Newbie Help, hoping to adapt software to my needs.

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I want to use this software as an automotive work order, including both labour hours/job description then associated parts for that particular job listed under it. Then a space for the next job, and so on. Seems this software is not really capable as such, I cannot choose both "hours" and "QTY" on the same invoice for one, and there appears to be no way to insert a blank line between jobs. I feel this software combined with inventory should be able to give me everything I need, if I can just work some compromises into the invoicing. It may not be perfect, but I hope I can make it work. Even if I could bold the labour job which would help identify the parts pricing underneath and separate that from the next following labour job it would help immensely but I cannot change to bold except for globally. Anybody have any suggestions?

borate

Some AI suggestions, not guaranteed to be 100% accurate...

"NCH Express Invoice can be adapted for automotive work orders, but there are limitations and some workarounds are necessary to approximate the workflow you want. The software supports both inventory items (with quantities) and service/labor items (often measured in hours), though mixing both dynamically on a single job line and advanced formatting (like bold for just one job line) are limited.

Key Capabilities and Limitations

You can add both product parts (using “quantity”) and labor/service (using “hours” as a pseudo-quantity with a “service” item) into a single invoice, but each line only supports one measurement type (either hours or quantity, not both for the same line).
Labor can be entered as a line item with “hours” set as quantity and “Labor” or your job description as the item name/description, followed by parts as separate inventory items with their own “quantity”.
There is no native way to insert a blank line or add a visual separator between jobs within a single invoice. Customization of invoice appearance is basic, and there’s no text formatting (like individual bold) on a per-line basis—text style options apply only globally to all lines.
Express Invoice allows some template editing, but the ability to bold or separate lines inside invoices for clarity (for labor vs. parts beneath it) is absent.
Integration with NCH Inventoria can help manage your parts inventory in tandem with Express Invoice.

Workarounds and Recommendations

Enter each job as its own cluster of lines: start with a “Labor” or job description line (typed clearly), then follow with associated parts for that job.
Use clear item descriptions (e.g., “JOB 1: Brake Replacement - Labor,” then lines below as “Brake Pad, Qty 2,” etc.), making it readable even without blank lines or bold formatting.
If space is needed, enter a “dummy” item with a description like “---” or “(blank line)” and zero quantity to simulate a spacer (though this is not visually perfect).
Template customization is limited, but you may find a template with clearer separation, or export invoices to PDF to manually annotate for clarity.
For more advanced formatting (variable bold, indents, etc.), you would need a more customizable invoicing system or export to a PDF/text editor after issuance for final adjustments.

Inventory and Integration

Inventory and parts can be managed and tracked if you use NCH Inventoria alongside Express Invoice.
All labor or service items should be pre-entered as inventory/services, even if the concept is unconventional for “services” (i.e., treating labor as a stock item with hours as quantity)."

Manyheno

You can usually work around the hours vs QTY issue by treating hours as a line item with a fixed value field, then adding parts as normal items under it. I’ve done something similar in my shop setup.