Free Work Order
Template
The one-page form that authorizes a job and records what your technician actually did. The customer signs it on site. Used by 10,000+ contractors. Download it as a PDF, an Excel workbook, or a Google Sheets file.
No signup required. Print the work order template for the truck or fill it in on your phone.
WO #: WO-2026-0912 | Scheduled: Sep 12, 2026
Technician: R. Alvarez | PO #: 44819 | Priority: Same day
$738.50
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What a Work Order Is, and When You Issue One
A work order authorizes one specific job and records what happened on it. You issue it before the technician turns a wrench. It comes back off the truck carrying the findings, the parts, the hours, and a signature. That one page turns a phone call into a billable, defensible job.
The three documents people mix up
An estimate prices an offer before the work, and the customer can say no to it. An invoice bills the customer after the work, and it asks for money. A work order sits between them. It says the customer already said yes. Here is what we agreed to do, here is who is doing it, and here is the record of the work. Nobody pays from a work order. They confirm the scope going in, and they sign for the result coming out.
When to use a work order template instead of an estimate
Reach for a work order on service calls, warranty visits, and maintenance contracts. Same for punch list items and emergency repairs. Same for any job a property manager dispatches to you with a PO number. Those jobs share a shape. The scope is small, the customer already decided, and the argument later is never about price. It is about who authorized the work and whether the crew actually did it.
Use an estimate instead when the customer has not committed yet and you are competing on a number. Use an invoice once you finish the job and want to get paid. On a clean service call you will often produce all three. The work order is the one that keeps the other two honest.
Want the priced offer instead? Grab the general estimate template, or skip the forms entirely and turn a photo into an itemized estimate in about 6 seconds with SimplyWise Cost Estimator →
What a Work Order Template Needs, and What Each Field Protects
These are the fields that earn their place by closing a specific argument you would otherwise have later. The full field list is in the work order template itself.
The header: who authorized it, and under whose number
The record: what was found, what went in, who signed
How to Fill Out a Work Order Template in 5 Steps
A residential no-cooling complaint that turns into a condenser fan motor replacement. The work order template you download is blank. The dollar figures below are an illustrative sample only, not a price survey. Replace them with your own supplier and shop numbers.
Step 1: Open the work order when you book the call
Fill the header while the customer is on the phone. Company name, license number, customer, service address, work order number, date issued, date scheduled, technician, PO number, priority, and the arrival window you promised. On the sample job that is WO-2026-0912, scheduled same day, assigned to one technician, PO 44819 from the property manager. Getting the PO number on the phone is worth more than any other 30 seconds.
Step 2: Write the problem reported in the customer's words
On the sample job the line reads: no cooling upstairs, started Thursday, downstairs is fine. Do not translate it into a diagnosis yet. The problem reported box is the scope boundary. Say the technician also finds a failing compressor. That is new scope. The gap between the reported problem and the found problem is where you ask again.
Step 3: Record work performed and materials on site
Work performed on the sample: diagnosed seized condenser fan motor, replaced motor and run capacitor, verified refrigerant pressures and airflow at the upstairs registers. Materials go in the materials table, one row per part. Each row takes part number, description, quantity, unit price and amount. Two rows on this job, $412.00 of materials. Fill both blocks in the driveway before you leave, not that evening.
Step 4: Log labor, then total the page
The labor table takes technician, date, hours, rate and amount. The sample logs 2.5 hours for one technician at a $95.00 shop rate, which is $237.50. Then the totals block: materials $412.00, labor $237.50, trip charge $89.00, tax as your state requires, work order total $738.50. Your shop rate is your own number. It has to cover the wage, the burden, the truck and the overhead, not just the wage.
Step 5: Set the status, get both signatures, then invoice
Tick one status box: completed, return trip needed, or parts on order. The sample closes as completed, no return trip. Collect the customer signature and date on site while the equipment runs, then sign and date it yourself. Your invoice copies from that signed page. Send it the same day, referencing WO-2026-0912 and PO 44819. Use the contractor invoice template so the numbers carry across without retyping.
Work Order vs Estimate vs Invoice vs Change Order
Four documents, four jobs. Sending the wrong one is how scope arguments start.
| Document | When you issue it | What it does | Who signs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work order | After the customer says yes, before the technician starts | Authorizes one specific job and records what the technician found, used and did | Customer and technician, on completion |
| Estimate | Before the customer has committed | Prices an offer the customer can accept or decline | Customer, to approve |
| Invoice | Once the crew finishes and the customer accepts | Asks for payment and states the terms | Nobody signs it, the customer pays it |
| Change order | Mid job, the moment the scope grows | Adds priced scope to an already approved job | Customer, before the extra work starts |
Need the priced side of the file? Construction bid template for competitive work, general estimate template for everything else. The construction calculators when you need the quantities first.
What Is Actually In the Work Order Template You Just Downloaded
The work order template carries the same structure in all three formats, so a page filled out on the truck matches the workbook in the office.
Header block
Company name, license number, phone and email. Customer name, contact, service address, city, state, ZIP, phone and email. Then work order number, date issued, date scheduled, technician assigned, PO number, arrival window, and a priority box: routine, same day or emergency.
Problem and work performed
Two open blocks. Problem reported goes in first, in the customer's words. Whoever does the job fills in work performed on site.
Materials used table
Eight rows, with part number, description, quantity, unit price and amount.
Labor table
Four rows, with technician, date, hours, rate and amount.
Totals and status
Materials, labor, trip charge, tax and total. Below that, three status boxes: completed, return trip needed and parts on order. The last two carry their own date lines.
Signature lines
Customer signature and date, technician signature and date. Both on the same page as the work performed block, which is what makes the record hold up.
Prefer to skip the paper? The SimplyWise Cost Estimator app carries work order management alongside estimating and invoicing. Try it free for 7 days →
What the Technician Line Is Worth Before You Set a Shop Rate
National median wages for the trades that run the most work orders, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release for May 2025. These are wages paid to the technician, not rates billed to the customer. Your billed rate has to clear the wage plus burden, truck, insurance and overhead.
| Occupation | Median hourly wage | Median annual wage | Employed nationally |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | $30.67 | $63,800 | 465,840 |
| Electricians | $30.38 | $63,190 | 757,220 |
| Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers | $29.33 | $61,010 | 409,670 |
| Maintenance and repair workers, general | $23.84 | $49,590 | 1,529,700 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 national estimates, read 2026-09-14. Price the whole job, not just the hours, with SimplyWise Cost Estimator →
Work Order Best Practices for Service Contractors
Number every work order, no exceptions
A sequential number per job is what lets a property manager match your invoice to the visit. Unnumbered work orders sit in accounts payable while somebody works out what they covered.
Never let scope grow without a signature
If the technician finds a second failure, stop and collect approval in writing before touching it. A work order authorizes the job it describes and nothing beyond it. Added scope belongs on a change order.
Write part numbers, not descriptions
A part number defends your markup, speeds the reorder, and settles warranty questions a year later. A line that reads fan motor tells nobody anything when the same motor fails again.
Photograph the signed page before you leave
Paper disappears between the truck and the office. A photo in the driveway carries a timestamp and a location, and takes four seconds. Keep it with the job file.
Invoice from the work order the same day
Same day invoicing off a signed work order is the cheapest collections improvement a service shop can make. Do it from your phone →
Work Order Template vs Work Order Software
Free
- ✓ PDF, Excel, Google Sheets
- ✓ Print for the truck, sign on site
- ✓ 8 material rows, 4 labor rows
- ✓ You number and file them yourself
- ✓ Totals retyped onto the invoice
SimplyWise App
- ✓ Work order management built in
- ✓ Photo to itemized estimate in about 6 seconds
- ✓ Live material pricing by ZIP code
- ✓ Client signs to approve
- ✓ $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr, about $20/mo on annual
Frequently Asked Questions
Work orders against estimates and invoices
Filling it out and using it
More Free Templates for Contractors
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Construction Bid Template
Competitive bid template with scope, exclusions, alternates, and commercial terms built in.
Ready to stop retyping the same job three times?
A work order template gets the job recorded. SimplyWise turns a photo into a professional estimate in about 6 seconds, then carries the job through work order and invoice. $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr, with a 7-day free trial.