webBooks-Work Orders

Various organizations will need the ability to create and access work orders so that employees will know what work they will need to perform, or will need to document after the work has been completed. This module also has the ability to convert work orders into invoices (and vice-versa) so that companies will have the flexibility in their work flow!

Tabs

Each module will contain several tabs that help group the various types of associated information. Below we will cover the details of each one currently available in the latest release of the module.

  ?  

This tab is found in each module as the way to access helpful documentation and, when clicked, will load this wiki page for the module. Of course, you can always go directly to our wiki and read through the entire software documentation.

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Not quite as prevalent as the '?' and 'General' tab, this one presents the user with a list of all the assets currently cataloged for the company. The page is setup to have a table layout that can be filtered using the textboxes and listboxes toward the top of the page. The more of those filter objects are used, the more specific the results are in the table. To load any of the assets that are shown in the table (regardless if the filters are used or not), simply click on the serial number of the item.

General

Also found in most of the available extensions, this tab provides the general information associated with the module. Below you will find the details of each field available on the form.

Work order

As the name suggests, this is the work order number. This field also doubles as a submission textbox where you can enter the exact work order number and press the <ENTER> key to load that document.

Job number

Sometimes several work orders need to belong to one overall job and by using this field, you can accomplish this goal. It is important to remember that this field does not auto-populate so you will have to know and enter the job number here.

Purchase order

In the world of business, purchase orders (PO's) are typically used to define and secure a purchase from a seller. Use this field to store the accepted PO issued by your customer for the purchase.

Account number

As the name suggests, this field shows the account number of the customer account.

Customer name

Also an easy-to-understand field, this one defines the customer account name for the quote, invoice, or lease. This textbox also doubles as a submission field where you can enter in the (partial) customer name and all matches will be shown in a selectable list which will populate the tab data upon clicking the desired item in the list.

It is important to note that the results list that is returned uses the following values to help the webBooks user know exactly which account to load: Customer's name [ID] first line of address. The first value would be the value that gets loaded for the field. The second reflects the customer's ID (see 'Customer Accounts' module) - this is NOT their account number! The final portion of the line is the first line of the accounts mailing address. Using those three bits of information, a webBooks user should be able to identify the exact account to load when there may be more than one customer with the same name (e.g. a common persons name or a business chain).

To clear all of this off the screen, simply delete the value in this field.

Physical address

These fields are populated once the customer account has been selected or a document has been loaded. This section is read-only.

Location details

As a way to define specific details about where to perform the work order, this field stores the exact location at the 'Physical address'. For example, something like 'In the 1st floor server closet' can be used to note the specific onsite location.

Required & Recurs

This line contains two values with the first being a date field denoting when the work order will be required by the customer. The second value indicates that the work order is to recur at the stated time. It is important to note that any value for this field other than the 'None', '1st', '15th', or 'daily' will mandate a 'Required' date value so there is a base date to work from.

Priority & Status

The first field on this line states the priority of the work order in the queue, whereas the second value defines the current status of the document. The values for each field are self-explanatory and will not be covered in this document.

Type

As a way to classify the document, this field will define what type of work needs to be performed and includes work order, warranty claim, preventative maintenance, and project. That 'project' value would be indicative of a large project that may encompass several work orders. This would be a good value to use for the field along with a common 'Job Number' from above.

Account Rep

As the name suggests, this is another read-only line that shows the account representative.

Create by

This line defines the employee that originally created this document and when it was created.

Updated by

Similar to the 'Created by', this line shows who modified the document last and when.

Assigned to...

The documents created in this module will need to have staff members actually perform the work and as such, this field is a way to delegate those tasks by assigning one or more employees to the job. To add staff, select them one-by-one from the list, clicking the '+' each time. To remove, select the employees in the bottom list and click the '-' button.

Associated info

The documents created in this module can be transformed into other module data. For example, work orders can be converted into invoices or leases. To convert a document into some other type of data, select the target format in the top listbox and then click the '+' button. Once the conversion has been made, you can double click on any items in the combobox to have the respective module load with the converted data.

Authorized contacts

This column is read-only and shows the people who are the authorized contacts for the account. This will prevent the user from having to go back and forth between modules to confirm any callers are able to work with the account.

Notes

Also found in many of the modules for webBooks, this tab allows co-workers to add notes to your account. Most likely the ones adding information here will be managers, but for flexibility anyone can add notes (access should be defined by company policy). There are only three fields on this page with the 'Creator' and 'Note' values being self-explanatory. The first field, however, may need more details. This listbox is used to define who has access to the note being entered and contains two fixed values along with any number of dynamic values. The two fixed are '_EVERYONE_' and '_MANAGERS_', meaning that either everyone can see the note being entered, or only employees who have the 'Manager' flag set for their account. Any other value in the list will be a dynamic value that corresponds to each department you have entered on the 'Business Configuration' module. This, in turn, will restrict access to the note being entered to all employees that work in the selected department.

Data

Another tab found in many of the modules in webBooks, this page allows you to upload various data that you feel is important (or necessary) to keep on file for a particular record. You may see several default items that you can use, but you also have the ability to dynamically add any number of additional fields by clicking the 'Add new Entry' button. This gives you a way to name and select each added entry.

There are two different ways that you can upload your files. The first way is by simply clicking on the upload box itself. Please note that if you are using this way, you can click the checkbox in the lower right-hand corner to select multiple files at once. Contrarily, you can also use a file manager to drag-n-drop file(s) onto the upload box. Either way will create an icon (with progress meter) for every file you are currently uploading. After you have uploaded at least one file, you will be able to select the file from any of the listbox entries. And after performing those steps, click the associated 'Update' button.

You may notice two additional buttons next to the 'Update' buttons. These remove the entry and encrypt the file respectively. Currently the encryption button is disabled as this feature will come online in a future version.

Map

This tab will use Google maps in order to show the directions from your business location to where the work order needs to be performed. If you are using a mobile device such as a smart phone, this tab will show the directions from your current location to the work order location. Currently this tab is unavailable, but will become enabled in a future version.

History

You may also notice this tab as the final tab on many modules in webBooks, and it keeps track of all the history details that deal with a loaded product or service. In order to add a line to the history, you will need to specify a date when the action occurred, the action that occurred, associated tag information (this will dynamically change depending on the action selected), and a note that corresponds to the selected action. After filling all of that out, simply click the '+' button toward the top of the form and the line item will be added to the details list at the bottom.

The list allows a company to define various bits of information on the product or service so that its history can be reviewed at any time. For example, the following can be a common starting list of details (by action) for each product:

Purchased: When the item was purchased along with the invoice number that corresponds to the purchase of the item from the vendor.

Shipping (sent): An optional detail that only deals with vendors that have shipped the product as opposed to an employee picking the item up. The additional tag information for this action specifies the tracking number assigned by the freight company. This will allow tracking the shipment until it is delivered.

Shipping (received): Another optional detail that outlines when the package was received by your company. The associated tag information here is also the assigned tracking number from the freight company.

Stocked: This detail has uses outside of just being part of the history list, and allows the user to define the shipping and product costs associated with the asset. Other modules use this specific history detail for various reasons. For example, if the asset gets converted into an inventory item (via the 'Associated info' listbox on the 'General' tab) at some point, that module will use this history detail to determine a product cost (included assigned shipping costs) when the product gets sold.

Installed: The action that will usually wrap up most asset history details, the associated tag information will specify the invoice or work order number that offers more details on the installation of this particular asset.

From this point, the history per product will become unique. For example, you may turn the product into an asset item which will add the appropriate information to indicate this. Or perhaps the product may stop working at some point which would prompt the use of any of the 'Surplus' actions being added to the list. There are several many actions that can be used to track all kinds of information per product and it is up to the business to inform the employees on which ones are applicable to use.

Buttons

The buttons located in the header of each form will be covered below (see the respective sections above for inline buttons).

Clear (General)

Clicking this button will clear all the tabs loaded data so that you can create (see the 'Save' button below) or load another record (see the 'General' tab above).

Save (General)

One of two buttons available in the header of the 'General' tab, click this button once you have filled out all available fields to save or update a new or existing asset. It is important to note that this ONLY saves information listed on this tab - no others!

Save (Notes)

The 'Save' button on this page will add the note to the list.

Common Tasks

The below sections cover several common tasks that a user may need to perform at some point in their interaction with the software. These will be expanded as time elapses.

Creating a New Work Order

When opening this module, the form comes up ready to load an existing work order or to create a new one. If you currently have a work order loaded and want to create a new one, simply click the 'Clear' button within the header. Otherwise, all that is necessary to create a new work order is to fill out the (cleared) form and click the 'Save' button at the top of the screen.

Make a Work Order Reoccur

At times a work order will need to reoccur for select customers. With other business management software like Quickbooks, depending on which version you are using, you may not even be able to create a work order! In the more costly versions of that software, you can create a modified sales order to behave as a work order, but you have a complex series of steps to walk through in order to accomplish this task! With webBooks, you simply select the appropriate value from the 'Reoccurs' listbox via the 'Required & Reoccurs' line. If the selection within that list is anything other than the '1st', '15th', or 'Daily', then you will need to also specify the 'Required' value (on that same line) so that there is a base date to use as the reoccurring date. That's it!