P&L template for a auto repair shop
A free, self-calculating profit & loss spreadsheet set up for a auto repair shop: type your statement lines on one tab and the monthly P&L builds itself, with guidance for the categories this trade actually uses.
- Free Excel file preloaded for a auto repair shop; works in Google Sheets and Numbers too.
- Type transactions once; twelve monthly P&L columns calculate themselves.
- Category guidance for this trade: parts (cogs), payroll, shop supplies & disposal, and more.
- Transfers, card payments, and owner draws get an excluded section so they never inflate or deflate profit.
- Prefer not to type? RapidPnL builds the same P&L from your statement PDFs in minutes, reconciled to the penny, for $49.
Excel format (.xlsx), about 25 KB, free, no email required.
Download the templateWhat income looks like for a auto repair shop
Card batches from the counter terminal arrive daily under the processor's name. Fleet accounts pay by ACH on terms, insurance work arrives as checks from carriers, and customer financing (Synchrony, CarCare-type programs) pays the shop directly, with the financer's name recurring. Each channel is one pattern, categorized once, and together they are the shop's true top line. Cash tickets appear only when deposited, and a shop that deposits cash weekly builds the provable revenue record that card batches alone understate.
In the template, every deposit gets entered as a positive amount and categorized as Sales & Services Revenue (or Other Income when it genuinely is not sales). The monthly columns then show your revenue pattern at a glance, which is the first thing a lender reads.
The expense categories that matter
AutoZone Commercial, NAPA, O'Reilly, WORLDPAC, dealer parts. The biggest line, and the one that sets gross margin against labor revenue.
Techs and counter staff through a payroll service. The other half of the shop's cost structure, and the line premium auditors reconcile.
Fluids, consumables, oil recycling, tire disposal. Per-job costs that never make it onto an invoice line.
Lifts, scanners, and the tool truck's weekly visit. Big-ticket items get flagged for capitalization review with your preparer.
Bays are expensive: rent, three-phase power, compressed air, heat.
The part most templates get wrong
Transfers between your own accounts, credit card payments made from checking, owner draws, and loan principal are cash movements, not income or expenses. A homemade P&L that counts them reports the wrong profit, and it is the first thing an experienced reviewer notices. This template gives those categories a dedicated excluded section below the P&L: the cash stays tracked, the profit stays honest.
The honest test of any hand-built P&L is reconciliation: for each account and month, the beginning balance plus every line you entered must equal the printed ending balance. The Start-here tab walks through the check. If typing and checking a year of statements is more weekend than you want to spend, the auto repair shop P&L guide shows what the finished product looks like, and RapidPnL builds it from your statement PDFs in minutes.
Upload the PDFs and get a management-use profit & loss in minutes, with every statement reconciled to the penny. $49 for 3 months, then $9 each additional month. Full refund if we can't reconcile.
The free statement is read, categorized, and reconciled on screen before you pay anything. One per person; no card required.
Common questions
Parts (COGS), Payroll, Shop supplies & disposal, Equipment & tools do most of the work on this trade's P&L. The template's Start-here tab explains each one, and the dropdown carries the full chart of accounts so nothing gets forced into the wrong bucket.
Record what actually lands on the bank statement. Card batches from the counter terminal arrive daily under the processor's name. Enter each deposit as a positive amount under Sales & Services Revenue; processor fees that appear as separate debits get their own expense line.
Same engine and formulas, tuned for a auto repair shop: the Start-here tab lists the categories that matter for this trade and why, and the Transactions tab opens with example entries that look like this business's real statement lines.
Other industries
- Cleaning business →
- Contracting business →
- Restaurant →
- Food truck →
- E-commerce business →
- Landscaping business →
- Trucking business →
- Salon →
- Consulting practice →
- Handyman business →
- Photography business →
Written by a licensed CPA. This guide is general information, not tax, legal, accounting, or financial advice, and does not create a professional relationship. Lender requirements and bank websites change; confirm specifics with your lender and financial institution. RapidPnL reports are cash-basis summaries generated from customer-provided data for management use only, not audited or CPA-reviewed. © 2026 RapidPnL LLC.