> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://learn.withessential.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://learn.withessential.com/customers-and-work/scheduling/create-a-new-visit.md).

# Create a new visit

A visit usually belongs to a job at a customer's property. You can schedule it immediately or leave it in the Backlog to plan later. Your business can also define no-property visit types, such as Tech Unavailable, for blocking technician time without a customer, property, or job.

![Create visit form](https://3838208579-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Flu1pgNH0CrkCPslG8suQ%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-ea8fb6a60d6cb470c070c7abe245364c3551bbb8%2Fcreate-visit.png?alt=media)

## Create the visit

1. Open the Scheduling page.
2. Click Create Job / Visit in the calendar toolbar (on smaller screens, Add next to the Scheduling heading).
3. Choose the work to be done. For property-based work, choose the customer and property; if you start from a job or task, the job can already be filled in. Once a property is chosen, an Additional Context panel appears to the right of the form and stays visible on both steps. It is organized into Customer (overdue-invoice alert, customer notes, every non-empty customer custom field), Property (open jobs at the property with their visit types and dates, Property Access Info, Property Notes, every non-empty property custom field), and Asset Groups (the equipment groups on site, grouped by type; expanding a type lists each group with any asset attribute values your business surfaces as labels — see [Show asset attribute values as labels](/field-operations/assets/show-asset-attribute-values-as-labels-asset-group-labels.md)). Long notes and custom-field values show three lines until you click **Show all**. Rows with a chevron expand in place; the Open Customer, Open Property, Open Asset Groups, and individual job links open in a new tab so the half-filled form is never lost. The panel can be collapsed with the arrow in its corner, and that choice is remembered on your device (shown by default). The panel shows a spinner while it gathers this information; the rest of the form stays editable in the meantime, so you never have to wait to fill in the visit. On smaller screens, a condensed version — Property Access Info, Property Notes, and every non-empty customer or property custom field — appears below the property selector instead; the overdue-invoice alert, customer notes, open jobs, and Asset Groups sections are desktop-only. This context is view-only in the scheduling form.
4. Enter the estimated duration. Essential uses it to calculate the visit end time.
5. Add a start time and technician if you already know them. Leave the time empty to place the visit in the Backlog.
6. Add contacts if they should appear for the technician or receive visit reminders. Contacts belong to the customer, so if you switch the visit to a property under a different customer, the selected contacts are cleared and you choose again from that customer's contacts.
7. Add notes or instructions.
8. Add the parts, labor, and items the crew will complete, and any job files the crew should have on hand (both optional, see below).
9. Save the visit.

To start directly from the calendar, click open time under a technician in Day, Week, or Day (Map) view. The form starts with that technician and time selected. Scroll to later hours as needed, and click the next open slot to keep adding visits. To choose an exact start and duration together, click and drag over the time you want to reserve, then complete and save the form.

## No-property visits

If every selected work order uses a visit type that does not require a property, the form hides the property and contact fields. These visits are for technician availability blocks and similar scheduling holds. They cannot be mixed with property-based visit types on the same visit, and an existing visit cannot be changed between no-property and property-based by editing its work orders.

When you start from an approved quote task, the quote’s property is filled in, including its name when the property is inactive. Inactive properties and customers are labeled **Inactive** in the property search. An inline notice explains that saving reactivates them; Automation settings stay unchanged and recurring-service outreach can resume. See [Scheduling for an inactive customer or property](/customers-and-work/scheduling/why-cant-i-schedule-a-visit-here-inactive-customer-or-property.md). If you select another property, your Technician Instructions are kept for review; quote-added items and the source quote link are removed. Review the instructions before saving for the new property.

## Notes and instructions

Technician Instructions are shown to the crew in the mobile app and to the back office. Scheduling Instructions are for the back office; the only technicians who see them are those who can self-schedule, on the visits in their Open tab, so they can place the visit the way you intended.

Hover over **Scheduling Instructions** to check who can read them. The explanation follows the business's self-scheduling default and the visit's override, keeping office-only wording when no active technician has access or the visit is already assigned or scheduled.

## Parts, Labor & Items and Job Files

Quoted catalog items retain their original approved name and catalog link even if the pricebook item is later renamed or archived. Older quote lines without a recoverable catalog link remain one-off items; select the correct catalog item before saving if those lines should reserve stock.

Catalog code changes also preserve the stock identity of planned items and recorded actuals. Recording or correcting actual quantities in the technician app requires a connection. If saving those items fails, the summary stays open for retry instead of submitting without them.

Above the instructions, the row with the muted **Parts, Labor & Items** label summarizes where the job's planned items came from (for example *6 auto-added from Quote #Q1042 · 2 added*). Click the row to open the list: search the pricebook to add a part, labor, or item, or type a name to add a one-off line, set quantities, and remove rows with the ✕. The back arrow at the top of the list (or **Done** at the bottom) returns to the form; the list saves when you save the visit.

The plan belongs to the **job**, so visits on the same job share one list, including multi-day work. It appears on the job page, the scheduling popover, and each visit in the technician app. These items automatically carry into an invoice created from the job. Actual quantities from completed visits replace matching planned quantities, so items are not billed twice. Saving the plan does not record work as completed or deduct stock; technicians confirm actual quantities in their visit summary. For later changes to a saved draft invoice, use its **Resync** action to review and pull in the updated items.

With **Inventory off**, you can still add parts, labor, and one-off items. No stock is reserved or deducted. With **Inventory on**, this same editor replaces the separate Reserved Inventory section. Tracked parts show availability, and **Reserve From** selects the job's stock location. Saving reserves only inventory-tracked items, once for the job. Actual usage deducts on-hand stock and consumes the reservation when recorded. Labor and untracked items do not affect stock. Tracked stock uses whole quantities; other items can use decimals, such as 1.5.

**Job Files**, at the bottom of the form, lets you drop or pick files while scheduling. They attach to the visit's job when you save, so the crew has them on the visit in the mobile app from day one and the office sees them on the job page. When editing a visit, ordinary uploaded files are listed here and can be removed with the ✕. Generated reports stay in their own report sections. Parts, Labor & Items and Job Files are available for visits that belong to a job, not no-property availability blocks.

If the visit saves but its job details, items, files, or source-task link fail to save, the form stays open with **Retry finishing save**. Correct the items if needed and retry; this does not create another visit. When starting from a task, the task does not advance until the saved visit is linked successfully.

If the source quote is no longer signed when linking finishes, the visit is kept but the source task does not complete. Review the quote's approval, then retry once it is eligible again.

If someone else saved the job's items while your form was open, choose **Load latest items** first. This replaces your unsaved item edits with the latest saved list, but keeps pending files. Review the list, reapply any changes you still want, and retry to finish saving.

If you changed a plan while Inventory was off, save the visit's form after re-enabling Inventory to bring its tracked reservations up to date. This also releases reservations for items removed while Inventory was off, even when **Reserve From** has not changed.

When starting from a signed quote, switching to a different property clears the quote-added items and Technician Instructions, including pending drafts. Manually added items stay on the list. **Add quote items back** restores the quoted quantities separately from any matching manual items.

A visit can also be created from the New menu or straight from a task on the Tasks page. The New menu carries context from customer, property, contact, and job pages when available. The Create Job / Visit quick action on Recurring Services, Quotes, and Deficiencies tasks opens the same visit form, prefilled with the task's customer and property (there's no job to prefill — this action creates one). From a Signed Quotes task the form opens with a **Creating a job from Quote #…** banner naming who signed and when, **Parts, Labor & Items** already listing the quote's line items (each tagged **Auto-added**), and Technician Instructions filled in with a draft written from the quote (description, line items, and the customer's signing note, with pricing left out) that you can edit before saving or ask Essential to **Regenerate**. On Jobs tasks, use Create Another Visit. From Never Clocked In and Incomplete (Needs Another Visit) tasks, that action also copies the prior visit's details while leaving its start time and reminder progress behind, ready for you to schedule the follow-up.

Many visits are created automatically from recurring service schedules, so the backlog often fills in on its own and your job is mainly to place those visits on the calendar.

> **Where to find it:** Scheduling page, the Create Job / Visit button in the calendar toolbar (on smaller screens, Add next to the Scheduling heading)

## Related guides

* [Add work orders (visit types) and contacts with reminders to a visit](/customers-and-work/scheduling/add-work-orders-visit-types-and-contacts-with-reminders-to-a-visit.md)
* [Exact time vs. estimated, duration, technician count, and due date](/customers-and-work/scheduling/exact-time-vs-estimated-duration-technician-count-and-due-date.md)
* [Reserve inventory, flag expected asset group inspections, and two kinds of notes](/customers-and-work/scheduling/reserve-inventory-flag-expected-asset-inspections-and-two-kinds-of-notes.md)
* [Set a visit's arrival window](/customers-and-work/scheduling/set-a-visits-arrival-window.md)
* [Deleting a scheduled visit is permanent](/customers-and-work/scheduling/deleting-a-scheduled-visit-is-permanent.md)
* [Add, edit, or disable visit types](/administration/settings/add-edit-or-disable-visit-types.md)


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