How to schedule jobs and estimates in Housecall Pro
Jobs and estimates can be scheduled from 3 primary places in Housecall Pro. This article will show you how to schedule from each of these locations. Jobs and estimates can also be scheduled through the intake flow and pipeline.
The main ways to schedule jobs and estimates are:
When creating a new job/estimate
When working in an existing job/estimate
Directly from the calendar/schedule page
For more information about your schedule page, as well as its settings, please visit this help article.
Scheduling from a new job or estimate
To schedule a new job or estimate at the time of creation, click on the black, oval New button on the right side of the top navigation bar and select what you would like to schedule: either a job, estimate, or event, from the drop-down menu.
You will brought to a page where you can begin adding in details of the job or estimate, including customer, line items, notes, and other details. On the left-hand side of the page, directly under the 'Customer' section, you will see a Schedule box where you can select the gray fields next to 'To' and 'From' and choose the date you wish to schedule the job or estimate for from a small pop-up calendar. Once a date is selected, you will see the time field auto-populate. Click into it and scroll through the drop-down to select your preferred time.
If you would rather a full calendar view to schedule your job or estimate, simply click on the pencil icon in the top right corner of the Schedule box.
After clicking on this, you will be taken to a full-page view of your Housecall Pro calendar and you will see a new, blue box indicating the job or estimate you are working on, placed on the calendar ready to schedule.
To change the day/date and time of the new job or estimate, simply click on the box and drag and drop onto a new location on the calendar. You may also manually change the date and time by clicking into the blue scheduling card, which will bring up a central pop-up window titled Job Schedule. Here you can manually adjust the date and time, before selecting the blue, oval Save button in the bottom right of the pop-up window.
Your dispatched team can selected or changed by clicking on the white, oval EDIT TEAM button in the upper right of the calendar page.
You may adjust the arrival window of the job or estimate you are scheduling, which will not change the job time on the calendar, but will instead be shared with the customer in their confirmation communications so that they have an expectation of your arrival time. To set this, click into the white, oval ARRIVAL WINDOW button in the upper right of the calendar page.
In the corresponding pop-up window, simply select the arrival window applicable for your job or estimate, checking the Set as default box if you would like this arrival window to apply to all jobs going forward, and click on DONE in blue when you are ready to save your preferences.
When you are happy with your scheduling selections, decide on whether you wish to notify your customer of the scheduled job or estimate via email and/or SMS communications. If you would like to notify them, check the Notify customer option box in the top right corner of the calendar. Once you have completed scheduling the job or estimate, click on the blue, oval SAVE button in the top right corner of the calendar page.
Once you have hit Save from the calendar page, you will be brought back to the new job or estimate creation page. Continue to fill out the relevant fields as far as applicable, and select the blue, oval SAVE button in the top right corner of the page when you are ready to save the job or estimate to Housecall Pro.
Scheduling from an existing job or estimate
Let's say you have a job or estimate already scheduled but need to change the date and/or time. Working from inside the job or estimate details page, you will see the usual Housecall Pro circular, trigger icons across the top of the page. The very first icon in the upper left is Schedule. If your job or estimate already has a scheduled date/time, that will display underneath the icon and the icon will be blue. If it is not scheduled, the icon will be white.
To adjust or set the job or estimate's scheduled date and/or time, click the SCHEDULE icon.
After clicking on this, you will be taken to the full-page view of your Housecall Pro calendar and you will see a new, blue box indicating the job or estimate you are working on, placed on the calendar ready to schedule. If the job has already been scheduled, you will see the job in the blue box in the date and time slot you originally scheduled it for.
Just like you would when scheduling a new job or estimate, change the day/date and time by clicking on the blue box, and dragging and dropping onto a new location on the calendar. You may also manually change the date and time by clicking into the blue scheduling card, which will bring up a central pop-up window titled Job Schedule. Here you can manually adjust the date and time, before selecting the blue, oval Save button in the bottom right of the pop-up window.
Your dispatched team can selected or changed by clicking on the white, oval EDIT TEAM button in the upper right of the calendar page.
You may adjust the arrival window of the job or estimate you are scheduling, which will not change the job time on the calendar, but will instead be shared with the customer in their confirmation communications so that they have an expectation of your arrival time. To set this, click into the white, oval ARRIVAL WINDOW button in the upper right of the calendar page.
In the corresponding pop-up window, simply select the arrival window applicable for your job or estimate, checking the Set as default box if you would like this arrival window to apply to all jobs going forward, and click on DONE in blue when you are ready to save your preferences.
When you are happy with your scheduling selections, decide whether you wish to notify your customer of the scheduled job or estimate via email and/or SMS communications. If you would like to notify them, check the Notify customer option box in the top right corner of the calendar. Once you have completed scheduling the job or estimate, click on the blue, oval SAVE button in the top right corner of the calendar page.
Once you have hit Save from the calendar page, you will be brought back to the job or estimate page you were working from.
Scheduling directly from the calendar
You have the option to schedule your jobs and estimates straight from the schedule (calendar) page. Starting from the schedule page gives dispatchers a clear overview of the jobs, estimates, and events already on the schedule.
To begin scheduling directly from your HCP calendar, click on the Schedule tab featured in the top navigation menu of your Housecall Pro homepage or dashboard.
Once you have navigated to your preferred date on the calendar, simply click into your preferred timeslot for the job or estimate you are scheduling. A pop-up box will appear next to your selected time with the options to book a job, estimate or event. Click on the option you would like to schedule.
A new job or estimate page will open with the scheduling details already set, reflecting the date and timeslot you clicked into on the calendar. This can be modified as needed. On the left-hand side of the page, directly under the 'Customer' section, you will see a Schedule box where you can select the gray fields next to 'To' and 'From' and edit the date or time if applicable.
Once your job or estimate reflects the time and date you wish, you may continue to fill out the remaining details, such as Customer name and any line items or materials, before hitting the blue, oval SAVE JOB button in the upper right corner of the page. Your job or estimate is now saved!
For further details on how to schedule an event, please see the help guide here.
Schedule a Job on Mobile
Quickly create a job on your iPhone or Android Device
Click the '+' icon in the upper right corner of your dashboard
'New Job'
The following steps can be completed in any order:
CUSTOMER
Choose an existing customer: search using name, address, phone number, email address, etc.
OR add a new customer by clicking the icon in the upper right corner
SCHEDULE
Set your:
Job date
Start & finish time
Arrival window (if different from default)
Dispatch
'Notify customer':
This defaults to whatever the customer's notification settings are in their profile
Toggle ON (blue) means that the customer will receive the 'job scheduled' text and email once you finished creating the job and press 'Save'
Toggle OFF (grey) will not send any notification to the customer for this specific action
NOTE: This does not change the customer's notification settings for their profile, just this specific action
LINE ITEMS
Services & Materials:
Click the green (+) icon to add
Click the red (-) icon to remove
Click the line item to edit: name, description, price, or make the item taxable
Discount:
Click the green (+) icon to add
Click the red (-) icon to remove
Fixed amount discount: multiple can be added
Percentage discount: only ONE can be applied
Deposit:
Click the green (+) icon to add
Enter a fixed amount deposit or Percentage deposit
Set the due date for the deposit
To delete a deposit, enter a zero (0) in the dollar amount or percentage field and save.
If a job has a deposit applied, it will NOT automatically update if any line items or materials are added afterwards. You must delete the deposit, then re-enter.
Deposits can be collected via partial payment in the mobile app
Tax:
Taxable: Once you've made your line items taxable, you can apply tax by toggling this ON (green)
Select the tax rate from the drop-down (or add a new one)
Message:
To edit the message that appears on the bottom of the invoice, click the message area
Be sure to click 'Done' in the top right corner once you've finished!
TAGS
Add existing OR create new job tags
NOTES
These notes are for internal users only, meaning the customer will not be able to see
Simply type in any notes and click 'Save'
Once all the information is in, click [SAVE]!
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