A work order is a written instruction to get a specific job done. It says what work, how much, with which materials, at what rate, by when, and who checks and approves it. You can give it to your own shop floor or site team, or to an outside contractor. You track it by giving every work order a number, a clear status and a named approver, and by closing it only after the work is checked and signed off.
That's it. The rest of this post is about getting the details right, so that nobody argues later about "but you never told us that".
What a work order should contain#
Keep it to one page if you can. A good work order answers these questions:
Header
- Work order number (one running series, for example WO/25-26/0142)
- Date of issue
- Issued by (your company name, address, GSTIN)
- Issued to (internal team name, or the contractor's name, address, GSTIN and PAN)
- Reference: customer order, project name, quote number or drawing number
Scope of work
- What exactly is to be done, in plain words
- Drawings, specifications or photos attached
- What is not included (this saves many fights)
Quantities and rates
- Quantity and unit (pieces, metres, sq ft, man-days, lump sum)
- Rate per unit and total amount
- Whether the rate includes labour only, or labour plus material
Materials
- Which materials you will supply and which the contractor brings
- Quantity issued, and what happens to scrap or leftover material
Tax
- For outside contractors, a line saying GST will be charged as applicable on their tax invoice, with GSTIN shown on both sides
- The SAC or HSN code if you already know it (your CA can confirm)
Timeline
- Start date, target completion date, and any milestones
- What happens if it is late (penalty, or just a review)
Quality, checking and approval
- Who checks the work (name and role)
- Who approves and closes the work order
- Acceptance criteria: measurements, tolerances, finish, testing
Payment terms
- Advance, running bills, final payment, retention if any
- Any deductions (for example TDS, where it applies)
Signatures
- Issued by, accepted by (the contractor or team lead), with dates
A sample work order#
Here is a filled example for a small fabrication unit in Faridabad, Haryana, giving painting work to an outside contractor.
- Work order no.: WO/25-26/0142
- Date: 3 June
- Issued by: Sharma Engineering Works, Faridabad, Haryana (GSTIN on letterhead)
- Issued to: Verma Coating Services, Ballabhgarh, Haryana (GSTIN and PAN mentioned)
- Reference: Customer PO from a Gurugram builder, Project "Railing Batch 3"
- Scope: Surface cleaning, one coat primer and two coats PU paint on 120 MS railing panels as per drawing RB-03. Packing not included.
- Quantity and rate: 120 panels at ₹450 per panel = ₹54,000, labour plus paint
- Materials: Panels supplied by us. Paint and primer by contractor.
- Tax: GST extra as applicable, on contractor's tax invoice
- Start: 5 June. Complete by: 14 June
- Checked by: Rakesh (QC supervisor), dry film thickness check on 10 random panels
- Approved by: Anil Sharma (owner)
- Payment: 30% advance on start, balance within 15 days of approved completion
- Signatures: Issued by / accepted by, with dates
Notice how the scope, the checker and the approver are all named. Most disputes start where one of these is vague.
Work order vs purchase order vs job card#
These three documents get mixed up a lot. A simple way to remember: a purchase order buys things, a work order buys or assigns work, and a job card tracks one job on the floor step by step.
| Purchase order | Work order | Job card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Buying goods or materials | Getting a defined job done | Tracking one job through production stages |
| Who receives it | Vendor or supplier | Contractor or internal team | Shop floor workers and supervisors |
| Key contents | Items, HSN, quantity, price, GST, delivery and payment terms | Scope, quantity, rate, materials, deadline, checker, approver | Stages, time taken, material used, operator, QC notes |
| Closes when | Goods received and matched to vendor invoice | Work checked, approved and billed | Job finished and dispatched |
| Legal or tax role | Commercial contract for goods | Commercial contract for work | Internal record only |
In real life they work together. A factory gets a customer order, issues a work order to a painting contractor, raises a purchase order for steel, and runs a job card for each batch on the floor.
We have separate posts on the purchase order format and the job card format on the Clyrix blog if you want the details for those.
GST and tax points to keep in mind#
The work order itself is not a tax invoice. GST is charged on the contractor's invoice, not on your work order. Still, a few things are worth getting right at the start:
- GSTIN on both sides. If the contractor is registered, put their GSTIN on the work order so their invoice matches. That way your input tax credit is easier to claim.
- Place of supply. A contractor in the same state will usually charge CGST + SGST. One in another state will usually charge IGST. For work on immovable property, like site work, the rules depend on where the property is. Ask your CA if you're not sure.
- Job work. If you send your own goods to a job worker for processing, you usually need a delivery challan and you have to track the goods coming back. Your CA will tell you what returns apply.
- TDS. Payments to contractors may attract TDS above certain limits. Check the current limits and rates with your CA before the first payment.
- Unregistered contractors. Small local contractors may not be registered under GST. Check the current registration limit on the GST portal, and ask your CA how to handle these purchases.
How to track each work order from issue to sign-off#
Writing a good work order is half the job. The other half is not losing it. Here's a simple system that works for a 10-person workshop or a 200-person factory.
1. One register, one number series. Every work order gets a number from the same series. No WhatsApp-only orders. If it isn't numbered, it doesn't exist.
2. Use a few clear statuses. For example:
- Draft
- Issued
- In progress
- Submitted for checking
- Approved / Rework
- Billed and closed
3. Name one checker and one approver. The checker looks at quality. The approver says "yes, pay for this". In small firms these can be the same person. But write it down.
4. Link it to the project and the money. Each work order should point to the customer order or project it belongs to. And to the contractor's invoice and payments against it. Then you can see if a ₹5 lakh project spent ₹1.8 lakh on outside work, and whether that was the plan.
5. Review open work orders weekly. A 15-minute Monday check: which work orders are late, which are waiting for approval, which are approved but not billed. Late approvals hold up your contractor's payment and your customer's dispatch.
6. Close properly. Approved, invoice received and matched, payment recorded, leftover material returned. Only then mark it closed.
Example: a Pune interior contractor runs 6 sites at once and gives work orders for carpentry, electrical and false ceiling. With a weekly review, they spot that the electrical work order at one flat is "submitted for checking" for 9 days. The site manager was waiting for the owner's approval, and the owner didn't know. One phone approval fixes it.
Where Clyrix fits#
If you're tracking work orders in Excel and WhatsApp today, Clyrix puts them next to everything else. You get work orders and job cards for manufacturing, and purchasing and vendors in the same place. Projects run stage by stage, and tasks have named checkers and approvers. Approvals can be done from the phone, and WhatsApp updates go out when a task or approval moves. On the money side, you can raise GST-ready invoices and record payments against projects. You can try it free for 14 days with no card. Plans are on the pricing page.
Whatever tool you use, the rule stays the same. Every work order gets a number, a scope, a checker, an approver and a clear close. Do that, and work stops falling through the cracks.
