How to start and complete a manufacturing work order

A work order gives production a job record for planned work, materials, labor, and the reviewed result. It may be linked to a sales or service order, or be a standalone job. Planning and production should first decide whether a work order is needed; a straightforward assembly made into stock may use a production build instead. A saved job coordinates work, but people still have to stage materials, perform operations, inspect the result, and communicate a changed completion date.

Prepare the job

Creating a work order directly from the Work Orders menu and managing the resulting job requires Project Costing access. A sales user can also create a linked work order while adding a sales-order line when the company has enabled Show Work Order Field. Confirm the selected entity and facility, the approved demand, expected timing, job owner, and the product or service outcome. If the job builds a defined assembly, review its BOM, available components, operations, resources, and any required quality checks with the production team. Resolve shortages or a changed customer promise before releasing work.

Create and start the work order

Create it from a sales-order line

When adding an item to a sales order, select the Work Order checkbox on that line. Complete the work-order details that appear, including the internal reference, name, description, scheduled start date, and the fixed-price or time-and-materials choice. Save the sales-order line. Versa creates a pending work order linked to that line; if the product has a BOM, it assigns that BOM to the new work order. Open the work order from the sales-order line and review its quantity, facility, BOM, and schedule with production before starting it. If the checkbox is missing, ask an administrator to check Show Work Order Field and your sales-order access. Do not create a second standalone work order for the same line.

Create it from the Work Orders menu

1. Open Manufacturing > Work Orders > New Work Order, or the Work Orders menu under Projects if that is where your navigation places it. Enter the required Internal Reference and Name, and add a description, scheduled dates, and note that will help the team recognize the job. Choose Create.
2. On the saved pending work order, check the header, facility, and Related Sales Order if shown. If the job uses a BOM, choose it in Related BOM and select Assign before starting. Check that its assembly and components match the approved work. A standalone job can remain without a BOM when that is the intended path.
3. Give the production team the scope and physical job identifier. Choose Start Work Order when the authorized work can begin. Starting the record does not itself issue materials or prove a technician has begun an operation.

Record materials and work

Stage the components actually available at the facility. Review the work order's proposed material quantities and use Allocate & Commit or the relevant material controls to record what will be used. An approved non-BOM item can be added when needed. Do not record a substitute that production has not approved or a quantity that was not supplied.

When the BOM includes operation sequences, the responsible team starts and completes them as work progresses. Record labor through the assigned resources, timesheets, or Shop Floor Terminal if your organization uses those processes. Keep the work order aligned with the physical job: a scheduled operation is not a completed one. If material is damaged, a step fails, or the scope changes, record the exception and return the decision to planning or the customer-facing owner before closing.

Inspect, close, and hand off

1. Have the production lead verify the actual output, quantity, condition, and required quality result. Resolve incomplete operations and material records. A work order with incomplete required sequences cannot close; a company setting can also block closure when material commitments are incomplete.
2. Open Complete Work Order and Close. Enter the effective date and the fields shown for this job. Depending on the output, these can include a deliverable, quantity and unit, Bin Location, lot or serial number, and a Generate Invoice decision. Confirm inventory and finance choices before selecting Close. A service-related work order may require invoice generation.
3. Check the completed status and any Produced Product, Produced Deliverables, or invoice created. Hand accepted goods to inventory or fulfillment and send unresolved cost or billing questions to finance. If a quality checklist is used after completion, record and review it before the related customer shipment.

Keep the job open if physical work, required operations, inspection, or material records are incomplete. If a sales order depends on it, tell sales and fulfillment the revised availability. Closing a work order does not itself ship goods or collect payment.

For the wider production handoffs, see Plan to Produce.