Managing Work Orders from Start to Finish

Guides & Tips
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Work orders provide a structured way to track maintenance requests and service tasks from creation to completion. Unlike quick jobs, work orders include detailed checklists, approval workflows, and are commonly used in property management and commercial settings. This guide covers creating, managing, and completing work orders in Exoserva.

:clock1: Estimated time: 9 minutes

Before You Begin

  • An active Exoserva account with Owner, Manager, Dispatcher, or Supervisor role
  • At least one property in your account (see “Managing Properties” guide)

Step 1: Navigate to Work Orders

Click “Work Orders” in the sidebar under Operations. The page loads with a wrench icon and the title “Work Orders” along with the subtitle “Manage maintenance requests and service work orders.” A green pulsing “Live” indicator in the top-right confirms data is syncing in real time.

The header area displays four stat cards providing an at-a-glance summary: Total (blue, showing the total work order count), In Progress (orange, combining Requested, Approved, In Progress, On Hold, and Verified statuses), Completed (green, combining Completed and Closed), and SLA At Risk (red, showing SLA-breached and emergency counts). Stat cards with concerning values pulse with a warning or critical ring animation to draw attention.

Below the stats, an AI Header provides intelligent context about your current work order status and trends. Use the filter row beneath it to search by keyword, filter by priority (Emergency, Urgent, High, Normal, Low), or filter by property using the dropdown selectors.

Step 1: Navigate to Work Orders
Step 1: Navigate to Work Orders1440×900 154 KB

:bulb: Tip: Click any stat card to quickly filter the Kanban board to that category. For example, clicking the red “SLA At Risk” card filters to show only work orders that need immediate attention.

:warning: Warning: The SLA At Risk counter includes both SLA-breached work orders and emergency-priority items. If this number is greater than zero, investigate immediately to prevent service level agreement violations.

Step 2: Create a New Work Order

Click the “New Work Order” button (with a plus icon) in the top-right corner of the header. A full-screen modal opens with the title “New Work Order” and the following form fields:

  • Title (text, required, marked with *) – a descriptive name like “Unit 4B Kitchen Faucet Leak”
  • Description (textarea) – detailed instructions for the technician
  • Property (dropdown, required, marked with *) – select from your properties list; this field shows “Loading properties…” while fetching data
  • Category (dropdown) – choose from: Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Appliance, Structural, Painting, Flooring, Roofing, Landscaping, Pest Control, Cleaning, Locksmith, General, or Other – each with an emoji icon
  • Priority (dropdown) – Emergency (red siren), Urgent (lightning bolt), High (triangle), Normal (clipboard), or Low (down triangle)
  • Estimated Cost (number, in dollars) – the expected cost for budgeting purposes

Click “Create” to submit the work order. A success toast notification confirms “Work order created” and the new work order appears in the “New” column of the Kanban board.

Step 2: Create a New Work Order
Step 2: Create a New Work Order1440×900 157 KB

:bulb: Tip: Higher-priority work orders appear first in technician queues. Use Emergency priority sparingly for truly urgent situations like water leaks, gas smells, or safety hazards. The Emergency priority triggers visual alerts across the board with pulsing red card borders and a red glow animation.

:warning: Warning: The Property field is required by the system. You cannot create a work order without selecting a property. If you do not see any properties in the dropdown, you need to add properties first from the Properties page.

Step 3: Add and Manage Checklists

In the Checklist section of the work order form, add step-by-step task items that the technician must complete. Each checklist item can be marked as required, and you can add items that require photo verification. Technicians check off items as they work, giving managers visibility into completion progress.

When viewing a work order with checklists, the detail panel shows a progress indicator reflecting how many items are completed out of the total. Required items are marked with an asterisk, and photo-required items display a camera icon. The checklist progress updates in real time as technicians complete tasks from the mobile app.

Step 3: Add and Manage Checklists
Step 3: Add and Manage Checklists1440×900 154 KB

:bulb: Tip: When you have work that repeats regularly such as quarterly inspections or seasonal tune-ups, save your checklist as a work order template from the Templates tab. This lets you create new work orders with pre-filled checklists and instructions in a single click, ensuring consistency across your team.

:warning: Warning: Checklist items marked as required must be completed before the work order can be moved to the Completed status. If a technician tries to close a work order with incomplete required items, they will receive a validation error.

Step 4: View Work Order Details

Click any work order card on the Kanban board to open the detail panel that slides in from the right side of the screen. The panel header shows the category emoji, the work order number (e.g. “WO-2024-0042”) in monospace font, the title in large bold text, and badges for priority and status. A close button (X icon) appears in the top-right corner.

The detail panel is organized into card sections:

  • Description – the full work order description text
  • Location – property name (with building icon) and unit number (with home icon)
  • Assignment – shows the assigned technician’s avatar, name, and role; if unassigned, displays an “Assign Technician” button
  • Cost – side-by-side display of Estimated and Actual costs; shows “TBD” if no estimate is set
  • Timeline – timestamps for Created, Updated, Completed, and SLA Due (color-coded red if breached, yellow if approaching)
  • Notes – any additional notes attached to the work order

:bulb: Tip: Click the “Edit Work Order” button at the bottom of the detail panel to open the edit form in a full-screen modal where you can modify any field. All changes are saved immediately upon submission.

Step 5: Track Status Progression

Work orders follow a structured lifecycle with statuses shown as colored badges: Requested (blue), Approved (blue), Assigned (primary), Scheduled (primary), In Progress (amber), On Hold (amber), Verified (primary), Completed (green), Closed (grey), and Cancelled (grey). Each status change is logged in the Timeline section of the detail panel with a timestamp.

Use the action buttons at the bottom of the detail panel to advance the status: “Start Work” moves the work order to In Progress, “Schedule” sets it to Scheduled, and “Mark Complete” (with a checkmark icon) finalizes the work order. The “Mark Complete” button spans the full width of the panel and appears only when the work order is In Progress.

SLA tracking is shown with a countdown badge on each card. Cards approaching their SLA deadline show an orange time badge, and overdue cards display a red pulsing “OVERDUE” badge with an alert icon. Work orders that have breached SLA display a red “SLA Breached” status badge.

:warning: Warning: Work orders in “On Hold” status may be waiting for parts or customer approval. Check the Notes section and Timeline in the detail panel for context before following up. SLA timers continue running while a work order is On Hold unless explicitly paused.

Step 6: Use the Kanban Board View

The main work area displays a Kanban board with four columns, each color-coded with a left border and header gradient:

  • New (blue, icon: inbox) – contains Requested and Approved work orders, WIP limit of 15
  • Scheduled (primary, icon: clipboard) – contains Assigned and Scheduled work orders, WIP limit of 10
  • In Progress (amber, icon: wrench) – contains In Progress, On Hold, and Verified, WIP limit of 8
  • Completed (green, icon: checkmark) – contains Completed, Closed, and Cancelled work orders

Each column header shows the column name, icon, card count, and WIP limit (e.g. “5/10”). When a column reaches its WIP limit, a pulsing amber “WIP” warning badge appears in the header.

Drag and drop cards between columns to change status. Grab any card (the cursor changes to a grab hand) and drag it to the target column. The target column highlights with a primary-colored ring and background while you hover over it. Drop the card and its status updates automatically. A screen reader announcement confirms “Work order moved to [column name]” for accessibility.

:bulb: Tip: Link each work order to its property record so that property managers can see all active and completed work orders from the property detail page. This cross-reference is especially valuable for multi-property portfolios where you need a unified maintenance view per building.

:warning: Warning: When a column hits its WIP limit, you can still drag cards into it, but the amber “WIP” badge alerts you that this stage may be a bottleneck. Investigate why work orders are piling up before adding more.

Step 7: Export and Print Work Orders

Click the export dropdown button (download icon) in the top-right corner of the header to export work orders in multiple formats: PDF, CSV, Excel, or JSON. When a specific work order is selected in the detail panel, the PDF export generates a detailed single-page report for that work order including all fields, costs, and timeline. When no work order is selected, the export generates a summary list of all work orders.

Click the print button (printer icon) next to the export dropdown to open your browser’s print dialog. Both export and print buttons are disabled when there are no work orders to export.

The detail panel also links to related records: click the property name to navigate to the property detail page, or click the assigned technician to view their profile. These cross-references give you full context without leaving the work orders workflow.

:bulb: Tip: Use the CSV or Excel export to create monthly maintenance reports for property owners. The export includes all fields: WO number, title, category, priority, status, property, unit, technician, scheduled date, estimated and actual costs, SLA breach status, creation date, and notes.

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve completed this guide, check out:

Need help? Post in the Tech Support category or contact support@exoserva.com.