Stock that is a guess
The forecourt is the balance sheet. If it is wrong, everything is wrong.
Garages & dealers
Motor-trade accounts that understand stock, warranty and a workshop clock.
Used cars, service bays, parts and VAT on the bit that is not a car.
Garages & dealers
Motor Industry
- The tell
- Margin scheme · stock · workshop
- Software
- Xero · Sage · QB · FreeAgent
- Reply
- Same day before 4pm
What we usually fix
- Stock that is a guess
- VAT on cars vs labour
- A busy workshop with no GP
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What this sector actually gets wrong
Garages and dealers live on thin metal margins and busy workshops. We look after motor businesses that need stock valued properly, VAT treated correctly on cars vs labour, and a payroll for technicians that does not fight the clocking system.
VAT on cars vs labour
Margin scheme, fuel scale, parts. Easy to mix, expensive to undo.
A busy workshop with no GP
Hours sold look fine. Parts and comebacks eat it.
You probably need this if
The garages and dealers who call us
- Forecourt stock is a guess
- Margin scheme and standard VAT are mixed on the same invoice book
- Workshop GP disappears into parts
- A dealer management system has never spoken to the accountant
Motor Industry
Who we act for
Independents and workshops
Hours sold versus parts and comebacks: two margins.
Used-car dealers
Margin scheme, stock that is the balance sheet.
Mixed sites
Sales, service, parts, hire, split in the ledgers.
What sits in the monthly fee.
4 lines, all included
- Stock discipline
- A method that matches how you actually buy and sell.
- Workshop vs sales
- Two margins, one set of books.
- VAT schemes
- The one that fits the mix, reviewed when the mix changes.
- Payroll for the bay
- Technicians, apprentices, commission.
Then the calendar takes over.
- 01
Walk the site
Or a video walkthrough. We need to see how the tickets move.
- 02
Split the ledgers
Cars, parts, labour, warranty.
- 03
Monthly pack
Aged stock and workshop GP, the two numbers that keep you honest.
From the files
The next VAT return was dull. HMRC did not write.
What actually happened
An independent garage mixing margin scheme and standard VAT
We unpicked a year of mixed invoices and put a rule in the software the service desk could follow.
In plain English
Motor Industry accounting, written properly
Thin metal, busy bays
Garages and dealers live on stock that must be valued and VAT that is not the same on a car as on labour. We split cars, parts, labour and warranty in the books, pick the VAT scheme that fits the mix, and run payroll for technicians and apprentices without fighting the clocking system.
The second-hand margin scheme is the first thing we check
It is also the first thing that goes wrong when a service desk invents a rule. We put the rule in the software they actually use, import from the dealer system where we can, and issue a monthly pack with aged stock and workshop GP, the two numbers that keep a motor business honest.
Motor Industry questions
Yes. It is one of the first things we check on a dealer file.
We will connect or import. We do not ask you to retype the day.
Yes, fleet, capital allowances and VAT on the hire sit in the same conversation.
Both offices
One number. Whichever desk you land on.
01925 670289Or message us on WhatsApp- Warrington
- Ragan House, 674 Knutsford Road, WA4 1JHMap
info@countplus.co.uk
Monday–Friday, 9:00–17:00. Same-day response before 4pm.
Write to a human
Accounts, tax or consultancy. Pick a topic.
Countplus Accounting, since 2019
Talk to an accountant who already works with garages and dealers.
A monthly number in a minute, or a conversation with the person who would do the work.
Get a quote, or call the desk on 01925 670289, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Write before 4pm and a named person answers the same day.