Categories and Templates
Use this page to sort your jobs into colour-coded categories and keep a price list of your standard services.
Quick steps
To add a category:
- Go to Service Jobs → Categories and click New Category.
- Type a Name (for example "Plumbing"), pick a Color, and click Create.
To add a template (a standard service with its usual price):
- Go to Service Jobs → Templates and click New Template.
- Type a Name, pick a Category, and fill in Default Price and Est. Duration (min). Tick Taxable if tax applies.
- Click Create. On a job, pick it from the template list under Add Line Item and click Add.
Common questions
I can't pick a category on a new template. Only active categories are listed. Create a category first, or click Activate on the one you want.
Should I delete a category I no longer use? Deactivate it instead. Deleting a category also deletes its templates.
More detail: service categories
Service Categories
Categories are the kinds of work you do — Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Landscaping. A category's colour follows its jobs around: a dot on the jobs list and the job page, and the card colour on the Schedule. You can filter the jobs list by category, and the reports break jobs and revenue down by category.
Open Service Jobs → Categories ("Organize your service types").
Add a category
Click New Category and fill in:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Required and unique, for example "Plumbing". |
| Description | A short note on what it covers. |
| Color | The colour used for its jobs. |
| Position | Its place in lists. Lower numbers come first; categories with the same number are sorted by name. |
Click Create.
Manage categories
Each category card shows its colour, name, description and how many templates it has, with:
- Edit
- Deactivate / Activate — an inactive category (marked Inactive) is no longer offered when you create or edit a job, a recurring schedule or a template. Jobs and schedules that already have it keep it, including when you edit and save them.
- Delete — asks "Delete '[name]'? This will also delete all templates in this category." Jobs in the category are kept; they just no longer have a category.
Deactivating hides a category you've stopped using without losing its templates, and you can switch it back on later.
More detail: service templates and using them on a job
Service Templates
Templates are your standard services with their usual price and time — "Drain Cleaning, $150, 60 min". They are your price list for the office.
Open Service Jobs → Templates ("Predefined services with default pricing").
Add a template
Click New Template and fill in:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Required and unique, for example "Drain Cleaning". |
| Category | Required. Only active categories are listed, so create a category first. |
| Description | What the service includes. |
| Default Price | Your usual price for it. |
| Est. Duration (min) | How long it usually takes. |
| Taxable | Whether tax normally applies. |
Click Create.
The templates list shows Name, Category, Default Price, Duration, Taxable and Status, with Edit, Activate / Deactivate and Delete for each.
Use a template on a job
The Add Line Item form on a job has a template list. Pick a template and click Add: the line takes the template's name and Default Price unless you typed your own, and a labour line adds the template's Est. Duration (times the quantity) to the job's estimated time.
Quotes don't have the template list — type the service's name and price into the quote line yourself.