How to Set Up a Service Agreement

The contract lives in a diary

A quarterly service is remembered by one person. When they are away, the visit is missed and the contract is silent.

The reminder job runs twice and creates two jobs for the same morning.

The price on the agreement is treated as a posted invoice, so the customer is billed before anyone attends.

Why this happens

• There is no due date, so the generator has nothing to compare with today.
• The lead time is zero on a visit you needed to see a week ahead.
• The generator is run again and expected to refresh the same job instead of leaving it.
• Assets on the site are not linked, so the technician does not know which unit the contract covers.

Biznsbook addresses this through Service agreements, next job generation, agreement assets when Field Service is licensed. Customers are parties you already keep. The van is a warehouse. The invoice is one sale invoice for the job.

A second dispatcher, a van, and a deposit are where a private list drifts. Making Biznsbook the place that books the visit, issues the part, and raises the one invoice keeps those three on the same job.

Step-by-step: Set Up a Service Agreement

Built for owners and dispatchers who send technicians to a customer site in Biznsbook Field Service.

1. Create the agreement. Pick the customer and a site. Set the interval: day, week, month, or year. Set the lead time in days. Set the price type to fixed each visit or time and materials. The agreement does not by itself create a sale invoice.
2. Link the assets it covers. Assets belong to a site: make, model, serial, and a status of active or retired. Link them on the agreement when the contract is for specific equipment. The technician still links an asset on the job to record readings.
3. Let the daily job create the field job. The agreement generator looks for active agreements whose next due date is on or before today plus the lead time, and which do not already have a job for that agreement and that date. It creates one field job and steps the next due date by the interval.
4. Run it again without fear of a copy. A second run the same day does not create another job for that due date. The job that was created is the one you schedule, visit, and invoice.
5. Schedule and invoice the generated job. The generated job follows the same status rules as a job you typed. Schedule it on the board. Invoice it once when the work is done. Fixed each visit is a price type on the agreement, not an automatic invoice.
6. Do not expect a renewal email. This release does not send an agreement renewal reminder beyond creating the job. Use the job, and the message templates on that job, when you want the customer told.
7. Retire an asset that left the site. Set the asset to retired when it is gone. New jobs should link the assets that are still active.

Review results after the first full weekly cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.

Screen names in this guide match Field Service in the product: Home, Jobs, Dispatch, My day, Quotes, Agreements, and Settings.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mistake 1: There is no due date, so the generator has nothing to compare with today. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 2: The lead time is zero on a visit you needed to see a week ahead. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 3: The generator is run again and expected to refresh the same job instead of leaving it. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.
• Mistake 4: Assets on the site are not linked, so the technician does not know which unit the contract covers. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in double-booked visits, van counts, or a second invoice.

Note each recurring gap in the weekly review. Each one should map to a step in this guide.

Best practices that hold up as you scale

• Create the agreement — Pick the customer and a site.
• Link the assets it covers — Assets belong to a site: make, model, serial, and a status of active or retired.
• Let the daily job create the field job — The agreement generator looks for active agreements whose next due date is on or before today plus the lead time, and which do not already have a job for that agreement and that date.
• Run it again without fear of a copy — A second run the same day does not create another job for that due date.
• Schedule and invoice the generated job — The generated job follows the same status rules as a job you typed.

Teams that schedule on the board, issue parts from the van before they invoice, and refuse a second invoice keep the visit and the ledger on the same job.

How Biznsbook supports this workflow

Service agreements is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

next job generation is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

agreement assets is part of Biznsbook Field Service for companies that send a person to a customer site. The customer is a party you already keep, the address you visit is a site, and the visit sits on a job. Parts move through a van warehouse. The bill is one sale invoice, and a deposit taken first is an advance on that same job. Technicians quote, invoice, or collect only when settings allow it.

Technicians do not quote, invoice, or collect unless those settings are on. Labour cost is for job costing and does not post a wage journal. Email sends through the company’s outbound email and SMS through the company’s own Twilio connection.

Suggested implementation timeline

1. Week 1: License Field Service, add sites on the parties you already keep, and try Service agreements on one real job.
2. Week 2: Create a van warehouse, transfer the stock that is in the van, and issue one part on a visit.
3. Week 3: Schedule on the board, including one forced conflict, and complete a visit with the checklist rules you actually want.
4. Week 4: Create the one sale invoice, apply a deposit if you took one, and turn the public page on if customers should request visits.
5. Ongoing: Weekly review of unscheduled jobs, overdue complete-by times, and van items under minimum, using what the generator skips.

Related guides

Start with create a field service job, then schedule a field visit and invoice a field job.

Product page: Field Service. Trades: field service trades. Decision: field service software vs spreadsheets.

Lead time and the next date

Lead time is how many days ahead the job should exist. A monthly agreement with 7 lead days creates the job when the due date is within a week. After it creates the job, the next due date moves by one interval so the following run looks at the next visit.

If you cancel that generated job, the agreement does not automatically invent a replacement for the same date on the next run, because a job for that date already exists. Create the replacement yourself if you still need the visit.

Metrics to track monthly

• Jobs still unscheduled past the attention window
• Jobs past their complete-by time
• Van items below the minimum you set
• Visits forced past a conflict
• Jobs completed and not yet invoiced

Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.

Spreadsheet or paper day sheet vs Biznsbook Field Service

Compare a typical list of jobs with Biznsbook Service agreements and the rest of the field job.

What the generator skips

It skips agreements that are not active, due dates still outside the lead time, and dates that already have a job for that agreement. It does not schedule a technician. Scheduling stays on the board.

Write this into the way the office hands work to technicians, and revisit it when you add a van or a second dispatcher.

Frequently asked questions

How this differs by industry