Less paperwork per job: from work order to invoice

The job is done, but your working day isn’t over yet. Logging hours, tallying up materials, digging out photos and drawing up an invoice: it’s precisely this follow-up work that often takes up an evening or part of your Friday. Anyone looking to cut down on administrative tasks wants, above all, to only have to enter this data once.

The practical approach is simple: record the work as it happens. You can then use the same work order to create a draft invoice. You retain control before the invoice is sent, but the need for retyping disappears.

Why is there so much follow-up work left to do after a job?

All the information you need for the invoice is generated on site. The technician knows how long the job took, what materials were used and what adjustments were made whilst on site. If that information is only gathered later in the office, you’re reliant on a paper receipt, loose photos and the memory of whoever was there.

This often leads to three extra steps: deciphering the receipt, entering the details into an invoice and checking that everything is complete. It’s not just the major items that are important here. It’s precisely an extra connection, an hour of overtime or small items of material that are easily forgotten when you enter them days later.

A digital work order shifts that work to the right time. Not as extra admin afterwards, but as part of completing the job.

What details do you record on a digital work order?

Above all, a work order must be practical for someone working on site. That’s why it’s all about quick actions on your phone: tapping, taking a photo or starting the timer. In Klantly, the work order is laid out in a single column, with a clear next step at every stage.

During or immediately after the job, for example, you record:

• hours worked;
• materials used and quantities;
• a checklist of checks carried out;
• photos of the situation before and after the work;
• comments on any special circumstances or additional work;
• the customer’s signature upon completion.

This way, the context is immediately linked to the job. The customer can receive the work order as a PDF, and back at the office you can see exactly what has been done. Even if a question arises later, you no longer need to search through a mobile phone, a briefcase or a folder on the server.

What’s more, the work order is linked to the customer. The customer file, containing all customer details, therefore includes not only contact details but also the work order, previous appointments and invoices. If a colleague takes over, the customer doesn’t have to explain what happened all over again.

How does converting a work order into an invoice work without retyping?

Once you’ve completed the work order, you can turn it into a draft invoice at the touch of a button. The hours, materials and other details are carried over, including quantities, prices, discounts and VAT. The customer details are also already linked.

That doesn’t mean an invoice is automatically sent out. A draft invoice is, in fact, your chance to check everything. You can verify that the work and any agreements regarding additional work have been correctly processed. Only then do you send the invoice.

This approach keeps the line of communication between the field and administration short:

1. The technician completes the work order on site.
2. The customer signs to confirm their approval when the order is finalised.
3. Back at the office, you turn the completed work order into a draft invoice.
4. You check the details and make any necessary adjustments.
5. You send the invoice with a due date.

This way, invoicing for hours and materials doesn’t become a separate task at the end of the week. The details on the work order form the basis for the invoice. The work order and invoice remain linked, so you can see later where an invoice line item comes from.

How does this work for an on-site job?

Suppose an engineer is carrying out maintenance at a customer’s premises. During the appointment, the engineer starts the timer on their phone. They tick off the maintenance items, take a photo of a part that needs replacing and add the materials used to the work order.

The customer approves the details on screen. The technician finalises the work order and drives on to the next appointment. Back at the office, the same work order is immediately available, complete with the hours, materials, photos and signature.

The accounts team then creates a draft invoice. The invoice lines have already been transferred. All that remains is to check them, add any further details if necessary, and send them off. No one needs to retype a handwritten work order or ask which materials were used exactly.

That’s also the difference compared to just a digital note. A note helps you remember what happened. A work order that feeds directly into the invoice actually helps you complete the admin.

When does creating an invoice after a job yield the greatest benefit?

This way of working is particularly useful if you often work on-site and invoice by the hour, for materials or for additional work. Think of installation, maintenance, assembly, servicing, gardening or roofing. The more work orders that pile up, the greater the chance that invoicing will be delayed.

Even when you draw up a quotation in advance, this seamless process prevents discrepancies between the agreement, the work carried out and the invoice. An accepted quotation can already serve as the basis for a work order. Once the work is complete, you use the completed work order to generate the invoice. See also how to create and send invoices if you want to streamline the entire process.

The system does not take over the technical checks from you. The technician must still complete the work order, and someone must review the draft invoice. However, you do prevent the same data from having to be re-entered in three different places.

Reducing admin per job doesn’t start with typing faster in the office, but with recording data where it’s created. Would you like to find out how Klantly fits into your workflow? Get started for free.