A Customer Order is how your dealership processes the sale of products (parts, units), fees, labour, and more to your customers. This article explains the four types of Customer Orders available in Blackpurl and walks through the key elements of the Customer Order screen.
Types of Customer Orders
To create a Customer Order, click Sell in the Blackpurl header and select the type of Customer Order you want to process.
Sell Parts & Accessories
Use this order type when a customer is buying parts, merchandise, fees, or similar items — not a unit. This Customer Order supports both Stock on Hand sales and Special Order Part sales.
For Stock on Hand sales, you can select a specific customer (so the purchase is recorded under their customer record) or leave the customer unselected, in which case the system defaults to Cash Sale.
For Special Order Part sales, you must select a customer. The system does not allow Special Order Part sales under the Cash Sale customer.
Start a Service or Repair Job
Use this order type when a customer — or a third party such as an insurance company — requires a service performed on their Customer Owned Unit. The key difference from a Parts & Accessories order is that this type allows you to add labour lines to the order.
Sell a Unit
Use this order type when a customer is buying one or more units from your dealership. This order type supports:
Adding proposed options to the unit sale
Processing unit financing and financing products such as extended warranties
Processing trade-ins
Start an Internal Service
Use this order type for service or repair jobs on units the dealership owns. Internal Service orders let the dealership track how much an owned unit is costing to maintain, which feeds into profitability calculations when the unit is eventually sold.
Tip: Combining Order Types on One Customer Order
A single Customer Order can contain multiple order type sections. For example, you can create a Unit Deal section and then add a separate Service Job section and a Parts & Accessories section on the same Customer Order.
Navigation of the Customer Order Screen
The Customer Order screen is made up of numbered elements and collapsible sections. The example below shows a Customer Order that includes a Unit Deal, a Service Job, and a Parts & Accessories section.
# | Element | Description |
1 | Created / Modified dates | Shows the date the Customer Order was created and the date it was last modified. |
2 | Recalculate | Click the recalculate icon to choose a recalculation type, then click Confirm to apply it. |
3 | Set as a Quote toggle | Toggles the Customer Order between active order and quote status. See Convert Customer Order Back to Quote for details. |
4 | Customer Detail section | Displays information about the customer selected for this order. |
5 | Unit Deal section | Appears when the dealership is selling a unit to the customer. Shows the current status of the unit deal. |
6 | Service Job section | Appears when the dealership is performing a service on a Customer Owned Unit that involves labour. Shows the current status of the service job. |
7 | Parts & Accessories section | Appears when the customer is purchasing parts or merchandise only. |
8 | Add sections / Internal Comments / Bulk Delete | Use these controls to add additional sections (Service Job, Internal Comments, etc.) to the Customer Order or to bulk delete items. |
9 | Delete Customer Order | Click the delete icon to delete the Customer Order. Restrictions apply — see Delete or Remove Items from a Customer Order for details. |
10 | Customer Order number | The system automatically assigns a unique Customer Order number when the order is created. |
11 | Order Status | Shows whether the Customer Order is Open or Closed. Closed orders cannot have items added or changes made. |
12 | Profitability | Click the profitability icon to view a breakdown of the Customer Order's profitability. Requires the relevant user permission. See Customer Order Profitability for details. |
13 | Running total | Shows the running total of what the customer is spending across all selling sections on this Customer Order. |
14 | Checkout | Click CHECKOUT to open the Checkout section, where you select which items the customer is paying for, their payment method, and finalize the transaction. Finalizing generates an Invoice. |
15 | Add Deposit | Click ADD DEPOSIT to record a deposit from the customer. See Receive a Deposit on a Customer Order for details. |
16 | Print options | Click the print icon to print or send documents. Available options depend on the sections present on the Customer Order and can include deposit receipts, Invoice previews, Service Worksheets, Bills of Sale, and Offers to Purchase. |
Sections That Generate Automatically
Some sections on a Customer Order are generated automatically based on actions you take, rather than being added manually.
Parts Picklist section
The Parts Picklist section appears automatically when parts are added to the Customer Order. It lists the status of all parts on the order. For further information, see Parts Picklist on a Customer Order.
Deposit section
The Deposit section opens automatically when a deposit is added to the Customer Order. It shows how much has been paid and whether the deposit has been applied to an invoice at checkout. For further information, see Receive a Deposit on a Customer Order.
Internal Comments section
The Internal Comments section appears when a user adds internal comments to the order. All users can view comments in this section. For further information, see Add Internal Comments to a Customer Order.
Invoice History section
The Invoice History section opens once the Customer Order has been invoiced. It lists details about all issued invoices and is also where you can reprint or re-email an invoice.
Expanding Sections
Each section on the Customer Order can be expanded or collapsed. Click the dropdown arrow at the right end of any section header to expand it and view additional information.
For example, expanding the Customer Detail section reveals additional fields such as Price Level and any exemptions applied to the customer. From the expanded Customer Detail section, you can also send a text message to the customer or remove the customer from the order.