Parts and Service Access, Trials, and Reopen Permissions

Access to Parts & Service comes from two independent things: whether the lot carries the Parts & Service module (a paid subscription or an active free trial), and what is ticked on the Parts & Service tab of each user's record. Neither of them hides the Parts and Service menus from the sidebar, which surprises people. This article explains what each one actually controls.

Questions this answers

• "We're only on a free trial of the Parts & Service module right now — will my service writers actually be able to use the Fixed Ops screens, or is that locked until we pay?"
• "One of my employees says they can't see the Fixed Ops menu at all — is that a subscription problem or a permissions problem on their user account?"
• "Do I need a higher permission level to close out a repair order than to just create one, or is it the same access either way?"
• "I left a repair order open on my screen for a while during lunch and now saving it throws an authorization error even though I'm still logged into the DMS — why?"

This article is only about Parts & Service access: the module subscription, the Parts & Service tab on a user record, and staying signed in on those screens. It is not about general DeskManager sign-in problems, and it is not about role permissions for deals, inventory or accounting.

During a free trial, everything works normally

A trial is treated exactly like a paid subscription. Starting the trial switches the module on for the lot immediately, sets up the starting data for Parts & Service, and your service writers can build repair orders, take payments and cash out with no restrictions. Nothing is read-only, nothing is watermarked, and nothing you create during the trial is discarded when you subscribe.

The offer window shows where you stand: Start Free! before you begin, On Trial while it runs, and Trial Expired afterwards, alongside the monthly price per active lot. Starting a trial or subscribing is limited to users with the System Admin role.

The Parts and Service menus are always in the sidebar

There is no subscription setting and no user permission that removes Parts or Service from the sidebar. Both items are shown to every signed-in user, so "the menu is gone" is not the symptom of either problem. What changes without the module is what happens when you click:

• With the module (paid or trial): the menu expands to its screens — Parts Inventory, Service Invoice List, New Service Invoice, RO Type List, Labor Code List and the rest.
• Without the module: the menu does not expand at all. Clicking anything on it opens the subscription offer window instead. A red New badge sits on both menus until the module is switched on.

The one place the module really does hide things is Settings. The Parts and Service groups in Settings — Part Categories, Part Kits, Bin Locations, Statuses, Service Settings and so on — are only listed when the lot has the module.

So if one employee reports they cannot get into Parts & Service while everyone else can, do not start with the subscription: it applies to the whole lot, so everyone at that lot would see the same thing. Check instead that they are switched to the right lot, and that the lot they are on is the one carrying the module. A dealership can hold the module on some lots and not others.

What is set per user

Open the user's record and go to the Parts & Service tab. It lists every lot that carries the module, and under each lot:

All three reopen boxes are off by default on a new user; Service Writer is ticked by default for a new user at a lot that has the module.

No, closing does not need a higher permission than creating

Reopening is the only Parts & Service action with its own permission. Creating a repair order, editing it, adding parts and labor, taking payment, cashing it out and voiding it are all covered by the same access — anyone who can open the screens and create a repair order can also close one. There is no separate "can close" or "can void" tier to grant.

The practical control over closing is therefore not a permission at all: it is the checklist the Cash Out button enforces (balance due at zero, a service writer assigned, the invoice saved, and off any estimate status). See the article on cashing out and reopening a repair order.

If you want a writer who can finish work but not undo it after the fact, that is exactly what the reopen boxes are for: leave Can reopen Service Invoices unticked and they can cash out but cannot put a closed RO back into play.

An authorization error after leaving a screen sitting open

Parts & Service screens carry their own short-lived access pass, separate from your main DeskManager sign-in and renewed roughly every hour. The page renews it for you in the background, and if a save is refused it fetches a fresh one and retries once. Under normal conditions a repair order left open over lunch just saves.

An authorization error means that renewal itself failed — almost always because your DeskManager session in that browser has ended, even though the page on screen still looks signed in. A browser that was asleep or offline at the wrong moment does it too.

What to do:

1. Open DeskManager in another tab and confirm you are still signed in. Sign in again if you are not.
2. Reload the Parts & Service screen. This issues a fresh pass.
3. Re-enter the work and save. Anything you had typed but not saved is lost — the reload does not preserve unsaved lines, so note the parts and labor down before reloading.

Save a long-running repair order before stepping away. If a fresh page and a confirmed sign-in still produce the error, contact support.