Work Order Overview

A work order describes the physical work for one trade on a project: who does it, when, what it costs, and which materials arrive for it. The Work Order dialog puts all of that in one place, from the first draft to the final paid bill.

It helps you keep every job moving. The status path shows exactly where the work order stands and what it is still waiting on, and one primary button in the header always offers the next step.

Quick start

1. Open the work order from the project's contract. A new work order starts in Draft.
2. In Overview, click Edit to confirm the trade, short description, and PO #.
3. In Installer & schedule, assign an installer and set the install date.
4. Add Labor items, and add Material orders if the work needs materials.
5. Click the primary button in the header (Ready to Build, or Submit for approval if your company requires approval).
6. When the work is done, click Production is Complete. The work order closes out once its bills are paid.

Header bar

The bar across the top shows the work order's PO number, a status badge, and chips for its type and trade.

• Primary button - the next step for the current status (see Status actions below).
• Hold chip - reads Set hold when the work order is moving normally, or On hold followed by the reason when it is held up. Users with production authority click it to set, change, or clear a hold; for everyone else it only displays the hold.
• Menu - the extra actions (see Menu options below).
• Work Order Locked - once a work order is Ready to Build or later, users without production authority (or executive authority) can no longer change it. A "Work Order Locked" note appears under the header; click it to read why.

Status actions

Which button you see depends on the work order's status and your permissions. In this article, production authority is the user permission "Can order and schedule projects", production close authority is "Can close out orders and permits", and approval authority is "Can management review and approve work orders". Executives have all three.

• Ready to Build - moves a Draft work order to Ready.
• Submit for approval - shown instead of Ready to Build when your company requires manager approval and none has been given yet. The work order moves to Waiting for Approval.
• Approve work order - for users with approval authority. Everyone else sees a disabled Awaiting approval.
• Assign installer / Schedule - on a Ready work order, the button points to whatever is still missing (an installer, then an install date). Only users with production authority get the Schedule button.
• Production is Complete - when the work is done. If this is the last open (non-warranty) work order on the project, you are asked to confirm first, because depending on your company settings it may also email the project team, set the contract's invoice dates, sync the contract to QuickBooks, and run your "Work Orders have been Completed" alerts.
• Close out bills - on a Closed Pending work order with unpaid bills, opens the Bills / Expenses card.
• Clear hold - on a held work order, removes the hold.
• Print work order - on a Complete work order, or a Closed Pending one with nothing left to fix.

Status actions need the Production module. Without it the primary button is Edit details (or Print work order when the work order is locked), and status tracking is not kept up to date.

Overview

A read-only summary of the work order with quick links. The card header summarizes status, installer, and install date.

• Project - the project's name. Click it for project details and the other work orders on the project. "Work order X of Y on this project" with previous/next arrows steps through them.
• Location - the job site address and a Map link. With the Production module the map also shows your suppliers by distance; without it, the link opens Google Maps.
• Info - the trade, a short description, and an Edit button for the details (below). If the work order's own trade name differs from the trade, an Alias link shows it.
• Installer - the assigned installer (click to open), with chips such as inactive, insurance expired, or insured.
• Install - the install date and times. A chip warns when a material delivery lands on the install day or after it.
• Labor - number of labor lines; with permission to see financials, also the forecast and the actual cost from bills.
• Material orders - counts by status (delivered, ordered, back-ordered, draft). Shown when the work order requires material orders or has any.

Edit details

Click Edit in the Info fact to change:

• Contract (required) - the contract the work order belongs to. Shown only when the project has more than one contract.
• PO # - your number for the work order.
• Type - Work Order (a crew completes the work), Service Call (a billable call to fix something), Warranty Call (a non-billable call), Change Order (changes from the original scope), Draft Order (still being put together; has no status steps), or Measure Order (send someone to measure and verify quantities).
• Trade - the trade the work falls under.
• Short description - optional.

Status path

The path across the bottom of the Overview shows the lifecycle: Draft, Approval (only when your company requires approval), Ready, In Progress, Closed Pending, Complete. A held work order shows "on hold" on the step it reached. Use the arrow at the left of the path to collapse it to step names.

Each step lists what it still needs. An item you can fix is a link that jumps to the right card.

• In Progress needs an installer and an install date. The work order becomes In Progress automatically once both are set. The checklist also tracks Materials ordered and Materials delivered for your information; they do not hold up the status.
• Closed Pending needs Production complete.
• Complete needs an installer, an install date, production complete, and every work order and material order bill paid or denied. Until then the work order stays Closed Pending.

A back-ordered material order puts the work order in Waiting on Materials.

Installer & schedule

Who does the work, who supervises it, and when. Each block has its own Edit button.

Installer

Click Edit to open the installer picker. The installer's name opens a card with address, contact, and recent projects; chips show whether the installer is active and insured.

Four things shape the picker:

• Event - if the work order's Event limits which installers may be used, only those appear under an "Installers for Event" heading. With no limit, every installer is available.
• Trade - installers linked to the work order's trade are listed first; the rest appear under "Non Trade." Trade only organizes the list.
• Status - active installers come first. Inactive ones appear under "Inactive Installers" and are marked "Inactive."
• Insurance - installers with expired insurance are still shown, marked "Expired Insurance."

Being listed and being assignable are separate. Two settings under Company Settings, Production Setup, Work Order Settings decide whether a flagged installer can be chosen:

• "Installers cannot be assigned to a work order if they are marked inactive" - when on, inactive installers show a warning icon instead of a Use button.
• "Installers cannot be assigned if insurance is expired" - when on, installers with expired insurance show a warning icon instead of Use.

When a setting is off, the flag is informational only. An installer whose insurance dates were never entered is treated as "not on file," not expired, and is never blocked for it.

Supervisor & inspection

Click Edit to choose the Supervisor (required) from your company's active users, and to record an Inspection date and Inspection status (Pending or Complete). Reset clears both.

Schedule

Shows the Install date, Start time, Ends on, and any Reschedule note. Users with production authority see an Edit button that opens the schedule form:

• Install date and start time - when the crew begins. The time helps place the job on the calendar; it is not a promise of the exact arrival time.
• End date and end time - when the work is expected to end. When you click Production is Complete, the date and time of the click replace the end date.
• Reschedule comment - optional. It appears at the top of the printed work order and in notifications, so everyone knows the work order was rescheduled.

Holds (waiting on a crew, materials, weather, and so on) are set from the hold chip in the header, not here.

Custom fields

Custom fields hold extra job data for the work order. This card appears only when the work order's trade has work order custom fields. Entering values can change material order and labor item quantities, and work order naming.

Importing custom field values

While the work order is editable, the three-dot menu in the Custom fields header offers two imports:

• Import Measurements - brings measurement data from an EagleView or RoofScope report ordered on this project into the custom fields mapped to that source. Click a report to preview its values before importing; a value marked derived is calculated from the report's roof planes rather than read from the report itself, and what you see in the preview is what imports.
• Import Estimates - copies custom field values from one of this project's active Estimates that shares the work order's trade. Estimate and work order custom fields for the same trade use the same field definitions, so no mapping is needed. Only fields the estimate has a value for are copied, so a blank on the estimate never clears a value on the work order. Where the work order already holds a different value, the card shows it as "currently: ..." so you can see what the import will overwrite; untick a field to keep the work order's current value.

See Trade Custom Fields

Appointments

Calendar appointments linked to the work order, such as crew visits or time tracking. The card starts collapsed. Click the green plus to add an appointment, or click a row to view it.

Material orders

The material orders that belong to this work order. Each lists the items a supplier delivers. They belong to work orders because materials are rarely ordered without a crew to use them.

• Requires material orders - turn this off for work that needs no deliveries; the material order list and the green plus are hidden. It cannot be turned off while the work order has material orders.
• The green plus creates a new material order. The table lists PO #, Type, Date, Supplier, and Status; click a row to open it.

See Material Order Overview.

Labor items

The labor lines the installer bills you for. Columns are #, Item, Qty, Cost, and Total, with a Total labor footer. Cost and Total are hidden from users who cannot see financials. Click a row to edit it; drag the handle to reorder.

• Green plus - add a labor item. An empty table also offers Add item and Import labor buttons.
• Using Event / Installer/crew costs - a selector shown to users with production authority (and who can see financials) once the card has a labor line and an installer. It switches which price list the labor costs use. Changing it asks you to confirm because it re-prices every labor item to the most current costs and cannot be undone.

Menu options

• Import list - import a saved labor list.
• Remove all items - delete every labor item on the work order (you are asked to confirm).
• Print Labor Breakdown - open a printout of the labor items. Not shown to users who cannot see financials. See Work Order Settings in Trades to customize print settings.

Instructions

What the installer reads to do the work accurately. Click the green plus to add an instruction.

• Default Instructions - set on the trade and shown here when the trade has them. Edit them in Settings, then Trades. See Trade Settings Work Order.
• Custom Instructions - instructions for this work order. Drag them to reorder.

Cost summary

An overview of the work order's costs, to help you manage profitability. The card is hidden from users who cannot see financials. Its header shows the forecast total.

• Quantity - the total of "Per Unit Prime" materials on the work order's material orders. See Material Per Unit Primary.
• Labor forecast, Labor actual (bills), Labor +/- - forecast comes from the labor items; actual comes from the work order's bills.
• Labor tax - choose a tax rate (users with production authority); Tax forecast shows the result. Shown when the project's Event has taxes available.
• Material forecast, Material actual (bills), Material +/- - the same three figures for the material orders.
• Total forecast, Total actual (bills), and Total +/-, plus per-unit figures (Forecast per ..., Actual per ...) using the trade's unit.
• Revenue (a field you can edit), Profit forecast, Profit actual - only when Utilize Work Order Revenues is on in the trade's settings.

Files

Project files and photos attached to the work order. Files added here also appear in the project's files and photos. This card appears only when Photos/Files is part of your Contractors Cloud subscription.

Albums & documents

Available with the Production module.

• Albums - pick a project album under "Pick an album to link..." and click Save. Linked albums print with the work order.
• Documents - pick a document under "Pick a document to link..." and click Save. Linked documents are available as reference while building the work order.

Click the trash icon on a row to remove the link.

Vendor portal activity

Appears only when the installer portal has logged activity on this work order. Lists each entry with its date, user, and note.

Bills / Expenses

The installer bills and expenses attached to the work order. Bills are the source of the work order's actual cost. The card is hidden from users who cannot see financials, and the green plus (add a bill) appears for users who can edit expenses.

Project Notes

Notes on this work order, shared with the project. Appears when Work Order Project Notes is set to Show in the trade's settings (Settings, Trades, Work Order Interface).

Menu options

Open the menu in the header bar. Items appear only when they apply to the current status and your permissions.

• Edit details - open the details form (Draft work orders).
• Assign installer / Change installer - open the installer picker.
• Schedule / Reschedule... - open the schedule form (production authority).
• Set hold... / Change hold... - open the hold options. Production authority is required, and a Draft work order cannot be held. Options are No hold, Waiting for Info, Waiting on Crew, Waiting on Materials, Waiting on Weather, Waiting on Other Trade, Waiting on Insurance, Waiting on Color/Size, and Waiting on Permit. Waiting for Approval is added when your company requires approval.
• Production is Complete - mark the work done (production close authority).
• Downgrade to Draft - pull the work order back out of production. Past Ready, this needs production authority.
• Reopen work order - reopen a work order that was marked production complete (production close authority).
• Print work order - open the printable work order.
• Print labor breakdown - print the labor items with costs (hidden when you cannot see financials).
• Email work order - send the work order by email.
• Layout... - choose Density (Comfortable or Compact), Width (Standard, Full, or Narrow), which sections to show, and Expand all / Collapse all. Your choices are remembered.
• Delete work order - see below.

Deleting a work order

A work order can be deleted only in Draft status. A Draft Order type, and companies without the Production module, can delete at any status. A work order cannot be deleted while one of its material orders has been sent to its supplier; move that material order to another work order on the same contract and trade first. When blocked, the menu item is greyed out and hovering it explains why. Deleting also removes the work order's labor items, instructions, custom field values, and material orders (with their items), plus the bill lines attached to the work order and its material orders; a bill left with no lines, no payments, and no QuickBooks link is removed too. Linked files and photos are unlinked, not deleted.

Getting help

Click the "?" icon in the upper right of the dialog to open the help drawer for this work order.