Work Orders

Work orders track maintenance in AppFolio from the first request through scheduling, completion, and billing. This SOP covers where to find work orders, how to move one through its lifecycle, and how an approved vendor bill automatically completes a work order.

Vendor bills close work orders

When a vendor finishes a job, they must send the invoice to the AppFolio Smart Bill Entry email address, not to a person. Once the bill is entered against the work order and approved, AppFolio marks the work order Completed automatically. Instruct every vendor to submit invoices through the Smart Bill Entry email via the Invoice Instructions Letter. See Vendor Billing Closes Work Orders.

Work Order Lifecycle

Every work order moves through a series of statuses. The usual path proceeds from New to Assigned to Scheduled to Work Done to Completed. Estimates, Waiting, and Canceled branch off as needed.

Status	Meaning	How it is set
New	Request received, not yet assigned	Automatically on a resident, internal, or unit turn submission
Estimate Requested / Estimated	Estimate requested from or received from a vendor	Request or Enter Estimate action. When soliciting estimates from multiple vendors, do not assign a vendor until an estimate is approved
Assigned	Assigned to a vendor and/or internal user	Assign action, usually by the Property Manager or Assistant PM
Scheduled	Date and time set for the work	Schedule action, usually by the assigned vendor
Waiting	On hold (parts, access, approval, etc.)	Waiting action. Can also re-open a completed work order
Work Done	Physical work finished, not yet billed or closed	Mark Work Done (staff, tech, or vendor). Usually the vendor
Ready to Bill	All billable items in, a bill can be created	Mark Ready to Bill action. Rarely needed for vendor jobs, since the approved bill completes the work order
Completed	Billed and closed out	Mark Completed, or an approved Smart Bill Entry bill
Completed No Need to Bill	Closed with no bill	Mark Completed, then No Bill Needed. Usually the Property Manager
Canceled	Work order cancelled	Cancel action

Status changes are one-way (except Canceled and Complete)

Once a work order’s status changes, you cannot set it back to New. A Canceled work order can be re-opened by selecting the status of Schedule or Waiting, or the status can be changed to Complete. Estimates can also be requested from vendors for a canceled work order. A Completed work order’s status can also be changed to Schedule or Waiting.

Where to Find Work Orders

In the left navigation, open Maintenance > Work Orders.

The Work Orders page lists every open work order by default and lets you sort, filter, run bulk updates, and use quick actions.

Advanced Filtering and Saved Filters

Click Show Advanced Filters to open the full filter list, then pick criteria on the left (vendor, priority, work order type, and more). The list updates as you go.

To save a filtered view, apply the desired filters, open the Saved Filters dropdown list, and click Create a Saved Filter from Current Filters. Saved filters are tied to your own account and are not visible to other users. To use a saved filter, select it from the Saved Filters dropdown list.

Work Order Metrics

Four numeric metrics sit at the top of the page to provide a quick assessment of the status of work orders. They display the number of work orders that match a saved filter. Click the filter name under the number to apply that filter.

To edit which filters are displayed as metrics, select Customize and then Edit in the Dashboard Metrics block. Choose a saved filter from each metric’s dropdown list and then click Save.

Create a New Work Order

Click + New Service Request at the top right of the Work Orders page (it is also in the Tasks panel). The property and a description are required. Fill in the rest as needed.

Field	What to enter
Property, Association, Homeowner, or Tenant	Required. Type to search and select. Select the applicable Unit when necessary.
Work Order Type	Internal for work initiated in-house, Resident for requests made on behalf of a resident, Unit Turn for turnovers. If a tenant has made a maintenance request via their portal, it will be assigned the Work Order Type Resident. Encourage tenants to use their portal to make requests instead of doing it for them.
Priority	Normal, Low, or Urgent. Used for filtering and reports; not shown on printed or emailed work orders. To flag urgency to the vendor, add it to the description or vendor instructions.
Description	Required. The work to be done. Keep Use service request description as work order job description checked (recommended) to auto-fill the vendor-facing Job Description, which you can edit after it is auto-filled.
Work Order Issue	Category descriptor for filtering and reporting. Editable later from the work order.
Vendor Trade	Pick the trade to generate Vendor Suggestions: 1 to 6 vendors ranked by trade, past use at the property, and proximity.
Vendor	Pick from the suggestions or search manually. Assign after an estimate has been approved or if no estimate is required. This sets the status to Assigned.
Assign To	Not required by the program but an in-house resource should always be assigned. This is usually the Assistant PM or the Property Manager. This also sets the status to Assigned. On save, the assignee is emailed (if they have the assigned-to-a-work-order notification on) and they can start tracking the work order automatically.
Follow-up Date	Optional but recommended. Sends an email reminder to the person creating the work order on the follow-up date, and the assignee is also notified if they have the follow-up notification on under My Settings.

When you select a vendor, three checkboxes appear:

• Email vendor a secure link to view this work order: emails the vendor a Vendor Portal link. Always leave this checked.
• Text vendor a secure link to view this work order: texts the same link. Not recommended.
• Request vendor to confirm receipt of the work order: lets the vendor accept or reject the job in the Vendor Portal.

Everything else (Permission to Enter, entry notes, Owner approved, Vendor Instructions) is optional. Permission to Enter and entry notes are recommended for all properties.

Click Save. You can then add Notes and Attachments (up to 30 MB each: PDF, JPG, CSV, Excel, and other common formats) and request estimates. The work order appears on the Work Orders page with a New or Assigned status.

Note

If you assigned a vendor and left the email option checked, AppFolio emails them the work order on save.

Managing a Work Order

Open a work order and click Actions at the top to see most of the tasks that update its status. Every action is written to the Actions Log with who did it and when.

Request and Approve Estimates

Before assigning a work order to a vendor, estimates are often requested. To request an estimate from one or more vendors:

1. Select Request Estimate(s) from Vendor.

2. Specify the vendors.

3. Complete any further directions in the email body.

4. Select the JPEG attachment which provides information on how to upload their estimate using their vendor portal.

5. Click Send.

After estimates have been submitted, click the down arrow on the right of the estimate to review or edit details. To approve an estimate, select Edit Details.

Caution

After approving an estimate, remember to edit the work order and assign the work order to the approved vendor.

Assign Vendor

Unlike other work order status changes, a vendor is not assigned to a work order using the Actions menu. The vendor is either assigned when the work order is initially being created or when editing it later (e.g., after an estimate has been approved). You can also assign a vendor from the Work Orders page quick actions or in bulk.

Schedule

Click Actions > Schedule. Enter the date, start time, and duration. The status changes to Scheduled and a calendar event is created. If the Work Order Type is Resident, the tenant sees the date in their portal and is notified by email (if enabled). Scheduling is usually performed by the vendor after they coordinate with the tenant.

Mark Work Done

Click Actions > Mark Work Done when the physical work is finished. The vendor usually marks the work done from their portal. The work order still needs to be billed and marked Completed to close out.

Bill the Work Order

After the vendor emails their invoice to the Smart Bill Entry address, the bill flows through review and approval, and approval closes the work order automatically by marking it Complete. See Vendor Billing Closes Work Orders. This is the path for almost all vendor jobs.

In-house work

Add the billable items (labor hours, parts, supplies), then click Actions > Mark Ready to Bill. Use Create Bill to review the accounting details and generate the bill. Check Mark this job done during Create Bill to set the work order to Completed in the same step.

Mark Completed

Click Actions > Mark Completed and enter the close-out date. If the job needs no bill, choose No Bill Needed and the status becomes Completed No Need to Bill. For vendor jobs where an invoice is submitted, this step is not required, because the approved bill completes the work order automatically.

Waiting and Cancel

• Waiting: put a work order on hold or re-open a cancelled or completed work order.
• Cancel: cancel a work order and add optional notes for the tenant.

Vendor Billing Closes Work Orders

This is the link between work orders and the AP workflow. For vendor jobs, you do not mark the work order completed by hand. The bill does it.

1. Assign the vendor and let them do the work. The work order sits at Assigned, Scheduled, or Work Done.

2. Vendor adds photos to the work order. Make sure the vendor uploads photos of the finished work to the work order when they complete the job. The work order closes automatically once their invoice is approved, so the photos need to be on it before they bill.

   If the vendor sends the photos to you instead, attach them yourself. Go to Maintenance > Work Orders, search for or select the work order, and scroll down to Attachments. Drag the files into the box or click Choose Files to Add.

   

3. Vendor emails the invoice to Smart Bill Entry.

4. The bill is reviewed and approved against the work order. This is normally performed by REA. Once the bill is approved, AppFolio sets the work order status to Completed automatically. No separate completion step is needed.

Deposits and staged billing

Covered under the Invoice Instructions Letter.

What to tell vendors

See the Invoice Instructions Letter. This should be sent to each vendor when their AppFolio profile is created (see Vendor Setup) and as a periodic reminder if they are not submitting invoices correctly.

Work Faster: Bulk and Quick Actions

Bulk Actions

Filter the list, check the boxes next to the work orders you want, then pick a bulk action: Complete, Ready to Bill, Assign, Cancel, or Print. In practice, this will only be used for canceling and printing work orders, since the normal workflow is unique to each work order.

Quick Actions

Click any row to expand its detail view without leaving the Work Orders page. From there use View, Quick Edit, Assign, Mark Completed (only when Assigned), Email, or Cancel.

Work Order Notifications

You choose which work order events notify you, by Email, Mobile Push, or both. Set this per user in My Settings. Notifications are sent only for work orders you are tracking.

Set Your Notifications

1. Click your name at the top right of any page, then select My Settings.

   

2. Scroll to the Maintenance section of the Notifications block.

3. Check Email and/or Mobile Push for each event you want. Leave a box unchecked to skip it.

   

4. Scroll to the bottom and click Save.

Which invoice notification to use

To be alerted when Smart Bill Entry receives an emailed invoice, turn on New Smart Bill Entry emailed invoices have been received under Payments and Accounting (covered in the AP workflow), not a Maintenance event. The Maintenance event Vendor submits an invoice for a work order I am tracking notification is sent only when a vendor uploads an invoice through the Vendor Portal, which then must be forwarded to Smart Bill Entry by hand. This is an undesirable practice, and vendors should be told to follow the Invoice Instructions carefully.

Tracking Work Orders

Notifications only reach you for work orders you track. You automatically track any work order assigned to you. To track others, open the work order and click Tracking, which is found next to the Actions menu.