The problem
After a busy weekend, someone has to type up invoices for every private hire and add up each school contract for the month. If an operator raises 80 private hire and 12 contract invoices a month at 8 minutes each, that's 736 minutes, about 12.3 hours a month, and invoices go out late.
What the AI does
Coach Manager's product page says invoices for both private hire and contract bookings are generated automatically from the details of each booking and posted into its built-in sales ledger as each is produced. Clients can see a statement of account and make secure card payments in the Online Client Portal. You check each booking is complete, with extras like waiting time added, and the invoice follows from it.
A worked example
A 10-coach operator in Kent doing about 80 private hires a month and 12 home-to-school contracts, invoicing from a separate accounts package.
Before
92 invoices a month at about 8 minutes each: about 12.3 hours a month
After
About 2 minutes per invoice to check the booking and approve: about 3.1 hours a month
What it's worth
About $245£184€219A$353C$346 a month saved, against $152£114€136A$219C$214 to $173£130€155A$250C$244 for Coach Manager. That's about 9.2 hours (12.3 minus 3.1) at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour. At about 960 private hire movements a year, capacity level Two (2,000 a year) on Express is $151.29£113.75€135.36A$218.40C$213.85 a month excluding VAT; vendor hosting of the portal adds $21.61£16.25€19.34A$31.20C$30.55. If you already use Coach Manager for quotes, the invoicing comes with it.
How to set it up
- Agree with your accountant how Coach Manager's sales ledger will feed your accounts; a Sage 50 link is listed at $21.61£16.25€19.34A$31.20C$30.55 a month.
- Set up your customers, contract rates and VAT treatment in Coach Manager.
- Make sure every booking includes the agreed extras, such as waiting time, tolls and parking, before the trip.
- Run a month of invoices alongside your old method and compare totals.
- Send organizers the client portal link so they can see statements and pay by card.
What goes wrong
- Invoices come from the booking, so a missing extra on the booking means a missing charge on the invoice.
- If you use accounting software other than Sage 50, ask how the sales ledger gets into it before you commit.
- Home-to-school contracts may have their own invoicing format required by the council. Check it can match.
- Card payments in the portal will carry a processing fee; the page doesn't say how much.