From complaint to estimate
A good estimate starts with what the customer told you and what you found. In CROW, that’s the job: the customer, the vehicle and the complaint, in one place. Run CROW’s AI diagnosis on the job and you get the most likely causes for that vehicle, ranked, with what to check next.
From there, one button turns what you pick into an estimate.
AI-suggested parts and labor you approve
For the most likely cause, the diagnosis suggests the parts a shop would typically replace and an AI estimate of the labor time (not a labor guide’s book time). Prices are typical aftermarket prices, marked as estimates, so you check them against your supplier before the customer sees a number.
Nothing goes on the estimate unless you tick it. Pick two of the five suggested parts if that’s what the job needs, and change the quantity.
Recalls and maintenance, without looking them up
CROW lists the government (NHTSA) safety recalls issued for that year, make and model, and the vehicle’s manufacturer maintenance schedule, next to the diagnosis. Recalls aren’t checked against the VIN, so confirm whether the remedy was already done. Give the job a mileage and CROW flags which services are due or overdue. Add a recall or a due service to the same estimate, so nothing gets missed while the car is on the lift. These lines come in without a price, for you to fill in.
Turn it into the invoice
The estimate opens in the invoice form, with every line you picked and a note saying which diagnosis it came from. Adjust anything, set your labor rate and tax, and save. When the work is done, the same record becomes the invoice: there’s nothing to retype.
In CROW an estimate is a draft invoice, so its PDF is labeled “Invoice” with a status of Pending. There’s no separate estimate document or customer e-signature yet; go over the numbers with the customer and record their approval.
See how invoicing works in CROW, or pricing for monthly and annual prices.