Work Orders

Work Orders are the record for a customer job from first request through to invoice — who it's for, what's being done, who's doing it, and what it costs. This is the office/dispatcher view; the assigned worker's own view is My Jobs.

Who can use it — Work Orders is part of the Trade Pack add-on and only appears for workspaces that have it enabled. Within a Trade Pack workspace, access is permission-gated: you need "view work orders" to open the list, "manage work orders" to create or edit one, "dispatch work orders" to assign workers and dispatch, "manage work order billing" to record invoices, and "send work order customer outputs" to email quotes or job cards to the customer. Ask your workspace admin if an action is missing — see Roles & Permissions. If your workspace doesn't have Trade Pack at all, the whole section is hidden; that's covered in Trade Pack Settings.

Where to find it — Trade Pack → Work Orders in the sidebar.

How to use it

Create a work order. Click New work order. Choose Create as Quote or Job (the default follows your workspace's Trade Pack setting) — a Quote starts in the pricing/negotiation phase, a Job goes straight into the workable job flow.
Set the customer. Pick Customer type: an Existing client (search your client list, then optionally pick a Requested By and Site Contact from that client's contacts) or a One-off customer (just a name, phone, email — no client record needed).
Describe the job. Fill in Title, Scope / description, any Customer reference or Purchase order number, and Site access notes (gate codes, parking, dogs on site, etc.).
Set Priority — Low, Normal, High, or Urgent.
Add the schedule — Requested, Due, Scheduled start, and Scheduled end dates/times.
Add the service address under Service address (collapsed by default) — street, city, state, postcode, country.
Add quote & billing details — Quoted amount, whether it's a Fixed quote or an estimate, a Not to exceed cap, Quote valid until, and whether the job is Billable. Quote notes and Internal notes are free text (internal notes are for your team only).
Save. A Quote starts at status Quote; a Job starts at Draft, ready to schedule and dispatch.

Status lifecycle

Each work order carries one status, shown as a coloured badge. The system enforces which moves are allowed — you can't skip a step, and every change is logged with who made it.

Quote phase (optional):

Quote — being priced up. From here you can Send quote (emails a PDF quote to the customer and auto-advances to Quote Sent), Mark sent (no email) if you quoted by phone or in person, Accept quote (customer said yes — converts the record into a workable job at Draft), or Mark lost (requires a reason; a separate outcome from Cancelled so wins/losses report correctly).
Quote Sent — quote has gone to the customer. From here: Accept quote or Mark lost.
Lost — terminal. The quote didn't convert.

Job phase:

Draft — the job exists but hasn't been dispatched. Set a Scheduled start and assign at least one worker before you can dispatch.
Dispatched — sent to the assigned worker(s), who see it on their My Jobs list. Requires a scheduled start date and at least one active worker assignment.
In Progress — a worker has started the job. Only a worker actually assigned to the job can start it.
Completed — the worker has recorded what was done. The system blocks completion until all time-tracking timers are stopped, a Work performed summary is entered, and the worker has answered whether the works were fully completed (if not, a Remaining work description is required). This is captured on My Jobs, not the office form.
Ready for Invoice — click Mark ready for invoice once the job is Completed. Blocked if any labour entries are still in Draft or Submitted status — all labour must be approved first.
Invoiced — click Record invoice and enter the invoice number/reference (required), an optional invoice link, and the invoice amount. Requires manage work order billing permission.
Closed — click Close once Invoiced. Terminal.

Side states, available from most active statuses (requires manage work orders): Put on hold (pauses a Draft/Dispatched/In Progress job) and Cancel (available from Quote through On Hold; terminal).

Assigning workers

Open the Workers tab on a work order to see and manage assignments (requires dispatch work orders):

Assign worker — pick the worker and their Role on the job (Lead, Technician, or Observer).
Remove — takes a worker off the job without deleting the historical record.

At least one active worker assignment is required before a job can be dispatched, and only an assigned worker can move the job to In Progress from their own My Jobs list.

Materials, photos, and payments

Materials tab — log parts and consumables used on the job: description, quantity, unit, SKU, supplier docket number, supplier, cost, billable amount, and a status (Draft, Approved, Invoiced, Void). Requires manage work orders to add or edit.
Photos tab — upload job photos, grouped by stage: Quote/Intake photos before the job's accepted, then Before, During, After, and Completion photos once it's a job. Each photo can carry a caption. Photos are stored privately and only viewable through the app.
Payments tab — record customer payments taken on the job (cash, card, EFTPOS, bank transfer, cheque, other), with amount, date received, and a reference. Recording requires record work order payments (and payment capture must be enabled for your workspace); a manager with manage work order billing can then Verify, Void, or Refund a recorded payment.

Workers can also add materials and photos, and record payments, from their own My Jobs view while on site.

Customer documents

From the work order's View page you can:

Job card PDF — download a PDF job card for the record (anyone with view access).
Send quote — email a quote PDF to the customer, or Mark sent (no email) if you sent it another way.
Send job card — once the job is Completed, Ready for Invoice, or Invoiced, email the customer a completion summary or a receipt.

Flowing to Ready for Invoice

The path from job to billing is deliberately gated so nothing gets invoiced half-done:

The assigned worker records their Work performed summary and confirms whether the job is fully complete on My Jobs — this moves the work order to Completed.
Any outstanding time (labour) entries must be approved — the office can't mark the job Ready for Invoice while labour sits in Draft or Submitted.
Once ready, Ready for Invoice is where invoicing is actioned across jobs — or you can Record invoice directly from this work order.

Connected pages

Dispatch Board — the scheduling view for dispatching and rescheduling work orders across your crew.
My Jobs — the worker's own view of assigned jobs: start/stop time, add materials and photos, record payments, and complete the job.
Ready for Invoice — where completed, approved jobs are turned into invoices.
Trade Pack Settings — workspace-level Trade Pack configuration, including the default new-work-order mode (Quote vs Job) and payment capture.
What is Subgrade? — how Trade Pack fits into the wider app.

Tips & common mistakes

Can't dispatch? You need a Scheduled start date and at least one active worker assignment — both are checked before the move to Dispatched is allowed.
Worker can't start the job? Only a user actually assigned to that work order (Workers tab) can move it to In Progress — assign them first.
Can't complete the job? Stop any running timers, and make sure Work performed (and Remaining work, if the job isn't fully done) has been entered on My Jobs.
Can't mark Ready for Invoice? Check the Materials/labour entries aren't still sitting in Draft or Submitted — they need approving first.
Lost vs Cancelled — use Mark lost for a quote the customer declined (so it reports separately as a lost sale), and Cancel for a job that's being called off entirely.
One-off customer vs existing client — switching Customer type clears the fields for the option you're not using, so a job never ends up carrying both a client link and one-off contact details.