What is work order, asked plainly: it is the sheet a job is written on. Who the customer is, what is to be done, who is doing it, what it will cost and where it stands. The shop floor calls it the job card; the office and the software category call it the work order; a call-out business calls it the service order or the ticket. It is raised before the work to authorise it and fix its price, and it becomes the invoice after. This guide is the work order line by line, with the arithmetic behind the price worked on the free work order template on this site.
The header: customer, site, work, assignee, date, number
A work order opens with who it is for and where, what is to be done in enough words that a different technician could do it, who has it, the date it was raised and a number that nothing proceeds without. Those six are the header on every work order in every trade, and they are what the paid record on this site keeps around the priced sheet: the customer with their orders, and each order with its status and history.
The price: labour, parts, travel and tax, as lines
The price is worked from lines rather than typed as a total. Labour hours at the business's rate; parts at cost plus the business's markup; a trip or callout charge; and sales tax on the parts line, labour usually untaxed, which is a question for your state. The work order template on this site takes those inputs and returns the labour, the marked-up parts, the subtotal, the tax, the total and the balance after any deposit, free and with no account.
The status: raised, in progress, done, invoiced and paid, closed
The last thing a work order carries is where it stands, and it is the thing paper carries worst. Raised when it exists, in progress when the work starts, done when it ends, invoiced and paid when the money is in, closed when nothing more will happen, each dated. That sequence is the work order process, and keeping it with a date on every change is what Jobcardo Pro adds to the free worksheet.
Questions people ask about what is work order
What is a work order in simple terms?
The sheet a job is written on: the customer, the work, who is doing it, what it costs and where it stands, raised before the work to authorise and price it.
Is a work order the same as a job card?
Yes. Job card is the shop floor's word, work order the office's and the software category's. A service order or ticket is a work order for a call-out.
Is a work order a contract?
Whether a customer's acceptance of a work order binds them, and what your trade's licensing requires it to carry, are questions for your state and your attorney. The worksheet prices the order; it publishes no rule.