Summary

In this article, we will provide an overview of the functionalities offered by the Work Order Tab within your ServiceBox settings. With the Work Order Tab, you have the ability to personalize and tailor various components within your Work Orders to suit your specific requirements.

Work Order Tab: Settings

As shown in the screenshot below, this subsection offers customizable features to be included and/or removed from your Work Orders. 


Here is a list detailing the features and functions of the settings in the Settings subsection of your Work Order Tab:

  • Copy description when creating invoice:
    • Checking this box will include the description of your Work Order on any invoice created for the assigned Work Order.
  • Display Customer Instead of Work Order Number in Scheduler:
    • Checking this box will display the customer name associated with a Work Order, rather than displaying the Work Order number within the Scheduler tab. This feature may be preferred if you would like to add a personal touch to your Work Order, so the technician knows the name of the customer. Or, this feature would simply add more clarity to your technicians assigned to the Work Order.
  • Alphabetize users by first name then last name on scheduler:
    • Checking this box will alphabetize the first names of users on your scheduler, rather than alphabetizing users by last names. NOTE: by users, we mean users within your ServiceBox. 
  • Restrict Check-In One Work Order at a Time:
    • Checking this box will restrict your employees from checking in to work one more than one Work Order at a time. For example, if one of your technicians is checked in to one Work Order, they will not be able to check in to another Work Order, until they have checked out from the previous Work Order. 
  • Round Hours on Checkouts to (minutes):
    • In order to create even numbers when billing time (easier for accounting purposes), this feature allows you to input an amount of minutes that billed hours will be rounded to upon an employee checking out. For example, a checkout of 4 hours and 37 minutes will be rounded to 4 hours and 45 minutes.
  • Create Recurring Work Order Days Ahead:
    • This feature allows you to define the amount of days in advance that recurring Work Orders are created. For example, if you are creating a new recurring Work Order, and you set this recurring Work Order to be created every 6 months, this settings allows you to select the amount of days in advance of this recurring Work Order that you will see this Work Order in your system. 
  • Recurring work set Work Order date to Create Date:
    • When you set up a recurring work order. This will put the date on the work order of when the work order is created rather than when the recurring work was created. For example, if you set up a recurring Work Order in November 2021, but the most recent work from the recurring work order is scheduled on May 2022, selecting this option will display "May 2022" instead of "November 2021" on the Work Order. 
  • Default Regular Labour Cost:
    • This feature allows you to define the hourly rate charged for regular hours of labour on a Work Order.
  • Min Time Note Length:

Work Order Tab: Statuses

This subsection details the workflow status of your Work Orders, the order of the status in the Work Order is the order that each Work Order status will appear in the "Work Order" section of your ServiceBox. This is useful to help companies optimize the process of your Work Order workflow. An example of the statuses subsection is included in the following screenshot below.


Here is a list of the columns that can be modified in the Work Order Statuses subsection, including summaries of each column:

  • Description:
    • This is the name of the status as it will appear in the Work Order section of your ServiceBox.
  • Is Closed:
    • If you select this option, you will be able to give Work Orders a "Closed" status. A closed Work Order appears as a transparent section on your Scheduler. 

    • Note:ServiceBox treats closed Work Orders uniquely and there are a lot of activities that happen with closed Work Orders. Some examples include:

      • The Closed Work Order Email will be sent once a Work Order is set to “Closed”.

      • ServiceBox will check for any required information such as Signatures, Attachments, Maintenance Checklists, etc. when a Status is set to “Closed”

  • Is Cancelled:
    • Allows you to assign a cancelled status to Work Orders.
  • Archive After Months:
    • This feature allows you to archive a Work Order according to its status. For example, if you use this feature on Work Orders with a "closed" status. You can set your closed Work Orders to be archived after your desired amount of months, removing it from your Work Order list.
  • Send Email:
    • If you select "yes" for this feature, then an email will be sent once the Work Order is changed to a "closed" status. NOTE: You must enable the "Close Work Order Email" feature in your "Close Work Order Setup" subsection (discussed later in this article) of your Work Order Tab.
      *Giving permission to system to follow the instructions on the closed Work Order tab or En Route setup to go ahead and send email to the recipient.
  • Restricted:
    • Selecting "yes" will restrict Work Orders with this status. These Work Orders will only be accessible to your ServiceBox administrators.
  • Disabled:
    • If there is a status you no longer need, you can disable it with this feature.
  • Admin Only:
    • By selecting this feature associated with a specific Work Order status. Only your administrators will be able to see Work Order with that assigned status.
  • Change Quote Status:
    • This allows you to automate your Quote Status processes in relation to your Work Order status. For example, if a Work Order status is changed to "scheduled", this feature allows you to also change your Quote status to "scheduled" automatically. 
  • Additional Tips:
    • If you are using the En Route Settings (A subsection of the Work Order, discussed later in this article), we suggest adding a Work Order status titled "En Route". 
    • If you have somebody that will review Work Orders before they are invoiced, we suggest adding a work order status titled "Reviewed".
    • Take some time to consider your desired work flow for your business and your Work Orders, and adjust this list accordingly. 

Work Order Tab: List Settings

Enabling the features of the list screen provides users with the option to apply advanced filtering and sorting capabilities on the Work Order list screen.



Work Order Tab: Categories

In this subsection, you can define categories in order to group all Work Orders and recurring Work Orders in your ServiceBox. These categories will appear in the drop-down menus under "Work Orders" and "Recurring Work" on the left-hand side of your ServiceBox screen. All you need to do is assign a name and colour to your Work Order categories. 

The screenshot below shows you some examples of Work Order categories. 

Work Order Tab: Custom Fields

This subsection allows you to include custom fields in your Work Order. As shown in the screenshot below, each new custom field requires a name and a type, and ServiceBox includes additional features that can be added to custom fields (listed below)

After naming your custom field, you must assign a "type" to this field, selected from a dropdown menu including the following field types:

  • Multi-Line Text: 
    • This includes a textbox that allows multiple lines of text.
  • Single-Line Text:
    • This includes a textbox that allows a single line of text. 
  • Dropdown:
    • This allows you to enter in multiple items from which one item can be selected in a dropdown menu.
  • Multi-Select:
    • Similar to Dropdown, this allows multiple items to be selected.
  • Checkbox:
    • This will include a checkbox.
  • Date: 
    • This will display a textbox that includes a calendar, so the user can choose a date associated with a Job Site.
  • Customer Contact:
    • Includes a text box to indicate customer contact.
  • Customer Email:
    • Includes a text box to indicate customer email.
  • Customer Phone:
    • Includes a text box to indicate customer phone. 
  • Customer Phone (Link to Contact):
    • If there is a phone number linked with the customer profile for the Work Order, selecting this feature will display the phone number linked with this profile.
  • Customer Email (Link to Contact)
    • If there is an email linked with the customer profile for the Work Order, selecting this feature will display the email linked with this profile.
  • Customer Contact (Link to Contact)
    • If there is a contact linked with the customer profile for the Work Order, selecting this feature will display the contact linked with this profile.
  • Restricted Dropdown:
    • Allows your ServiceBox administrators to define which options that your technicians can choose from within this drop down list. Technicians will only be able to choose from these restricted options.
  • Restricted Multi-Select:
    • Allows your ServiceBox administrators to define which options that your technicians can choose from within a multi-select list. Technicians will only be able to choose from these restricted options.
  • Job Site Contact
    • Includes a text box to indicate Job Site Contact
  • Job Site Email
    • Includes a text box to indicate Job Site email.
  • Job Site Phone
    • Includes a text box to indicate Job Site phone number
  • Job Site Phone (Link to Contact)
    • If there is a phone number linked with the Job Site profile for the Work Order, selecting this feature will display the phone number linked with this Job Site.
  • Job Site Email (Link to Contact)
    • If there is an email number linked with the Job Site profile for the Work Order, selecting this feature will display the email linked with this Job Site.
  • Job Site Contact (Link to Contact)
    • If there is a contact linked with the Job Site profile for the Work Order, selecting this feature will display the contact linked with this Job Site.

Settings:

 

  • Restricted:
    • Check this box if the information gathered in your custom field is confidential and only to be viewed by your administrators.
  • Display on Invoice:
    • Checking this box will include the information gathered from the custom field on your Work Orders.
  • Print on Invoice:
    • Checking this box will include the information gathered from the custom field on your printed Work Orders.
  • Show on Scheduler:
    • Checking this box will include the information gathered from the custom field on your scheduler.
  • Show on Work Order List:
    • Checking this box will include the information gathered from the custom field on your Work Order list.
  • Required to Close:

    • Checking this box will mean information for the custom field must be entered before you are able to close the Work Order.

  • Restricted Print:
    • Checking this box will restrict print of that specific custom field on the work order print that would eventually go as pdf to client. 
  • Use in Search:
    • ServiceBox allows users to use custom fields for sorting and filtering the work order list. However, certain field types such as email or phone number are not currently supported for this purpose. Custom fields that are single line, restricted date, checkbox, or multiline can be utilized for advanced filter criteria by enabling the "Use in Search" option. 

Work Order Tab: Service Charges

A service charge is typically a code that triggers a charge applied to the invoice and isn't typically related to specific hours worked. There can be multiple types of service charges for different purposes. Occasionally a service charge will have time implications for a tech in that the company will apply hours to a technician's time sheet based on the service charge that was applied.


To start using Service Charges in your company open up the settings screen at username -> Settings. Navigate to Plan -> Features, under the Workorder Features there is an option called "Service Charges" to enable it please check off the box. 

  • Charge Code
    • This is the Alpha Numeric code that will be added by the technician into the labour section inside of the time and materials tab in the Work Order.
  • Category
    • This is the Invoice category where an item will be added once a time and materials invoice is generated. The Item field will populate a list of corresponding items for selection. 
  • Item
    • This is the list of items based on the Category column.
  • Invoice Quantity
    • When the invoice is created, it will add the item into the corresponding category and the quantity entered here will be automatically populated.
  • Timesheet Hours

    • If you want to associate timesheet hours with a service charge, you can enter the hours in this field, and the system will calculate the corresponding amount.

Work Order Tab: Signatures

This subsection allows for your customers and employees to input their signatures and along with additional comments to be communicated. An example use-case of the Signatures subsection is shown in the following screenshot. 

A list of features in this Signatures subsection, along with their descriptions, are as follows:

  • Message for Customer:
    • The text entered in this field will be included for the customer when they to enter their signature. This message will also be displayed when printed on the Work Order.
  • Make Customer Signatures Required:
    • Checking this box will make it so that a customer signature is required before a Work Order can be closed.
  • Allow for Employee Signature:
    • Checking this box will allow for your employees to also include their signature on the Work Order.

  • Message for Employee:

    • The text entered in this field will be communicated to your employee when they include their signature on the Work Order. This message will also be displayed on printed Work Orders.

  • Make Employee Signatures required when Work Order Status is set to closed:

    • This will make it so that an employee signature will be required before the Work Order can be closed. 

Work Order Tab: Print Setup

This subsection allows you to customize many of the items included when printing a Work Order. Any additions you add to this section of your Work Order print setup up, will automatically be set as your default print settings for your Work Orders.

As shown in the following screenshot, you can customize the format of your printed Work Order, by adjusting the margin size and layout. You can also choose whether or not to include your company logo on your printed Work Orders.

 

Here are some more detailed description of the Print Setup subsection:

  • Work Order Label:
    • The label you input in this field will appear on your printed Work Order. 
  • Additional Contact Info:
    •  In this text box, input any additional info you would like to appear one your Work Order. In this section, we recommend inputting your email address and your phone number so they show up at the top of your printed Work Orders. 
  • Customer Reference Field Name:
    • If you would like to keep track of POs or Work Order numbers from certain customers, then input that associated information into this field (ie. a specific customer's PO number).
  • Print Checkmarks:
    • Checking off any of the print options at the bottom of this subsection will allow for these items to also be included on printed Work Orders.
  • Default Work Description:
    • In this section, if there is a standard description that you would like applied to your standard Work Order description for ALL of your Work Orders, you can input that description in this section, so you will not have to input this description every time a Work Order is created.

Work Order Tab: Email Setup

This subsection allows you to define default values for your outgoing emails regarding Work Orders. Any values set in this screen will load when a new Work Order email is created. An example is shown in the following screenshot. 

Click here for more information regarding automated email templates.

NOTE: If you check off "Read Receipts", it will send an automatic email notification to you, informing you that the recipient has read your email. 

We have special fields that can be inserted into the subject line or the body of Work Order emails. You can insert these fields by clicking "insert" (highlighted in red in the above screenshot), and selecting the field you would like to insert. An example of this is {{workordernumber}}. This will input the current Work Order number into the email, without requiring you to input the Work Order number yourself, saving you time! This feature may be used for the following inputs:

  • Company logo: {{companylogo}}
  • Company name: {{companyname}}
  • Company Address: {{companyaddress}}
  • Work Order Number: {{workordernumber}}

Work Order Tab: En Route Setup

This is a setting that will allow a user to send an email to a customer, informing them that a technician is on the way to the Job Site. This is triggered by a status change and on the Status change an email will be sent. The email formatting, (including shortcuts to include certain values), and the same as the email settings in the above subsection.

Work Order Tab: Day Before Setup

A way of sending an automatic email notification to customers. The notification could be sent on the basis of the technician's scheduled date. Select the amount of days prior to the scheduled date that you would like the email notification to be sent to the customer. You can then define the body of the text that will be emailed to you customers.

NOTE: Check "Send to Customer Email by Default" if you would like to send a day-before notification to all of your clients. 

Work Order Tab: Close Work Order Setup

If the user wants to send an email within the company once the Work Order is set to “Closed” they can enter the settings in this subsection. The email formatting, (including shortcuts to include certain values), and the same as the email settings in the above two subsections.

Work Order Tab: Alerts

This subsection allows notifications of a Work Order's change of status to be sent to a ServiceBox user and/or company email address. An example is shown in the following screenshot.

Note the difference between an "Assigned User" and a "Scheduled User:

The Assigned User is not necessarily an individual who actual does any physical labour on the Work Order to complete the "job". They may be a Project Manager or Foreman for the "job". It is the person who is responsible to see that the job is Closed and that the company can then Invoice the Work Order, and create revenue. 

The Scheduled User is the person who will do the physical work on the Work Order/job. That said, in most smaller companies ServiceBox has as clients, the Assigned User may very well be the Scheduled User on the Work Order, to work on and complete the "job".


Work Order Tab: Suppliers

  • If you are an existing client utilizing the purchase order tab within the work order and would like to display the supplier name, kindly reach out to our support team. They will be able to assist you in enabling this setting. We are excited to announce the introduction of a fully functional vendor order feature within ServiceBox. For more information and access to the vendor settings, please follow this link Vendor User Guide

Work Order Tab: Check in/Checkout

This section allows for your employees to indicate the status of a Work Order upon checking in and checking out of a Job Site. This saves times for your technicians, rather than manually changing the Work Order Status. 

An example can be seen in the following screenshot.

  • Automatically set Work Order status on Checkout
    • This automates the process of changing a Work Order status upon checking out, saving time for your technicians.
  • Allow setting Work Order status on Checkout:
    • This allows your technicians to choose the Work Order status on checkout. Your technician will be able to choose the status of a Work Order on checkout. The reason for this is because your Technicians may know the status of a Work Order better than anyone, so this allows them to ensure the status of the Work Order is accurate when they check out.