Troubleshooting service operations

This page explains the messages and dead ends service users hit on a service order, gives the cause and the fix for each, and links to the page that covers that part of the job in full. It runs in the order work happens: opening the order, adding lines, labour, parts, quoting, invoicing and delivery.

Overview

A service order checks every save and every action before it does anything. If a check fails, the order is left as it was and you see the message. Most messages name the stage that has nothing left to do, or the condition that is missing. So the fix is almost always one of three things: run the earlier stage, finish the open work, or correct the field the message names.

Some problems come with no message at all. A button you expect may be missing, or a status may stay where it was. These come from the shipped page layout and status rules, and an administrator can change both. Those cases are covered under Buttons that are missing and Configuration.

How xMatix handles it

• Actions are checked first. Each button on the service order runs its own check before it does any work. If the check fails, no document is created and no quantity changes.
• Pending quantities drive the parts track. Each line keeps its own counters, and the actions consume them. Pending Fulfilment Order Quantity is Quantity minus fulfilled, counter-invoiced and cancelled quantity. Pending Fulfilment Allocation Quantity is Quantity minus allocated and cancelled quantity. Pending Invoice Quantity is Quantity minus cancelled and invoiced quantity. When a counter is zero on every line, the action that uses it has nothing to do.
• Status moves on its own. Shipped business rules set the status from the order's progress flags: Work To Start, Work In Progress, Work Paused, Work Completed, Invoiced and Delivered. See the service order lifecycle.
• The record page shows some buttons only at certain statuses. For the details, see Buttons that are missing.

Opening and changing the order

"An open service order already exists against this asset — …"

The asset already has a service order that has not been delivered. The message names that order. An asset can have only one open job card, and it is free again once its order is delivered. Continue the work on the existing order, or finish it and choose Delivery on it. The same check runs when you change the Asset on a saved order.

"Usage Reading cannot be less than the last recorded reading (…)"

The reading you entered is lower than the asset's last recorded reading, which the message shows. Check the meter and enter the correct value. Usage Reading Hours is checked the same way. When the order has a Service Contract, the reading must also fall inside that contract's usage band. See service contract definitions.

"Key fields are not editable once the related objects are added. Field Name : …"

You changed Partner Account or Branch on a saved order. Neither can change once the order is saved. Create a new order with the right values. If nothing has been raised from the wrong order yet, a user whose profile allows it can delete that order.

"Item Service Contract can only be changed while no time sheet has started work and no part has been allocated: …"

You changed the order's Service Contract after work began. The message gives the reason: started time sheets, allocated part quantity, or both. Once work has started or parts are allocated, the contract is fixed. Cancel any allocation you can and correct the contract before work starts. Otherwise, finish the order under the contract it has.

"Subcontracted work is still open on work order …"

A work order raised for subcontracted lines on this order is still Draft or Released. The order's status cannot change while it is open, so any save that changes the status is refused. Complete or cancel the work order, then try again. When several work orders are open, the message lists them (up to five) and says how many there are.

Lines and contracts

Line-level messages are covered in full on service order lines. They include negative quantity or price, items not eligible for the asset, discounted items, cost-plus and standard-hours pricing, contract splits and repeat repairs. The contract checks that most often block a line are summarised here:

"Campaign mandated items cannot be modified." or "Campaign mandated items cannot be deleted."

The line came from a mandatory campaign item, so it is protected. The mandate is set on the campaign item, not on the line. See running campaigns.

Labour and time sheets

"No service order line is pending time sheet creation. Every work item line on this service order already has a time sheet."

Time Sheet creates time sheets only for Work Item lines that still have quantity after cancellations and are not on a time sheet yet. Part lines never go on a time sheet. If you ticked lines in the dialog and they are all already covered, you see The selected service order lines are not pending time sheet creation instead. Open the existing time sheet from the order. Messages from the time sheet itself (start, pause, end, overlapping slots) are covered on time sheets.

"Service order cannot be marked as Work Completed until all work item lines have work ended."

You set the status to Work Completed, or marked the work as ended, while a Work Item line with open quantity has not ended. A line with no time sheet counts as not ended. End the work on the time sheet for each open line. For work that will not be done, enter the line's quantity as Cancelled Quantity. This check looks only at Work Item lines. Part allocation does not cause this message.

The status stays at Work In Progress or Work Paused after all work has ended

The shipped rule moves an order to Work Completed only when two things are true: the work has ended (Work Ended), and Is Part Allocation Complete is set. If parts are still waiting for allocation, the status stays where it was, with no message. Allocate the remaining parts, or cancel the quantity you will not fit. A paused time sheet keeps the order at Work Paused.

Parts, allocation and VOR orders

"No pending … quantities found in service order lines …"

Every line's counter for that stage is zero. The work at that stage is done, the quantity was cancelled, or (for invoicing) it was already invoiced. Check the line's counters on its record page:

Allocation on a service order works straight from the order's lines. It does not wait for fulfilment release.

"No allocated quantities found in allocation lines to cancel." or "No picked quantities found in picking lines to cancel."

Cancel Allocation found nothing allocated against this order's lines, or cancel picking found nothing picked. Either the quantity was never allocated or picked, or it was already cancelled or delivered.

"Requested quantity (…) cannot exceed the pending quantity (…)." or "Requested quantity must be greater than zero."

In Selective Fulfilment or Selective Invoice, a ticked line asks for more than its pending quantity, or for zero. Enter a quantity between 1 and the pending quantity shown.

"No part lines short of stock to raise a vehicle offroad purchase order for."

VOR PO orders only Part lines that are short of stock. Two things make a line short. First, its available stock at the order's branch and partner account (for the line's SKU, if it has one) must be zero or less. Second, purchase order lines must not already cover its whole quantity. A part with any available stock is left out, even if that stock is less than the line needs, because the fix there is allocation. A partly ordered line stays eligible for the rest of its quantity. The VOR check uses the line's full Quantity: it does not subtract Cancelled Quantity.

"None of the selected service order lines are eligible for a vehicle offroad purchase order: …"

In Selective VOR, none of the lines you ticked is short of stock, or they are already fully on order. The picker lists the eligible lines, so choose from those.

"Pick a service bay to allocate." or "This vehicle has been delivered, so it cannot be allocated a bay."

Bay Allocation needs a bay chosen in the dialog, and a delivered order cannot hold a bay. Delivery releases the bay automatically. To set bays up, see service configuration.

Quotes

The quote has fewer lines than the order, or no lines

Quote creates a new quote for the order's customer, asset, branch and Service Contract. It copies only the lines whose Item Service Contract matches the order's Service Contract. On an order with no Service Contract, it copies the lines that have no Item Service Contract either. So on an order with a contract, lines charged to the customer or to another contract are left off the quote. If no line matches, the quote is created with no lines. Add the missing lines on the quote, or clear or align the line contracts before you quote.

Each press of Quote made another quote

Quote can be repeated on purpose: every press creates a new quote linked to the same order. Delete the extra quotes you do not need.

Invoicing and delivery

"Invoice cannot be generated until all time sheets have work ended. … time sheet(s) are not yet 'Work Ended'."

Full Invoice checks the whole order, and every time sheet on it must be at Work Ended. End or finish the open sheets on time sheets, then choose Invoice again.

"Invoice cannot be generated until all part lines are allocated. … quantity is still pending allocation."

Full Invoice also needs every Part line fully allocated. Allocate the remaining quantity, or enter what you will not supply as Cancelled Quantity. Selective Invoice does not apply these two order-wide checks. It checks only the lines and quantities you choose.

"Goodwill service order cannot be processed until its OEM, customer and dealer split is set up."

On an order whose Service Type is Goodwill, each line's value is shared between the OEM, the customer and the dealer. Item Service Contract is the OEM claim, and it must post as Generate Claims or Auto Generate Claims. Item Service Contract 2 is the customer invoice and Item Service Contract 3 is the dealer invoice, each with its Service Contract Weightage share. The detailed messages name the line and the problem:

• each weightage must be between 0% and 100%;
• the customer and dealer shares together must not exceed 100%;
• each share above zero needs its contract;
• the customer contract must be a Generate Invoices contract with no billing account and Bill To Partner Account off;
• each split contract needs a Weightage Invoice Charge Item.

Correct the lines and invoice again. Both Invoice and Selective Invoice run this check. For more on splits, see service order lines.

"Cannot delete a utilized service recommendation."

Invoicing marked the recommendation as used, so it is now part of the record from finding to billed work, and it cannot be deleted. See service recommendations.

Buttons that are missing

The shipped service order page shows these buttons only at certain statuses:

The page shows Check In, Bay Allocation, Time Sheet, VOR PO, Selective VOR, Fulfillment, Selective Fulfilment, Allocation, Manual Allocation, Selective Allocation, Cancel Allocation, Invoice, Selective Invoice, Delivery, Quote, Work Order, Edit and Delete. Your profile still has to allow each one. Post Inventory, Reprice, Checklist and Recommendation exist as actions but are not on the shipped record page. An administrator has to add them before anyone can use them there. Selective Cancel Allocation is shipped inactive.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, create a service order for an asset at a branch where one part item has no available stock. Add a line for that part and a Work Item line, and save. Expected result: VOR PO appears in the header. Choose Time Sheet and create the sheet, but do not start it. Choose Invoice. Expected result: it is refused with Invoice cannot be generated until all time sheets have work ended. Start and end the work on the time sheet, then choose Invoice again. Expected result: it is refused with Invoice cannot be generated until all part lines are allocated. Finally, enter the part line's full quantity as Cancelled Quantity and choose Invoice once more. Expected result: the invoice is raised for the labour line.

Quick reference

• "No pending …" means the stage has nothing left. Check the line counters and cancelled quantity.
• An asset can have only one open service order. Delivery frees the asset.
• Partner Account and Branch are fixed after saving. The Service Contract is fixed once work starts or parts are allocated.
• Work Completed is refused only for unfinished Work Item lines. The automatic move to Work Completed also needs parts allocated.
• Full Invoice needs every time sheet ended and every part allocated. Selective Invoice skips both checks.
• VOR PO orders only parts with zero available stock that are not fully on order.
• Quote copies only lines on the order's own Service Contract, and each press makes a new quote.
• An open subcontract work order freezes the order's status.

Permissions

Viewing, creating, editing and deleting service orders follow the Service Order entity permissions on your security profile. Each button on the order is a server action that also needs a grant on the profile's Actions tab. Without the grant, you cannot run that action. If a button is missing for one user but not for another at the same status, check that user's profile first. Service Advisor and resource fields accept only resources authorised for the order's partner account and branch.

Configuration

• Header buttons and their visibility. The buttons and the status conditions in Buttons that are missing are part of the service order's record layout (Service Order View). To show Quote, change its visibility condition, for example to show it before invoicing. To use Post Inventory, Reprice, Checklist or Recommendation from the record page, add them. Use the layout tools.
• The Work Completed check. Service order cannot be marked as Work Completed until all work item lines have work ended is a shipped validation rule on Service Order. A tenant that does not record labour on time sheets can deactivate it. See entity behavior.
• Status rules. The Set Service Order Status To … business rules drive the status ladder, including the parts-allocated condition for Work Completed. If you change them, keep them consistent with the checks on this page.
• Service Type values. Goodwill is a shipped Service Type value, and choosing it switches on the goodwill split check at invoicing.
• Contracts and stock. Contract checks follow the service contract definition and the asset's entitlements. VOR eligibility follows available stock at the branch. See stock balances.

Common questions

Why does the order refuse an action instead of doing part of it?

Every action checks the whole request before it changes anything, so a refused action leaves nothing half done. The checks look at the order's lines, time sheets and stock as they are when you press the button. Where only some lines are ready, use the selective version of the action (Selective Fulfilment, Selective Allocation, Selective Invoice or Selective VOR) to process just those. Selective Invoice also skips the full Invoice's order-wide checks for ended time sheets and allocated parts.

Can I cancel a service order that is stuck?

There is no cancel action and no Cancelled status. Enter the quantities you will not supply or perform as Cancelled Quantity on the lines. Cancelled quantity is left out of fulfilment, allocation, invoicing and the Work Completed check. An order raised in error, before anything was created from it, can be deleted by a user whose profile allows deleting service orders. See the service order lifecycle.

Why is VOR PO not offered for a part that is short?

VOR PO is for parts with no available stock at all at the order's branch and partner account. If the branch holds even one available unit of the item (for the line's SKU), the line is left out and the button may stay hidden, because the expected fix is to allocate what is there. VOR PO also leaves out lines that purchase order lines already fully cover. A partly ordered line stays eligible for its remaining quantity.

Related topics

• The service order lifecycle
• Service order lines
• Recording labour with time sheets
• Invoicing
• Asset service contracts
• Running campaigns
• Service configuration