Small Engine Repair Shop Invoicing Software (2026)
Small engine work is high-volume, low-ticket repair where paperwork time is the whole margin. ShowTheReceipts ($15/mo) uses saved catalog items for the jobs you do fifty times a season — tune-ups, blade sharpening, carb rebuilds — so a repair order takes seconds and the customer pays by card at pickup.
How we picked
Entry-plan prices as published in 2026, checked against each vendor's own pricing page or a recent third-party summary. Judged on the small shop's real workflow — fast repeat-job ticketing, deposits on parts, and payment at pickup — not on multi-bay inventory or dealership systems.
| Software | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| ShowTheReceipts That's us | $15/mo | Mower and small engine shops: saved job catalog, fast tickets, deposits, payment at pickup |
| Billdu | $4.99/mo+ | Cheapest basic invoicing |
| Joist | Free / $8/mo | Simple estimates and invoices |
| ARI | $19.99/mo+ | Repair-order invoicing for independent shops |
| Torque360 | $99.99/mo+ | Shops running work orders across several techs |
The margin is in the minutes
A $90 carb clean can’t absorb ten minutes of writing a ticket and another five taking payment. Volume shops die of admin, not of bad pricing.
Saved prices are the whole game.
1. ShowTheReceipts — $15/mo
A catalog of your repeat jobs at fixed prices, two-tap tickets, deposits on parts orders, and card payment at pickup.
2. Billdu — $4.99/mo+
The cheapest way to send a basic invoice.
3. Joist — Free / $8/mo
Simple estimates and invoices.
4. ARI — $19.99/mo+
Repair-order invoicing for independent shops.
5. Torque360 — $99.99/mo+
Work orders across a multi-tech shop.
Catalog these on day one
- Mower tune-up (push / riding)
- Blade sharpen and balance
- Carburetor clean / rebuild
- Pull-cord replacement
- Pickup & delivery
- Storage fee, per day after grace period
Frequently asked questions
How do I keep paperwork from eating a small ticket?
Save every routine job — tune-up, blade sharpen, carb clean, pull-cord — as a catalog item with a set price. The ticket becomes two taps, which is the only way a $90 job stays profitable.
Should I take a deposit on small engine repairs?
On anything needing an ordered part, yes. Cheap equipment gets abandoned the moment the repair costs more than the customer hoped, and a parts deposit means you're not the one holding that loss.
How do I deal with equipment nobody picks up?
Print a storage-fee policy on the intake ticket with a stated grace period and a daily rate after it. It gets machines collected, and it makes the eventual disposal defensible.
Is flat-rate or hourly better for small engine work?
Flat rate on routine jobs and hourly on diagnosis and oddball repairs. Customers decide faster against a known number, and your regular work stops depending on how the day went.