Day-to-dayUpdated 7 Oct 20266 min

Work orders and work-in-progress

Plan a production run as a routed work order, tick off each step as the floor finishes it, and watch work-in-progress build up on an append-only ledger, then complete the order to move stock and release the WIP. Capacity is a seven-day planning aid, not a scheduler.

A work order plans one production run as a sequence of steps: schedule a routed bill of materials, tick off each step as the shop floor finishes it, and watch the work-in-progress value build up, then complete the order to move the stock and release the WIP.

A work order in progress, with the value sitting in work-in-progress until it closes (desktop view)
A work order in progress, with the value sitting in work-in-progress until it closes

Where do I find it?

Open Manufacturing. Work orders and capacity are the third and fourth tabs. The Manufacturing module has to be on, and only owners and assistants can create or move an order; an invited accountant reads it.

Why can I not create one?

Work orders run on routed bills of materials. Open a BoM, add routing steps (a work centre, the expected minutes, and which components that step draws) and it becomes available in the work-order form. A BoM with no routing keeps the simple one-step production run it always had.

Running an order

  1. New work order: pick the routed BoM, the quantity to make, a scheduled start and a due date.
  2. Start it when the floor begins.
  3. As each step finishes, enter the actual minutes it took and tap Done. The order shows how many steps are done and a running Open work-in-progress figure.
  4. Complete the order. Finished goods go in, raw materials come out, and the work-in-progress value is released.

Complete stays disabled until every step is done, and says so: finish every step to complete the order. A draft can be deleted; a draft or in-progress order can be cancelled, which releases the open WIP.

Recording a quality inspection

When you mark a step done you can also record an inspection. Tap Record inspection on the step, enter the Accepted qty and Rejected qty, choose Pass or Fail, and add a note, then tap Done. A fail needs a note saying why. Leave it closed and the step is booked exactly as before.

Accepted plus rejected can't be more than the order's planned quantity, at least one of them has to be more than zero, and if nothing was accepted the result has to be Fail. The booked step then reads, for example, Inspected: 48 accepted, 2 rejected, Pass, and the order shows how many were rejected across its inspected steps. Finocket keeps who recorded it (the person signed in, not the workspace owner) and when. A failed inspection does not yet stop you completing the order.

How is work-in-progress valued?

Step by step, in whole paise, from the same routing figures the BoM already uses: the materials that step draws at their standard cost, plus its labour (the minutes you entered at the work centre's rate). The last step absorbs the rounding remainder, so the steps always add up to the run cost exactly, with no paise lost or invented.

The WIP total is a fold over an append-only ledger of signed amounts: accruals as steps finish, and a release when the order closes. Nothing in it is ever edited or deleted, and a closed order's entries sum to exactly zero.

Does it hit my accounts?

While an order is in progress and has open WIP, Finocket posts one balanced pair (Work-in-Progress against WIP Absorption), dated at the order's scheduled start. It is an asset against a liability, so it has no effect on your profit and loss, and it is removed entirely when the order is completed or cancelled. No revenue and no expense is ever posted by a work order.

What does the Capacity tab actually do?

It is a planning aid, not a scheduler, and the screen says so. Give each work centre a number of minutes per day, and Finocket spreads each order's remaining step minutes evenly across that order's scheduled window over the next seven days, flagging days that go over. That is the whole heuristic. There is no finite-capacity solver, no sequencing and no dispatch.

It shows what it cannot count: a centre with no capacity set shows Not tracked and is never flagged as overloaded; orders with no start and no due date are excluded, and it tells you they are; steps with no work centre or no expected minutes add nothing.

What if I tap twice, or the connection drops?

Nothing double-counts. Each step's accrual, each release and each production run can exist only once, enforced in the database rather than by the screen. Every action re-reads the order from the server first, so a stale screen cannot start an order that is already running or complete one twice.

What it refuses

Each of these is refused with a sentence on screen: a due date before the scheduled start, a quantity of zero or less, starting something that is not a draft, recording a step before the order is started, a step that is already done, negative minutes, a step that is no longer on the BoM's routing, an order whose BoM has been archived or has lost its routing, completing an order with steps outstanding, cancelling one that is already closed, deleting one that is not a draft.

Does it use AI or work offline?

No AI at all. Every figure is arithmetic. It needs a connection: work orders are not part of the offline queue.

Related: Manufacturing & bill of materials, Inventory & stock.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I create a work order?

Work orders run on routed bills of materials. Add routing steps to a BoM (work centre, expected minutes and the components that step draws) and it becomes available. A BoM with no routing keeps the simple one-step production run.

How is work-in-progress valued?

Step by step in whole paise: the materials that step draws at standard cost, plus its labour from the minutes you entered at the work centre's rate. The last step absorbs the rounding remainder so the steps add up to the run cost exactly.

Does a work order affect my profit and loss?

No. While an order is in progress it posts one balanced pair, Work-in-Progress against WIP Absorption, which is an asset against a liability, so there is no P&L impact, and it is removed entirely when the order is completed or cancelled.

Does the Capacity tab schedule my shop floor?

No, and the screen says so. It spreads each order's remaining step minutes evenly across its scheduled window over the next seven days and flags days over capacity. There is no finite-capacity solver, no sequencing and no dispatch, and a work centre with no capacity set is never flagged.

Can I record a quality inspection on a step?

Yes. Tap Record inspection on the step before you mark it done, enter the accepted and rejected quantities, choose Pass or Fail and add a note (a fail needs one). Accepted plus rejected can't exceed the planned quantity. The step shows the result and the order totals what was rejected.

What if I tap Complete twice, or lose connection mid-run?

Nothing double-counts. Each step accrual, each release and each production run can exist only once (enforced in the database, not by the screen), and every action re-reads the order from the server first.

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