GeoOp: Adding Time & Parts to Jobs

Adding Time & Parts on the mobile apps is very easy.

If you have Quoting enabled on your GeoOp account. This gives a general overview of adding time/labor and parts to Jobs and would cover a large portion of the process for also adding actuals.

Note: If Quoting is not enabled, all-time or parts items would be added to a Job as actuals.

Note: Any processes for mobile applications described below are based on the iPad panels/layouts, as text buttons are always used onscreen rather than icons (having more space than phones). This makes it easier to describe the process clearly. However, the screenshots added are from the phone apps, to show any variations.

To add a Time or Part to a Job, navigate to a Job, and press the + button to add a Time or Part. On the iPhone, you need to go to the Charges tab and then press the + button.

Adding actuals against quoted items

If quoting is enabled, and you have already added quotable items as per the Quoting article, the process for adding actuals against these items will be very familiar. Quoted items for time/labor and parts will be logged on the Job record's Charges tab on all mobile apps.

Tip: Quoted items are represented by gray/black icons (a cog for parts, a clock for time/labor).

We now have the option of recording actuals in 2 primary ways. The first way is by logging an actual directly against the quoted item. To do this, click on the item in your Charges list. A new panel will display this item in isolation. Click the + icon to record an actual figure (hours worked or parts quantity as relevant).

Tip: Actual items are represented by colored icons (blue for parts, purple on iOS, or green on Android for time/labor).

Note: Multiple actuals can be recorded against 1 quoted item if required, though these will always purely be quantities of the same item.

When adding quotes and actuals, it is very important to be aware of which items are marked as 'Billable'. As a default, the quoted items will be marked as such, as this is what the client has agreed to. If your actuals remain under the quoted item amount, you may well leave this quoted item as is, and send for invoice accordingly.

However, if your actuals become greater than the quoted item, you may wish to change the Billable items to be the actual one(s). To do this, click on the item in your Charges list. Quoted items with actuals recorded show the actual total below the quoted total. On the next panel click on each item to amend its details. Change the Billable setting as required.

Similarly, be aware that a Charge or Part has to be associated with a certain Job Visit Visit. That allows you to monitor which Visit required which Parts and Charges.

Note: When viewing each quoted item with its actual items below, the tick to the right of the item record indicates which are currently marked Billable. However in the main Charges list view, as actuals recorded against quoted items are summarised by a total, and not viewed as individual items themselves, the tick is only displayed Billable settings have been left unchanged (i.e. still only on the quotable item). It will not display if changes have been made.

On the website version of viewing charges against a Job, all items (quoted and actuals) recorded on a Job are displayed at all times, so viewing which is Billable is always clear. See Invoicing Jobs for further details.

The Job Timer

The second primary way of recording actuals against quoted items is via GeoOp's Job Timer function. To start the timer on a Job, simply click the + icon on your Charges list, then Job Timer. A new panel will show for you to start the timer. When done, tap the timer to stop it. Like any Charge, a Timer has to be associated with a Visit.

Note: On the Android app, you need to tap on a Visit to start the Job Timer.

Standalone actuals

Another way of adding an actual is pure as a standalone item, not attached to a quoted item. The process for this is described below, but is, in essence, the same as creating quotable items but changing them to 'actual' when creating them. A common case for adding standalone actuals would be adding additional parts, not quoted for in the first instance but subsequently required. Also, if extra labor was required (eg a second Staff member, of different Charge Rates to the original quoted Staff required) again this would likely not be recorded against the original quoted item.

Note: As per the above paragraph, for parts, it would be common to only ever record actuals to show where the quoted item differed. This would obviously then be used for invoicing purposes. The key exception to this is if you are using an inventory management Integration like Unleashed, whereby recording full actuals used on each Job is a necessity of the integration working accurately.

Adding actuals with no quoted items

For those that haven't enabled quoting, any Part or Labor/Time that’s added will automatically be classed as an actual.

Touch a Job from your Job list to view the Job details. Click on the Charges tab, then the + icon.

You have the option to add items in 2 ways: through adding Parts and Labor/Time or via a job timer. Use of both is discussed above, except that you will not have the option to set the item as a quote or actual because it will always be actual.

To add Parts or Labor/Time, the steps are the same as detailed above

Note: If charge rates have not been set already this should be done before charges are added to Jobs. See Staff Charge Rates for more details.

Note: If Parts have not been set up already, this should be done at the earliest opportunity. See Managing Parts in GeoOp for more details.

Note: Some businesses prefer to add Parts in a basic way by just adding summary information and charges, particularly if they have no full detailed inventory present. This choice is of course down to the requirements of your business. But to get the full benefits of GeoOp’s profitability reporting you’d obviously need to add full items, with associated costs, etc.

Adding a one-off Labor/Time charge

Press the + button and select Labor/Time. Fill in the Rat, Quantity/Units, and Description fields with the required amounts. Remember to choose the Visit it’s associated with, as well as make sure the Billable and Quote/Actual options are set correctly, and press Save.

Adding a one-off Part

Similar to adding a one-off Labor/Time charge, press the + button and select Part. Fill in the Item Code, Quantity, Sale Price, and Description fields, and make sure the Part is associated with the correct Visit. Select the appropriate options for Quote/Actual, and Billable, and press Save.

Amending and deleting items

If you have made an error, from your Charges list click the item you wish to amend or delete. You can also now click the item again to fully edit it, delete it, or add notes and attachments. See Adding Files and Notes to Jobs for further details.