Work Order Management in Zoho FSM: An Overview

Estimated reading: 5 minutes 314 views

A work order is a formal record created to carry out a service request raised by a customer, holding the service details, customer information, schedule and costs involved. This guide covers how to create, edit and manage work orders in Zoho FSM through to completion.

Creating work orders

You need the Work Orders permission to create one. A work order can be created:

From a request, using Convert to Work Order, with fields pre-filled based on your request-to-work-order mapping.
From an approved estimate, using Convert to Work Order with your estimate-to-work-order mapping.
From a customer service call, where an agent creates the work order manually.

To create one manually:

Go to Work Orders from the Work Order Management menu and click Create.
Fill in the summary, priority, type (such as Service or Inspection), due date, and contact and company details.

Add the phone number and email address, the asset if the job relates to a product previously sold, the territory, service address and billing address.

Add the preferred service dates and time, any notes or preferences, and currency if you have multiple currencies enabled.
Add the services, parts and skills the job needs, and apply any tax rates or discounts. Selected services link automatically with the parts and skills you add.

Follow-up work orders and estimates

If further work is needed, open the original work order, go to the related list, and click Create next to Follow-Up Work Orders or Follow-Up Estimates. The new record shows the original as its parent.

Editing and managing work orders

Editing a work order

Go to Work Orders and select the one you want to change.
Click Edit, update the fields you need, and click Save.

Managing addresses

You can choose a different address from those available, edit an address (with the option to update the parent company or contact record too), or add a new address for one-time or ongoing use.

Deleting a work order

Open a single work order and click Delete, or select several from the list view and click Delete to remove them together.

Cloning a work order

Select a work order and click Clone. Update the fields that need to change and click Save; the rest of the data carries over from the original.

Changing the owner

By default, the Super Admin owns a work order. To assign a new owner, open the work order, click Change Owner, select a new user and save.

Completing, closing and cancelling a work order

Completing a work order

A work order can only be marked Completed once all of its service appointments are complete.

Open the work order.
Click Complete Work.

Completion can also be forced even if not all line items are finished.

Closing a work order

Once all tasks are finalised, open the work order and click Close.

Cancelling a work order

Use this when a customer no longer needs the service. Open the work order and click Cancel; any linked service appointments are cancelled automatically.

Terminating a work order

Use this when the service cannot go ahead, for example if the customer is not available. Open the work order and click Terminate; this marks both the work order and its appointments as Cannot Complete.

Billing status options

Non Billable

Use this for internal work such as training or admin tasks. Open the work order, click Non Billable, give a reason and confirm. An invoice cannot be generated for it afterwards.

Void

Use this if a work order is no longer valid but you want to keep the record. Open the work order, click Void, give a reason and confirm.

Creating service appointments

A service appointment is a job scheduled to fulfil a work order, assigned to a field agent or crew.

Go to Work Orders and open the relevant work order.
Click the Appointments tab, then Create Appointment.
Enter the summary, scheduled start and end time, and assign a field agent or crew.

Appointments must fall within the same day unless you use multi-day scheduling. You can also create appointments for individual services listed on the work order by selecting the relevant service in the Appointments tab before entering the summary, times and resources. New appointments can be created if earlier ones were cancelled or terminated.

Linking a service to an appointment

If a new service is added to a work order, you can link it to an existing appointment: add the service to the work order, go to the appointment, click Link Service, and click Save.

Frequently asked questions

How can a work order be created besides manually?

It can also be created by converting an approved request or estimate, or by an agent creating one directly from a customer service call.

What happens to appointments if I cancel a work order?

Any linked service appointments are automatically cancelled along with the work order.

Can I still edit a work order marked Non Billable?

You can mark it non-billable for internal activities such as training or admin work, but an invoice cannot be generated for it afterwards.

Need help?

Need help managing work orders in Zoho FSM? Contact support@thoughtlogik.com or see our Zoho implementation services.

Work Order Management in Zoho FSM: An Overview