Yes. When a gunsmith receives a customer’s firearm for repair and retains it overnight, ATF requires it to be logged as an acquisition in the A&D book. When the firearm is returned to the customer, a corresponding disposition entry must be made. Failure to log customer firearms taken in for service is one of the most common compliance violations found at gunsmith inspections.

Warranty jobs should be flagged in your work order system with a warranty billing type that sets the customer charge to zero and tracks the reimbursement owed by the manufacturer. Log warranty jobs separately in your reporting to monitor warranty claim volume by brand, track reimbursement status, and evaluate the true cost of being an authorized warranty service center for specific manufacturers.

Automated text or email notifications triggered by work order status changes — work started, work complete, ready for pickup — eliminate the manual phone calls your staff makes throughout the day. Pickup notifications in particular are high-value: they reduce the volume of ‘is my gun ready?’ calls, get firearms out of your shop faster, and improve the customer experience without any additional staff effort.

A complete work order workflow starts at intake — logging the customer’s information, the firearm’s serial number and description, and the requested service — creating the A&D acquisition entry, assigning the job to a smith, tracking parts used, and notifying the customer when work is complete. At pickup, the system processes payment and creates the A&D disposition entry. Every step should be linked so nothing is missed.

A work order queue view that shows all open jobs by status, assigned smith, estimated completion date, and days waiting helps shop managers prioritize work and identify jobs that have been sitting too long. Setting realistic completion date estimates at intake — and updating customers proactively when timelines change — reduces frustrated customer calls and protects your shop’s reputation for reliable turnaround times.

Gunsmithing parts inventory should be tracked separately from retail shelves, with parts automatically deducted from stock when used in work orders. Set reorder points for frequently used parts so you’re never waiting on a parts order to complete a job. Job costing reports that show parts costs per work order help you evaluate whether your service pricing is covering your true costs.

Gunsmithing job pricing should account for labor time at your shop rate plus the actual cost of parts used. Pre-load standard service rates (trigger jobs, action cleaning, sight installation, etc.) for common jobs, and use time-and-materials billing for custom or complex work. Tracking actual parts costs against job revenue over time helps you identify services where your pricing is too low relative to the actual work involved.