Workflow: Equipment Service — From Request to Invoice

Modules involved: Assets · Tickets · Tasks · Timesheets · Warehouse · Expenses · Invoices · Contracts · Appointly · Knowledge Base
Who uses it: Service Dispatcher, Technician, Service Manager, Finance, Client (portal)
Typical duration: Hours – days (single intervention); weeks (complex service / parts order)

Overview

The equipment service workflow covers the full cycle of a technical intervention: from the client reporting a malfunction to issuing the invoice with labor, parts, and travel expenses. It is used by companies that sell and service equipment (IT, medical, HVAC, industrial, home appliances, telecommunications). CRMConnect centralizes requests through the helpdesk (Tickets), schedules interventions (Appointly or Tasks), tracks parts consumption from stock (Warehouse — Goods Issue), logs technician hours (Timesheets), and generates the final invoice with all cost components.

Key difference from standard service: The equipment record in Assets serves as the central pivot of the workflow — warranty verification, history of previous interventions, and the SLA contract are all anchored to the equipment record, not just the client record.

Flow diagram

[CLIENT REPORTS MALFUNCTION]
  │  channel: email (auto pipe) / client portal / phone / WhatsApp
  │  → Ticket created automatically (email pipe) or manually (dispatcher)
  │  → Ticket status: Open
  │
  ↓
[EQUIPMENT IDENTIFICATION AND CONTRACT CHECK]
  │  Ticket → linked to Asset (faulty equipment)
  │  Asset → fields: serial, model, manufacturer, purchase date,
  │           warranty expiry, installation location
  │  SLA Contract → checked: type, response terms, resolution terms
  │
  ├── Under warranty → free intervention
  │     │  Ticket marked "Warranty" (tag or custom field)
  │
  ├── Active maintenance contract → reduced rate or included in subscription
  │     │  Ticket marked "SLA — [Contract type]"
  │
  └── No warranty, no contract → standard rate
        │  Client notified of estimated cost before intervention
  │
  ↓
[SCHEDULE INTERVENTION]
  │
  ├── Appointly: schedule with date + time, assigned technician,
  │     client location, estimated duration
  │     → automatic notification to client + technician
  │
  └── Task: created on Ticket or directly, assigned to technician,
        with due date = planned intervention date
  │
  ↓
[INTERVENTION — COST COMPONENTS]
  │
  ├── [LABOR]
  │     │  Timesheet: start / stop time or manual duration
  │     │  linked to Ticket + Task
  │     │  Staff = technician, Billable = Yes
  │     │  Note: describes work performed (appears on invoice)
  │
  ├── [PARTS CONSUMED]
  │     │  Warehouse → Goods Issue (Stock outflow)
  │     │  parts from stock automatically decremented
  │     │  linked to Ticket or Client
  │     │  document: Consumption note / Internal delivery note
  │
  └── [TRAVEL / CONSUMABLES EXPENSES]
        │  Expense: amount, category (travel, consumables),
        │  attached to Ticket or Client, Billable = Yes
  │
  ↓
[DIAGNOSIS AND RESOLUTION]
  │
  ├── Resolved at first intervention → continue to Documentation
  │
  ├── Parts required → Ticket status: "Awaiting Parts"
  │     │  Parts purchase order (Purchase → RFQ → PO)
  │     │  Task: "Track parts delivery" with deadline
  │     │  Upon parts receipt → reschedule intervention (Appointly/Task)
  │
  └── Escalation required → Ticket transferred to level 2 / manufacturer
        │  Internal task: "Escalation to manufacturer — [Case number]"
  │
  ↓
[DOCUMENT RESOLUTION]
  │  Ticket → status: Resolved
  │  Final ticket reply: solution applied, parts replaced,
  │  client recommendations (e.g., equipment replacement, periodic service)
  │  If frequent issue → article created in Knowledge Base
  │  Asset → "Intervention history" field updated (custom field or note)
  │
  ↓
[CLIENT APPROVAL (optional)]
  │  Client confirms resolution via portal or email
  │  Ticket → status: Closed
  │  Satisfaction rating (if feedback module is active)
  │
  ↓
[INVOICING]
  │  Invoice created:
  │  ├── Labor line: hours × rate/h
  │  ├── Parts lines: each part consumed (from Goods Issue)
  │  └── Travel line: amount from Expense
  │  eFactura if B2B client with VAT number
  │
[SERVICE COMPLETE ✓ · CLIENT SATISFIED ✓]

Step by step

1. Reporting the malfunction — Creating a Ticket

Where: /admin/tickets → Add Ticket (manual) or automatically via email pipe

Input channels and what happens:

Key service ticket fields:

Ticket statuses:

2. Equipment identification — Assets module

Where: /admin/assets — equipment record

What must be pre-configured on each sold equipment item:

Ticket → Asset link:

From the ticket, the "Asset" field links the request to the specific equipment. All previous interventions on that equipment are visible in the ticket history filtered by asset. This allows the technician to see:

• Which parts were previously replaced
• How many interventions the equipment has had recently
• Whether the equipment is a "repeater" (recurring issues → replacement recommendation)

3. Warranty and SLA contract verification

Warranty check:

SLA contract check:

A maintenance contract may include:

Practical tip: Configure SLA contracts as "Contracts" in the CRM with an expiry date. Set up an automatic task or reminder 60 days before expiry to contact the client with a renewal offer.

4. Scheduling the intervention

Option A — Appointly (structured scheduling):

Where: /admin/appointly

Appointly advantages: the client can choose from available slots themselves (self-scheduling), automatic confirmation notifications and reminders.

Option B — Task with due date:

Practical tip: If you have a large team of technicians, use Resource Workload (/admin/resource_workload) to check availability before allocation. Avoid over-allocating technicians on the same day.

5. Intervention — Logging labor (Timesheets)

Where: Timesheets tab in Ticket or Task, or /admin/staff/timesheets

Technician workflow during intervention:

Timer variant (recommended for on-site work):

1. Technician opens the intervention task on phone/laptop
2. Starts the timer ▶ — start timestamp recorded
3. Performs the intervention
4. Upon completion: stops the timer ■ — timesheet created automatically with exact duration
5. Adds a descriptive note (what was done, what was replaced)

Manual variant (if no CRM access in the field):

1. Technician records hours in the field
2. Back at the office, fills in manually: date, start time, stop time, task, note
3. Dispatcher or manager reviews and approves

Service timesheet fields:

Labor rates:

6. Parts consumed — Warehouse (Goods Issue)

Where: /admin/warehouse → Goods Issue (Stock outflow)

Parts consumption process:

1. Technician identifies required parts (from diagnosis)
2. If parts are in stock → Goods Issue is created
3. Goods Issue: select items, quantities, linked to client/ticket
4. Stock decreases automatically upon Goods Issue approval
5. Consumed parts are visible on the outflow document

Goods Issue fields:

What happens if the part is not in stock:

1. Insufficient stock identified (current_stock < required_quantity)
2. Dispatcher or technician creates a Purchase Request or directly an RFQ (Request for Quotation)
3. Supplier contacted → Quote → Purchase Order → Parts receipt
4. Upon receipt → stock updated
5. Ticket updated to "Awaiting Parts" during the procurement period
6. Upon parts receipt → reschedule intervention

Practical tip: Maintain a minimum stock for frequently used spare parts (consumables, filters, batteries, memory cards, etc.). Configure the minimum level in Warehouse — when stock falls below minimum, an alert appears for replenishment.

7. Travel and consumables expenses

Where: /admin/expenses or directly from ticket

Types of expenses during intervention:

Expense fields:

8. Documenting the resolution and Knowledge Base

Where: Replies tab in Ticket + /admin/knowledge_base

Upon resolving the intervention:

1. Add final reply to ticket (visible to client in portal):
   • What was diagnosed
   • What was repaired / replaced
   • Post-intervention recommendations
2. Change ticket status → Resolved
3. If the problem has also occurred on other similar equipment → create article in Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base article — recommended structure:

Practical tip: A well-maintained Knowledge Base reduces resolution time for repetitive interventions and allows junior technicians to resolve frequent issues without escalation.

9. Invoicing the service

Where: /admin/invoices → Add Invoice

Service invoice structure:

Line 1: Technician labor — Intervention [date]
          2.5h × 120 RON/h = 300 RON

Line 2: Part: HP LaserJet M428 Motherboard (P/N: RM2-6447)
          1 unit × 450 RON = 450 RON

Line 3: Part: Paper pickup roller kit
          1 unit × 85 RON = 85 RON

Line 4: Travel — Cluj-Napoca
          1 × 80 RON = 80 RON
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                            Subtotal: 915 RON
                            VAT 19%:  173.85 RON
                            TOTAL:  1,088.85 RON

Special invoicing situations:

eFactura for B2B clients:

• Mandatory for all B2B invoices issued from 2024
• Automatically transmitted to ANAF if integration is configured
• Client receives invoice through SPV and by email

What is created automatically

Points where the workflow can block

Relevant reports

• Tickets per technician — how many interventions each technician had, average resolution time
• Service timesheets — billable labor hours per period, per client, per equipment
• Assets with frequent interventions — equipment with most tickets → replacement candidates
• Spare parts stock — Warehouse → items below minimum stock, movements in the last month
• SLA contracts expiry — Contracts filtered by expiry date in the next 60 days
• Service revenue — Invoices filtered by "Service" category → monthly trend
• Knowledge Base usage — most accessed articles → documented frequent issues

Modules involved — detailed documentation

• Assets
• Tickets
• Tasks
• Timesheets
• Warehouse
• Expenses
• Invoices
• Contracts
• Appointly
• Knowledge Base
• Clients

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