How do I track parts used on a specific job?

Two ways to handle this.

From the mobile app:
Tech opens the work order → scroll to Parts & Materials → tap Add Part → scan or search → enter quantity used. Gets synced back immediately if they're online.

From web (dispatcher/office):
Open the completed work order → Edit → same Parts section. You can add after the fact if techs forgot.

Pro tip: Have your techs do this before they mark complete. Once it's closed, you need edit permissions to go back in. I learned that the hard way with my crew.

in my experience the mobile part search is slow if your catalog is big. we just have techs write quantities on paper and office enters it later. not ideal but faster in the field.

also if they add the wrong part there's no undo, only edit or delete which messes up inventory counts if you're not careful.

Fair point on the search — we split our catalog into categories which helped. But the edit/delete thing Art mentioned is real. Make sure whoever's doing the books knows to check the Inventory Adjustment Log if numbers look off.

Also worth noting: if you enable Require Parts on Completion in your work order settings, techs can't close the job without logging something. Might force the habit.

Hi Mike,

Happy to help! Josh and Art covered the mobile flow well. Here's the complete picture:

1. Enable Inventory Tracking
First, confirm Inventory Management is turned on in your account settings. If you don't see Parts & Materials sections, reach out and we can verify your plan.

2. Technician Workflow (Mobile)
- Open work order → Parts & Materials → Add Part
- Scan barcode or search by name/SKU
- Enter quantity Used (not just reserved)
- Tap Save to Work Order

3. What Happens Next
- Inventory decrements automatically
- Part usage appears on the work order PDF/invoice
- Available in your Parts Usage Report by technician, job, or date range

4. For Your Restocking Workflow
Set up Low Stock Alerts so you're notified before you hit zero. See this article for full steps.

One clarification: are your techs currently marking jobs complete without logging parts? If so, we can also set Parts Required as a completion rule.

Let me know!

@priya.nair — yes they're closing without logging. Didn't know about the completion rule. Will enable that.

@art.kowalczyk — our catalog is about 400 items. Is that "big" enough to cause the slowdown you mentioned?

400 is manageable. we hit problems around 2000+ with images turned on. you'll probably be fine.

still worth teaching them to favor barcode scan over typing.

Adding to what Priya said — we also use Part Reservations for bigger jobs. Dispatch reserves parts when scheduling, techs confirm usage on site.

Separates "parts we thought we'd need" from "parts actually used" which helps us spot waste. Reservation vs. Actual Usage Report is under Reporting → Inventory if you need it.

Enabled the completion rule. Testing with two techs this week before rolling to full crew.

Thanks all.