How to create a work order in Books?

TB Books · work-orders · Last updated August 21, 2026 · Version 1

This process works in apps: TB Books, TB POS

This article will teach you how to open a work order, add products and services, and convert to an invoice when the job is ready.

Work orders track in-progress shop jobs — tires, labor, and fees — before final billing. They can originate in Books (Orders → Work Orders) or POS Lite Hub/Order Builder, and they reconcile with the same Books collections invoices use. Converting a finished work order to an invoice is the preferred billing path so history stays on one job ID.

Steps

• Open Orders → Work Orders (or start from POS Lite after check-in).
• Select or create the customer.
• Confirm the location for the job.
• Add products and services — use digit-only size search for tires when searching catalog.
• Save the work order and update lines/notes as the job progresses.
• When work is complete, convert to an invoice or use Complete Order in POS Lite.
• Collect payment on the resulting invoice if it remains open.

Conclusion & best practices

Prefer converting a work order to an invoice over re-entering the same lines. If the customer is not ready to authorize work, convert the open work order back to a quote instead of duplicating the cart — see How to convert a work order to a quote in Books. Void/delete rules on invoices still apply after conversion — voiding reverses JE and stock once; deleting a voided invoice must not double-reverse. Search for an existing work order before creating a duplicate for the same vehicle.