Closing the day at the front desk
What to check before you lock up: open jobs, parts on order, tomorrow's first bookings, and invoices still open.
Orders still open
Before you leave, look at which cars are still inside and in what status. If one says in progress and it is actually ready, the first caller tomorrow gets an old answer. Fixing the status takes a minute.
If an order did not move, write why: a part, an authorization, a technician. «Stuck» with no reason forces someone to rebuild the story in the morning.
Parts and promises
Review what was ordered today and what the customer was told. If the promise is not on the order, only the person who spoke remembers it. That person may not be in at opening time.
Do not hold tomorrow's bay for a car whose part has not arrived. Tomorrow's gap is for work you can do. A car waiting on parts stays waiting. It is not booked as if it will roll in.
Tomorrow's calendar
Look at the first hour and the last. Confirm that bookings have a customer, a vehicle, and a reason. A gap under a first name, with no plate, is a rushed call at opening.
If an inspection, MOT, or service reminder fits a free gap, note it as a call to make. Do not decide it while the phone is already ringing. The close prepares the morning.
What was not paid
Invoices sent and not paid, and cars handed over with payment half done. One look at the status stops you discovering on Friday that three cars left unpaid. If someone should call, write the name down.
The close is not a report. It is a pass over orders, parts, bookings, and payment. A named person does it. Not «someone will look».