Creating your first work order

What this does

The work order is the record of a job in progress. It carries the customer, the vehicle, the lines, who's doing the work and where, and a status everyone in the shop can see. Invoices are created from it.

Before you start

You need a role that can create work orders (Owner, General Manager, Service Manager, Office Manager, or Service Writer). Technicians see work orders but don't create them. If the customer has approved an estimate, start from the estimate instead and use Convert to Work Order; you'll skip most of this form.

Steps

1. Go to Sales → Work Orders and choose new.
2. Title — a short description like "Oil Change, Brake Repair". This is what shows on boards and lists.
3. Customer — search by name; if they're new, add them here.
4. Vehicle — pick from the customer's vehicles. The list is empty until a customer is selected.
5. Status — leave at Estimate if you're still quoting, or set Approved or In Progress if the customer has already said go.
6. Priority and Promised Date — the promised date drives the schedule and the writer dashboard.
7. Billing type and Mileage In — billing type controls how the job is charged; mileage in is recorded on the vehicle's history.
8. Description — the work to be done. Customer Notes print on customer documents; Internal Notes stay in the shop.
9. Save. The work order gets the next number using your order prefix from Settings → Shop Profile.

Once saved, open it to add Labor and Parts lines, assign a bay and technician, source parts, and attach inspections or a diagnostic session.

Statuses

Estimate — being quoted. Approved — customer said yes, not started. In Progress — a technician is on it. Waiting Parts — blocked on a parts order. Awaiting Authorization — the customer needs to approve added work. Ready for Pickup — done, not yet collected. Delivered — collected. Invoiced and Paid — the job has been billed and settled. Declined and Cancelled — closed without work. In Storage — the vehicle is being held on site.

Work order status is set by people, not by the invoice. When you create the invoice, move the work order to Invoiced yourself; the invoice's own status (Sent, Partial, Paid) tracks the money separately.

Common problems

The vehicle dropdown says "No vehicles on file". The customer has no vehicles yet. Open the customer record and add one, or add it from the work order form.

A technician can't see the job. It hasn't been assigned to them, or its status is still Estimate. Assign it and move it to Approved or In Progress.