Another 205 litre drum already?
The factor delivers another drum of the common low viscosity grade. It feels like the last one only arrived a few weeks ago. The service count has not gone up much. Where is the oil going?
It might be going exactly where it should. It might be under-charged on invoices because the advisor typed four litres when the car took five and a half. It might be the grade that some menu services include at a fixed price. It might be topping up customers' cars for free at the counter. Nobody can tell, because nobody compares oil bought with oil charged.
Oil is bought in drums and sold in litres
Oil is one of the few parts that is not bought per job. It arrives in bulk and is dispensed from a drum, a tank or a reel, often without any meter. The litres on the invoice come from the advisor's knowledge of the car or from a menu price that includes oil, not from what was actually dispensed.
Grades make it harder. A garage may stock several grades, each with its own drum and price, and a car that needs a less common specification may be filled from whatever is open. So both the quantity and the grade on the invoice can drift from reality.
Where the litres go
| Leak | How it happens |
|---|---|
| Under-charged litres | Capacity typed from memory or rounded down |
| Menu services | Fixed prices that include more oil than the price assumes |
| Wrong grade on invoice | Charged as a cheaper grade than dispensed |
| Free top-ups | Customers helped at the counter with no record |
| Spills and waste | Drum ends and drips, small but constant |
Oil prices rise from time to time, and a gap that did not matter much a few years ago matters more now. Without figures, you cannot tell which of the leaks is real.
How we build an oil record by grade
- Oil purchases are read from your factor invoices or statements, by grade and litres.
- Where you have a metered dispenser or oil management system that records litres per job, we read those figures. Where you do not, the technician enters litres dispensed on the job screen, with the grade picked from a list.
- Litres charged are read from the invoices in your garage management system, including menu services where you tell us how much oil each includes.
- For each grade, a monthly view compares litres bought, dispensed and charged, allowing for opening and closing stock.
- Jobs where dispensed and charged litres differ are listed, so patterns such as a particular advisor, service or model can be seen.
- Your menu prices can be checked against typical oil capacity for the cars you serve, where you provide capacities or a data source for them.
We do not set your oil prices or menu prices. We show where the litres are going so you can decide.
A month of oil you can see
The monthly view shows that the common grade is being dispensed at roughly what is bought, but charged noticeably less. The job list shows most of the gap comes from a menu service on one popular engine that takes more oil than the menu assumed. The price is adjusted, or left as it is by choice, but now it is a decision.
Another grade shows more dispensed than bought and invoiced, which turns out to be a drum mislabelled on the stock sheet. That is fixed too.
- Oil bought, dispensed and charged, by grade
- Jobs with gaps listed for a quick look
- Menu prices checked against real oil use
- Stock of each grade known each month
Is your oil disappearing?
- Bulk oil seems to run out faster than it should.
- Litres on invoices come from memory.
- Menu service prices have not been checked against oil use.
- You stock several grades but only track total spend.
- Top-ups are given with no record.