Jobs

How Jobs works

Jobs is available on both web and mobile. On web, select Jobs in the left menu. Each job gets its own folder, keeping all the materials for that job together and separate from the rest of your inventory.

A job moves through five stages:

• Create the job and capture its details.
• Organize items into optional subfolders that match how your team works.
• Pull items from inventory into the job as they get used.
• Track progress by updating the job status and item quantities.
• Complete the job and save a full record of everything that was used.

Who can use Jobs

Every role can use Jobs. Owners and Admins see every job. Everyone else sees only the jobs they created or were added to as a member.

Within a single job, you control each member's access separately. When you add someone, choose whether they can only view the job or also manage its items.

Owners and Admins can also open the org-wide Job Settings, where they set up Additional Fields (fields that appear on every job, such as Project or Customer name) and Custom Subfolders (a default subfolder structure for every new job the team creates). Owners and Admins are also the only roles that can reopen a completed job.

Active job limits

A job counts as active until it's marked Completed. How many you can have active at once depends on your plan:

Job Settings

Owners and Admins can set up default additional fields and subfolders that apply to every new job your team creates. Go to Settings and select Job Settings.

Additional Fields

Add additional fields to capture extra details on every job, such as Foreman or Contractor. These fields appear on every new job your team creates. You can add up to 2 additional fields. Once you reach the limit, Sortly lets you know before you can add another.

Custom Subfolders

Add subfolder names here to have them filled in whenever a new job is created. This saves your team from setting up the same subfolders from scratch each time. You can still add, rename, or remove subfolders on individual jobs at any time.

Understanding Job Statuses

• Not Started: the job has been created, but work hasn't begun.
• In Progress: the job is underway. You can add items, move them around, and update quantities.
• Completed: the work is done. The job is locked, though an Owner or Admin can reopen it. See Reopen a completed job below.

Only an Owner can delete a job, which sends the job folder to Trash.

Completed jobs are automatically hidden from your main inventory view. For more ways to control which folders you see, including showing job folders only, see Filter job and item folders below.

Create and run a job

Follow these steps to take a job from setup through to completion. Adding subfolders and members is optional.

Create the job

1

Select Jobs in the left menu, then select New Job.

2

Enter a job number. Start Date, End Date, a link to the related work order, and notes are optional. Select Next.

3

Organize items into subfolders by room, stage, or material family. Select Use Suggested Folders to start with suggested subfolders, which you can keep, rename, add to, or skip. You can change subfolders any time while the job is active.

4

Select Create Job. A job folder is created automatically.

Add members

Add teammates using Edit Members. Team Members and Custom Roles can each be set to View Only or their role's default access level.

Pull items into the job

1

Open the job and select the Items tab.

2

Select Pull Items.

3

Select the items you want to add to the job and set the quantity for each one.

4

Select Add Items to Job.

Pulling an item also sets its return location automatically if it doesn't already have one. See Auto-fill return locations below.

Start the job

Select Start Job to change the status from Not Started to In Progress. Status is visible in both the job list and the job detail page.

Track and update items as work happens

You can update quantities and move items between subfolders from two places:

• Jobs: open the job and use the Items tab.
• Items: open the job folder directly in your inventory.

Both show the same items and support the same actions.

Complete the job

When the work is done, return any unused items to inventory or another active job. Only what was actually used stays with the job.

1

Select Complete Job.

2

Select Return Items, select the unused items, then select Next.

3

Check where each item goes under Return to Folder and how many are returning. Return locations are prefilled as described in Auto-fill return locations below.

4

Select Complete Job.

Sortly asks you to confirm before the job closes. Your job history is saved, giving you a reliable record of exactly what was used for billing, reviews, and future reference.

Auto-fill return locations

When you return items to inventory, Sortly can suggest and prefill where they should go, based on a return location set for each item.

Setting the return location automatically

Most teams return items to the same location they pulled them from, so Sortly sets this up as items are pulled into a job:

• If the item already has a return location, nothing changes.
• If it doesn't, the location it's pulled from becomes its return location. If it's pulled from more than one location, the first one used becomes the return location.

Returning items

When you return an item, its return location is prefilled for you. If the item was pulled from more than one location, up to three of the most recently used pull locations also appear as Other Suggestions.

Choosing a different location

If you pick a location other than the prefilled one, Sortly asks whether you'd like to set it as the new return location going forward. This option isn't selected by default, and it only appears if you can set return locations for your organization and for that item.

Delete a job

Created a job by mistake or no longer need it? Owners can delete it.

1

Open the job.

2

Select the three-dot menu in the top right corner, then select Delete.

3

Confirm that you want to delete the job.

Deleting a job sends the job folder and all its subfolders to Trash. Any items still inside the job folder at the time also move to Trash. You can restore them from Trash if needed.

Reopen a completed job

Marked a job Completed by mistake, or need to make a change after the fact? Owners and Admins can move it back to In Progress.

What happens to additional fields

• If an additional field was added while the job was completed, it appears blank on the job so you can fill it in.
• If an additional field was deleted while the job was completed, reopening the job removes it, as the confirmation message says.

Reopening a job counts against your active job limit (see Active job limits above). If your account is already at that limit, you'll see the same upgrade prompt shown when creating a new job.

Filter job and item folders

Use the Filters screen to control which folders show up in your Items tab. Below your existing View Options, a Folders section lets you choose:

• All Folders
• Job Folders only
• Item Folders only
• Show Completed Jobs

A few things to know about how this works:

• If Hide Folders is selected, these options are dimmed, since there's nothing for them to filter. Your previous choice is remembered and comes back when you deselect Hide Folders.
• The filter only applies at the top level of your Items tab. Once you open a folder, you'll see everything inside it.
• Your choices are saved and stay in place the next time you open the app.

Quick Stats reflects what's hidden and breaks it down by reason, for example "Job Folders hidden" or "Completed Jobs hidden," so you always know why a folder isn't showing. If a filter hides everything in a folder, the empty state includes a Show all folders option.

Reporting on a job

All activity inside a job folder is captured in Sortly's standard reports. Go to Reports and filter by the job folder to see data specific to that job.

Jobs Report

For a dedicated view of job activity, use the Jobs Report under Reports. It has two views.

Job View lists every job created in your selected date range, along with its status, creator, duration, item count, and total value. Search by job name, filter by status or creator, and sort any column.

Open a job to see its item list, including quantity added and returned, quantity still in the job, and, for items that get returned, the longest stretch any unit spent in the job. Open an item from there for its full transaction history within that job.

Item View lists every item that's ever been used in a job, with its Sortly ID and how many active and total jobs it's part of. Open an item to see every job it's touched and its overall transaction history.

Both views can be exported, and either one can be filtered down to a specific job, item, or date range.

Activity History

Shows a log of every action taken, who performed it, and when. Use this report to find out who moved an item, who pulled it into the job, or who made a change. Each entry shows the activity type (such as Move Item or Added To Job), the user's name, and the item and folders involved.

Transactions

Shows the exact inventory detail behind every movement: quantity change, transaction type, folder, and item price. When an item is pulled into a job, you'll see two matching rows: a positive quantity entry in the job folder and a negative entry in the original folder. Use this report for billing, reviewing what was consumed, or reconciling quantities.

Using Jobs on mobile

Jobs is fully supported in the Sortly mobile app for iOS and Android. You can create jobs, pull items, update quantities, move items between subfolders, and complete jobs from your phone or tablet. Item movements made on mobile update your inventory in real time and work offline, syncing when you reconnect.