On the job

The best time to write up a job is before you leave the customer's house. The diagnosis is fresh, the old part is still on the floor, and the customer can ask a question while you are standing there. Write it up in the van an hour later and details go missing; leave it until the evening and it becomes "replaced tap, about an hour". This tour follows an engineer at a sample plumbing firm through a kitchen tap replacement at ten o'clock, the same job that was quoted that morning.

What is on a job card?

A job card is the single record of one piece of work. It holds where the job is up to, what was found and done, what it cost, and a history of every change. On screen it is split into three areas.

The job number, J-0388 in the sample, sits at the top with the customer's name, so there is no doubt which job you are editing.

Step by step

1. Open the job from Jobs. The engineer finds today's job in the Jobs list or from Home, where open jobs sit under In the workshop. The card opens at its current stage.

2. Move it to Checked in when you arrive. The status runs from To check in, through Checked in and Being worked on, to Ready to collect and Done. One button moves the job to the next step. Pressing it on arrival tells the office you are there without a phone call.

3. Move it to Being worked on when you start. In the sample, Dave checks in at 10:00 and starts straight away. Each step is written into History with the time and his name, under the earlier entry made by the office when the job was booked. If the customer later asks when the engineer arrived, the answer is there.

4. Write the problem and diagnosis. Choose Edit notes. The first box is The problem and diagnosis. The sample reads: "Mixer tap cartridge worn, dripping from the base. Isolation valves seized." Write what you found, not what the customer said on the phone. Those two are often different, and the difference explains the price.

5. Write the work done. The second box is Work done: "Old tap removed, new mixer tap and two isolation valves fitted, tested for leaks." Mention the test. It shows the job was finished properly and protects you if a different leak appears next month.

6. Add advice for the customer. The third box is Advice for the customer: "Bathroom basin tap is starting to wear. Worth replacing within the year." This is honest, useful, and often the source of the next booking. It also shows the customer you looked beyond the one tap they called about.

7. Add the labour. Under Work and parts, choose Add a line and pick the kind: Service, Part or Labour. For labour you enter the hours and the rate per hour. The sample shows 1 hour at £65, so the line comes to £65.

8. Add each part. One line per part: the chrome mixer tap at £48, and the isolation valves at 2 × £6.50, which is £13. If you used a part that was not on the quote, add it here so the bill matches what was actually fitted.

9. Check the total. The card adds up the lines: £65 + £48 + £13 = £126, the same as the morning's quote. If it differs, you can explain why to the customer before you leave rather than on the phone next week.

10. Move the job on. When the work is finished, press the next-step button. At 10:50 in the sample the job is written up and moved on, and the history shows each stage with its time.

Why does a written-up job card matter?

It turns one engineer's knowledge into the firm's record. When the customer rings in six months about a drip, the office can read exactly what was fitted and when. When a new engineer is sent to a repeat customer, the advice from last time is waiting for them. And when the job is billed, nobody has to guess the hours or the parts.

It also changes how customers see you. A customer told "your basin tap is wearing, worth replacing within the year" usually remembers that you mentioned it. Many will book you for it. That is not pushy selling, it is the kind of note a careful trade leaves anyway.

What a good job card looks like

Tips for engineers on site

• Write notes before packing the tools away. Five minutes at the sink beats twenty in the van.
• Use the customer's words in the advice. "Basin tap" is clearer to them than a part number.
• Record every part, even small ones. Valves, washers and fittings add up over a month.
• Move the status as you go, not at the end. The office plans around what the card says.
• Mention any test you did. "Tested for leaks" is short and worth having on record.

Common mistakes

• Copying the quote into the notes. The quote is what you expected. The notes are what you found. Keep them honest.
• Skipping the advice box. It costs nothing and is often the best source of repeat work.
• Leaving a job at Being worked on overnight. The office will assume you are still there or that something went wrong.
• Billing from memory. Bill from the Work and parts lines, which are already added up.

What to do next

In the afternoon tour, the office follows up the quotes board and books accepted work in for a day. At the end of the day, the reviews tour shows replying to what customers wrote. For turning finished jobs into money in the bank, read how to get invoices paid faster, and for checking that your hourly rate covers more than wages, read the pricing guide.

The job, engineer and prices in this tour are from a sample business.