Audio repair software

ServiceCenterSoft is repair-tracking software for audio repair shops: amplifiers and AV receivers, passive and powered speakers, subwoofers, vintage hi-fi, turntables and tape decks, mixing desks and the power amps that live in a touring rack. Book-in with a full accessory list, itemised quotes the customer approves before you start, a parts stock that tells you when to reorder, deposits on expensive parts, and due dates you can actually see. It runs in the browser, on the bench PC and on your phone.

Who walks through your door

An audio repair shop serves three very different customers from the same shelf. Home listeners bring a receiver that will not power on, a speaker that distorts, a sub that went quiet — they care about price and turnaround. Vintage enthusiasts bring a 1970s integrated amp they hunted down for months; they want it to sound right and they do not want surprises on the bill. And musicians, sound engineers and PA hire companies bring a powered monitor or a rack amp they need for Friday’s show.

The usual headaches:

• a “quick look” at a vintage amp turns into a full recap, new output transistors and a bias adjustment — and the price talk happens after the work;
• “ready before the weekend” was said at the counter and never written down;
• at collection: “there was a remote”, “it had four valves, not three”;
• a pair of floorstanders blocks the back room for months.

Booking in: the amp and everything that came with it

Receivers arrive with a remote and an aerial, turntables with a cartridge and dust cover, valve amps with their valves, stage gear in a flight case with power leads. The “accessories” field is filled in with the customer at the counter and printed on the job ticket they sign. Be specific: “4 valves, fitted”, “dust cover cracked”, “no mains lead”.

The “condition” field covers what anyone can see: scratched fascia, missing knobs, dented grilles, a torn cone, signs of liquid. Model and serial number have their own fields, so the next time the unit comes in you can see what was done to it — useful for a collector’s amp and for a hire company’s ten identical monitors.

Write the fault the way the customer describes it, with detail: “left channel drops out after an hour”, “hum on every input”, “relay clicks, stays in protect”.

Honestly about photos. You cannot attach photos, audio clips or other files to a job. If you take pictures at book-in, keep them on your own phone or drive and note on the ticket that they exist.

Vintage restorations: quote first, recap second

An old amp rarely needs just one part. Dried-out electrolytics, scratchy pots, dirty selector switches, matched output transistors, a bias and offset adjustment, sometimes a protection relay or a transformer. Each is a line; together they add up to a number the owner should see before you pick up the iron.

So the workflow is: diagnose, write the findings in the work log, then build an itemised quote — “electrolytic capacitors, full set”, “output transistors × 4”, “clean pots and switches”, “bias adjustment”. A line can come from your labour list or straight from stock, in which case the price fills in and the part is deducted from the quantity on hand.

A button on the job sends the quote by email or Telegram. The customer opens the link, sees every line and the total, and clicks “I agree” or “I decline”. The answer and the date are stored in the job history. Find something else once the case is open? Add a line and send it for approval again.

Restorations can take weeks: parts on order, a soak test under load, a second round of adjustment. The work log shows what was done and when; the status shows where the unit is. If the owner decides it is not worth it, set “repair refused”; if it cannot be saved, “beyond repair”. Charge for diagnosis? Set a diagnostic price for the device type and switch the job to “diagnostics only” — the customer sees that amount from the start. The same quote-before-parts approach is described for TV repair.

The gig is on Friday: due dates and rush jobs

For a band or a hire company, a repair is tied to an event. Every job has a promised date; once it passes, the row turns red and the “overdue” filter gathers those jobs in one list. A rush flag shows directly in the list, and a tile above it counts how many rush jobs are open. Filter by technician to see who has what on the bench.

You set up your own statuses. The starter set includes “diagnostics”, “waiting for parts”, “awaiting approval”, “repair refused” and “beyond repair”; add a “soak test” status if you want units running in after repair to show up separately.

Parts: output devices, caps, valves and surrounds

Stock works as a movement log: goods in with price and supplier, parts used as quote lines, write-offs with a reason, and stocktakes. Quantities update themselves. Set a minimum for the parts you burn through — output transistors, amplifier ICs, electrolytics, protection relays, fuses, valves, speaker surrounds — and the “running low” tile becomes your shopping list. Quantities are whole units, so a matched pair works best as its own stock item.

When a part is missing, create a parts request from the job and email it to the supplier; mark it received and book it in when it arrives. You can see which unit is waiting on which part. There is no barcode scanning and no supplier catalogue integration. More on spare parts tracking.

Hire companies, studios and venues

Customers have a “company” field, so a PA hire firm or a studio is one customer no matter how many units it sends. The customer card lists every job, the total spent and the balance outstanding. Four identical monitors? Fill in the first job fully and copy it for the rest — customer, device type, model and notes carry over; you only type the new serial number.

A unit back after your repair gets the “repeat repair” job type, and the serial number brings up the earlier job. A job can take several payments — a deposit for an output transformer or a set of valves, the balance at collection — and the software shows what is still due. The printed completion report carries the work log, your recommendations and the amount to pay. Invoices with full company details and bookkeeping are outside its scope.

Advice, safety and collection

Plenty of repeat faults come from how gear is used: an amp in a closed cabinet, speakers below the rated impedance, clipping at a party, valves at the end of their life. Write it in the “recommendations” field — it is printed on the report and stays in the unit’s history.

Many shops run an electrical safety check before mains-powered gear goes back to the customer, and some customers expect one. The software keeps no test certificates or measurement records; note the result in the work log. Which checks apply to you depends on your country and your insurer — this is general information, not legal advice.

When a job is ready, the customer gets an email or a Telegram message (they subscribe via the QR code on the ticket). There are no text messages and no app. Every finished unit shows how many days it has been waiting, and the counter turns red once your free storage period runs out. See customer notifications.

What audio repairs typically cost

A rough guide only — it varies with region, the class of equipment and parts: diagnosis €30–70, an amplifier output stage repair €80–250 with parts, a powered speaker or sub amp module €100–300, speaker refoaming €60–150 per pair, a full vintage receiver restoration from €250 to €800 or more. Your own prices go into device types and quote lines.

What it does not do

• no photos, audio clips or files on a job;
• no text messages, no app, no online payment by the customer;
• no measurement reports or safety test certificates;
• no supplier integrations or barcodes;
• no loan equipment pool — a loaner can only be noted on the job.

Pricing

One price for the whole shop — no charge per user or per location. Everything the software does is on the features page.

Off-the-shelf not enough — your own forms, roles, reports or workflow? We will build a program for you. How it works

Try it without signing up in the demo: book in a receiver, build a quote and send it for approval.

In short

• Accessories and condition recorded at book-in, on a ticket the customer signs.
• Itemised quotes approved by link before a restoration starts.
• Promised dates, rush flags and red overdue rows — the gig is not at risk.
• Stock of output devices, caps, valves and surrounds with a running-low list.
• Hire companies and studios as one customer, with every job, balance and deposit.
• €20 a month for the whole shop.