Job Card Template for Mechanics: 3 Free Forms (Word & PDF)

A job card is the form an Australian workshop opens when a car is booked in: customer, rego, odometer, what the customer asked for, the labour and parts, the total inc. GST, and the customer’s signature authorising the work. Below are three free job card templates for mechanics, in Word and PDF on A4, plus the tax invoice the job turns into.

Which job card template do you need?

Situation	Use this job card	Why
Most jobs, most workshops	Workshop Job Card (full)	Separate labour and parts, GST totals, authorisation, and a completion page the mechanic fills in. Matches what workshop software prints.
One mechanic, mobile work, quick jobs	Mechanic Job Card (one page)	One sheet: what was asked, what was done, one combined table, total inc. GST, signature.
Jobs that may grow once the car is on the hoist	Job Card with Additional-Work Authorisation	Records each extra item with the added cost and who approved it, how and when. Your record if the bill is questioned.

Workshop job card (full): the two-page form

The one most workshops use most of the time. Page one is the booking-in and the authorisation: job number, customer, rego and odometer, the concern in the customer’s words, separate labour and parts tables, subtotal ex GST, GST, total inc. GST, and the signature. Page two is the mechanic’s: work carried out, parts fitted if different from quoted, odometer out, road test, next service due. It is laid out the way workshop software prints a job, so nothing is lost when you move.

Mechanic job card: one page, one mechanic

For the one-mechanic workshop and the mobile mechanic. Everything on a single A4 sheet: what was asked, one combined parts-and-labour table, what was done, total inc. GST, signature. It is the mechanic job card you keep on a clipboard in the ute. If a job outgrows it, the full card is one drawer away.

Job card with additional-work authorisation

For jobs that may grow once the car is on the hoist. Page one is the original quote, authorised at booking-in. Page two records each item found during the job: what it is, the added cost inc. GST, the new total, who approved it, how (call, SMS, email or in person) and when. It is the record you want if the bill is questioned, and the habit that stops the pick-up argument before it starts.

Job card format: what every job card needs

A job card is only as good as what it captures at booking-in. Every version above has these, because each one has settled an argument somewhere:

• Workshop identity. Name, address, phone and ABN at the top. It is the document the customer keeps.
• Job number and dates. Job number, date in, promised date. The job number is what every part order and every phone call refers to.
• Customer. Name, mobile, email, and how they want to be contacted about approvals: call, SMS or email. Half the friction in a workshop is not being able to reach the customer when the car is in bits on the hoist.
• Vehicle. Year, make, model, colour, rego and state, odometer in. The full job card has a VIN / chassis number field for parts and warranty work.
• The customer’s concern, in their words. “Makes a noise when I brake” is not a diagnosis, and it is not supposed to be. It is the scope you were asked to look at.
• Labour and parts. One line per operation with hours and your labour rate; one line per part with quantity and unit price. “Brakes” is a category, not a line.
• Totals with GST. Subtotal ex GST, GST, total inc. GST. Show the working; customers add it up.
• Authorisation. The sentence that says additional work needs approval, and the customer’s signature and date. This is what makes it a job, not a quote.
• Completion. Work carried out, parts fitted, odometer out, road test, next service due, with the vehicle inspection checklist attached. The mechanic’s half of the card, and the half most paper job cards leave blank.

Job card, job sheet or work order template? Same document

If you searched for a work order template, this is it: three names, one form. Job card is what Australian mechanical workshops say, and what the carbon-copy job card books at the trade supplier are called. Job sheet is common among tradies and in panel shops. Work order is the American term, and the one you will see in software built overseas. In Garage the same document is called a repair order, and it is the same thing: the customer’s authorisation of the work, with labour, parts and the total.

Pick one name and keep it consistent on the card, the invoice and your software. The name matters less than the fields.

How to fill in a job card at booking-in

1. Open the card before the keys change hands. Job number, date, customer, mobile, preferred contact method.
2. Rego, odometer, fuel. Rego and state, odometer in, fuel level. The odometer is the first number the customer checks when they pick up. If the car has existing damage, do the vehicle condition report at the same time.
3. Write the concern in their words. Read it back to them. If they add something, add it.
4. Quote what you can quote. If the job is a known service, fill the labour and parts lines now and get the signature. If it needs diagnosis, write the diagnostic labour line, get that signed, and use the additional-work page for the rest.
5. Get the signature. Point to the authorisation sentence. Thirty seconds, and it is the part that matters if the bill is questioned.
6. Close it properly. Work carried out, parts fitted, odometer out, next service. Then it becomes the invoice.

From job card to tax invoice

The job card is the authorisation; the tax invoice is the bill, and the two have to match. The bonus download above is the invoice the job card turns into: the same labour and parts lines, a GST column, subtotal ex GST, total GST and total inc. GST, and a field for the customer’s ABN if they are a business. It has the fields a tax invoice needs; what you put in them is between you and your accountant.

Workshops not registered for GST use the simple invoice instead: no GST line, no Tax Invoice heading. Both are in the downloads above.

Paper job cards or workshop software?

Paper works, and the job cards above are as good as any software’s default. The limit is the same as always: the card is in a folder, the customer’s last three jobs are in three folders, and the phone number is on the first one. When a customer rings about a noise you fixed last year, the question is not whether you wrote a job card. It is whether you can find it in the next minute. That is the point where workshops move the job card into software, filed under the rego, with the history behind it.

Frequently asked questions

Is a job card the same as a work order or a job sheet?

Yes. Job card is the Australian workshop term; job sheet is what many tradies say; work order is the same document in the US and in industrial maintenance. Whatever you call it, it is the customer’s authorisation of the work, with the labour, parts and totals.

What should a job card include?

The workshop’s details and ABN, a job number, the date, customer name and mobile, the vehicle’s rego and odometer reading, the customer’s concern in their own words, labour and parts lines, the subtotal, GST and total inc. GST, and the customer’s authorisation with a signature. The full job card above has all of it, plus a completion section for the mechanic.

Do I need the customer’s signature on the job card?

You want it. A signed job card is the record that the customer authorised the work and the price before you started. Without it, a disputed bill is your word against theirs. The job card with additional-work authorisation goes one step further and records each approval given during the job.

Can I put my workshop name and logo on these job card templates?

Yes. The Word versions are editable: replace the ‘Workshop name & logo’ line, add your ABN and phone, save. The PDFs print as they are on A4.

What does the tax invoice template include?

It carries the fields the ATO lists for a tax invoice: the words ‘Tax Invoice’, your identity and ABN, the date, each item with quantity and price, which lines carry GST and the GST amount, and the buyer’s identity or ABN for sales of A$1,000 or more. What goes in those fields is up to you and your accountant; check the current ATO guidance for your situation.