Equipment Work Orders
Brad Adamczyk
Field Trainer
The tracking of equipment work orders and service detail can be very beneficial to a company with a lot
of equipment. It can also be fairly time-consuming to make it work effectively.
Today we will go through the setup and implementation of work orders in the Equipment Module. We
will begin with setup, work our way through to entry, and end with the reporting of costs against a
piece of equipment.
Setup for Tracking Equipment Work Orders
A) Create Service Codes – (Equipment > Maintenance > Service/Expense Codes) You can be much
more elaborate when creating these codes (e.g., 250 hours, 500 hours, 1,000 hours). You can
also set up one code to supersede another.
In this example, I will be creating a basic service of “Oil Change.” We will focus on the “General”
tab and “Increment” tab only. (See following pages for screenshots.) Notice I have only entered
data in the Code and Description fields. These are the only two fields that need to be set up.
The auto-close option is important to discuss for those clients who do not wish to track work
orders but do want to capture costs of labor and material against a piece of equipment. If you
set up a service code to auto-close, you will be able to enter Payroll hours and A/P costs against
this code, and the system will auto-generate and auto-close the work order for you. I will
discuss this more thoroughly later in this class, when we go through the cost entry to equipment
from Payroll, Accounts Payable and other miscellaneous costs.
**The auto-close option is how many clients begin to track equipment service costs, mainly
because of the amount of time involved with tracking the actual work orders from the shop to
the office. We will discuss both options in this class; however, the auto-close option is by far
the more popular.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Basic Oil Change Service Code
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Auto-close Service Code
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
B) Attach Service Code to Equipment – If you want to track work orders and get the optimal detail,
you will need to attach the non-auto close work orders to each piece of equipment. Go to
Equipment > Maintenance > Equipment Items.
Note: You will need to enter the last date of service and the meter reading at that time. In this
example, the last service date was 08/01/12 and the mileage was 51,000. This lets the software
know the state of the equipment from a mileage standpoint when it was last serviced.
If you are not going to track work orders, you do not need to attach these codes on the pieces of
equipment.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
C) Create Timecard for Mechanic’s Time – you will need to have a few fields added to the timecard
entry screen. Go to Tools > Genies > Timecard.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Many clients choose to create a separate timecard for their mechanic’s entry. It is not necessary,
however, to do this. You can insert these fields on your current timecard entry screen as well. In
any event, the Eq Wo No, Equipment and Eq Service Code fields are needed to allow for the
mechanic’s labor hours and dollars to flow to the Equipment Module.
D) Create Job or Cost Code to Allow for Service Costs – The final step in the setup of service/work
order entry is to create a job or cost code specifically for work order/equipment service entry.
If you choose to set up a job, which many clients do, you will want to set the Job Status to
“Overhead.” This will keep this job off other managerial-type reports such as Over/Under
Billing.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
From the Job setup screen, go to the “Addl” tab. There is a checkbox on the lower right-hand
side of the screen for Equipment Service/Expense Job. By enabling this checkbox, you will now
have access to the Work Order and Service Expense Code fields in timecard entry and Accounts
Payable invoice entry.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
This same checkbox appears on the Cost Code setup screen.
***Most clients choose to use the job (as opposed to the cost code) to control the service entry,
because they do not typically send equipment repairs to an actual job.
Since timecard entry requires a job to be entered, clients will set up a unique job for equipment
repairs. This will also allow for the client to look at the equipment repair job to get an idea, in
total, of what the repair costs are for a given timeframe.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Entry of Meter/Mileage and Work Order Flow
A) Enter Hours Meter or Odometer Reading
There are a couple ways to enter meter/mileage records. On the View Meter/Mileage Log
window, you can type in the new odometer or hours meter readings. There is no posting of the
entries. Once they are saved, the readings are recorded. These entries are usually done on a
per week basis.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
You can view the log of the entries against any or all pieces of equipment by clicking the [List]
button, then the “Report” tab.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
You can also enter meter/mileage readings on the Enter Meter/Mileage window.
Many clients prefer this window because they can more easily enter readings for multiple pieces
of equipment.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
B) Work Order Flow
1) Eligible For Service – Once you begin the meter entries, you will be able to see what
pieces of equipment are coming up (or past due) for service.
If you want to include equipment that is coming up, you can enter a percentage
amount. This will then include items that are within that percentage of being due for
service.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
In the basic example above, Truck # 200 is showing as due. This is because the milestone for an
oil change is every 4,000 miles. In this instance, it is exactly at 4,000 miles past its last service.
While the Eligible for Service List can be used as a mechanism to see what’s coming up for
service or already past due, it is not a step that needs to be performed. The main reason it
exists is because it is a more user-friendly screen for reading and printing.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
2) Select for Generation – In this step, you are also able to see what is coming up for
service or past due. However, this is where you will actually pick the pieces of
equipment for which you would like a work order to be generated.
Not only can you select to have a work order generated, you can also assign the mechanic who
is to perform the work.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
3) Generate Work Orders – Once you have selected the services to be performed, you
need to generate the work orders in order for them to print.
Typically, you will simply click the “Report” tab to view all.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
In this example, there is only one truck that is in need of service and that I want to be serviced.
Once the Pre Work Order Register is displayed on screen, you need to press the [Post] button to
create the work order and make it available to be printed.
Once posted, the Generated Work Order Report will be displayed. You can now move on to
print the work order.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
4) Print Work Orders – When printing the work orders, you will typically only want to
print those flagged as “Open” and “Eligible.” Make sure these two checkboxes are the
only ones enabled.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Above is a sample of a work order that can be printed from FOUNDATION.
The typical flow from this point is to give the printed work order to the assigned employee to
perform the service. Once the employee has performed the service, any comments would be
entered in the comments area, an odometer or hours balance may be entered, and the date can
be completed.
The work order should then come back into the office for the final entry and eventual closure.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
5) Add/Edit Work Orders – The person getting the completed work orders in the office will
typically go to the Add/Edit Work Orders window to enter the comments from the
mechanic. He or she may manually enter the parts used and the labor hours involved.
Using Modify Mode, you can retrieve the work order. In this example, the system
generated work order # 100. On the “General” tab, you can enter the comments from
the mechanic, if any. You can also enter the date completed and the current meter
balance.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
On the “Non-Inventory” tab, you can add the parts that were used along with the
quantity and unit cost.
Note: Be sure to enable the Used checkbox. Otherwise, the item and cost will not
appear on the work order reports.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Finally, you can enter the labor hours it took to perform the service. The system will
know, based on the employee who performed the service, to pull in that employee’s
pay rate to figure out the labor costs.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
If you’d like to see a summary of what will show from a cost standpoint on the work
order reports, you can look at the “Summary” tab.
This takes you through the entry and flow of work orders in FOUNDATION. While it can
work nicely as its own standalone module, many clients do not use it this way.
Depending on the amount of equipment you have, your mechanic’s buy-in and your
internal staff’s processing time, this can be an overwhelming process to many people.
This being said, we will now go through the more prevalent flow in the service portion
of the Equipment Module.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Entry of Payroll Hours and Accounts Payable Costs Against Equipment
As I stated above, many clients have neither the time nor the inclination to fully track the flow of
work orders against their equipment. What they are really looking for is the answer to one main
question:
“What does it cost to service and maintain my equipment?”
You can find the answer to this question in FOUNDATION without creating and tracking work
orders. The key is setting up service code(s) to auto-close. We will revisit this a little bit later.
A) Payroll Hours Entry – A big piece of the payroll hours entry is taken care of when the timecard is
designed to include the equipment number and the service code.
Notice that only the line of entry that relates to a mechanic doing actual service should have an
equipment number and service code. Also note that there is no work order number entered.
The system will assign a work order number once Payroll is posted. We’ll look at the work order
number that was auto-generated a bit later.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
B) Accounts Payable Invoice Entry – When invoices come in from vendors for parts purchased
for a particular piece of equipment, you can enter the equipment number and service code
on the accounts payable entry screen.
The key to making the entry work is to first make sure the G/L account is set (at the very
least) to “Option Job.”
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Second, you need to use the “EQREP” job to enable the Equipment No. and Service Code
entry fields.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
By simply entering costs and hours, you can see what it is costing you to service and maintain
your pieces of equipment. For many clients, this is all they need to know. They are not looking
to actually track work orders.
If this is the case for you, then when setting up the service/expense journals in Equipment
Maintenance, you will want to make sure you enable the Auto-Close Work Order checkbox.
By choosing this option, the system will not require entry of a work order number in Payroll
timecard entry or Accounts Payable invoice entry. It will, however, create a work order number
upon posting of Payroll and Payables. The system will know to mark the work order as closed so
that you do not have to worry about manually doing anything.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
Work Order and Equipment Cost Reporting
A) Work Order Detail Report – This report will show the most detailed of costs against the
equipment. It will also contain any comments you have entered in the work order entry screen.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
B) Work Order Summary Report – This report will allow you to see the costs for maintenance using
one line per piece of equipment.
C) Usage vs. Cost Report – This report is typically used by clients who are tracking both usage
hours and maintenance costs. It will give you a good idea of how much you are using your
equipment vs. how much you are spending in repairs.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012
D) Profit Report – By using the estimated bill rate set on the piece of equipment, this report can
project the amount of profit you are or could be generating from the use of your equipment.
Foundation Software User Conference 2012