Creating and Editing Work Orders

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The simplest way of creating a new work order is to select Work Orders —> Open Work Order from the menu. This opens a window that contains the following:

• W/O Number: A number identifying the work order. Normally, you leave this blank; MainBoss will then assign a number to the work order automatically. However, you can explicitly type in an identification code if you want the work order to have a specific number.
• Task: Appears only when the work order was generated from a preventive maintenance task. The field has an entry of the form XXXX/YYYY where XXXX is the identifier code of the task (as given in the Task browser) and YYYY is the identifier code of the assigned unit record as given in the Assigned Unit browser. In almost all cases, these will be the same since the task code is used as the default identifier for associated assigned units.

  For more about tasks, see Tasks. For more about assigned units, see Scheduling Units for Preventive Maintenance.

• Subject: A brief summary of the work covered by this work order.
• Unit: This section of the work order provides general information about the work: who requested the work and what needs to be serviced.
  • Req. By: The name of the person who submitted the original work request. If this is left blank, MainBoss will use the requestor name associated with the equipment or space involved in this work order. If the equipment or space record does not have a requestor, you must fill in a requestor name.

    The drop-down list shows your current Contacts table (see Contacts). If the requestor for this work order is not currently in your Contacts table, click the New Requestor button to add the requestor to the table.

    Once you have chosen a requestor, that person's phone and email address are displayed if they are available (i.e. if they are given in the requestor's Contact table entry).

  • New Requestor: Lets you add an entry for this requestor to the Contacts table. For more about recording information in the Contacts table, see Entries in the Contacts table.
  • Equipment: Select this if the work request applies to a piece of equipment.
  • Space: Select this if the work request applies to a space.
  • Building: The building containing the equipment or space that needs service.
  • Unit: The identifier code of the equipment or space that needs service.
  • Location: The location of the equipment or space, as recorded in the Equipment or Space table.
  • Service contract list: A list of the service contracts associated with the equipment or space specified by "Unit". This makes it easier to determine if the job is covered by an existing service contract. (For more on service contracts, see Service Contracts.)
• Description: This section of the work order provides a large blank area where you can type a complete description of the work to be done.
• Properties: This section of the work order records information about the length of the job, the priority, and other such details.
  • Created: The date and time this work order was created. Normally, you leave this field blank; MainBoss fills it in with the current date and time. If you wish, you can fill in a different date and time (for example, if you want to "backdate" the work order).
  • Work Start: The date when the work is supposed to begin. If you leave this field blank, MainBoss will fill in the current date. You can also type in a date explicitly.
  • Work End: The expected ending date for the work. (The actual ending date is given in the Close section.)

    If you type a date into "Work Start" MainBoss will initially set "Work End" to the same date. You can change this to a different date, as appropriate.

  • Work Duration: The number of days that the work is expected to take. A job that starts and ends on the same day has a "Work Duration" of one day, even if the job doesn't take the whole day.

    Initially, MainBoss fills in "Work Duration" based on the values of "Work Start" and "Work End". For example, if "Work Start" is February 3, and "Work End" is February 4, MainBoss automatically calculates "Work Duration" to be two days.

    If you type a value into "Work Duration", MainBoss automatically changes "Work End" to reflect that interval. For example, if you estimate that a particular job will take seven days, you can set "Work Duration" to 7, and let MainBoss automatically set "Work End" to the appropriate closing date.

  • Work Cat.: The overall nature of the problem (for example, TOO HOT/COLD). For more about work categories, see Work Categories.
  • Access: An access restriction code. This may indicate to workers when the work can or can't be done, and any other restrictions on access to the work area. For more about access restriction codes, see Access.
  • Priority: A priority code, indicating how urgent the work is. For more on priorities, see Priorities.
  • Cost Ctr.: The cost center associated with this job, if any. For more about cost centers, see Cost Centers.
  • Project: The project associated with this job, if any. For more about projects, see Projects.
• Labor: This section of the work order contains information about the personnel assigned to the job. With a new work order, the top part of this section is just an empty white area; as you add information (for example, by clicking Add Estimate), the white area is filled in with a list of the people assigned to the work, and the labor costs associated with them.

  The white area may contain both estimated costs and actual costs. Estimates are marked with an E after a person's trade. Typically, you fill in actual costs after the job is completed, as part of the process of closing the work order.

  • Link P/O: Specifies that the labor for this work order will be supplied through an existing purchase order. When you click Link P/O, MainBoss opens the Purchase Order browser (described in Browsing Purchase Orders). Use the browser to find the appropriate purchase order, then click Ok. MainBoss returns to the work order and adds the selected purchase order to the list in the Labor section.
  • New Purchase Order: If some or all of the labor for this work order is to be supplied by an outside contractor, you need to create a purchase order to send to that contractor, describing the required labor. Clicking New Purchase Order opens a window where you can create such a purchase order.

    For more information on purchase orders, see Purchase Orders.

  • Add Estimate: Clicking this button opens a window where you can assign personnel to the job and estimate the amount of time each person will contribute. For more about assigning personnel, see Assigning Personnel to a Work Order.
  • Add Extra Estimate: Clicking this button lets you add an estimate of labor costs from outside workers. For example, if a particular job requires that you bring in an outside plumber to help your own personnel, Add Extra Estimate lets you add the cost of the plumber to the list of labor costs.

    Before you can use Add Extra Estimate, you must create a purchase order for the extra labor costs using New Purchase Order (described previously). The labor costs will be added as an extra on this purchase order. When you click Add Extra Estimate, MainBoss displays a window where you can record information about the extra labor costs; for more about this window, see Extras on Purchase Orders.

  • Add Actual: Clicking this button opens a window where you can record information about who actually worked on the job and the amount of time each person took. It works the same as Add Estimate except that you record actual labor information rather than estimates.
  • Add Extra Actual: Clicking this button lets you add the costs of actual labor by outside workers. It works the same as Add Extra Estimate except that you record actual labor information rather than estimates.
  • Edit: To edit an entry in the list of assigned personnel, click the entry first then click Edit. For example, you might do this if you want to change the time estimate listed for a particular person. MainBoss opens the same sort of window that is opened for Add Estimate, as described previously.
  • Delete: To delete an entry from the list of assigned personnel, click the entry first then click Delete.
• Material: This section of the work order contains information about materials used for the job. With a new work order, the top part of this section is just an empty white area; as you add information (for example, by clicking Add Estimate), the white area is filled in with a list of the materials used in the job and the costs of each.

  The white area may contain both estimated costs and actual costs. Estimates are marked with an E after the item's type. Typically, you fill in actual materials used after the job is completed, as part of the process of closing the work order.

  • Link P/O: Specifies that the materials for this work order will be supplied through an existing purchase order. When you click Link P/O, MainBoss opens the Purchase Order browser (described in Browsing Purchase Orders). Use the browser to find the appropriate purchase order, then click Ok. MainBoss returns to the work order and adds the selected purchase order to the list in the Material section.
  • New Purchase Order: If some or all of the materials for this work order are to be supplied by an outside contractor, you need to create a purchase order to send to that contractor, describing the required materials. Clicking New Purchase Order opens a window where you can create such a purchase order.

    For more information on purchase orders, see Purchase Orders.

• Add Estimate: Clicking this button opens a window where you can assign materials to the job and estimate costs. For more about assigning materials, see Reserving Materials for a Work Order.
• Add Extra Estimate: Clicking this button lets you add a cost estimate for materials supplied by outside contractors.

  Before you can use Add Extra Estimate, you must create a purchase order for the extra materials using New Purchase Order (described previously). The material costs will be added as an extra on this purchase order. When you click Add Extra Estimate, MainBoss displays a window where you can record information about the extra material costs; for more about this window, see Extras on Purchase Orders.

• Add Actual: Clicking this button opens a window where you can record information about the inventory materials actually used for the job. It works in a similar manner to Add Estimate except that you record actual information rather than estimates. For more on recording actual material use, see Recording Materials Used in a Work Order.
• Add Extra Actual: Clicking this button lets you add the actual costs of materials supplied by outside contractors. It works the same as Add Extra Estimate except that you record actual usage and costs rather than estimates.
• Edit: To edit an entry in the list of assigned materials, click the entry first then click Edit. MainBoss opens the same sort of window that is opened for Add Estimate, as described previously.
• Delete: To delete an entry from the list of assigned materials, click the entry first then click Delete.
• Meter Readings: This section lets you record meter readings relevant to the work order. Specifically, it lets you record readings for any meters associated with the equipment that this work order deals with.
  • List of meters: The main part of the window lists any meters associated with this equipment or space.
  • New Reading: To enter a new reading for a particular meter, click the entry for that meter in the list of meters, then click New Reading. MainBoss opens a window where you can enter the reading. For more information, see Entering Meter Readings.
  • Edit Reading: To edit an existing reading, click the entry for that reading in the list of meter readings, then click Edit Reading. MainBoss opens the same window as with New Reading to let you edit the existing reading.
  • Delete Reading: To delete a reading from the list, click the entry you want to delete, then click Delete Reading.
• Close: This section is typically filled in once the job is completed. It provides information about the work that was actually done and where the costs should be charged.

• Closed on: The date and time the work order was closed. Typically, you leave this blank; MainBoss automatically fills in the current date and time (as of the moment when you save the record). However, you can type in a date and time explicitly if you want to specify a different closing time.
• Work End: The actual date the work was finished. If you leave this blank, MainBoss automatically fills in the current date. (Note that the Properties section contains the initial estimate for the work's ending date.)
• Down Time: The amount of time the unit was out of service while repairs were being made. You may want to record downtime due to the maintenance work itself, or the total downtime from the moment a problem occurred to the moment the situation was corrected.
• Repair Cd.: A code chosen from the Repair Closing Code table. For more information, see Repair Closing Codes.
• Closing Comments: Any remarks you wish to record, now that the job is done. For example, you might want to document any unforeseen problems that were encountered during the course of the work, or recommendations for ways to avoid the same problem in future.
• Charge Backs: This section deals with chargebacks—situations where all or part of the costs are charged to another party. For example, the management company for a rental facility might charge tenants for a portion of some types of repairs.
  • Chargeback List: Lists any chargebacks associated with this work order. The entries in this list specify the name of the person being charged plus the costs being charged.
  • Add Charge: Adds a new entry to the chargeback list. For more information on specifying chargebacks, see Recording Chargebacks.
  • Edit Charge: Lets you make changes to the chargeback that is currently selected in the chargeback list.
  • Delete Charge: Deletes the currently selected entry from the chargeback list.
• Quick Actuals: May be used after a job is finished. Essentially, Quick Actuals lets you specify which of the original labor and materials estimates for the job were actually correct. In other words, you can quickly create "actual" expense records by marking which estimates were correct. For estimates that were incorrect, you can use Add Actual (above) to specify the actual costs.

  When you click Quick Actuals, MainBoss opens a window where you can specify which estimates you want to accept as actual costs. For more information on this window, see The Quick Actuals Facility.

• Quick Outside: Offers a quick way to charge materials or labor to an outside contractor when there is only a single labor and/or materials charge. Clicking this button opens a dialog where you can specify the outside contractor and the cost of labor or one material item. For more information, see The Quick Outside Facility.
• Close & Save: Saves all the information that you have entered and marks the work order as closed. This means that when you browse work orders, the work order will appear in the "closed" list (as opposed to the "open" list).
• effective: Specifies the effective date and time for closing this work order. If you leave this field blank, MainBoss fills in the date and time as of the moment you click Close & Save. Note that this field gives the date/time that you closed the work order, not the date/time when the job was actually finished. To specify when the job was finished, use "Work End" in the Close section.

• Reopen & Save: This button only appears if you have already closed this work order (using Close & Save). Clicking Reopen & Save re-opens the work order.
• Select for Printing: Checkmarking this box indicates that you want to print this work order the next time you print a batch of work orders. For more details, see Printing Work Orders.

  Note that you can still print any work order, even if you haven't checked Select for Printing. However, MainBoss offers a shortcut for printing work orders that are marked Select for Printing.

• Save & New: Saves the current record and clears fields in the window so you can enter a new record.
• Clone: Copies information from the current work order and creates a new work order containing similar information.
• Void: Cancels the work order in the same way as clicking the Void button in the Work Order browser. For more information, see Browsing Work Orders.
• Save & Print: Saves the current work order and immediately opens a window for printing work orders (see Printing Work Orders). The fields in the printing window are set up to print the work order you just saved.
• Save: Saves the current record, but leaves all data as is. You can then continue to edit the same record.
• Cancel: Closes the window. MainBoss discards any changes that you've made since the last time you saved.

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