Early access

The bench

Nothing leaves until it is paid for.

Intake to pickup on one board, with the release gated on payment because an instrument in a customer’s hands is not collateral.

Why repairs are not on the monthly cycle.

This is the decision the whole module is built around.

Lessons accrue through the month and are invoiced at the end of it, on terms. That works because the service has already been delivered and the relationship continues.

A repair is the opposite. The customer is standing at the counter with their hand out, and the only leverage in the transaction is the instrument. You cannot hand back a guitar against an invoice that is not due for three weeks — so a repair gets its own invoice, issued and payable the moment the work is collected.

Releasing an instrument is its own permission. Not everyone who can look at a repair can hand it over, and the system will not release one against an unpaid invoice.

Both invoices still appear on the one account. Different rhythms, same family.

The board.

Six states, and two ways for a job to end that are not “picked up”.

  1. 1IntakeSerial number, condition, promised date, technician
  2. 2QuotedParts and labour, priced from the catalogue
  3. 3ApprovedThe customer’s approval, recorded against the quote
  4. 4In progressOn the bench
  5. 5Ready for pickupInvoiced, and due now
  6. 6Picked upReleased — once it is paid

Details that matter at the counter.

  • Walk-ins get an account too

    Somebody who has never taken a lesson still needs somewhere to bill. A repair creates or attaches a billing account, so the “one place to look” rule holds even for a one-off customer.

  • The quote is the customer’s, not yours

    Parts and labour are quoted, and the customer’s approval is captured against that quote. What was agreed is a record rather than a recollection.

  • Paid at the counter or on the account

    Take a card at pickup, or let it sit on the family’s account if they have one. Either way the repair has its own invoice rather than joining next month’s lesson bill.

  • Declined and abandoned are states

    A quote the customer turned down and an instrument nobody came back for are both real outcomes. Neither leaves a job stuck on the board forever.

It is not generally available yet.

B♭ Studio runs a working music studio today. If you run one too, tell us about it and we will get in touch when there is something to show you.

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