What is a job, and how does the Jobs list work?
A job is the container for a unit of work at a property. It groups together everything related to that work: one or more visits, the contacts, files, inspection reports, and any linked quotes or invoices.
A visit is a single scheduled trip to the site that a technician performs; a job can have several visits over time, while the visit is the thing that actually appears on the schedule. Open the Jobs list from Scheduling > Jobs in the sidebar.
Create a job without scheduling a visit
Select Create Job at the top of the Jobs list.
Choose the property where the work belongs. The picker includes active properties for active customers.
Select Create.
Essential assigns the next job number for your business and opens the new job. The job's status shows No visits because none have been scheduled yet. You can add a visit later from the job page when the work is ready to schedule.
Each row shows the job number, customer, property, status, techs needed, latest visit duration, visit types, latest technician instructions, open task count, a visits summary (such as 2/3 done), the next visit date, whether an invoice is linked, and the created date. Scroll horizontally to see all columns. You can search by job number, customer, or address, and click any column header to sort.
Depending on your business configuration, job numbers can use a J prefix, such as J5555, or the job's two-digit creation year, such as 26-5555. Both styles, with or without a leading #, remain valid when searching.
Use the tabs to focus the list:
All shows every job.
Backlog shows jobs with at least one unfinished visit that has no scheduled start time and is not assigned to a visit batch.
Scheduled shows jobs with at least one unfinished visit that has a scheduled start time or is assigned to a visit batch window.
Done shows jobs whose non-cancelled visits are all done. Check Open Tasks for any office follow-up still needed.
Open visits shows jobs with any unfinished visit, whether scheduled or in the backlog.
Open tasks shows jobs with at least one job task not yet done.
Deleted shows deleted jobs with who deleted them and when. Open one to view it read-only, or select Restore. Deleted jobs appear in no other tab.
A job with both backlog and scheduled visits appears in both filters. Jobs with no visits, or only cancelled visits, do not appear under Done. The selected filter and sort stay in the page URL, so opening a job and going back restores your view.
The Status column rolls up the job at a glance: Backlog means there is unscheduled work to do; Scheduled means there is scheduled work to do and no backlog visits; Action needed means no visits remain to do but open job tasks remain; No visits means there are no non-cancelled visits or open job tasks; and Complete means all visits are done with no open tasks.
Plan work from the visit columns
Techs needed, Latest visit duration, and Latest technician instructions come from the most recently created non-cancelled visit. This includes a newly added backlog follow-up, even if an older visit has a later scheduled date. Techs needed is the requested staffing count; duration is the estimated time in minutes.
Select Show all visits in the instructions column to read the full latest instructions and earlier visit instructions without leaving the list. For a job with one visit, Show all appears only when the instructions are truncated. Widening the column hides the link once the full text fits. The history shows scheduled dates, or the date added for unscheduled visits.
Visit types lists the distinct types across the job's non-cancelled visits, in alphabetical order. All data columns sort across the entire result set, including when the list spans multiple pages.
Drag the teal divider between column headings to resize columns, including the instructions column. Double-click to fit the loaded content up to a reasonable maximum. Your widths stay saved for your account in this browser after logging out and back in. See Adjust table columns for keyboard controls.
Cancelled visits are not counted toward these statuses.
Where to find it: Scheduling > Jobs in the left sidebar (the Jobs list), then click any row to open that job
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