ServiceM8

Job cards hold client and work details, history, notes, photos and checklists. Mobile access depends on staff permissions, so test what each field role can see and change.

Quotes can use labour, materials and job-specific items, then be sent with a link for customer review and acceptance. Quote options and job costing have separate tier or add-on boundaries; confirm the format and approval record required for the business.

The current Android app supports jobs, schedules, communication, quotes, invoices and payments, with device-specific gaps for Room Scan and AR, drawing diagrams, attached-PDF editing or filling and some automatic camera tagging. Test both operating systems used by the team and the actual payment device requirements.

Optional modules can add online booking, automated follow-ups, recurring-work tools, forms and job costing. Some are included only at certain tiers or have extra charges. A trial with broad access can show functions the selected paid tier does not retain.

Estimate monthly new jobs, active staff, SMS volume and card transactions. ServiceM8 describes a short grace period after a plan's job allowance is exceeded, followed by an upgrade prompt. Size the subscription to normal demand rather than the grace period.

Treat ServiceM8 Phone as a separate offer and obtain written current terms. The captured Canadian pricing page gives two different Phone promotion lengths, so this profile states neither. Trial one representative job from quote through scheduling, field record, invoice and payment, checking add-ons and fees against the order.

If you need a copy of job records outside ServiceM8, compare the export routes with a representative job. The Advanced Reporting Pack's Job List CSV is text-only and omits some job data plus PDFs, photos and videos. ServiceM8's account backup gathers jobs, clients, materials and documents in one file, but the company says it is for reference only and cannot be imported into a new or separate ServiceM8 account. Inspect the downloaded contents against your record-retention needs.

If field staff expect to work without reception, pre-sync a representative job and client on each device type they use. ServiceM8 says its mobile app can display those records and save job updates, notes and photos offline, then synchronize changes on reconnection. Final PDF quotes, invoices and Forms, plus email and text sending, still require coverage. Test a full job through reconnection, including any document or message step, and confirm the actual iOS or Android workflow before relying on it.

If recurring work matters, distinguish automatically scheduled jobs from Inbox reminders. In the Recurring Jobs + Reminders add-on, a repeat job is set up online from a Job Template, or a Service when the Services add-on is used. A fixed-time option automatically creates and schedules a job. An Inbox reminder arrives one week before the booking and still needs staff to confirm with the client, set a time and convert it to a job. Assign who handles reminders and test the chosen path before relying on the schedule.

If collecting money when a client chooses a time is required, distinguish an SMS booking link from a Services add-on self-serve booking form. ServiceM8 says its SMS link schedules an existing job but shows no price and collects no payment, even if that Service has a deposit setting. The self-serve form can request a deposit or full prepayment when the Stripe add-on is activated and connected, with online pricing and payment configured. Confirm add-on and Canadian payment availability in the proposed account, then walk through a synthetic booking before promising a paid-booking flow.

Where a ServiceM8 job uses Stripe-processed card payments, deleting its payment record does not refund the card charge; ServiceM8 says the refund must be actioned separately in Stripe. Before correcting a real payment, assign owners for the ServiceM8 record and processor refund, then reconcile both against the invoice using a harmless test case. Confirm which payment integration and refund controls apply to the proposed Canadian account. No charge or refund was tested for this profile.

If staff hours must flow to accounting, distinguish shift Clock On/Off from billable job Check In/Out. ServiceM8's Automated Timesheet Sync add-on exports selected staff's shift times; its Help lists QuickBooks Online in all regions, but Xero only in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Setup chooses staff, pay calendar, rounding, breaks and pay category, then previews the most recently ended pay period before its first export and sends later periods automatically. A Canadian team should compare a fictional shift with a job check-in, inspect the preview and connected timesheet, and confirm its exact accounting and payroll review process before relying on the handoff.

Before relying on ServiceM8's accounting handoff, test the selected approval path with a synthetic Completed job. ServiceM8 says approving its invoice sends it to a connected Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB account. In the Online Dashboard's Invoicing > Awaiting Approval list, staff can instead explicitly approve a job without sending its job or invoice details to accounting. For a Canadian team, confirm that its chosen accounting integration is supported and reconcile the sample result in both systems before using the path for live invoices.

For a ServiceM8 quote or work order that will not proceed, mark the job Unsuccessful instead of removing its record. ServiceM8 says it leaves the Dispatch Board after 48 hours but remains searchable, so staff can reopen it as a Work Order if the customer returns. Actual removal is a separate Account > History action that its Help describes for exceptional cases such as a client privacy request; its deletion guide says this is not the normal path for unsuccessful work. Assign an owner for the decision and rehearse the status change with a harmless job before handling live records.

ServiceM8's online dashboard distinguishes a quote Version, which snapshots a job's price, materials and work description, from an Option the client can see and choose. To offer alternate scopes, make each version a separate PDF item in the Job Diary and confirm it is visible in the online quote portal. When the client accepts an option there, ServiceM8 moves the job from Quote to Work Order, restores that version's billable items, price and work description, and records the choice in the diary. For a multi-scope job, verify the accepted scope on the resulting work order before scheduling or invoicing.

For remote customer signature on a ServiceM8 job Form, check the Forms add-on and put the special signature merge field in the form template before completing the form. ServiceM8 says staff can email that completed form for customer review and signing; afterward, a job-diary note appears and the signed version replaces the earlier document. Rehearse the recipient, actual email delivery, returned record and export needs with a harmless sample. Confirm the selected Canadian plan's add-on rights and any legal or retention requirements separately.

For quote follow-ups in ServiceM8, the Automation add-on schedules email, SMS or both to the contact(s) who received the quote, provided the email address or phone number matches a saved job contact. A customer reply stops scheduled messages until staff respond or dismiss it; online acceptance, a manual move to Work Order, Completed or Unsuccessful, manual cancellation or resending to an unsaved contact cancels them. Test a harmless quote's saved contacts, timing and Job Diary before relying on reminders. The add-on is listed for all plans, while each SMS consumes a text credit.

Before cleaning up duplicate ServiceM8 jobs, use two fictional Job cards to plan the decision. ServiceM8 says it cannot merge two existing Job cards; each keeps a separate history and Job Diary. Keep both when both histories matter. Its Help guide points to Account > History for removing a job only when it was created by mistake and is no longer needed. Confirm which record the team still needs before changing real jobs.

Before enabling ServiceM8 Customer Feedback Automation, compare a fictional paid job, a zero-value invoice and a repeat client. ServiceM8 says configured email or SMS requests send only after invoice payment, and skip jobs with feedback already given or an invoice value of $0 or less. Feedback emails come from the staff member who invoiced the job. For repeat clients, its 30-day pause after feedback applies to ServiceM8 feedback, not reviews left on Google or Facebook; a configured Google Reviews link can take the customer straight to Google. Confirm add-on access, templates, channel settings and actual delivery before relying on this timing or suppression.

For repeat service visits in ServiceM8's Recurring Jobs + Reminders add-on, distinguish an inactive future booking from a job that has already activated. The inactive yellow TBC entry has no job number and can be canceled to skip one visit without first creating a job. Moving an activated recurring booking on the Staff Schedule prompts a choice between this booking only and all future bookings. Before changing a real client's sequence, model a fictional skipped visit and a time shift, then identify which later dates should move. Confirm the selected add-on and activation window.

For a fictional dispatch where a job booking changes but a field worker's iPhone or iPad still shows older job information, check the device's ServiceM8 Notifications and Background App Refresh settings. ServiceM8 says push notifications cue the app to sync; with notifications completely off, jobs can take much longer to reach the device, and Background App Refresh should stay enabled. Its iOS guide says scheduled or changed job bookings can generate staff notifications. Ask the device owner to review these settings and decide how the team will confirm urgent changes; the guides give no guaranteed sync interval.