Work order format

Who uses work orders

Work orders come in two directions. A company gives a work order to an outside contractor or job worker: paint the warehouse, lay cabling, machine 2,000 shafts. And a service business raises an internal work order (often called a job card) to tell its own team what to do for a customer. Builders, facility managers, factories outsourcing job work, AMC providers and government departments use them every week.

The point is the same either way: nobody starts work on a phone call, and the bill at the end can be checked against what was ordered.

Sample work order format

The sample uses made-up details. Switch between the Classic, Modern and Compact layouts, Print / PDF it on A4, or print a Blank template to fill by hand. Open in editor loads it into the free work order maker, where you type straight onto the page and GST, totals and the amount in words are worked out for you.

What to put on it

• Work order number and date
• Reference quotation or estimate
• Issuer name, address and GSTIN
• Contractor name, address, GSTIN and PAN
• Scope of work and location
• Rate basis (lump sum, per unit, per day)
• Estimated quantity and value
• GST rate and amount
• Start and completion dates
• Material supply responsibility
• Payment terms, advance and retention
• Quality and safety conditions
• Signatures of issuer and contractor

Contents of a work order

• Work order number and date, and a reference to the quotation or estimate it is based on.
• Issued by: company name, address, GSTIN and contact person.
• Issued to: contractor name, address, GSTIN, PAN.
• Scope of work: a clear description, location, drawings or specifications attached.
• Rate basis: lump sum, per unit (per sq ft, per piece, per point) or per day.
• Estimated quantity and value, with GST shown separately.
• Start date, completion date and penalty or bonus for delay or early finish, if agreed.
• Material: supplied by whom; who bears wastage.
• Payment terms: mobilisation advance, running bills, retention money, final bill.
• Safety, quality and site conditions.
• Signature and acceptance by the contractor.

Worked example

A Hyderabad warehouse owner issues a work order for epoxy flooring of 6,000 sq ft at ₹95 per sq ft to a contractor in the same city.

The contractor bills on measured area. If the final area is 6,240 sq ft, the bill is for 6,240 sq ft at the same rate, which is why the rate basis matters more than the total. The GST rate for works contracts depends on the type of work and the recipient; 18% here is illustrative, so confirm the current rate.

Job work under GST

Where a manufacturer sends its own goods to a job worker for processing, the work order goes with a delivery challan for the material, and the job worker's invoice is only for the job charges. The material and the time limits for its return are covered in GST on job work and on the delivery challan format page.

Internal work orders and job cards

A repair centre or workshop raises a work order for each customer job: item, complaint, technician assigned, parts used, hours, status. When the job closes, the work order becomes the basis of the service invoice. See job card and service invoice for a step-by-step flow.

Common mistakes

• Vague scope such as "complete electrical work", which leads to disputes about what was included.
• No measurement method for unit-rate work.
• Retention and its release date not written down.
• Extra items done on verbal instructions without an amendment to the work order.

In TallyPrime, a work order you give is usually entered as a Purchase Order for a service; the contractor's running bills are Purchase vouchers against it, with TDS deducted where the law requires.