Using different invoices and estimates by job type or service area

  • Updated

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In this article, you will learn how to use alternate invoice and estimate templates automatically applied by job type or service area. 

If your business operates across multiple service lines, locations, or states, you may need different estimates and invoices for different types of work. For example, you might need separate branding, business information, license numbers, legal disclaimers, or terms and conditions depending on the service you're providing or where the work is being performed.

With dynamic document templates, you can create multiple custom estimate and invoice templates and configure Workiz to automatically apply the correct template based on a job's job type or service area. You can also manually choose a different template at any time before sending an estimate or invoice.

Before you begin

Before you get started, make sure your account is already set up with the following:

  • Custom Documents (required): Used to create alternative estimate and invoice templates. To learn more about creating custom documents in Workiz, please see this article.
  • Service Areas (optional but recommended): Required if you plan to automatically apply templates based on where the work is being performed. To learn more about creating service areas in Workiz, please see this article.

Creating alternate invoice and estimate templates

The easiest way to get started is by duplicating your existing estimate or invoice template. This gives you a solid foundation to work from while allowing you to make only the changes that are unique to a specific job type or service area, such as your business information, branding, license numbers, legal disclaimers, or terms and conditions.

If you'd rather create a completely new template from scratch, you can do that too. However, duplicating an existing template is typically the fastest way to create and maintain consistent documents across your business.

Here, we will focus on duplicating your existing template

Duplicating an existing template

  1. From the top navigation bar, select your profile icon > Settings
  2. Under General settings, select Documents
  3. Next to your estimate or invoice template, select the duplicate icon

Customizing your alternate template

After creating your duplicate, you will want to make all the necessary changes to this new template. This might include updating the business name, logo, address, license number, legal language, terms and conditions, or other content that's unique to a particular job type or service area.

If this template is meant to display different business information than what's saved in your Workiz account settings, you will need to enter that information manually instead of using shortcodes. For example, if your HVAC division uses a different business name, enter that business name manually — do not use the {{account.myCompanyName}} shortcode. 

  1. Select the duplicate you just created (e.g., Invoice Copy (Custom))
  2. Update the document name to describe how you plan on using it (e.g., California invoice, Electrical estimate, etc.)
  3. Customize the template to reflect how it will be used (e.g., change business name, license number, etc.)

Configuring your template to be automatically used by job type or service area

Once your document template is ready, it's time to configure how it will be used. Update the template settings to make it available as an alternative estimate or invoice, then choose whether it should be applied automatically based on a job's job type and/or service area.

  1. Select Settings
  2. Under Automatically apply, select Use as > Invoice or Estimate
  3. Select When job type is any of and choose the job types that automatically use this template
  4. Select When service area is any of and choose the service areas that automatically use this template
  5. Select Save
  6. Select Save again

Using alternate estimate or invoice templates

Once you've finished creating and configuring your alternative templates, Workiz will automatically apply the appropriate estimate or invoice template whenever a matching job type and/or service area is detected. If multiple templates are available, you can also manually choose a different template before sending the document to your customer.

Automated template selection is only available for estimates and invoices created from jobs and leads — since these records include a job type and service area. Standalone (stub) estimates and invoices don't include this information, so they can't be assigned automatically. However, you can always manually select any available estimate or invoice before sending the document.

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