GUIDE

Buying or Building a Self-Serve and In-Bay Automatic Carwash: What to Document First

A carwash with self-serve bays and in-bay automatic (IBA) units earns in two different ways. Count each one correctly and you can compare a seller's story with the site's own records before you commit.

1. Keep the two wash types apart

Self-serve bays and in-bay automatic units have their own bays, rated capacity, paid counts, realized prices and chemicals. Keep them in separate lines, so you can see which one actually drives the result.

2. Count washes the way the records do

• Self-serve. One completed vehicle visit in a bay is one wash session. Top-up and time-extension payments during the same visit are extra cash received, not another session.
• In-bay automatic. One completed cycle is one wash event. Failed or canceled cycles are not counted.
• Memberships and packages. A membership or package payment is cash received in the month it is paid. The washes it covers are delivered later, when members redeem them. Those redemptions are completed cycles that use water, power and chemicals, but they are not counted as a second sale. The cash moves when the payment arrives; the service is provided when the wash happens. The sample study counts the payment as cash in the month received and does not set when it is earned.
• Refunds. Direct wash refunds paid in the month reduce cash received and are matched to the original transactions.

3. Compare capacity with paid washes

Rated capacity, in vehicles per hour per bay, is a ceiling. Paid washes come from the site's controller or POS records.

Synthetic demonstration from the Starter sample report, with illustrative inputs and no real site:

The gap between the two columns is the point: a site's ceiling tells you what it could handle, not what it sells.

4. Collect these records first

1. Site address, operator, wash types, equipment models, bay count, utility providers and dates.
2. A POS or controller export for a complete period, split by self-serve and in-bay automatic. Keep refunds, free uses, packages and membership redemptions as separate records, with the actual prices paid.
3. Manufacturer capacity sheets for each bay and equipment model.
4. Water, sewer and electricity bills with meter IDs, effective tariffs, demand charges, connection fees and permits, for the same period.
5. A payroll register and shift schedule, plus dated quotes or invoices for chemicals, service, insurance, payment processing, software and occupancy.

Utilities can be split by wash type only when the site has separate meters or a dated measurement. Otherwise, treat them as a whole-site cost.

5. Your next step

Test the cash with your own numbers: Start with my numbers. Each check uses one consistent paid unit, with the costs for that same scope, and records where every number comes from. Separate checks are not added together, so shared fixed costs are not counted twice.

This guide shows what to document and how to count it. It is not a forecast, a recommendation or financial, tax or legal advice.

Questions buyers ask

Is a top-up a new wash? A top-up during the same visit adds cash to that visit. The visit is still one session.

How should I treat membership payments? Record the payment as cash when it arrives, and count redemptions as completed cycles, not as a second sale.

Can traffic counts tell me how many washes a site sells? Traffic, registrations and industry totals describe the area. Paid volume comes from the site's own controller or POS records.

What should I ask a seller for first? A complete-period controller or POS export split by wash type, with refunds, free uses and redemptions separated, plus the utility bills for the same period.