Work Orders

[signdesignms]

I've been charged with locating work orders for a sign shop. I've looked at the one at TheSignExpert. I've searched the forums here but I'm not coming up with much. Possibly "work order" is not the proper term.

I suspect one is best off designing their own custom form.

Any thoughts on work orders, where to get them, where to find sample ones, ,what you think should be on the work order form, or links to existing threads on the subject would be appreciated.

 

[threeputt]

Work orders should be:

Sequentially numbered. (printed) Very important.
NCR duplicate or triplicate depending on shop needs.
Have your name and logo, full contact info
Have a space for client info. (full client info)
Date of order, due date (if any) Date promised.
Name of person who placed order. Their contact info.
Method of ship. (if any) Address to ship to. (if different)
Customer P.O.
Terms: Cod, Net 10, Net 30 etc.
Lines to list ordered signs by, quantity,size, 1 or 2 sided, material, thickness, background color, lettering color, cost per each, etc.
Space for a rough layout of the proposed sign
Space for xtra design time, customer proof sent?,

Fine print stating your terms with regard to orders cancelled after the work has begun.

Room for special instructions. Room for signature of authorized buyer. Box for deposit, balance owing, etc.

Whatever else you can think of so that when the client leaves the shop, you have everything you need to hand the order off to an employee and he/she can produce the work without questions.

Note: Some shops don't want employees knowing what the prices are. You can have the "duplicate" printed out with obscuring images so that only the top copy (the original) has prices showing.

Hope this helps.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

i revamp our work orders about once a year....we have a work order for signs, estimates, screen printing, embroidery, and transfers because you just can't fit everything you need on one order sheet....

i've found that creating my own is the best way to go because i might need fields that another form doesn't have, or maybe i need more space for my colors or typestyles....also, don't print out a lot of them at once, because it'll take you a while to realize what information you need on there.....

 

[Gino]

Welcome from PA................................

 

[Pat Whatley]

Here's ours. Works for us.

 

[10sacer]

Work Order

Se attached for copy of mine. We get them printed on pads and sequential numbering from a digital press.

It is also a PDF form that I can send out or fill out online.

You kind of have to develop your own though based on type of work you do. We don't need an area for sketches as we don't do exterior signs or vehicle wraps.

Now this is different than an estimate or invoice. There's all kinds of legal mumbo jumbo you need to put on their regarding deposits and payment terms and warranties, etc.

Sean

 

[10sacer]

Oh God I didn't erase all the contact info on the form - is that gonna get me in trouble with the site rules police against self-promotion for non-subscribers or merchant members?

 

[Jane Diaz]

..

 

[James Burke]

I do my work orders in MS Excel. Each blank file template is a workbook that contains two work sheets. One work sheet is the work order, and the other work sheet is the invoice.

The cells in the invoice are linked back to the work order so I do not have to type things twice. When I fill out a work order, the invoice is automatically typed up and all I have to do is fill in the amounts and print it off for billing.

An accompanying job book lists every job job by its own number and that number is placed in large numerals at the top of the work order for easy identification.

If I don't have a lot of time, I will usually print a blank work sheet and fill it out by hand, but in the end, everything gets typed or converted to .pdf and archived on the computer and backed up on external hard drives so nothing gets lost.

Ever try to finish a job at the last minute and couldn't find the original, hand written work order? Been there, done that, not any more.

BTW...photos can be inserted anywhere on the work order.

 

[thinksigns]

Started using Filemaker years ago and never looked back. Customers love seeing their sign on the invoice.

 

[Malkin]

We wrote an Access database for Job Orders. It's a huge benefit to have the order in a digital form so that we can look up old orders quickly, and have customers contact info/billing info fill in automatically. The drawback is that we could not figure how how to have each one assigned a unique permanent number. We have managed fine, but there are times that I wish we had that feature.

 

[James Burke]

The drawback is that we could not figure how how to have each one assigned a unique permanent number. We have managed fine, but there are times that I wish we had that feature.

Ditto for the archive-ability, and ease of looking up years-old information. Converting the files to .pdf solves the problem of not having permanent numbers, and so does my file naming system:

Job number-Customer Name-Date work order was initiated

Sample: 8675309_Jammin'_ Jenny's_Salon_2-4-11

That gives me the ability to search my computer by job name, customer name or the date...which is very helpful.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Here's our work order (it's got an extra page on there for extra items, actually page 2 of this .pdf is the first page of the work order, page 2 is page 2 of it, and page 1 is our job board).

The work order is sequentially numbered in the space at the top. All invoices, estimates, and files on the server correspond to this number.

 

[thinksigns]

I hate to sound like a FileMaker salesman, but I cannot recommend it more. The database solves all of the archiving and receivables (except for actually getting them to pay) problems I had before. If we are creating a new invoice, we know immediately if they have invoices that are past due.

 

[mikey-Oh]

oh man, i'm redesigning our intake forms next week and this thread delivers!
forget the one post OP, thanks to alles yinz!!!

 

[James Burke]

oh man, i'm redesigning our intake forms next week and this thread delivers!
forget the one post OP, thanks to alles yinz!!!

+1

 

[JR's]

this is old but we still use it. I like the part down the bottom about art and sketches.

 

[vinylbarry]

Well crap now I want to redo ours.

 

[James Burke]

Well crap now I want to redo ours.

Doing them on the computer sure makes it easy to adjust on the fly.

 

[GB2]

I hate to sound like a FileMaker salesman, but I cannot recommend it more. The database solves all of the archiving and receivables (except for actually getting them to pay) problems I had before. If we are creating a new invoice, we know immediately if they have invoices that are past due.

Do you also link your Filemaker system to Quickbooks by any chance?