Creating & Managing Jobs

Jobs are the core unit of work in the platform. Each job represents a piece of work at a customer's property on a specific date.

Job statuses

Every job moves through a lifecycle:

• Pending — the job has been created but not yet scheduled.
• Scheduled — the job is on the calendar and assigned.
• In Progress — a tech has started work.
• Completed — the work is done.
• Deferred — the job couldn't be completed as scheduled and needs to be rescheduled.
• Cancelled — the job was cancelled and will not be completed.

Estimated Duration

Every job has an estimated duration field. If left blank, it defaults to 30 minutes. Duration is used for:

• Overdue detection — the system uses the duration to calculate when a scheduled job should have been completed, so it can flag or auto-reschedule overdue work.
• Multi-day splitting — jobs with durations longer than a single workday are automatically broken into daily units (see below).
• Route planning — estimated duration helps the scheduler allocate the right amount of time per stop.

Set this value as accurately as possible when creating or editing a job.

Multi-Day Jobs

When a job's estimated duration exceeds a single workday (~8 hours based on your crew schedule), the system automatically splits it into daily units:

• A parent job holds the overall scope, line items, and invoice.
• Child day-jobs are created for each scheduled workday and appear individually on the calendar and in the field tech app.
• Each day can be started and completed independently.
• The parent job shows overall progress (e.g., "2/3 days completed").
• When all child days are completed, the parent auto-completes and triggers invoicing if configured.

If you reduce the duration so the job fits within a single workday, remaining child day-jobs are cancelled and the job reverts to standard single-day format.

Automatic Lifecycle Management

The platform automatically manages jobs that fall behind schedule:

• Overdue scheduled jobs are auto-rescheduled to the next available time slot. If no slot is found within 7 days, the job moves back to Pending.
• Stale pending jobs (unscheduled for more than 24 hours) trigger daily staff email warnings so nothing gets forgotten.
• In-progress jobs past their expected window generate daily staff alerts until completed or rescheduled.

These automations run every 15 minutes and can be toggled in Settings → Notifications → Job Lifecycle Automation. For the full reference, see Job Lifecycle.

Scheduling modes

When creating or editing a job, you choose a scheduling mode that controls how the route optimizer treats the job's time:

• Find the best time (flexible) — the default. The system places the job wherever it fits best for route efficiency. The customer is notified of their arrival window once the route is published.
• Customer prefers a window (preferred) — the customer has a preferred time range (e.g., morning or afternoon). The optimizer will try to honor the window, but may place the job outside it if no slot fits. A warning is logged if the window is missed.
• Fixed appointment (fixed) — an exact time was promised to the customer. The optimizer routes around this job — its time will never be changed by route optimization or publishing. If the route ETA drifts beyond the buffer window, a scheduling warning is raised.

For most jobs, flexible is the right choice. Use fixed only when you've made a specific time promise to the customer.

Recurring job scheduling modes

When creating a recurring job, the scheduling mode determines how each generated visit is handled:

• Let the system decide (flexible) — each visit is created as a pending job with a placement window matching the recurrence cycle (e.g., a weekly job gets a 7-day window). The auto-fill system places it into the best available route slot. The customer is notified once the arrival time is confirmed.
• Preferred day (preferred) — visits are created on the specified day and time window. The optimizer will try to honor the preference but may adjust for routing efficiency.
• Fixed day & time (fixed) — visits are locked to the exact day and time. The optimizer will never move them.

Flexible mode generates visits only 4 weeks ahead to keep the pending pool manageable. New visits are continuously topped up by the background generator — no action is needed to keep the recurring job running.

Creating a job

From the dashboard or the Work section:

1. Click + New Job.
2. Search for the customer by name, email, phone, or property address.
3. Select the property (auto-selected if the customer has only one).
4. Add line items for services and billing.
5. Choose a scheduling mode (flexible, preferred, or fixed).
6. Use Find Best Slots to let the system suggest optimal dates and times based on tech availability and route proximity.
7. Optionally assign a specific tech or crew.
8. Click Create Job.

Zero-Amount Jobs (No-Charge Completions)

Jobs can be completed with $0 pricing for situations like warranty work, courtesy visits, or quality callbacks. When completing a job that has no pricing set, you'll be prompted to select a reason:

• Warranty work — covered under an existing warranty agreement
• Goodwill / courtesy — provided as a goodwill gesture
• Re-do / quality callback — returning to address a quality issue from a previous job
• On-site estimate — the visit was for quoting, not billable work
• Included in other job — work covered by another job's pricing
• Other — any other no-charge scenario

No-charge completions skip automatic invoice creation. You can still manually create a $0 invoice for record-keeping if needed.

Editing a job

Click any job to open its detail view. From there you can:

• Change the date, assignment, or status.
• Add or edit line items.
• Upload photos or attachments.
• Add internal notes visible only to your team.

Job attachments and photos

Techs can upload photos directly from the field using their mobile device. These are stored with the job and visible to office staff. Great for before/after documentation and quality assurance.

If your plan includes photo moderation, uploaded photos go through an approval queue before they can be published to your public landing page gallery.

Field tech workflow

Field techs see their assigned jobs in the mobile cockpit and work through them in route order. They can start jobs, mark them complete, add notes, upload photos, and send SMS to customers — all from their phone. See Field Tech Mobile App for the full mobile workflow.

Tips

• Use the calendar view for a visual overview of your week.
• Filter jobs by status, assignee, or customer to find what you need quickly.
• Bulk-reassign jobs if a crew member calls in sick by filtering and selecting multiple jobs.
• Convert approved estimates directly into jobs with line items pre-filled.

Related

• Job Lifecycle
• Schedule Calendar
• Recurring Jobs
• Field Tech Mobile App