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Work Order

A work order is a central document that supports the execution and billing of a specific project, task, or service. It serves as a focal point for the communication, planning, execution, and tracking of work packages of all kinds – from internal maintenance tasks to tasks in complex, billable customer projects.

The documentation for DYCE Project Billing contains a general Introduction to billing professional services with DYCE and detailed information on work orders.

Work orders play a role in several DYCE apps. This documentation describes the planning functionality within Project & Resource Planning and establishes cross-connections to Time Tracking and Project Billing.

Planning Services with Work Orders​

As mentioned above, work orders cover several aspects necessary for the delivery and billing of services. Project & Resource Planning enables the creation and editing of work orders, the selection of existing project budgets for time recording, and the scheduling of services via Work Order Events.

Work Order List​

The Work Order List provides a comprehensive overview of all work orders in DYCE. It can be accessed via the main menu item Work Order.

The primary purpose of this page is to give the user quick and direct access to all relevant work orders. To narrow down the view, any number of saved filters can be created per user.

By default, the following columns are displayed:

  • No.: The unique number of the work order (e.g., WO00092).
  • Title: A short, concise headline.
  • Description: A detailed description of the work to be done.
  • Customer: The external or internal client.
  • Project No. and Description: The parent project of this work order.
  • Resource: The assigned main resource.
  • Resource Group: The assigned resource group.
  • Location: The physical or virtual place where the work is performed.
  • Original Estimate: The estimated time required (in hours or days).
  • Completed: The current status (yes/no).

If desired, additional columns can be displayed via the column menu (…).

The Work Order Card can be opened either by double-clicking or via the context menu (right-click) on the corresponding row.

New work orders can be created using the ⊕ NEW function. This function starts a wizard that guides you through the most important properties of a work order in three steps.

One or more selected work orders can be deleted using the trash can symbol (🗑).

The Search field allows for a quick search across the following properties:

  • No.
  • Resource
  • Title
  • Description
  • Customer
  • Project No.
  • Project Description

A search limits the list to the work orders that match the entered search term. Clicking the x symbol in the search field removes the filter.

Define, Save, and Retrieve Filters​

The list can be filtered by one or more properties and criteria by clicking the filter symbol (Y). The list permanently remembers the active filter criteria and therefore displays the same list each time it is opened.

If a set of filtered criteria is needed frequently, it can be saved as a filters using the save symbol (💾). The saved criteria can then be easily recalled with a simple click on the filter name.

tip

The color of the filter symbol indicates whether filter criteria have been defined.

  • Gray symbol: no filter criteria active
  • Blue symbol: filtered by one or more properties

Work Order Card​

The Work Order Card is the central detail view for a single work order. It bundles all relevant properties from the areas of description, assignment, commercial details, billing, and planning in one place.

This view is typically opened when a user double-clicks an entry in the Work Order List or navigates to a linked work order from other parts of the application, such as the Tasks page or the context menu of a Time Recording.

General Structure​

The Work Order Card is clearly structured into three main areas: the header area, the tabs, and a dynamic sidebar.

  • The header area displays the most important identification features of the work order: the work order number, the title, and brief information about the customer, type, and status.
  • The tabs group the properties into four areas: General, Billing Details, Planning, and Details.
  • The right sidebar contains a dynamic dashboard that summarizes the most important key figures of the work order. The content of this bar adapts slightly depending on the selected tab.

General Tab​

This tab contains the basic descriptive information of the work order.

  • Title, Description, and Solution: Define what the work order is about.
  • Internal Note: Text field for additional, non-public information.
  • Type: A classification of the work type (e.g., Story, Bug, Task). The list of possible values is maintained centrally in the respective source system (e.g., Business Central, Jira, Azure DevOps).
  • Completed (toggle): Determines if the work order is considered done. The status in the header area (Open / Completed) is directly derived from this toggle.
  • Locked (toggle): Can be used to lock a work order for further time recording.

For more information, see the chapter properties of a work order.

Billing Details Tab​

All information relevant for billing and budgeting is configured and viewed here.

  • Customer & Project: The basic assignment of the work order.
  • Budget: This is where the link to the commercial budget is established:
    • Budget Type: Controls the flexibility of time recording.
    • Project fields: Project Task, Project Planning Line, Activity
  • Effort estimation:
    • Original Estimate: The initially estimated effort; this value is displayed in the sidebar under "Time Recording" -> "Estimated".
    • Remaining Estimate: Can be updated by the user to track the remaining effort.

For more information, see the chapter properties of a work order.

Time Recordings​

A list of all times recorded for this work order. Users with the Planner role can edit entries by double-clicking or using the context menu. New entries or deletions are not possible here.

Planning Tab​

This tab is for operational planning and resource assignment.

  • Planning fields: Here, the work order can be assigned to a primary resource, a resource group, and optionally a location, sprint, or area.
  • Events: Events are specific appointments or planned work blocks. The work on the work order can be planned in detail for one or more resources here, including specific start and end times. New events can be created via ⊕ NEW.

For more information, see the chapter properties of a work order.

Details Tab​

This tab contains links, references, and historical data.

  • External Link: Specifies the origin of the work order and links it to the original element in an external system (e.g., a Jira issue or an Azure DevOps work item).
  • Billing Work Order: Used to map hierarchies. If this work order is a subordinate task, this section refers to the parent "Billing work order," on which all times are consolidated for billing.
  • Link: A direct, permanent link for quickly addressing this work order card.
  • History (in the sidebar): Shows when the work order was created and last modified.

The sidebar provides a quick overview of the work order's status:

  • Planning:
    • Scheduled: A status indicator (visualized by a green checkmark next to the resource) shows if the work order is scheduled. The checkmark appears as soon as at least one Event (planned work block) exists in the Planning tab.
    • Resource: Shows the primarily assigned resource.
  • Time Recording:
    • Estimated: The originally estimated effort in hours (this value comes from the Original Estimate field in the Billing Details tab).
    • Actual: The sum of all hours actually recorded for this work order, regardless of the recording resource.
  • Budget:
    • Budget Type: The budget type selected on the Billing Details tab.
    • Quantity: The budget set for the work order (e.g., in days), derived from the linked Project Planning Line (type Budget) (appears only if a Project Planning Line has been selected).
    • Actual: The portion of the budget already consumed (appears only if a Project Planning Line has been selected).

Editing Permissions​

The editability of the fields is role-based:

  • Time Recorder role: Can edit descriptive and status-relevant fields like Title, Description, Internal Note, Solution, Type, Completed, Remaining Estimate, Area, Sprint.
  • Resource Planning role: Can edit all other structural and commercial fields (e.g., Customer, Project, Budget Type, Effort Estimation, Planning Events).