Tasks & Work Orders Overview

Manage work orders, billable time, and task details.

In this article

Getting Started | Features | Enhancements | Video Walkthrough | Sample Reports and Scenarios

Getting Started

The task module is useful in managing a variety of work orders, phone calls, contact notes, and other tasks. These tasks are conveniently associated with workers, sales orders, serialized items, timecard detail, and jobs. 

Scheduling and printing work orders

The task module can be used to schedule work orders for almost any service business. The task work order system is a power tool for electricians, equipment repair technicians, installation departments, HVAC companies, computer repairmen, manufacturers, and almost any type of repair or service business. Review the Using Tasks as Work Orders section for more details.

• The scheduling tools allows the user to group tasks by date, work group, or employee. Graphs display available time and a schedule overview. Review the Scheduling section for more details.
• The task module is a powerful tool to track the time and materials for T&M jobs or track the actual time spent on projects with an estimated time. Review the Time and Material Tasks vs. Contract Tasks section for details on using tasks to track time. Review the Estimated, Billable, and Actual Time section for details on the various task time tools.  

• Group by task type: Review Creating Task Types and Defaults for instructions to create different types of tasks.

• Group tasks by manager: Review Approving Tasks and Assigning a Manager for instructions to identify managers.

• Group by worker or work group: Review Work Groups for more details on scheduling by groups of workers.

• Group by schedule: Review the Scheduling section for more details.

• Group by worker: View the Task tab of a worker record. Review Creating Groups for more information on how to organize and group tasks. 

• Group by vehicle, equipment, or serialized item: Review the Task tab of a serialized item. Review Linking Tasks to a Serialized Item for more details on serialized items.  

• Group by job: Review Using Tasks and Job Costing for details.

• Group by custom query: Review Creating Queries for instructions to create custom grouping or queries.  

• Query options: Review Creating Customer Task Queries for query setup instructions.

• Group options: Review Creating Task Groups for multiple level group setup instructions.

• Multiple views: Review Creating Multiple Tasks Views to create multiple view tabs.  

• Associated task views: Review Associated Tasks to show multiple associated task tabs within a task.

• Monitor tasks by status: Review Task Status Settings for details.

• Use MyTime on a tablet or laptop for remote work order management:  Review MyTime Overview for details.

• Define a pipeline process with multiple phases:  Review the Task Pipeline Phases section for details on creating multiple phases per task type.

• Create tasks from a proposal or sales order: Review Creating a Task from a Proposal or Quote for details.

• Time and Materials (T&M) billing options: Review Time and Material Tasks vs. Contract Tasks for details.

• Flat rate labor billing: Review Attaching a Task to a Service Item for instructions on creating service codes with pricing and creating tasks from the quote or sales order.  

• Billing parts and supplies: Review Recording Parts and Materials for details.

• Billing work orders remotely: Review Billing the Customer from MyTime for options for the technician to bill for the service while at the customer's site.

• Applying costs to a job: Review Using Tasks and Job Costing for details.

• Applying costs to a serialized item such as a vehicle or equipment: Review Linking Tasks to a Serialized Item for details

Use Cases:

Manage Work Orders

Evaluating the billable time for a service company: Managing a service company or division requires effective tools to measure the efficiency of labor and employees. Comparing billable time to the actual time is a powerful way to evaluate the profitability of individual employees or an entire service department. The task module allows the user to manage labor more effectively by quantifying the billable time using different work codes within payroll. The management reports within EBMS allow the personnel manager to base employee pay on his/her efficiency and performance. Review the Billable Time section for more details.

Salesperson’s contact manager: The task module is a useful tool for a salesperson to track worker information, sales contacts, and other worker relation information. Review the Using Tasks as a Contract Manager section for more details.

Logging worker support contacts: The task module includes a number of features to log, organize, and evaluate phone calls, service calls, and follow up contacts. Review the Using Phone Tasks section for more details.

Tracking details for service contracts: The task module can be used to track labor that is related to a service agreement or annual contract. Review the Using Tasks and Job Costing for details.

Maintaining history regarding individual pieces of equipment or whole goods: Logging contacts, service history, and other task detail is very valuable in managing labor in a service business. Review the Reviewing Task History for more details.

Scenario 1:  An agriculture equipment sales and service company uses work orders to organize their service projects onsite as well as their shop staff. The work orders are used to track the time spent on time and materials (T&M) projects, as well as flat rate service jobs. They can separate out tasks to track the time to assemble and install new equipment. They use work orders to record the parts and labor required to refurbish trade-in equipment for resell. The task management tools within EBMS allow the service manager to organize high priority service projects, schedule installation jobs, and schedule less urgent work orders such as refurbishing equipment. An integrated ERP system that manages sales and service details is invaluable to a company with multiple locations and service technicians working on various projects.

Scenario 2:  Any service company requires a robust parts and labor management system. This is especially true for a mechanical contractor who handles many parts for a single plumbing, HVAC, or electrical project. A service technician may be completing multiple work orders within a single day. The profit of this contractor depends on properly recording parts and fittings used and the labor spent to complete the new install or repair. Skilled technicians require a simple application available onsite to properly record project details. A tech can have all the worker, equipment, job, and billing details stored in the work order, so he can focus on a professional and efficient repair.   

Scenario 3: The shop for a truck up-fitter and sales company services trucks for workers and adds accessories to new trucks and refurbishes trade-in vehicles. The EBMS task and work order system communicates the project schedule and instructions to each technician. Workers are billed using flat rates or an hourly shop rate. The parts and labor costs are added to a new or refurbished vehicle to record an accurate total value for the truck. EBMS maintains a history record of all service rendered to a specific truck based on the VIN number. This history is maintained even if the owner changes or the vehicle is sold, traded-in, and resold. Service history details are important to a service department and may be valuable information to a worker.