance, if the License Plate column is displaying, you can search by any number of characters at the beginning of the license plate numbers.

When R.O. Writer finds the first match, it highlights the estimate in the list. Click Search again to find the next match. Click Search again to find the next match and so on.

To Search by Scheduled Appointments

The Show dropdown list allows you to narrow the list to only the appointments linked to estimates.

The Search area of the Estimates in Progress window.

Select an item to narrow the list to matching estimates immediately. You can also enter criteria in the Criteria field and click the Search button to narrow the list further.

The matching estimates are those where:

If the appointment was created independently of the ticket, the ticket will not appear in the list.

To Refresh the Search Results

Click the Refresh button to Refresh the window. You can also press the F5 key to do the same. This is helpful when Searches are hidden for some reason.

Filtering the Estimate List

The filter options allow you to narrow the list by the selected criteria.

The Filter area of the in progress windows.

To Select Filter Criteria

In the Filter dropdown lists, selected items have a green check to the left of the name. To select and de-select an item, click on it once.

The Status dropdown list explanded and showing statuses selected and not selected.

Filter Criteria

The following table describes the filter criteria.
Filter Description

Service Writer

Select the Service Writer.

Profit Center

Select the Profit Centers.

Status

Select the Status. Show All is selected by default. To select a specific status, de-select Status at the top of the list and then select the status you want to see.

Promised

Select a date range.

The Promised dropdown lists with criteria selected.

Show All Button

The Show All button resets all filter dropdown lists to Show All.

Default Button

Click the Default button to return the window to the settings saved as the default.

Customizing the Estimates in Progress Window

You can customize the window and save it as the default by clicking the Windows menu > Work In Progress Settings > Save As My Defaults.

To Adjust the Columns

You can adjust the columns as follows:

To Choose the Content on the Window

Right-click anywhere on the window and a window opens that allows you to customize the content that displays.

The following table describes the options for the Estimates in Progress window.
Setting Description

Visible Columns

Select the columns you want to see.

Show Search and Filters

This option toggles on and off the Search and Filters bar on the window.

The Search and Filter area of the in progress windows.

This option is selected by default.

Set Filters

Choose the options you want to display in the filters.

Set Button

When you have selected all the options you want, click the Set button to activate them.

Saving Your Customizations as Defaults

Click the Windows menu > Work in Progress Settings to save your adjustments to the columns, filters, and general appearance of the Work in Progress (WIP) Window and Estimates in Progress Window.

The side menu items circled on the Work in Progress Settings submenu.

The settings you save apply to both windows at the same time.

To Save Your Default Settings

Complete these steps:

  1. Make adjustments on both progress windows. For example,
    • Adjust the column width
    • Choose the Visible columns
    • Tile vertically or horizontally
  2. Click the Windows menu > Work in Progress Settings > Save As My Defaults. Your settings for both windows are saved.
  3. Click Windows menu > Work in Progress Settings > Use My Defaults.
    • A checkmark appears to the right of Use My Defaults.
  4. The next time you open R.O. Writer, both windows appear with your default settings applied.