The Appointment Scheduler and Job Scheduler in Blackpurl let you book service appointments, assign those appointments to technicians, and manage technician availability. This article covers the full workflow from creating an appointment through to logging leave time.
Prerequisites
Before using the Appointment Scheduler or Job Scheduler, confirm that the following setup has been completed:
The dealership's default working hours have been configured in Account Settings > Settings & Controls > Shop Settings. See Set Up Default Workshop Hours for details.
Each relevant technician has been set up for Payroll Clocking and Job Clocking, and their default work days have been set in Account Settings > Users > Time Clocking Staff. See Set Up Payroll Clocking and Job Clocking for details.
Appointment Scheduler
The Appointment Scheduler is where you create and view upcoming service appointments. Navigate to it by clicking Service in the Blackpurl header, then selecting Job Schedule.
Understanding the Scheduler Screen
The Scheduler screen has several key areas to be aware of:
View tabs — The Scheduler has three view tabs:
Day View — Shows a single day, useful for seeing exactly what is on for that day.
Week View — Shows a full week, useful for identifying overbooking.
Month View — Shows the full month at a glance, useful for spotting busy weeks and appointments that may need to be moved.
Dashboard — Opens the Workshop Dashboard. For more information, see Workshop Dashboard Reference.
New Appointment — Creates a new appointment. The + New Appointment button at the top of the screen opens the appointment form without pre-filling a date or time. Alternatively, navigate to the date and session (morning or afternoon) you want and click the + icon in that slot — this pre-fills the date and time frame automatically.
Date range toggle — Scrolls between date ranges.
Day and date column — Lists the day and date on the side of the scheduler.
Morning / Afternoon split — Each day is divided into morning and afternoon appointment slots.
Hours booked indicator — Shows how many hours have been booked and how many remain available. The system calculates total available hours based on the number of technicians and their working hours for that day. For example, two technicians each working 8 hours gives 16 available hours for the day.
Creating an Appointment
There are two ways to open the appointment form:
Click + New Appointment at the top of the screen. The appointment form opens, and you will need to manually set the date and time frame.
Navigate to the date you want, then click the + icon in the morning or afternoon slot. The appointment form opens with the date and session pre-filled.
Once the appointment form is open, complete the following fields:
1. Confirm or set the date and time frame (morning or afternoon) for the appointment.
2. If a Service Job already exists for this work, search for and select it in the Service Job field to link the appointment to it.
3. Enter an appointment name in the Untitled appointment field (for example, "10K Service"). This name will also appear as the Service Job name on the Customer Order.
4. Search for the Customer Name or create a new customer. Once selected, the system will prompt you to choose the unit the appointment is for.
5. Enter the customer's concern and any relevant notes in the concern field.
6. Select the Job Type — who is paying: Customer Pay, Third Party, or Internal.
7. Enter the estimated hours for the job. This is required for the scheduler to calculate available time.
8. If the appointment spans multiple days, enable the Make multi-day toggle. Multi-day appointments require a technician to be assigned.
9. Optionally assign a Technician at this stage.
10. Use the Unit Check In fields to record the date and time the unit is due in, the date and time promised for return, and whether the unit has arrived.
11. Click Create Appointment to save.
After saving, the Scheduler updates to reflect the estimated hours booked for that session.
Job Scheduler
The Job Scheduler is where you assign unassigned appointments to specific technicians and time slots. If a technician was not assigned when the appointment was created, use this section to complete the assignment.
Assigning Appointments to Technicians
1. Click the Day View tab on the Scheduler screen.
2. Scroll to the date you want to organise.
3. Review the technician rows — each technician is listed with their existing bookings visible for that day.
4. Click the unassigned appointments panel (the sidebar listing appointments not yet assigned to a technician).
5. Search for the appointment you want to assign, or scroll to find it.
6. Click and hold the appointment, then drag and drop it onto the time slot and technician row you want.
The appointment moves from the unassigned panel into the technician's time slot. If you place it in the wrong spot, click and hold it again and drag it to the correct technician or time slot.
Repeat this process for all unassigned appointments to fully organise the day.
Automatic Customer Order Creation
If a Customer Order and Service Job were not linked to an appointment at the time it was created, the system will automatically create a Customer Order and Service Job once the appointment is assigned to a technician and time slot. To open the Customer Order, click the CO number displayed on the appointment block.
Assigning Technician and Job Clocking from the Customer Order
In addition to using the Job Scheduler, you can assign a technician and allow technicians to clock on and off directly from the Customer Order. Navigate to the relevant Customer Order, open the Service Job, and use the Technician Time section to assign a technician or record job clocking.
Log Technician Leave Time
The Scheduler needs to reflect technician leave so the dealership does not book appointments or assign jobs to technicians who are unavailable. Log leave time to block out those days in both the Appointment Scheduler and Job Scheduler.
1. From the Job Scheduler tab, click the technician's name.
2. A screen opens showing the technician's profile, including their role, default working days, and any existing leave or exceptions.
3. Click Add to open the leave entry form.
4. Complete the leave details — select the leave type (for example, Annual Leave) and set the start and end dates.
5. Click Save to add the leave entry to the list.
6. Return to the Appointment Scheduler for that date range. The available hours will have reduced to reflect that the technician is unavailable.
7. On the Job Scheduler for that date range, the technician's row will be marked as leave and no appointments can be assigned to them during that period.
