Product features
What ships in the app
VAL is hosted software for tire and auto service shops, built by Future 42 LLC. Each person sees a home screen for their role: tech, sales, manager, owner, or district. The same login works in the iOS app, the Android app, and the browser at valspark.ai.
Every role
- GPS time clock. Clock-in checks you are at the shop. Clock-out works from anywhere.
- Week schedule, time-off requests, and a live who-is-on-the-floor view for managers.
- Store Check and shop checklists, split into daily, weekly, and monthly lists. Completions save for the whole crew in real time.
- Photo-proof tasks. The camera is live-only. No gallery upload.
- VAL, the shop assistant. English or Spanish. Answers come from what the owner taught plus live store data, not guessed prices.
- Daily micro-training, points, contests, leaderboard, kudos, and a rewards store.
- Contacts directory. Vendor logins stay hidden unless your role is allowed to see them.
Sales desk
- My Numbers: today and month-to-date from the nightly end-of-day report, not from self-reported tickets.
- Ticket grading after invoices land. Missed alignments, single tires, oil with nothing else offered, that kind of miss.
- Call scoring, a callback list, and coaching notes tied to the person who took the call.
- VIP fleet accounts with the shop's special-pricing rules.
Managers and owners
- Store numbers and monthly goals. The nightly report email is ingested automatically. A missing report raises an alarm.
- Photo Verify queue. Clear high-confidence passes can auto-approve. Borderline shots wait for a human.
- Teach VAL: type or dictate a policy, a price, or a play, and the next question on the floor can use it.
- Roster invites by phone number. Punch editor for bad clock times. Payroll behind a PIN, with QuickBooks when the owner connects it.
- Store settings: geofence, clock-out requirements, language defaults.
District
Multi-store owners get a roll-up across locations: combined goal, store ranking, and a district VAL for group playbooks. Floor tools (schedule, Store Check, contests) still open after you pick a store.
Usage instructions
How to run a day in the app
First login
- A manager or owner adds your phone number to the shop roster and sends an invite.
- Open VAL from the App Store, Google Play, or valspark.ai/sign-in.
- Enter that phone number and create a passcode. The app does not use a public email sign-up.
- Pick English or Spanish. You can change it later on Account.
Clock in and out
- Open Time Clock, or tap Clock in on Home.
- Allow location when the phone asks. Clock-in is checked against the shop geofence.
- Clock out at the end of the shift. Some shops require a close checklist item, a photo, or a quick mood tap before the punch saves.
Store Check and photo proofs
- Open Store Check and work the daily list.
- For a photo item, open the in-app camera, snap the shot at the shop, and submit. Do not pick a photo from the camera roll.
- Managers open Verify. Approve, or reject with a reason (blurry, incomplete, off-site). The crew gets a short retake note on a reject.
Ask VAL
- Open VAL from the menu.
- Ask in plain language: a warranty, a tire size, who is on the schedule, how a ticket should look.
- If VAL does not have this shop's fact, it says so instead of inventing a price. Owners fill that gap in Teach VAL.
Owners, first week
The full chronological playbook lives on the store onboarding page. Short version: name a store champion, get every roster phone right, connect the nightly report email, teach VAL the shop's prices and playbook, then walk each person through first login on the floor. Do not email a link and hope.
Troubleshooting
Common stalls
- Sign-in is rejected
- Your phone number has to be on this shop's team list. Ask a manager to add you, then create the passcode from the sign-in screen. There is no self-serve sign-up.
- Forgot the passcode
- Use Forgot password on the sign-in screen, or ask a manager to reset it from their Account page. Points and history stay on the account.
- Clock-in says you are off-site
- Steel buildings eat GPS. Step toward a window or the lot, confirm location permission is on for VAL, then retry. If it still fails, a manager can correct the punch later from the punch editor.
- Numbers look empty this morning
- Yesterday's figures come from the shop's end-of-day report email. If that mail is late or missing, the dashboards wait. Owners get a missing-report alarm. Check the connected inbox before assuming the app lost the day.
- Push notifications never arrive
- Open Account and check notification categories. On iPhone, also check Settings → VAL → Notifications. Critical alerts (passcode reset, report health) stay on even if you mute the rest.
- Wrong language
- Account has the English / Spanish switch. It sticks for the next launch.
- Delete an account
- Use Account inside the app, or write to the support address below. Shop owners can also remove someone from the roster.
Support contact
Who to write, and how fast
Product support for shop staff and owners: scale@ftr42.com. We reply within two business days. Same inbox as the support page.
- Sales, demos, and new-shop onboarding: hello@valspark.ai
- Security reports: security@ftr42.com
- Privacy: valspark.ai/privacy
- Terms: valspark.ai/terms
- Company security practices: ftr42.com/security
- Product updates (what changed, dated): ftr42.com/updates
This page is the public product documentation for VAL 1.0. Future 42 LLC reviews it at least annually, and whenever the shipped product changes in a way that would mislead a new user. Branded screens and copy in the app match this guide.