Work orders and unplanned stops in the field

Create a work order in the field

1. 1Route tab → Work Order (in the actions list; requires the "Create jobs" and "Manage work orders" permissions and an internet connection. Owners, administrators, and office managers have them by default; the built-in Technician role does not, so technicians don't see this row).
2. 2Pick the customer — or, for someone who isn't a customer yet, tap Quick Add Contact in the customer picker: enter an email or phone number plus the service address (name optional), then Create Contact. A minimal customer and service location are created automatically, so invoicing, emails, and routes all work normally; if the email or phone matches an existing customer, that customer is reused instead of duplicated. Details can be filled in later on the customer's page.
3. 3Fill in the work order name, line items, tasks, and notes. A "Send service report email" switch (off by default, below Notes) emails the customer a service report when the work order is completed.
4. 4Two buttons at the bottom: Create Work Order creates it unscheduled, or Create & Schedule puts it on a route right away.

Create & Schedule creates the work order, then opens a Schedule Work Order sheet: pick the technician (all techs are listed, with yourself preselected and marked "(you)"), pick a date on the calendar (defaults to today), and check the "Already on the route" list showing the stops that technician already has that day. Tap Schedule — this puts the work order straight onto that technician's route for the chosen date, even a route already in progress. Skip for now leaves it created but unscheduled.

• Templates: a banner at the top — "Load a saved work order template" — fills the line items, tasks, and notes from any work order template in one tap.
• Copy from Job (in the Tasks header) copies the task list from another work order — it replaces the current tasks after a confirm. Apply Group pulls in a task group, with a choice to Add to Existing or Replace All. New Template creates a task template inline (name, response type, options, require photo).
• Each task row has a body-of-water chip (defaults to General) so responses land on the right pool or spa.
• Line items: Add Line Item adds a plain line (description, amount, and Details (optional)). Add from catalog opens a sheet to search your parts and chemicals ("Search parts and chemicals"): tap an item to add it, keep tapping to add more, then tap Done. Catalog lines show a Part or Chemical badge and quantity × unit price; a catalog line with a blank quantity or unit price blocks saving ("Enter a quantity and unit price on every line priced by quantity, or remove the line.").
• Taxable: each line has a Taxable switch. Turning it on fills in the company's default tax rate; catalog lines start at the item's own rate. If no default is set, the switch says "Enter a rate. To fill it in automatically, set a default rate in Invoice settings on the web." The totals show Subtotal, the tax row, and Total. See catalog parts and taxable line items.
• Adding a part or chemical as a line item never changes stock.

Update Work Order (opened with View/Update Work Order on an unplanned stop that became a work order; the button needs the "Edit jobs" permission, so technicians don't see it by default) edits the name, customer, service location, line items, and notes, with the same Add from catalog and Taxable controls. Its Chemicals Used section turns each logged chemical into a catalog line priced quantity × the chemical's price, at that chemical's tax rate; a chemical with no price doesn't add a line. The work order's discounts and deposit are kept as they are and count in the total, but they can't be edited there; change those on the web.

Create a maintenance job in the field

Recurring service can start from the truck too: Route tab → Maintenance Job, or the Maintenance chip under Create on a customer or service location page (requires the "Create jobs" permission, which the built-in Technician role does not have, and an internet connection; opened from a service location, that location is preselected). A "Load a saved job template" banner fills the rate, time at stop, billing settings, chemical billing, extra charges, and tasks from a job template; otherwise set it up by hand. The form has the same setup fields as the web form, except seasonal pricing:

• Billing Mode — Per Visit ("Charge per completed visit"), Monthly ("Fixed monthly rate, billed on a set day"), or External ("Billed through an external system"). The rate field follows the mode (Rate per visit / Monthly Rate); External skips billing entirely.
• A "Pass credit card fees to customer" toggle (with the built-in legal note — state restrictions are enforced automatically), and Expected Time at Stop in minutes. Once you add a task picked from a task template, that field becomes read-only and shows the tasks' expected minutes added up, which is what the job saves; change it afterwards from Job Details → Job setup → Time at stop.
• Billing — Monthly jobs pick a First Bill Date (dates after the 28th bill on the 28th), plus a Bill ahead switch ("Bill the upcoming month's service upfront") and, when not billing ahead, Bill even without service. Per-visit jobs pick a Billing Schedule: Invoice manually, After a number of visits, Monthly (a billing day from the 1st to the 28th), or Weekly (a weekday); Monthly and Weekly also offer Bill even without service. See maintenance billing modes.
• Chemical Billing — Billed separately, All included in the rate, or Specific chemicals included (tap Add chemical, then set a per-visit quantity or leave Unlimited on).
• Extra Charges — fixed charges billed on top of the rate, like a filter rental: a name, an amount, Each invoice or Each visit, and optional details. Charges with no name or a $0 amount are not saved. Not shown for External billing.
• Tasks — Apply Group, per-task templates, and a body-of-water chip, same as work orders. Each task also has a Required checkbox and a repeat chip (Every visit, or every 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks). The inline New Template button only appears with the "Manage task templates" permission.
• Preferred Schedule — preferred days, preferred technicians, and Visits per week (1 to 5). These guide scheduling and route suggestions; they don't put the job on a route.
• Service Report — Email a service report is on by default. Choose which sections to include (Tasks, Chemicals, Parts, Water chemistry, Photos, Notes) and an optional intro message.

Add an unplanned stop (no route required)

1. 1Route tab → Add Unplanned Stop. The button is always available, even when you aren't running a route.
2. 2Enter a note, a category, optional tasks, and a location — a manual address or an existing service location.
3. 3Under "Where should this stop go?", choose where it lands: My route now (only shown while your route is running — appends the stop to the live route), Open — anyone (goes to the open pool for any technician to pick up), or a specific technician plus a day. The per-technician choices only appear with the "Add stops to other techs' routes" permission — without it, the choices are just My route now and Open. Picking a technician shows a card previewing that tech's route and the day's stop count; if they have no route that day, the stop stays open instead.
4. 4Tap Add Stop.

Unplanned stops pinned to a route day show up in that day's stop list everywhere the app lists route stops — the Stops tab, the Routes tab's day view, and Manage Route — with an UNPLANNED STOP badge. Tap one to open its detail.

Completing an unplanned stop: a lighter screen

Unplanned stops don't use the full Complete Job screen. Tapping Complete Stop opens a lighter form with exactly three things: the stop's task checklist (simple check-offs, if tasks were added), Notes, and Photos (up to 5). There's no water chemistry, no chemicals or parts logging, and no voice fill — an unplanned stop is a chlorine drop-off or a supply run, not a service visit. Completing one works offline: "Your completion has been saved and will sync when you are back online."

Pick up open stops

When the office creates an unplanned stop with no route or date, every technician sees it. See unplanned and open stops for the office side.

1. 1Route tab → Unplanned Stops (in the actions list, right under "Add Unplanned Stop") opens the Unplanned Stops list. The button is always available, even when nothing is open.
2. 2Each open card shows the note, the customer (if linked), a tappable address that opens your maps app, and who added it.
3. 3Tap Complete Stop to check it off — optional notes, a tasks checklist, and photos. Completing an open stop works offline.

• Open stops are first come, first served — there's no assignment or claiming step. Whoever gets there completes it.
• Below the open cards, a Completed section lists finished open-pool stops, newest first, with who completed each one and when — tap a card for full details, or Load more to page further back through the history.
• If a completed stop needs to be billed after all, the office can open it on the web and create an invoice for it (needs a linked customer with an email).

More you can create from the truck

The Create group in the actions list goes well beyond work orders. All of these need an internet connection and the matching permission:

• Customer — labelled "Add an existing customer you already service", because a prospect who hasn't signed up yet belongs in New Lead under Sales instead (that is what gets you Route Fit and a suggested rate). The Create Customer screen takes first and last name, phone and email (both required — the form notes "Both phone number and email are required for Stripe billing"), optional additional emails, company, and notes (texting consent is recorded automatically, the same as the web form's checked-by-default box); the address comes next, as the form says: "Continue to add a service location after creating this." A dismissible hint at the top asks "New prospect who hasn't signed up yet?" with a link to add them as a lead.
• The fuller Add New Customer form — reached from "Add New Customer" inside the invoice, quote, work-order, and maintenance-job flows — adds the service address — the Address button ("Search for an address") opens the full-screen address search with suggestions, your recent addresses, Use my current location (confirm the pin on a map first), and Enter address manually — plus location notes, and an "Add another service location" checkbox. The same form doubles as Convert Lead when opened from a lead (Route Fit's Adjust in full form): details prefill, the banner says "confirm the address to pin the service location," and creating the customer marks the lead converted. (Need someone in the system with less? Quick Add Contact in the work-order customer picker takes just an address plus an email or phone.)
• Body of Water — add a pool, spa, or fountain with up to 5 photos, then tap Analyze Photos: AI estimates the type, gallonage, surface material, and sanitizer, marks each filled field "AI estimated," and shows its confidence (High/Medium/Low) so you know what to double-check. The form also carries the full chemistry settings — surface material, sanitizer (with target salt PPM for salt pools), water category, temperature source, scale/corrosion risk factors — and an optional Tap Water Profile for drain-and-refill math.
• Add Vehicle — admins and owners only: name, make/model/year/color, license plate, VIN, current odometer, and an Assign Employees list with a default driver. Vehicles feed the odometer modal and mileage tracking.

Job details: notes, contacts, and Manage Tasks

Tap View on any stop to open Job Details — more than an address card:

• Contact rows with one-tap call, text, and email buttons. A small "Reports" pill marks each email address that receives the post-visit service report.
• On-Site Contacts — the property's gate guard, house manager, or tenant, each with their role, call/text/email buttons, and notes.
• Notes — a running timeline for the job: any tech can add a note with up to 5 photos, and every entry shows its author and time. A read-only Customer Notes timeline shows office notes about the customer. Roles with the "Delete notes" permission (Owners, Administrators, and Office Managers by default, not Technicians) also see a trash icon on each note; tap it and confirm Delete to remove the note.
• Link cards — Upcoming Schedule, Completion History, and (with invoice permissions) the customer's Invoices and this job's Invoice History.
• Edit Customer (admins and owners) to fix contact details on the spot.
• Job setup (with the "Edit jobs" permission) — edit the job's rate, billing, chemicals, extra charges, service report, preferred schedule, and more. See edit jobs on mobile.

Anyone with the "Edit jobs" permission also gets an Edit button on the Tasks section (hidden on archived jobs and invoiced work orders), opening Manage Tasks: tasks are grouped into "Every visit" and "Just today" (when a route is running), and each row has a Required/Optional toggle and a remove button — removing asks whether it comes off "every visit of this job" or "today's visit only," depending on the group. Add task picks from your task templates with the same Just today / Every visit choice, and "Create new task…" builds a brand-new template inline. See task templates and groups.

Report issues to the office

• Use Report an Issue on the Route tab to flag problems from the field — equipment failures, safety concerns — to the admin team. Admins get a notification when you report one.
• Owners and admins who work in the field also see a Technician Alerts card (right under "Report an Issue"; requires the alerts read permission). It opens the same alerts queue as the web with Open / Acknowledged / Resolved / All filters — tap an alert for full detail, and users with the manage permission can Acknowledge or Mark as Resolved right from the phone. Push notifications for new alerts open directly to that alert. See technician alerts.

Frequently asked questions

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