The Advisor Analysis Report provides a detailed breakdown of performance for each service advisor in the shop. It focuses on billing efficiency, labor effectiveness, and overall sales contribution — allowing managers to evaluate how well each advisor is estimating work, communicating with customers, and closing invoices.
This report is one of the most important tools for understanding the financial performance of service advisors.
What the Advisor Analysis Report Shows
Each row in the report represents an invoice closed by a service advisor. The report includes the following data with explanations of the more detailed columns:
Date
Invoice number
Customer Name
Advisor Name
This is the service advisor assigned to the work order, for best reporting have your service advisors follow through with the whole job. Reassigning is possible within the work order
Days Open
How long the work order was in the system from estimated to invoiced.
Lines
Hrs Worked
The total of Actual time clocked on all the lines on the work order
Hrs Invoiced
The total of Estimated time on all the lines on the work order
Hrs Profit
The total of Estimated time - total Actual time. (+number shows more estimated than actual, - shows more actual than estimated)
Billing Efficiency (%)
Shows the % of the actual time vs the estimated time
ELR (Effective Labor Rate)
A major performance metric calculated as:
Your shop charges $125/hr (posted labor rate).
Tech worked: 40 hours
Labor billed to customer: 34 hours
Labor revenue: 34 × $125 = $4,250
ELR=4250÷ 40=$106.25/hr
Even though your rate is $125/hr, the shop actually earned $106.25/hr on each hour you paid the tech.
Parts Cost
Total parts cost including inventory and special order parts
Parts Invoiced
Total parts sell price including inventory, special order parts and found parts.
Parts Profit
Total Parts Invoiced - total Parts Cost
Parts Margin
% of profit on the part you sold.
Your cost: $80
Sell Price: $120
Profit: $120-$80=$40
Margin: $40÷$120x100 = 33.3%
This means 33.3% of that sale is gross profit for the shop.
Total Profit
Total profit on the work order combining both parts and labor.
Labor: (Hours invoiced x shop labor rate)-(Hours worked x technician hourly rate) = total labor profit
Parts: Parts sell price - part cost = total parts profit
Total Profit: total labor profit + total parts profit = total profit
Total Margin
Total Margin (often called Gross Profit Margin) is the percentage of total revenue that remains after subtracting your cost of goods sold (COGS) for both labor and parts.
Labor Sales: $500
Tech Cost (what you paid the technician): $50/hr
Labor Gross Profit: $500−$50=$450
Part Sales: $650
Part Cost: $400
Parts Gross Profit: $650−$400=$250
Total Margin:
Total Sales: $500 (labor) + $650 (parts) = $1150
Total COGS: $50 (labor) + $400 (parts) = $450
Gross Profit: $1150 - $450 = $700
Total Margin: $700÷$1150x100= 60.9%
Subtotal
This is the subtotal of all labor and parts before taxes.
Summary Totals (Bottom of the Report)
At the bottom of the report, ShopView displays overall totals for the selected period. These numbers allow managers to instantly understand the financial performance of the shop for the selected period.
How to Use the Advisor Analysis Report
The Advisor Analysis Report includes a powerful filter that allows managers to focus on one advisor at a time.
Using the Advisor filter, you can:
Compare advisors
Identify top performers
Spot advisors who need training or support
Track consistent estimation trends
Key Advisor Performance Metrics
The two primary metrics for evaluating advisors are:
1. Billing Efficiency
Indicates how effectively the advisor is converting technician labor into billable labor hours.
High billing efficiency suggests:
Strong estimating accuracy
Good communication with customers
Properly billing approved work
Correct handling of added repairs
Low billing efficiency may indicate:
Underbilling
Overuse of discounts
Missed billable hours
Poor estimate accuracy
Lack of follow-through with customer approvals
2. Effective Labor Rate (ELR)
A strong indicator of:
Advisor pricing confidence
Proper rate selection
Up-selling diagnostic and specialty labor
Maintaining shop profitability
Interpreting Advisor Performance
Because this report shows one row per invoice, managers can evaluate:
Top-Performing Advisors Often Show:
High ELR
High billing efficiency
Shorter days open (faster invoice turnaround)
Higher labor sales
More consistent estimates
Struggling Advisors Often Show:
Low ELR
Low billing efficiency
Long days open
Underbilling labor hours
Inconsistent pricing decisions
Using the Report for Coaching & Training
It provides good training opportunity. A high-performing advisor can work with a lower-performing advisor to help get their numbers up and make the shop more profitable
Common uses:
Identify advisors whose estimates need improvement
Train advisors to charge appropriately for complex jobs
Review discounting practices
Align the team on consistent labor billing strategies
Filtering Tips
Use filter options to:
View one advisor’s month
Compare advisors side by side
Identify trends (e.g., ELR slipping over time)
Audit days where the shop seemed underbilled
Since each invoice is listed individually, you can also trace:
Specific work orders
Customer accounts
Sales cycles
Variances in billed vs. clocked time
Summary
The Advisor Analysis Report is a critical tool for monitoring service advisor performance. It helps shops:
Evaluate billing effectiveness
Measure real-world labor rate performance
Compare advisors on consistent metrics
Identify training and improvement opportunities
Increase revenue through better estimating and billing practices
With insights into billing efficiency, effective labor rate, sales totals, and time-to-invoice, this report provides everything needed to understand how service advisors contribute to the financial success of the shop.