Problem guide
Extra work done in the field never gets billed
Extra work goes unbilled when the crew agrees to it on site but has no quick way to record it, so it never reaches the person who writes the invoice. Give the crew one simple way to note added work at the moment they agree to it, and check every invoice against it before it goes out.
What it usually looks like
A technician is on site to replace a motor. While he is there, the customer asks him to look at a noisy fan on the next unit. He tightens a mount, replaces a belt from his truck stock and spends forty minutes on it. The customer thanks him. His ticket says motor replacement, because that is what the work order said. Back at the office, the invoice is built from the ticket. The belt and the forty minutes never appear. Nobody knows until the truck stock count comes up short.
Signs you have this problem
- Technicians mention extra work in conversation that is nowhere on the ticket
- Job costs run over the quote with no matching change on the invoice
- Customers are surprised by an extra charge because nobody wrote it down at the time
- Billing only learns about added work when a crew lead happens to bring it up
- The ticket describes the original scope, not what was actually done
What usually causes it
- The ticket has no clear place for work outside the original scopeThe field-to-office split
- Extra work is agreed verbally with the customer and never handed to billingThe handoff gap
- Crews skip recording it because approval for extra work is slow or unclearApproval drag
- Small add-ons are treated as exceptions and handled by memoryThe exception swamp
What to try this week
- Ask the crews directlyFor two weeks, ask each crew lead at the end of the day whether they did anything not on the work order. Write down every yes. This is your baseline.
- Compare cost to invoice on closed jobsPull a month of closed jobs and compare hours and parts used against what was billed. Jobs where cost ran over and billing did not are where to look first.
- Add one line to the ticketPut a single, obvious line on the ticket for work outside the original scope: what was done and who on the customer side agreed. Keep it short enough to fill in on a tailgate.
- Make the rule for small extras clearDecide and write down which extras crews can agree to on the spot and which need a call. Unclear rules make crews do the work and stay quiet about it.
- Check invoices against the extra-work lineBefore an invoice goes out, the person building it checks the extra-work line. A daily habit catches most of what slips today.
Where do-it-yourself stops
These steps catch more of the extra work and show you how often it slips. They still depend on the crew remembering to write it down and on someone reading it before billing. A lasting fix is a tool built around your own tickets and billing system, where recording added work on site is quick and the entry arrives in billing ready to invoice. That is what a Workflow Spec designs.
Questions people ask
Why does extra work in the field go unbilled?
Because it is agreed on site, often verbally, and there is no quick, expected way to record it that reaches the person who writes the invoice.
Should crews get customer approval in writing for every extra?
For anything beyond a small add-on, yes. Decide the threshold yourself and make the record quick, or crews will skip it.
Is this a crew discipline problem?
Mostly not. When recording extra work is slow or the rules are unclear, crews default to doing the work and moving on.
How do we find out how much we are missing?
Compare hours and parts used against what was billed on a month of closed jobs, and ask crews daily for two weeks. Measure your own gap before estimating a cost.
Does a change order process fix this?
For large changes, often. Small extras done on the spot usually fall outside formal change orders, which is why they need their own quick record.
Next step
How we fix this
This guide is how to find it and work around it. If it keeps coming back, the fix is usually a tool built around how your crew already works.
Fox & Santiago, Genesee, Idaho. Home territory: the Inland Northwest, where we respond fastest. We fly anywhere in the United States for paid engagements.