The Hold Repair Till Payment feature strengthens your repair intake process by ensuring financial and operational checks are satisfied before any work begins. In many service organizations, repairs start prematurely—before deposits are collected, credit checks are cleared, or the replacement/repair path is agreed. This SME solves that by adding a pre-start gate to Repair Orders with clear, configurable rules and built-in collection tools.
You can choose one of two enforcement modes (set in Settings → Silverdale Extensions → Repairs):
- Based on Sales Order (SO Control)
- The repair can only start if a linked Sales Order is confirmed and the customer is within credit limits (or a required deposit is recorded).
- If conditions are not met, the Start Repair action is disabled and a banner explains what’s missing (e.g., “SO not confirmed”, “Deposit not received”, “Credit limit exceeded”).
- Designed for organizations that prefer managing commercial approval and deposits via quotations/confirmations rather than immediate invoicing.
- Based on Invoice Payment (Invoice Control) (current behavior extended)
- The repair is blocked until the related invoice is paid (or deposit invoice is paid).
- The UI offers a Collect Payment action that opens payment links, registers a payment, or captures a portal payment, reducing back-and-forth between modules.
- Once the invoice is marked paid, the Start Repair action is enabled.
To improve intake quality, the SME also adds triage and replacement options to the repair flow:
- Triage Checklist: a configurable questionnaire (symptoms, photos, serial/lot capture, warranty flags) to reduce rework.
- Replacement Path: when warranty policy dictates, the agent can choose Replacement (creating a zero-value SO or RMA flow if you use that SME) instead of a standard repair.
- Audit Trail: all gate decisions (who lifted the hold, when deposit/invoice was paid, which path selected) are logged in the chatter for compliance and service visibility.
The result is a predictable, audit-ready process: technicians are only scheduled once commercial prerequisites are satisfied, intake is consistent, and customers experience a clear, guided path to resolution.
Key Benefits
- Cash Discipline: Prevents work from starting before deposits or full payments are received.
- Reduced Write-offs: Fewer unpaid jobs and fewer disputes due to explicit, enforced gates.
- Operational Clarity: Clear start/stop states with on-screen guidance; no more guesswork.
- Better Intake Quality: Triage and replacement selection reduce misroutes and rework.
- Audit & Compliance: Full chatter logging of payment/credit checks and overrides.
Example Use Case
A customer drops off an item for repair. The receptionist creates a Repair Order and selects Sales-Order-Based Control. The system shows that the Sales Order is still a quotation and the deposit is missing. The agent clicks Collect Payment, takes the deposit, confirms the SO, and the banner switches to Ready to Start. The technician can now begin work. If the device is under warranty and policy favors replacement, the agent selects Replacement during intake; the system creates the required zero-value flow and keeps the repair on hold until that path is confirmed.
Conclusion
Hold Repair Till Payment brings financial rigor and process consistency to service operations. By enforcing either Sales-Order or Invoice-Payment gates, embedding quick payment tools, and formalizing triage/replacement choices, it prevents premature work, protects margins, and delivers a smoother customer journey—without adding manual overhead.