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Table of Contents

Overview

Service Manager is a module that allows for efficient management of resources in a service oriented environment. It is specifically tailored for organisations that need to track materials and/or labour.

Service Manager allows you to:

  • Print job sheets for internal and external use
  • Delegate jobs on the basis of the skill level of individual staff members
  • Prioritise jobs according to the level of urgency required to complete the Job
  • Automatically allocate inventory in Jiwa
  • Invoice a job
  • Retrieve parts from a quotation
  • Handle customer returns
  • Manage the servicing of products



Introduction to Jobs and Tasks

Dealing with jobs and tasks is a major part of using the Service manager module. Jobs and tasks are two words that will be used very often. Therefore we will define these two terms below.

Job - A job is carried out for a given client, for example "Network installation". A job is made up of a number of tasks.

Task - A task is a manageable unit of work, such as "Installing Workstations", "Cabling", "Testing", etc. A number of related tasks make up a Job. Take a look at the following image. 

 

As you can see, the above "Service Manager - Jobs" screen is divided into smaller sections and tabs. The top part of the job window is used to display job summary information, whilst the tabs in the lower part of the screen contain task specific information. 

Job Header Information

Job Number

Each job has a unique job number. This is the easiest method of job identification. By default, if no job number is entered by the user, it is automatically generated by the system when a new job is saved. Further, by default, the job number is editable - but this can be disallowed by enabling the systems setting "Service Manager->LockJobNumber". Regardless of automatic or manual entry, job numbers must always be unique within the system. If a job number is provided that already exists, and error message is given, and the user can enter a different job number.

Deadline

This reflects the overall deadline of the job. The earliest deadline of all the tasks with the Has Deadline check-box ticked is shown here.

Debtor

This is the client for whom the job is being performed. Hovering the mouse over the debtor reveals a tool-tip providing debtor-specific information such as how many hours they have left to use from their Prepaid their Prepaid Labour PacksPack.

Contact

The contact is the client company's representative for this particular job.

Reference

This may be supplied by the client. It can be used as an alternate identifier for the job.

Tax Exempt No.

If a value is entered for the Tax Exempt No. field, then the tax rate is set to 0% for all unprocessed part, labour, and customer return lines on all tasks belonging to the job. Subsequently added lines will also have a tax rate of 0% applied. If a debtor has a tax exempt no. defined on their debtor record, then this number is sucked through to the service manager job upon job creation, or changing of the debtor.

Priority

This indicates the overall priority of the job. The overall priority of a job is determined by the task with the priority having the lowest response time (as defined in Service Manager -> Configuration -> Priorities). In other words, this field will display the most urgent of the priorities from all the tasks of this job.

Status

The overall status of a Job is determined by the task with the status having the lowest item no. (as defined in Service Manager -> Configuration -> Statuses). For example, in the demonstration data the following statuses are defined:

0 - Default - No Status1 - Assigned2 - Work In Progress3 - Wait-Supplier4 - Wait-Client5 - Complete

If a job were to exist thus:

Task 1 - Status = CompleteTask 2 - Status = Work In Progress

then the overall job status would be "Work In Progress" because that is the status with the lowest item no. that exists on any of the tasks for that job.

Coordinator

This field should contain the staff member who is coordinating the job.

Description

Meaningful information that briefly describes the overall job.

 

Tasks Tab

 

Tasks GridThe Grid

The tasks grid provides a list of the tasks that comprise the current job. It displays the Task Number, Description, Status and Priority of the Task. It also shows the name of the staff member to whom each task is assigned. Click on the task grid to select the required task. The selected task appears in bold.

 

Summary Tab

 

Budgets GridThe Grid

The budgets grid on the summary tab allows job level (as opposed to task level) budgets to be entered on a per activity basis. Budget figures for elapsed time, billing time, and billing value can be entered. If the elapsed time exceeds the budgeted elapsed time, the elapsed time field is red. If the elapsed time is under budget, the elapsed time field is green. Likewise for the budgeted billing time and billing time fields.

 

Main Tab

 

Assigned To

This field contains the staff member who is assigned to the task

Department

This is the department to which the task is allocated. Allocating a task to a department allows the appropriate resource (staff member) to be assigned, as well as "classifies" the task to some extent. Right-clicking on the department allows a user default to be set for all subsequent tasks that are created.

Category

This can be thought of as a "sub-department". It is often useful to have departments further broken down. For example, The "Service" department may contain the categories "Computers", "Faxes", and "Printers". Right-clicking on the category allows a user default to be set for all subsequent tasks that are created.

Priority

The priority of the task. Priorities are defined in "Service Manager -> Configuration -> Priorities". A priority can be defined as "Has Deadline", in which case selecting the priority will tick the "Has Deadline" checkbox, and will set the deadline to be the current login date/time plus the number of hours defined as "Response" in the priority definition. Further, one priority can be flagged as the default in "Service Manager -> Configuration -> Priorities". This default priority will be used whenever a new task is created.

Deadline

Here a date and time can be defined by which the task should be completed. This field is only editable if the "Has Deadline" check-box is ticked (see below).

Has Deadline

Ticking this check-box allows a date and time to be entered by which the task must be completed.

Logged By

This records the staff member who logged the task into the system. This is a read-only field.

Logged Date

This records the date and time of when the task was logged in the system. By default this is a read-only field. It is possible to allow editing of this field, however, by enabling the system setting "Service -> AllowLoggedDateEdit".

Status

The status of a task indicates the current state of that task. For example, whether work has begun on the task, whether the task is on-hold for some reason, or whether the task is completed. Statuses are defined in "Service Manager -> Configuration -> Statuses". One of the defined statuses can be flagged as the default, so all new tasks get that status assigned initially. It should also be noted the item no. of a status infers it's place in the pipeline of task states. Put another way, the higher the item no. of a status, the closer to task completion that status represents.

Street, Suburb, State, Postcode, Phone, Fax

These fields collectively indicate the physical site at which the task needs to be performed. They are populated by selecting from the existing delivery addresses already defined against the debtor for the job.

Prepaid Labour Pack

If hours worked on this task are to be drawn from a special pack of prepaid hours, select that special prepaid labour pack here. If no specific prepaid labour pack is selected, any prepaid labour added to the task will be drawn from existing (non-special) prepaid labour packs for the customer on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis. If you accidentally choose a pack here, you can right click on the field to clear it. See Prepaid See Prepaid Labour Packs for Packs for more information about prepaid labour.

Debtor System

If the task is for work to be performed on a specific debtor system, the debtor system can be selected here. A debtor system can represent a piece of customer hardware, and can provide attributes of that hardware (for example, a Server and it's IP address and login details). Right click on the field to clear the selected debtor system. For more information, see Debtor see Debtor Systems.

 

Description Tab

 

DescriptionThis is a large free text area where details about this task can be entered. This is where you should record what work needs to be done to complete this task.

 

Notes Tab

This tab is where notes can be recorded against the tasks. There are 2 distinct classes of note, which will be defined below. 

 

Task

This is a large free text area where notes about this task can be entered - perhaps information that was uncovered during the task. It can be collapsed to provide more room for the specific notes grid if desired (do this by clicking the little "-" button next to the word "Task").

Specific

This is a more structured area for the inclusion of notes. When a note is entered, the user and date/time is captured also. Further, a note "type" can be selected for each note - note types may include "Follow Up" or "Special Instructions". See here for See here for more information on notes in Jiwa.

 

Labour Tab

This is where labour charges are added and managed for each task. 

 

Part No.

Each Part No. denotes the item of labour that is to be used. The search for labour items retrieves all non-physical inventory items, that are have an inventory classification that has a name of "Labour".

Prepaid

By default this check-box is ticked. When ticked, the labour time is taken from any existing prepaid labour packs. In this case the "Rate Ex. Tax" field is not editable and shows a value of 0, because the customer has already paid for the labour (via prepaid support packs). If there is no prepaid labour pack time left to use, the "Prepaid" field is automatically un-ticked. When this check-box is un-ticked, labour time is not drawn from the customers prepaid labour packs, and the "Rate Ex. Tax" field is made editable. By default the "Rate Ex. Tax" field given the value of whatever the "Sell Price" of the inventory item is set to. Also note that if a prepaid support pack was selected on the "Main" tab, labour is drawn from this specific prepaid labour pack only. The section on Prepaid Labour Packs provides further information.

Site-sheet Received

This field allows the recording of whether site-sheets have been physically received by the staff member(s) performing the work for the task. Often it is important to have site-sheets signed by the customer, handed in by the staff, and then stored in case of any billing time disputes.

Description

Record here a brief description of the work performed.

Activity

An activity type can be chosen here to reflect the type of work done in general terms. Activities can be defined in Service Manager -> Configuration -> Activities.

Start Date

This denotes the day that the labour began. By default the current login date is used, but often this must be changed to whatever is written on the site-sheet by the staff member who performed the labour. Double clicking on this cell displays a calendar from which a date can be selected.

Start Time

This denotes the time that the labour began. By default the current login time is used, but often this must be changed to whatever is written on the site-sheet by the staff member who performed the labour.

End Date

This denotes the day that the labour finished. By default the current login date is used, but often this must be changed to whatever is written on the site-sheet by the staff member who performed the labour. Double clicking on this cell displays a calendar from which a date can be selected.

End Time

This denotes the time that the labour finished. By default this is set to Start Time + 1 hour.Elapsed TimeThis is the time spent, in hours, performing the labour. It is obtained by calculating the difference between the "Start Time" and "End Time" fields, and is therefore read-only.

Billing Time

Also in hours. When a labour line is initially added, the billing time defaults to the same value as the "Elapsed Time" field. This value can be edited, however. Sometimes labour might be provided as a gesture of "good-will", or a lesser billing time negotiated with the customer due to other various circumstances. In such instances the billing time can be over-typed with whatever value is desired. The billing time is the amount that will be billed to the customer in the case of casual labour, or taken from the customers prepaid labour packs in the case of prepaid labour.

Staff

This is the staff member that performed the labour. By default the currently logged in user is recorded here. Often, data entry is done by administrative staff, not necessarily the staff member who performed the actual labour. Because of this, it is important to remember to set the staff member value correctly (based of the physical site-sheet, for example).

Rate Ex. Tax

The rate at which the labour is charged. This value is calculated in Jiwa based on price, quantity and customer. This field is not editable when the prepaid check-box is ticked, because prepaid implies that the customer has already paid for the labour.

Total Ex. Tax

This is the total charge to the customer for this particular labour line, excluding tax. This is calculated by simply multiplying the value of the "Billing Time" field and the value of the "Rate Ex. Tax" field. This field is read-only.Invoice No.The invoice no. contains the sales invoice no. when the line has been processed, otherwise it contains the text "Unprocessed". To process labour lines please see How see How to Create a Sales Order sectionOrder section. After a labour item is processed, it cannot be edited.

Tax Rate Description

Here the appropriate tax rate can be selected from a drop-down of the GST Outwards tax rates. This field is directly tied to the "Tax rate" column. Whichever tax rate is flagged as the default in "System Settings -> Tax -> Tax Configuration", GST Outwards tab is initially selected, except in the case where a value exists in the "Tax Exempt No." field in the header section of the job, in which case the first 0 tax rate found is selected. If a value is entered in the "Tax Exempt No." field in the header section of the job, any existing unprocessed labour lines will have their tax rate set to the first 0 tax rate found.

Tax Rate

This shows the tax rate being applied to the labour line. It is read-only, and is set based on the value selected in the "Tax Rate Description" field.

Total Tax Amount

This is a read-only field that indicates the total tax that is incurred for the given labour line. It's value is calculated thus:(Billing Time * Rate Ex. Tax) * (Tax Rate / 100)

Total Inc. Tax

This is a read-only field that indicates the total charge for the line, including tax. It is calculated like this:(Rate Ex. Tax * Billing Time) + Total Tax Amount

Prepaid Labour Pack

This field shows the prepaid labour pack from which the hours for the given labour line were drawn. If the hours came from multiple prepaid labour packs, the text "Multiple Packs" is shown in the field. Right clicking on the field gives the option of viewing how many hours came from which prepaid labour pack.

Cost

This is the "Last Cost" value that is assigned to inventory item that is being used for the labour charge.

 

Parts Tab

This is where parts used on the job are added and managed for each task. 

 

Line No.

The order that the part was added.Part No.Denotes parts that were used on the job. Adding a part draws stock from whatever the current warehouse is set to. Click on the search button next to the Part No. field to search for parts to add.DescriptionThis

Description

This is the description of the part. It is read in from the inventory item initially, but can be edited for the line.Invoice No.The invoice no. contains the sales invoice no. when the line has been processed, otherwise it contains the text "Unprocessed". To process part lines please see How see How to Create a Sales Order sectionOrder section. After a part line is processed, it cannot be edited.QtyThis

Qty

This is the number of units being used on the task.

Qty BOIf BO

If there is not enough stock to fulfill the required quantity, it goes on back order. The amount placed on back order is shown here. Back orders in Service Manager are fulfilled through the usual Jiwa back order processing methods - see Back see Back Order Processing for Processing for further information.

Price (Ex. Tax)

This is the price per unit, excluding tax, that will be charged to the customer for the part. The usual Jiwa price scheme system is used for determining the default price.Total Price (Ex. Tax)This is the total price, excluding tax, that will be charged for this part line. It is calculated by simply multiplying "Qty" by "Price (Ex. Tax)".

Serial Nos.

If the part is a serialised item, the selected serial numbers are displayed here, separated by commas. Double left clicking on this field will display the serial selection screen where, if the line has not yet been processed, serial numbers can be selected (and quantities added or removed). The look-up button next to this field also can be used to bring up the serial selection screen.

Quote Ref.

This is a free text area that may be used to provide a specific identifier or reference to a particular part line. It is blank by default.Disc %Any

Disc %

Any applicable discount (such as quantity price break discount, debtor specific discount, debtor statement discount, etc.) is displayed here. Further, if the "Disc Given" field is changed, the "Disc %" field is recalculated automatically. The "Disc %" field is the discount on a per unit basis.

Disc GivenSimilar Given

Similar to the "Disc %" field, but instead of displaying the discount as a percentage of the original price, this field shows the dollar value of the discount. The "Disc Given" field is the discount on a per unit basis.Last CostThis

Cost

This is the "Last Cost" value that is/was assigned to inventory item at the time of adding the part line.

Total Tax AmountThis Amount

This is a read-only field that indicates the total tax that is incurred for the given part line. It's value is calculated thus:(Qty * Price (Ex. Tax) * (Tax Rate / 100)

Tax Rate DescriptionHere Description

Here the appropriate tax rate can be selected from a drop-down of the GST Outwards tax rates. This field is directly tied to the "Tax rate" column. Whichever tax rate is flagged as the default in "System Settings -> Tax -> Tax Configuration", GST Outwards tab is initially selected, except in the case where a value exists in the "Tax Exempt No." field in the header section of the job, in which case the first 0 tax rate found is selected. If a value is entered in the "Tax Exempt No." field in the header section of the job, any existing unprocessed part lines will have their tax rate set to the first 0 tax rate found.

Tax RateThis Rate

This shows the tax rate being applied to the part line. It is read-only, and is set based on the value selected in the "Tax Rate Description" field.

Total Inc. TaxThis Tax

This is a read-only field that indicates the total charge for the line, including tax. It is calculated like this:(Price (Ex. Tax) * Qty) + Total Tax Amount

Last Saved ByThis By

This shows the user that last modified the line.

 

Customer Returns Tab

Customer parts/equipment that get replaced during the service are recorded here. 

 

Part No.

This is the part no. of the item that was returned by the customer.DescriptionThis

Description

This is the part description of the item that was returned by the customer. This field is editable.ProcessedTo

Processed

To create a credit note for the customer return, tick the box for each line that should be included on the credit note. Upon saving the job, and line with it's "Processed" field ticked will be placed on a credit note. Lines that have been processed are no longer editable.Invoice No.If a line has not yet been processed, the text "Unprocessed" is shown. Once processed, the invoice no. of the credit note that the line was placed on appears here.QtyThe

Qty

The the number of units being returned.Price (Ex. GST)This is the price per unit, excluding tax, that will be credited to the customer for the part. The usual Jiwa price scheme system is used for determining the default price.

Total Price (Ex. GST)

This is the total price, excluding tax, that will be credited for this customer return line. It is calculated by simply multiplying "Qty" by "Price (Ex. GST)".

Serial Nos.

If the part is a serialised item, the selected serial numbers are displayed here, separated by commas. Double left clicking on this field will display the serial selection screen where, if the line has not yet been processed, serial numbers can be selected (and quantities added or removed). The look-up button next to this field also can be used to bring up the serial selection screen.

Credit ReasonThe Reason

The reason for the item being returned can be selected here. The reason selected will dictate whether or not the item gets placed back into stock or is simply written off. See Credit See Credit Reason Maintenance for Maintenance for more information.

Credit Into StockThis Stock

This tick-box indicates whether the customer return will be placed back into stock when processed, or alternatively, is written off. The value is determined initially by the "Credit Reason" field, but it can be overridden.Quote Ref.This is a free text area that may be used to provide a specific identifier or reference to a particular customer return line. It is blank by default.

Total GST AmountThis Amount

This is a read-only field that indicates the total tax that is incurred for the given customer return line. It's value is calculated thus:(Qty * Price (Ex. GST) * (GST Rate / 100)

GST Rate DescriptionHere Description

Here the appropriate tax rate can be selected from a drop-down of the GST Outwards tax rates. This field is directly tied to the "GST rate" column. Whichever tax rate is flagged as the default in "System Settings -> Tax -> Tax Configuration", GST Outwards tab is initially selected, except in the case where a value exists in the "Tax Exempt No." field in the header section of the job, in which case the first 0 tax rate found is selected. If a value is entered in the "Tax Exempt No." field in the header section of the job, any existing unprocessed customer return lines will have their tax rate set to the first 0 tax rate found.

GST RateThis Rate

This shows the tax rate being applied to the customer return line. It is read-only, and is set based on the value selected in the "GST Rate Description" field.

Total Inc. GSTThis GST

This is a read-only field that indicates the total credit amount for the line, including tax. It is calculated like this:(Price (Ex. GST) * Qty) + Total GST Amount

 

Billing Tab

Billing information for the task can be set here. 

 

Account Sale

This debtor will be billed for the associated task and will appear on the sales order whenever a sales order is created from service manager job. 

DebtorThis Debtor

This is the debtor that will be billed for work done on this task. Note that right-clicking on this field allows each user to set a default value to use for each newly created task in the system.StreetThis

Street

This is allows the selection of a specific debtor delivery address to use for billing.SuburbThe

Suburb

The billing suburb. This field is driven by whichever debtor delivery address is selected using the Street look-up field.StateThe

State

The billing state. This field is driven by whichever debtor delivery address is selected using the Street look-up field.PostcodeThe

Postcode

The billing postcode. This field is driven by whichever debtor delivery address is selected using the Street look-up field.PhoneThe

Phone

The billing telephone number. This field is driven by whichever debtor delivery address is selected using the Street look-up field.FaxThe

Fax

The billing fax number. This field is driven by whichever debtor delivery address is selected using the Street look-up field.

 

Cash Sale

The "Cash Sale" area can be used for walk-in type service, where it is not required to keep account information of customers. This information will appear in the cash sales tab of the sales order screen whenever a sales order is created for that job. 

Name

NameThis This is a free text area where the name of a customer can be entered

.CompanyThe Company

The company name that the customer is from can be entered here.StreetTwo

Street

Two text fields are provided to enter street address informationSuburbThe information

Suburb

The suburb of the customerStateThe customer

State

The state in which the customer resides.

Post CodeThe Code

The customer's post code.PhoneThe

Phone

The customer's telephone number.FaxThe

Fax

The customer's fax number.ContactIf

Contact

If a separate person should be contacted with regard to billing (as opposed to liaising with the customer), their name can be entered here.

 

Custom Fields Tab

Custom fields can be created for service manager tasks via Plugins

Documents Tab

The documents tab is where files to do with the service manager task can be attached - service manuals, plans, network diagrams, quote documents, etc. 

Email Tab

The grid on the email tab records all outgoing emails sent from this task. 

 

DateThe Date

The date and time that the email was sent.SubjectThe

Subject

The email subject.ToThe

To

The recipient email address.FromThe

From

The email address that was used as the sender.CCRecipients

CC

Recipients that were sent a copy of the email.BCCRecipients

BCC

Recipients that were sent a copy of the email, without being displayed in the email header.AttachmentsThe

Attachments

The report (in .pdf format) that was attached to the email.BodyThe

Body

The contents of the email. Double right-clicking on this field will drill-down to the Email Maintenance record.StaffThe

Staff

The Jiwa user that sent the email.

Requested Read ReceiptWhether Receipt

Whether or not the sender of the email chose to be notified when the email had been read by the recipient.

 

To-Do Tab

This is where To-Do's that are attached to the task appear. The top half of the tab contains a grid which lists all the to-do's for the task. Additionally, a filter can be applied to limit the to-do's shown in this grid. A new button is also provided to allow the creation of new to-do's for the task. The bottom half of the tab contains the content of the to-do that is currently selected in the grid. 

 

Web Browser Tab

This can be an incredibly useful tab that allows Service Manager to integrate with web based systems. Using a simple plugin, the web browser tab can be set to display a web page. This web page may vary per job or per task. Perhaps the address of the debtor attached to the job is used to load a map of the site into the web browser tab. Another example would be the loading of an interactive intranet web page into the tab to allow additional information to be accessed or captured. 

 

Budgets Tab

 

Budgets GridThe budgets grid on the summary tab allows task level (as opposed to job level) budgets to be entered on a per activity basis. Budget figures for elapsed time, billing time, and billing value can be entered.

 

Configuration

Departments

Each task of a service manager job can be attached to a department. A department is a division of the organisation that deals with a specific area of activity - to that end, it is often useful that different tasks that involve different types of work be routed to the appropriate department in the organisation. Some examples of departments include "Sales" and "Service". Departments can be broken down further into Categories, allowing for a finer grain of control over the routing of work. 
Staff can be placed into a department via the Staff Maintenance screen. 

 

Header Information

Name

NameEach Each department should be given a unique name.ManagerEach

Manager

Each department can have a staff member set as the manager of that department.EnabledDepartments

Enabled

Departments that are not enabled do not appear for selection when creating or editing jobs. It may be necessary to keep a department in the system for historical reporting purposes, even though it should no longer be used.DefaultThis

Default

This denotes the default department. It is not currently used.

 

Categories Grid

The bottom section of the screen is where categories are defined. These allow departments to be further partitioned into different areas of expertise. 

Item No.

This controls the display order of the categories in the grid.NameA

Name

A category should be given a unique name within it's department.EnabledA

Enabled

A category can be enabled or disabled. Only enabled categories can be used when creating or editing jobs. Like departments, it is sometimes desirable to keep a category in the system for historical reporting purposes, but not allow it to be selected for new jobs.jobs.



Anchor
Statuses
Statuses
Statuses

The status of a task indicates the current state of that task. For example, whether work has begun on the task, whether the task is on-hold for some reason, or whether the task is completed. One of the defined statuses can be flagged as the default, so all new tasks get that status assigned initially. It should also be noted the item no. of a status infers it's place in the pipeline of task states. Put another way, the higher the item no. of a status, the closer to task completion that status represents. 

 

Item No.

This infers the statuses place in the pipeline of task states. Tasks would begin with the lower number status, and then move their way through to the higher number statuses (i.e. completion).NameEach

Name

Each status should be given a unique name.DescriptionA

Description

A more detailed explanation of the meaning of the status. Under what circumstances a task should be assigned this status may be included here, for example.DefaultAll

Default

All new service manager tasks get initially assigned the status that is flagged as the default. Only one status can be flagged as the default.EnabledA

Enabled

A status can be enabled or disabled. Only enabled statuses can be used when creating or editing jobs. Like categories and departments, it is sometimes desirable to keep a status in the system for historical reporting purposes, but not allow it to be selected for new jobs.



Priorities

The priority of a task indicates the urgency with which the task should be completed. Priorities can also be used to dictate deadlines in completing certain work. 

 

Item No.

Item No. defines the display order of the priorities.NameEach

Name

Each priority should be given a unique name.DescriptionA

Description

A more detailed explanation of the meaning of the priority. Under what circumstances a task should be assigned this priority may be included here, for example.

Response TimeThe Time

The response time column is the response time (in hours) that the job should be addressed by. Priorities with a lower response time, that is, more urgent priorities, are displayed first.

Has DeadlineSignifies Deadline

Signifies whether or not a priority has a deadline. If this is ticked, then when a task is assigned the priority, the Has Deadline field on the task gets ticked, and the Deadline date and time is calculated using the current date and time along with the response time value.DefaultAll

Default

All new service manager tasks get initially assigned the priority that is flagged as the default. Only one priority can be flagged as the default.EnabledA

Enabled

A priority can be enabled or disabled. Only enabled priorities can be used when creating or editing jobs. It is sometimes desirable to keep a priority in the system for historical reporting purposes, but not allow it to be selected for new jobs.



Activities

An activity can be selected for each labour line in Service Manager. This allows for categorisation of the type of work being performed and how much. 

 

Item No.

Item No. defines the display order of the activities as they appear in search screens, etc.NameEach

Name

Each activity should be given a unique name.DescriptionA more detailed explanation of the meaning of the activity. Under what circumstances a labour line should be have this activity attached to it, for example.DefaultAll

Default

All new service manager labour lines get initially assigned the activity that is flagged as the default. Only one activity can be flagged as the default.EnabledAn

Enabled

An activity can be enabled or disabled. Only enabled activities can be used when creating or editing labour lines. It is sometimes desirable to keep an activity in the system for historical reporting purposes, but not allow it to be selected any more for labour lines.



Working with Service Manager

This section walks through some common service manger scenarios and workflows. 

Creating Jobs & Tasks

1. Begin by accessing the job screen from the Jiwa menu (Service Manager -> Jobs). 

 

2. Click the "New" button on the ribbon. A pull-down menu appears - from here click "New Job". 

 

3. The debtor search screen will be displayed - a debtor must be selected to proceed with job creation. 

4. At this point, the job can be saved. However, there is not much useful information attached to the job. The first piece of information that should be added is an overall description for the job - this can be entered in the free-text, multiple line "Description" field at the top right of the job screen. A description can also be entered for the task via the "Task Description" tab. In some cases a job may only have one task, and if this is the case it may be that the same description is used for both the job and task. In other cases, a job may be broken down into a number of tasks. To create additional tasks for a job, once again use the "New" button on the ribbon, but this time select "New Task" from the pull-down menu that appears. 

 

Notice the task grid in the middle of the job screen. The currently selected task is the row in bold. Tasks can be selected by clicking on rows in the grid. When any given task is selected, the information in the bottom part of the job screen, the tabs, changes to that of the selected task. 

5. Another important piece of information to provide is the job Coordinator. This is the staff member who is responsible for the overall job. The coordinator is selected using the look-up button at the top-right of the job screen. Right clicking on the look-up control allows clearing of the coordinator. Also available when right-clicking is the selection or clearing of a default value for the coordinator to be used for all subsequently created jobs. This default value is stored on a per-user basis - meaning that logging in to Jiwa as user "Fred" may have a different set of default values than when logging into Jiwa as user "Anne". 

6. Now attention should be turned to the tasks on the job. In the "Main" tab of a task an "Assigned To" staff member can be provided. This is the staff member who should perform the work defined by this task, or it can be used to represent the staff member who is in charge of getting this task done. The task can be given to a particular department and category by using the 'Department" and "Category" look-ups, remembering that each department can be further broken down into it's own set of categories - this also implies that clearing or changing the department field will cause the category to be cleared. To give the task a priority, use the "Priority" look-up. Finally, the task should be given a status using the "Status" look-up - for a newly created task this would normally be a value like "Assigned", "Not Started", or "Scheduled". See Statuses for defining statuses for use here. Right-clicking on any of these fields gives the option of clearing the current value, setting a default, or clearing the default. 

 

 

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HowToCreateASalesOrder
HowToCreateASalesOrder
How to Create a Sales Order