Managing Work Order Status

Work orders move through six statuses as they progress through your shop. The status determines where the work order appears on the Work Board and what actions are available. This article covers the full flow and the moves between statuses.

The Six Statuses

Status	What It Means	On the Board?
Estimate	Created, estimate being built or sent. Customer hasn’t approved yet.	Yes (Estimates column)
In Progress	Customer approved work. Technician is working.	Yes (In Progress column)
Completed	Work is done, ready for pickup and payment.	Yes (Complete column)
Paid	Payment received, work order closed.	No (archived)
Voided	Cancelled (duplicate, error, no-show).	No (archived)
Declined	Customer declined all services.	No (archived)

The first three are “active” statuses that appear on the Work Board. The last three are “finalized” — archived and no longer editable.

How Transitions Happen

Most status changes happen automatically as part of a workflow action — you don’t manually flip a status dropdown. Here’s what triggers each transition:

From	To	What Triggers It
Estimate → In Progress	Customer approves any service via the portal (or advisor records an offline authorization)
In Progress → Completed	Advisor clicks Mark All Complete or completes from the WIP tab (work in progress)
Completed → Paid	Advisor collects full payment, or clicks Close WO / Close as Paid
Any active → Voided	Advisor/manager clicks Close as Voided from the overflow menu
Any active → Declined	Customer declines all services via portal, or advisor clicks Close as Declined
Any finalized → In Progress	Advisor/manager clicks Reopen WO

💡 Pro Tip

When a customer approves services through the portal, the work order automatically moves from Estimate to In Progress — you don’t need to do anything. You’ll get a real-time notification the moment they act.

Sub-Statuses

Sub-statuses are custom labels your shop defines to subdivide the three active statuses (Estimate, In Progress, Completed). They appear as colored badges on work order cards.

Examples: “Waiting on Parts,” “Customer Called,” “Ready for Pickup,” “Waiting for Authorization.”

Managing Sub-Statuses

Admins and managers configure sub-statuses under Settings → Sub-Statuses. Each sub-status has:

A name
A color (17 Tailwind palette options)
A status scope (which parent status it belongs to)
A position (sort order)
An active/inactive flag
One default per status scope (auto-assigned when a work order enters that status)

Setting a Sub-Status

On a work order, click the sub-status dropdown in the header (shows the current sub-status name or “Select Sub-Status”). Or use the overflow menu → Select Sub-Status.

Save for Later

If you’ve started an estimate but aren’t ready to send it, you can park it off the active board:

Save for Later — removes the work order from the Work Board (estimate status only). Found in the overflow menu. The work order gets a “Saved for Later” badge.
Return to Board — brings it back to the active board. Also in the overflow menu.

Saved-for-later work orders appear in the Saved for Later status tab on the Work Board.

Closing a Work Order

There are three ways to close:

Action	What It Does	Who
Close WO	Full close — generates invoice snapshot, marks as paid, adds to statement if applicable	Anyone with `can_close_reopen_work_orders` permission
Close as Paid	Lightweight mark as paid (no invoice snapshot) — only available from “Completed” status	Advisors, managers, admins
Close as Declined	Finalizes as declined with a reason	Advisors, managers, admins
Close as Voided	Finalizes as voided with a reason	Advisors, managers, admins

Close Requirements

Your shop can configure fields that must be filled in before a work order can be closed. Admins and managers set these under Settings → Close Requirements. Each field can be set to:

Required — blocks closing
Recommended — shows an amber indicator
Off — no check

Configurable fields: Odometer In, Odometer Out, Technician Assigned, Service Advisor, Key Location, Vehicle Location, Service Category on Every Job.

Always required (can’t be turned off): Customer on File, Vehicle on File.

Reopening

Reopen moves a finalized work order (Paid, Voided, Declined, or Completed) back to In Progress. This clears the payment and closure metadata and recalculates financials.

Click Reopen WO in the overflow menu
Confirm: “Are you sure you want to reopen this work order?”
Available to admins/managers, or anyone with the can_close_reopen_work_orders permission

Decline All Services

If a customer is choosing not to proceed with any services, you can decline all at once:

Click the Authorize dropdown → Decline All Services
Review the warning: declined services will be marked as declined and any approved services will be un-authorized
Enter an optional reason (e.g. “Price too high, will come back later”)
Click Decline Services

This does not finalize the work order — it stays on the board with a “Declined” sub-status so you can follow up or close it later.

Hard Delete vs Close

Close — finalizes as paid, record preserved, searchable for 2 years, reversible via Reopen
Hard Delete — permanently destroys the record. Only for empty, non-finalized work orders (no services, parts, payments, or activity). Requires a reason. Audited via a deletion log. Only available to users with the can_hard_delete_work_orders permission.

Disposition: Drop Off vs Waiting

Set whether the customer is waiting at the shop or dropping off:

Drop off — customer leaves the vehicle
Waiting — customer is waiting at the shop (shows a “Waiting” pill on the card)

Change from the overflow menu → Set Disposition (or it’s set automatically during check-in).

Waiting for Customer

Toggle a “Waiting for Customer” label on a work order from the overflow menu. This is a label, not a status — it’s for flagging work orders where you’re waiting on the customer to respond.

Work Board Overview — How statuses appear as columns and tabs on the board
The Money Loop — How status transitions fit into the full cycle
Collecting Payments — What happens when you close a work order
Creating Work Orders — How a work order starts

Questions? Contact us at help@wenmarpro.com