Work, Inspections & Checklists

Inspections — mechanical check on intake

An inspection is a mechanical check, usually first when a car arrives. You can customize it in Admin → Inspections; a default ships out of the box.

When the tech finds something during inspection, they can turn it into a work item with one click — no re-typing.

Choose a preset that fits the car and how much time you have. There are six presets:

Preset	Items	Use it for
Express	20	Quick lot check. Safety items only.
Standard	57	Most used-car recon. Full safety + mechanical basics.
Comprehensive	105	Deep-dive on any retail unit. All standard sections expanded.
Full	133	Comprehensive plus drivetrain, suspension, and ADAS. Use on trucks and newer tech vehicles.
CPO	141	Everything. Every item in the library. Use for certified pre-owned prep.
Wholesale	12	Auction lot only. Title, start, drive, tires, body — that’s it.

To run an inspection:

Open a vehicle.
Tap the Inspections tab.
Tap Start inspection.
Pick a preset.
Go through each item. Tap Pass, Fail, or Advisory.
At the end, review flagged items. Tap Create work items to add them to the Work tab.

On mobile, use Swipe & Speak mode. Swipe left or right to pass or fail each item. Tap the mic to add a voice note. Fast when your hands are dirty.

What is a work item?

A work item is anything you’re going to do to a car. An oil change. A bumper repair. A full detail. A diagnostic. Any job.

There’s no limit. Most cars have 3-10 work items between intake and frontline.

Work item states

When you create a work item, it lands in one of two starting states:

State	Means	Who acts next
Needs Estimate	Created without pricing	Anyone — needs to be priced before approval
Pending Approval	Has pricing, waiting on manager	Manager approves or declines

After manager action:

State	Means	Who acts next
Pending Work	Approved, ready to do	Tech does the work, marks done
Done	Work complete	(final)
Declined	Manager declined	(final)

Every work item on a vehicle is visible to the team in the Work tab. Managers see all items. Techs see items assigned to their area.

Adding a work item

There are four ways to add a work item:

Manual — Click “Add Work Item” on any car. Type the job, set pricing, save.
Voice — Hold the mic icon. Speak the job. EasyRecon converts speech to a work item.
From a photo — Take a picture of an inspection sheet, RO, parts list, or diagnostic. EasyRecon reads it and adds the work items for you.
From an inspection — Mark an inspection item as Fail. EasyRecon offers to create a matching work item with one click.

All four methods land in the same approval queue.

Note about Smart Input: Methods 2 (Voice) and 3 (From a photo) above are part of what we call Smart Input. Same feature, two names — speak the job or photograph a list, EasyRecon does the rest. Most useful when you have a paper inspection sheet or you’re walking the lot.

Pricing it

Each work item has four pricing fields:

Field	What to enter
Parts	Cost of parts in dollars
Hours	Labor hours estimated
Labor rate	Your dealership’s rate per hour
Total	Calculated automatically

The total calculates from parts plus hours times the labor rate. You don’t type it in — it updates as you fill in the other fields.

Some service-menu items require a parts price before you can save. If the Save button stays grayed out, check the Parts field — it may need a value.

There is no dollar cap on a single work item. Enter whatever the job actually costs.

Default pricing — If a work item shows zero pricing, set up a default in your Service Menu (Admin → Service Menu). Next time, the price auto-fills.
Auto-added items — Some work items can be added to every car automatically (like a Standard Inspection or LLF). Configure in Admin → Service Menu → Defaults.
Labor math — Enter hours and EasyRecon calculates labor cost from your dealership’s labor rate. Set the rate in Admin → Rooftop → Labor rate.

Manager approves or declines

Once a work item is priced and in Pending Approval, a manager can act on it.

Managers see all pending items on the Work tab of any vehicle. They can also pull up the approval queue to see everything across the dashboard at once.

To approve or decline:

Open the vehicle or the approval queue.
Tap the work item.
Tap Approve or Decline.
Add a note (required if declining).
Tap Confirm.

Need to clear a batch? Use Bulk Approve — select multiple items and approve them all at once.

Declined items stay on record. Nothing is deleted. The decline reason shows in the item’s notes.

When you click into a work item (rather than approving from the queue), you’ll see four things:

Repair Context card — AI shows typical hours, typical pricing, OEM vs aftermarket choices, common issues at that mileage. Use this to sanity-check the estimate before approving.
Comments thread — Each work item has its own comment thread. Discuss before approving. @mention the tech to ask questions.
Photos and videos — Attach proof. Before/after, parts photo, damage shot. Tag any photo to a work item from the Media tab.
Parts ETA — Track expected parts delivery directly on the work item. Shows up on Calendar view too.

Tech marks it done

Once a work item is approved and in Pending Work, the tech can mark it done.

Open the vehicle, go to the Work tab, find the approved item, and tap the checkbox. The item moves to Done.

If the checkbox isn’t there, the item is still waiting for approval. Tag your manager in a note with @mention so they see it fast. See Notes & Notifications for how @mentions work.

Your service menu is your library of common jobs with default pricing. Instead of typing a job name, hours, and parts cost from scratch every time, a tech picks it from the list and the fields fill in.

Set it up once and save time every day.

To build your service menu:

Go to Admin.
Tap Service Menu.
Tap Add template.
Enter the job name, default parts cost, hours, and labor rate.
Tap Save.

Add your most common jobs first — oil changes, tire rotations, alignments, detail packages. You can edit or delete any template later.

Inspection vs Checklist — they sound the same, they’re not

	Inspection	Checklist
What	Mechanical check	Anything that isn’t mechanical
Example	Engine, brakes, fluids, lights	QC checklist, intake checklist, photo checklist
Result	Creates work items from failed items	A sign-off (passed / failed)
When	On intake, after diagnostic	Before moving to a step, before going to frontline

Inspections find problems. Checklists confirm something was done right.

Setting up checklists

A checklist is attached to a step in your workflow. When a tech tries to move a car out of that step, the checklist drawer opens. They check off each item. If the checklist is required, the car can’t move until every item is done.

Go to Admin → Checklists.
Tap New checklist.
Name it. Add items line by line. Tap Save.
Go to Admin → Steps.
Open the step you want to attach it to.
Under Checklist, pick the one you just made.
Toggle Required on to block the move until it’s done.
Tap Save.

Good uses for checklists: Detail step (interior cleaned, exterior washed, windows done), Photos step (all angles shot, no blurry frames), Frontline step (sticker in window, keys on dashboard).

Permissions summary

Who can do what with work items, inspections, and checklists.

Action	Tech / Detail / Parts	Vendor	Manager	Rooftop Admin
Create a work item	Yes	Yes (their cars only)	Yes	Yes
See pricing	Yes (their items only)	No	Yes	Yes
Approve a work item	No	No	Yes	Yes
Mark a work item done	Yes (once approved)	Yes (their own, once approved)	Yes	Yes
Delete a work item	No	No	Yes	Yes
Run an inspection	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Set up the service menu	No	No	No	Yes
Set up checklists	No	No	No	Yes

For a full breakdown of roles and what each one covers across the whole app, see Admin & Help.