Work order

A work order is a document that authorizes and records the details of a specific service or repair job. It tells the technician what to do; it tells the office what was done; it gets signed by the customer to confirm completion. In field service contracting, a work order is the bridge between dispatch and invoice.

What a work order includes

A complete work order has four kinds of information:

1. Identification — work order number, date, customer, job site address, and assigned technician.
2. Job description — reason for service, scope of work, equipment involved.
3. What happened — work performed, parts used, labor hours, recommendations for follow-up.
4. Authorization — customer signature confirming the work is complete and acceptable.

For a starting template you can print or save, see our free work order template.

Work order vs invoice vs job ticket

These terms get used interchangeably but they aren't the same thing:

• Work order — authorizes work to be done; signed at completion. Describes the job.
• Invoice — a request for payment. Describes the charges.
• Job ticket — informal name often used for the work order, especially in shops that haven't separated the documents.

In modern field-service software, the work order's data flows directly into the invoice — the tech captures parts, labor, and notes once, and the system generates both documents.

Why work orders matter

Done well, a work order:

• Protects you in payment disputes — the customer signed off that the work was acceptable.
• Captures labor and parts for invoicing without retyping.
• Records equipment history for the next visit's tech.
• Documents recommendations — failing parts, future work, suggested upgrades.

Done badly (or skipped entirely), it's the source of every "I don't remember authorizing that" payment dispute.

Digital vs paper work orders

Paper work orders work fine for solo techs and small shops. Past 3-4 techs, the back-office cost of typing paper into invoices and customer history starts to dominate. Digital work orders — filled out by the tech on their phone — eliminate that retyping and feed directly into the invoice.

CrewConductor lets crews complete work orders on mobile, captures customer signature, and generates the invoice from the same data. Start a free 14-day trial.