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Free Work Order Template

Fill in the customer, where the job is, what needs doing and who is doing it. Add the hours and parts as the job goes, the totals work themselves out, and you print the work order, save it as a PDF or download a CSV.

What a work order includes

  • Number, date, priority, status

    A number that ties the job to the invoice and the customer's records (the template suggests one like WO-20261007-01), the date it was raised, how urgent it is and where it stands.

  • Customer and job site

    Who the customer is, how to reach them, and where the work happens when that is not their billing address. Add who asked for the work and who it is assigned to.

  • Description and tasks

    What the customer reported or asked for, in their words, and a checklist of the tasks the technician ticks off on site.

  • Labor

    Each technician, the work done, the hours and the rate. Hours × rate gives the labor line, rounded to the cent.

  • Parts and materials

    Quantity, part and unit cost for everything fitted or used, so the invoice and the van stock both add up.

  • Dates and sign-off

    Scheduled start, due date and completion date, then the technician's and the customer's names and signatures once the work is done.

From request to sign-off

A job usually runs like this: the customer calls or asks on a visit, you price it if a price is needed, a work order goes to the technician or crew, the work is done and ticked off, the customer signs, and the invoice goes out with the work order number on it.

The work order is the instruction and the record of the job: what was asked, what was done, how long it took and what was used. Fill in the description and tasks before the visit, the hours and parts on site, and get the signature before you leave.

If the customer asks for something extra once a contract price is agreed, write that up as a change order before you do it, so the extra is priced and signed rather than argued about at invoice time.

Need the price first? Use the quotation generator to send the quote this work order carries out.

Scope changed on a contract job? Use the change order template to price it and get it signed.

Work order, purchase order, change order, invoice

Work order
The instruction to do a job and the record of it: the customer, the site, the tasks, the hours, the parts and the sign-off.
Purchase order
A buyer's order for goods or services from a supplier, with quantities, prices and delivery. It buys; a work order does.
Change order
A signed change to an agreed contract: the work added or removed, the price change and the time change.
Invoice
The bill after the work, which can quote the work order number so the customer can match it.

Tips for work orders that close cleanly

  • Write the problem in the customer's words

    "Upstairs bedroom never gets warm" tells the technician more than "HVAC issue", and it is what the customer will judge the job against.

  • Log hours and parts on site

    Times and parts written down at the end of the day are guesses. Fill in each row before you leave the job.

  • Separate the extras

    If the customer asks for more on the day, add it as its own task and line, or write a change order on a contract job, so nobody is surprised by the total.

  • Get the signature before you drive off

    A signed work order is the customer agreeing the work was done. Chasing a signature later is slower than asking at the door.

More for field service and trade sellers: HVAC sales training, pest control sales, the construction daily report.

The work order is the paper. The walk-through is where the job was agreed.

What the customer asked for, the extra they mentioned on the way out, the time they said suits them: those are said out loud on site. Record that conversation in ParrotNotes and get the summary and action items, so the work order matches what was agreed. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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Work order questions