You can get away without a ticket system when you're handling 5 repairs a week. You know every device by sight, every customer by name, and the whole operation fits in your head.

Then you hit 15 active jobs. Then 30. And suddenly you're spending more time figuring out what needs to happen than actually doing repairs.

That's when you need a ticket system.

What a Ticket System Actually Does

A repair ticket is a digital record that tracks a single repair from intake to completion. Think of it as the job's permanent file — everything about that repair lives in one place.

A good ticket includes:

Customer info — name, contact details, how to reach them
Device details — what it is, serial number, condition at intake
Problem description — what's wrong, in the customer's words and the tech's assessment
Status — where the job is in your workflow right now
Technician — who's working on it
Notes — diagnosis findings, parts ordered, complications, customer conversations
Timeline — when it was checked in, when each status change happened, when it was completed
Invoice — what was charged and whether it's been paid

Without tickets, all of this information lives in your head, on sticky notes, in text messages, and in the "I thought you were handling that" zone.

Signs You've Outgrown Your Current System

Customers call asking for updates and you have to physically find their device to answer
You've lost track of a device (even temporarily — the panic counts)
A repair sat untouched for days because nobody knew it was there
You've invoiced a customer the wrong amount because you forgot what parts you used
Two techs worked on the same device without knowing the other had started
A customer picked up their device and you forgot to collect payment

If any of these have happened, you need a ticket system. If more than two have happened, you needed one last month.

What to Look For

Not all ticket systems are created equal. Some are generic help desk tools awkwardly adapted for repair shops. Others are built specifically for the repair workflow. Here's what matters:

Must-Have Features

Status tracking with workflow stages. Your tickets need to move through stages: Checked In → Diagnosing → Waiting for Parts → In Progress → Complete → Picked Up. Bonus if you can customize the stages.

Customer notifications. Automatic texts or emails when a status changes. This single feature eliminates 80% of "is it done yet?" calls.

Search. Find any ticket instantly by customer name, phone number, device type, or ticket number. If you can't find a ticket in under 5 seconds, the system fails its primary job.

Invoicing. Generate an invoice directly from the ticket. The parts and labor should flow from the repair record to the invoice without retyping anything.

Multi-user support. Every tech needs their own login. You need to see who's working on what, and you need to assign jobs to specific people.

Nice-to-Have Features

Customer portal. Let customers check their repair status online without calling you. Saves you time and makes you look professional.

Reporting. Average turnaround time, revenue per tech, jobs by type. Data helps you make better decisions about hiring, pricing, and operations.

Photo attachments. Document the device condition at intake and during repair. Useful for training and dispute resolution.

Appointment scheduling. Let customers book drop-off or on-site appointments online.

Mobile access. Techs should be able to update ticket status from a phone or tablet, especially for on-site work.

Red Flags

No offline capability — if your internet goes down, can you still access tickets?
Per-ticket pricing — you'll either stop creating tickets or go broke
No data export — if you ever need to switch, you should be able to take your data with you
Requires hours of setup — a repair shop ticket system should be usable within 30 minutes of signup
Desktop-only — it's 2026, it needs to work on mobile

Your Options

Spreadsheets (Google Sheets / Excel)

Cost: Free

Verdict: Works for 1-10 active jobs. No automation, no notifications, no real status tracking. You'll outgrow it fast, but it's fine for week one.

Generic Project Management (Trello, Asana, Monday)

Cost: Free-$15/user/month

Verdict: Not designed for repair workflows. You'll spend more time configuring boards and custom fields than doing repairs. No invoicing, no customer notifications.

Repair-Specific Software

Cost: $15-150/month depending on plan

Verdict: Built for the job. Workflow stages, customer comms, invoicing, reporting — all in one place. The right choice for any shop doing more than 10 repairs a week.

Popular options:

TechsBox — modern, affordable ($15-99/mo), built by a former repair tech. Full workflow tracking, customer portal, invoicing, AI assistant on Pro plan
RepairShopr — established player, higher price point ($60-200/mo), lots of integrations
RepairDesk — similar to RepairShopr, popular with phone repair shops

Paper Tickets

Cost: Printer paper

Verdict: Better than nothing. Worse than everything else. You can't search paper, paper doesn't send text messages, and paper gets lost.

Making the Switch

If you're moving from no system (or paper) to software, here's how to make it painless:

Don't migrate old data. Start fresh. Enter active repairs only. Historical data can live in your old system
Pick a slow day. Start using the new system on a Monday or whenever your volume is lowest
Enter every new job into the system. No exceptions, even "quick" jobs. Consistency is what makes the system work
Give it two weeks. The first week will feel slower as you learn the interface. By week two, you'll wonder how you survived without it
Set up notifications immediately. This is the single biggest quality-of-life improvement for both you and your customers

The ROI Is Obvious

A ticket system typically pays for itself within the first month:

Fewer missed pickups = faster bench turnover = more capacity
Automatic notifications = fewer phone calls = more time for repairs
Invoicing from tickets = fewer billing errors = more revenue captured
Status visibility = less "where is it?" chaos = happier techs

The shops that resist software aren't saving money. They're losing it in ways they can't see — one forgotten invoice, one lost device, one frustrated customer at a time.

Ready to stop tracking repairs in your head? Try TechsBox free — a ticket system built specifically for repair shops.

Why Every Repair Shop Needs a Ticket System (And How to Pick One)