Work Order Statuses, Reversing a Charge and Closing Out

Availability: all plans

A work order moves through a set of statuses from first draft to a closed record, and a few actions along the way correct or end it: putting it on hold, cancelling it, reversing a charge that should not stand, and closing it once everything is settled. This guide explains the statuses and those actions so you know what is still changeable at each point.

Before you start

The statuses, in order:

Draft: created but not scheduled. Set a start date and time to schedule it.
Scheduled and Assigned: it has a time, and then a technician.
In Progress: work is under way.
On Hold, Waiting for Customer, Waiting for Materials, Waiting for Inspection: work is paused for the reason shown.
Completed: the work is done and the service history entry has been written.
Accepted: the customer's acceptance was recorded, where that applies.
Closed: concluded. This is final.
Cancelled: abandoned before completion. This is also final, and nothing is written to the Property history.

What you need:

Putting work on hold happens on the working screen of a work order that has started.
Cancelling needs permission to edit work orders, and closing needs permission to complete them.
Reversing a charge needs permission to reverse line items, and the work order must still be Scheduled or In Progress.

Steps

Put work on hold

On the working screen, use the Can't finish — why? list: Waiting on parts, Waiting on the customer, Waiting on an inspection or Other.
Select Put on hold and confirm. Your time so far is recorded and the visit closes.
If the next visit has no date yet, the work order page shows A follow-on visit is waiting to be scheduled. Use Schedule the follow-on visit.

Reverse a charge

Open the work order and find the line in Work Items.
Select Reverse on that row and confirm. The line is marked Reversed, stays on the work order, and a matching negative line named after it is added, so the customer is credited back and the record shows both.

Reverse only appears on a charge that your pricebook marks as reversible. A discount, a line that is already reversed and a reversal line cannot be reversed. Use Delete instead when a line should never have been there, and the line's quantity or price fields when it was simply wrong. Reversal takes back the whole charge, never part of it.

Cancel a work order

Select Cancel Work Order at the top of the work order and confirm Cancel this work order? This cannot be undone. It is offered while the work order is Draft, Scheduled, Assigned, In Progress, On Hold or in any of the waiting statuses.

Close a work order

Once a work order is Completed or Accepted, select Close Work Order and confirm. It becomes final, and reopening it later is a governed, audited action. Closing is refused while a scope change is still in flight.

Tips

Reverse before you complete. After completion the work order no longer offers the Reverse control, so settle charge questions while the work is still open.
A refund of money already collected is a separate step on the payment; see the refund article.
Cancel instead of completing when the work never happened, so the Property history stays accurate.

If something goes wrong

If Reverse is missing, the charge is not marked reversible, the line is a discount or reversal, you lack the permission, or the work order is past In Progress. Ask whoever maintains your pricebook whether the item should be reversible.
If a message says charges cannot be reversed in the current state, the work order is in a status that no longer allows it.
If Close Work Order does not appear, the work order is not yet Completed or Accepted, or you lack permission to complete work orders.

Completing a Work Order — Completing a work order is the step that says the technician's work is done. It locks the work order, adds the work to the Property's service history and, unless you mark the work as not billable…
Handling Added Work with a Scope Change — When a technician finds extra work that the customer has not approved, the work order records it as a scope change before anyone does the work. You describe only what changed and its added price, the…
Cancel a Work Order — ServiceVisit lets you cancel a Work Order, the single technician assignment under a Job, when that piece of work will not go ahead. On the Work Order page, choose Cancel Work Order and confirm the…
Complete a Work Order — ServiceVisit lets you mark a Work Order as complete when the technician has finished the work. A Work Order is one technician assignment under a Job. Completion can be refused when the documentation…
Reverse a Charge — Reversing a charge takes back a line without erasing it. Choose Reverse beside the line, on the work order or on a draft estimate; the button is offered only for charges that can be reversed. On a…
Edit Invoice Line Items — Editing line items lets you correct what a job is going to charge for before it is invoiced. On a work order's line items you can add an item from the pricebook (Quick Add From Pricebook, then Add…
Refund or Credit a Customer — This capability covers giving money back or crediting a customer. A completed payment can be refunded in full or in part. Several partial refunds are allowed as long as the total of the non-failed…