Service agreements for commercial customers

Overview#

A service agreement is a commercial maintenance contract. It lists the sites and equipment it covers, the planned visits (for example a spring and fall PM at every site), how it's billed, a not-to-exceed for service calls, a response-time promise and renewal terms. Once active, TradesWork generates the visit schedule, turns due visits into jobs ahead of time, bills each period and renews or expires the agreement at the end of its term.

Before you start#

• Find agreements under Follow Up › Service Agreements.

• Creating and editing agreements needs agreements.write (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Customer service, Accounting).

• Activating, suspending, canceling and renewing needs agreements.status (Owner, Admin, Accounting).

• Booking, skipping and completing visits needs agreement_visits.status (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Customer service); booking also needs jobs.write.

• Templates need agreement_templates.write (Owner, Admin).

• The customer needs at least one location (site).

Steps#

Create a template (optional)#

1. Go to Service Agreements › Templates.

2. Enter the Name (for example "Rooftop PM, quarterly"), Description and the standard terms, then click Add template.

3. A new agreement copies the template. Later template edits don't change existing agreements.

Create an agreement#

1. On the customer page, click New agreement in Service agreements (or New agreement on the Agreements list and pick the customer).

2. Optionally pick a template under Start from a template:.

3. Fill in Agreement name, Start date, Term (months), Billing (Monthly, Quarterly, Every 6 months, Yearly, Per visit or Not billed (included)) and Amount per period ($).

4. Under Planned maintenance visits (each site), name each visit (for example "Spring PM"), pick its job type, and choose the months it falls due or "every N months". For per-visit billing, enter the visit price.

5. Set Not-to-exceed per call ($) (empty = no limit), Response time (hours), Renewal increase %, and tick Renews automatically at the end of the term.

6. Pick the Branch (or By site ZIP), Customer PO (goes on every job and invoice) and Billing contact.

7. Tick the Sites covered and Equipment covered, add Notes (scope, exclusions), and click Create draft agreement.

Activate it#

1. Open the agreement. It starts as Draft.

2. Someone with status rights clicks Activate. This generates the Visit schedule for every site and starts billing.

Work the visits#

1. Visits due on the Agreements list shows open visits for the next 30 days. Tick visits and click Book selected as jobs, or click Book on one visit in the agreement.

2. The daily run also books visits automatically a set number of days ahead.

3. In the agreement's Visit schedule: Mark done on a booked visit, Skip an open one (a reason is required), or Reopen.

Billing, renewals and status changes#

1. Billing runs daily: one invoice per customer per month for all their agreements, unless consolidated invoicing is off for them. The agreement's Billing card lists each period and invoice. Held means the invoice is waiting for a PO.

2. Run renewals and billing on the Agreements list runs the daily job now (owners and admins).

3. At term end, agreements that renew automatically start a new term (with any renewal increase). Others become Expired; click Renew to restart one.

4. To pause or end an agreement, click Suspend or Cancel agreement and give a reason.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Operations › Branches › Rules: Agreement visits become jobs (days ahead) and Hold invoices without a required PO.

• Customer Account terms: One monthly invoice for all agreements and net terms.

Tips#

• The Budget vs actual (this term) card compares what you billed with the cost of the work. Check it before renewal.

• Ending soon on the Agreements list shows agreements ending in the next 60 days. Call those customers early.

• Editing an active agreement changes the current term: open visits follow the new plan; booked and done visits stay.

Troubleshooting#

• "Pick at least one site" → no site ticked → tick at least one under Sites covered.

• "Pick the months or an interval for each visit" → a visit has no timing → choose months or "every N months".

• "Enter the amount billed each period" → recurring billing with a $0 amount → enter the amount, or choose Not billed (included).

• "Give a reason" → suspending or canceling needs a reason.

• No visits appear → the agreement is still a draft → activate it.

FAQ#

Are agreements the same as memberships? No. Memberships are for homeowners (see the Follow-up & memberships articles). Agreements are commercial contracts with sites, equipment, NTEs and SLAs.

Can I start the agreement in the past? Yes, while it's a draft. After activation the start date is locked.

Where does the SLA countdown show? On the job's Commercial card and on calls for that customer.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same: templates, covered locations and equipment, recurring visits that generate jobs, recurring billing, renewals, statuses Draft/Active/Suspended/Expired/Canceled.

• Different: visits are generated per site from a simple plan (months or interval). Billing consolidates per customer per month by default.

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan Service Agreements and Settings › Service Agreement Templates; TradesWork Follow Up › Service Agreements and its Templates page.