Overview

Work orders can be used to track items brought in for routine service, repair or modification. It can also be used to track purchased items that need assembly. 

 Steps

• From the Front Register >>Click which is located at top-right of your screen>>Work order.
• Add Required Fields which are Customer, Handling Type.
• Enter the work order details a description and a few notes about what needs to be done.
• Add Items - scan, enter item id of any sort or use the quick pick panel to add items to your transaction. Promotional pricing is applied automatically if an item qualifies.
• Check in new item for Customer that is being repaired (optional). 
• Enter schedule and due date (optional). 
• Assign the tech that will be working on the work order (optional). 
• Click save or collect payment.

Taking Payments

After there are parts and labor added to the work order then you will have to option to collect payments.

• Select collect payment after you have parts and/or labor added to the work order.
• Select deposit if you want to take an initial deposit on the work order.
• Select pay in full to pay the full amount.

When you take a deposit or pay in full, it will take you to the front register screen to take the payment.The Work description and any balance due remaining while show on receipt.
 

Work Order Status

• New Work Orders have a status of 'Estimate' this is equivalent to 'draft' document.
• Use Estimate if you are generating a quote or bid.
• You can't change the status until you save the work order.
• Open means the work order is active (not a draft or estimate). If you have minimum deposit order setting which you have  set you will not be able to change the status to open until you collect the minimum deposit. (Setting in Advanced Settings>>Order Settings). Once you change the status to Open and save there are other status options you can use,
• Pending, Scheduled,Ready to Pickup are all statuses which have no functional implications - they are the same as New but they can be used to mark what's going on with a given work order.
• Complete will prompt for a final payment if there is a balance due. It will also convert the Work Order to a sale and inventory will be reduced and revenue reported in sales reports.
• Use the status Canceled - on a new or estimate work order that the customer decided not to proceed with. If a deposit is already taken changing the status to cancel will bring up the refund deposit dialogue. You can choose to refund the entire deposit,partially refund the deposit or even charge the customer an additional amount. The full deposit is refunded (for accounting reasons) and any amount you wish to not refund is added to the receipt as a cancellation fee.
   

Inventory  Items on Work Orders

Adding In Stock items to work orders will 'reserve' or block the quantity added to the order by moving it from open stock to committed stock.

Out of Stock Items on Work Orders

You will get a warning when adding out of stock items to work orders. If the item has been received on a supplier shipment or store transfer (or Inventory adjustment) - you can use the Action Menu >>Item >> Stock Check  function. Any items that are now in stock will be updated so you can complete the order.

Printing Work Orders

• You must save the work order before the  Print Work Order button will be visible in the Actions Menu >> Work Order section.
• There are 3 print options:
  • Regular Print Order
  • As Estimate - just like the regular print out only the Estimate Print Message is included. You can set the estimate text in Store Operations >> System >> Admin Settings >> General Settings >> Work Order. You can include whatever disclaimer like "estimate Only' that you like.
  • As Quote  just like the regular print out only the Quote Print Message is included. You can set the quote text in  Settings >>General>> Advanced Settings >> Order Settings. You can include any quote guarantee or verbiage that you like such as "Not to Exceed Quote - Valid for 10 Days Only".
  • As Packing Slip

Workflow Options

How you work is up to you. There are several options you can use when handling items for service and repair.

• It's not necessary to create a work order if your business doesn't need to closely track repair activity. You can sell products, parts and services, labor and all from the front register. 
• Work Order Check In Customer Item - if your customer is going to drop off personal property to have it serviced or repaired you might want to use the customer item check in function in work orders. You can even print a claim tag, record serial numbers and enter a description and storage location for the repair item.
• Work Order Sell parts & Services - The work order module does not require you check in a repair item you can sell parts, services and inventory items to customers, take deposits and schedule and assign the work to technicians. Technicians can back order parts, and keep notes on their reports. Customers can be emailed when the repair is complete. There are deposit rules and anything from no deposit to paid in full can be set as a rule for taking items for service.

*Notes: You cannot take payments directly in the Work Order module. Any time you need to take a deposit or collect a payment use the Collect Payment button in Work Orders from the Front Register. That will bring you to the Front Register and an item will be already added to the receipt to collect the payment against the work order. 

Moreover, Work Order deposits and payments are not sales until the Work Order is Complete. Until it is the funds you collect will show up in your register balance and Z reports as customer deposits.

Settings That Affect Work Orders

• Settings>>General>>Advanced Settings>>Order Settings:
  • Minimum Order Deposit  (%) - minimum deposit that has to be collected before a Work Order can be set to Status 'new'
  • Default Order Type
  • Default Handling Type
  • Order Estimate Message - what you want as extra text on a printed estimate.
  • Bid/ Quote  Message - what you want as extra text on a printed quote.