Before You Start
Three setup steps are required before using the Scheduler:
1. Set up your dealership's default working hours in System Settings > Settings & Controls > Shop Settings.
2. Set up each technician for Payroll Clocking and Job Clocking, and configure their default workdays in Account Settings > Users > Time Clocking Staff. See Set Up Payroll Clocking and Job Clocking for details.
3. Ensure each user has the correct permissions to view or modify the Scheduler. Users can be granted read-only access or create/modify access — a user must have at least the read-only permission to view the Scheduler, and the create/modify permission to make changes.
Opening the Scheduler
There are two ways to open the Job Scheduler:
Option 1: From the Blackpurl header, click Tools and select Job Schedule.
Option 2: From the Blackpurl header, click Service to open the Service section, then click Job Schedule.
Scheduler Screen Overview
The Scheduler screen provides several controls for managing your workshop bookings.
1 — Views | Switch between Day View, Week View, and Month View. |
2 — Dashboard | Opens the Workshop Dashboard. See Workshop Dashboard Reference for details. |
3 — New Appointment | Creates a new appointment from the top of the screen. |
4 — Date Range | Shows the current date range. Use the toggle to scroll to other date ranges. |
5 — Hours Available | Shows how many hours have been booked and how many remain. The total is calculated from the number of technicians and their daily working hours — for example, two technicians working 8 hours each gives 16 available hours for that day. |
Creating an Appointment
There are two ways to create a new appointment in the Scheduler:
Click New Appointment at the top of the screen. The appointment form will open and you will need to enter the date and time manually.
Navigate to the date and time slot you want (morning or afternoon) and click the + icon. The appointment form will open with the date and morning/afternoon time already filled in.
The appointment form contains the following fields:
1 — Date and Time | The date and start time (morning or afternoon) for the appointment. |
2 — Link to Service Job | If a Service Job already exists, search for and select it to link this appointment to it. |
3 — Appointment Name | Enter a name for the appointment in the Untitled appointment field. |
4 — Customer and Unit | Search for the customer name or create a new customer. Once selected, the system will prompt you to choose which unit the appointment is for. |
5 — Concern | Enter the customer's concern and any notes — for example, what the customer wants the technician to check. |
6 — Pay Type | Select who is paying: Customer Pay, Third Party, or Internal. |
7 — Estimated Hours | Enter how many hours you expect the job to take. The Scheduler uses this figure to reserve time for the appointment. |
8 — Multi-Day | Enable the Make multi-day toggle if the appointment spans more than one day. |
9 — Arrival and Departure | Enter when the unit is due to arrive and when it is due for departure. You can also mark whether the unit has already arrived. |
10 — Technician | Optionally assign a technician at this stage. For multi-day appointments, assigning a technician is required. You can assign multiple technicians to the same appointment, or assign the same technician multiple times on a single appointment. |
Once you are satisfied with the appointment details, click Create Appointment to save it. The Scheduler will update to reflect the estimated hours reserved for that time slot.
Assigning Technicians in the Scheduler
If a technician was not assigned when the appointment was created, you can assign one from the Scheduler at any time.
1. Switch to Day View and navigate to the date you want to work with. This shows which technicians are available and which appointments are unassigned.
2. Click the unassigned section to expand it. All service jobs that have not yet been assigned to a technician will be listed here.
3. To assign a service job, click and hold the appointment in the unassigned section, then drag and drop it onto the time slot and technician row you want.
The appointment moves to the selected time slot under the selected technician and is removed from the unassigned section. If you make an error, click and hold the appointment again and drag it to the correct technician or time slot.
Repeat this process for all unassigned appointments to organise your technicians' day.
4. If a Customer Order (CO) Service Job was not linked to the appointment when it was created, the system will automatically create one once the appointment is assigned to a time slot and technician.
To open the Customer Order, click the CO number on the appointment card. Appointment cards also display abbreviated status icons — for example, prog indicates the service job is In Progress — so technicians can see the job status at a glance.
Assigning Technicians and Job Clocking from the Customer Order
Technicians can also be assigned and can clock on and off directly from the Customer Order. To do this, open the relevant Customer Order > Service Job and use the Technician Time section.
Editing an Appointment
To edit an appointment, click on it either from the Scheduler or from the Customer Order. The appointment window will open and you can update any of the details.
For quick changes in the Scheduler — such as moving an appointment from one technician to another — you can also use drag and drop instead of opening the appointment form.
Deleting an Appointment
To delete an appointment, complete the following steps in order:
1. Open the appointment and remove any assigned technicians by clicking the remove icon beside each technician's name.
2. Close out the Service Job linked to the appointment by deleting all line items from the Service Job and then selecting Remove Service Job.
Log Technician Leave Time
Logging leave time in the Scheduler prevents appointments from being assigned to technicians who are not available. When leave is recorded, the Scheduler will block out that technician for the relevant date range.
1. Switch to Day View and click on the technician's name. A screen opens showing the technician's role, working days, and a list of any existing leave and exceptions.
2. Click Log Leave to open the leave entry form. Enter the leave type and the start and end dates for the absence.
3. Click Add to add the entry to the list, then click Save to confirm.
4. Navigate to that date range in the Scheduler to confirm the technician is shown as unavailable. No appointments can be assigned to them during that period.