Managing dockets

This is how to raise a docket over past work from the office, send it to be signed, and read what has happened to it since — all from Dockets.

Raising one over a past period

The preview lists every hour and item on that project in those dates that is not already on a docket — no prices, the same document a phone would produce on site. A docket can cover at most 62 days; raise more than one for a longer stretch.

If the underlying work changes between the preview and the press — somebody edits a shift, or a phone syncs a docket over some of the same work — raising is refused: "The work changed since you previewed it. Preview again to see it as it is now." Preview again and it shows the work as it now stands.

A raised docket starts Waiting — unsigned, and downloadable straight away.

Sending it to be signed

On a Waiting docket, type an address under Email to sign and press Send link. The client gets an emailed link that lasts seven days and works once; sending again mints a fresh link and retires whatever was live before it.

Reading the status

Waiting means raised but not yet signed. Signed means a client has put their name to it. A link reading how many days differ means it is signed, but some of the work it froze has since changed — see signed dockets that no longer match. Withdrawn means it has been voided; see below.

Downloading

The docket's number — for example QLD0017-D003 — is itself the download link. Pressing it produces the PDF exactly as it stood when it was raised or signed, however long ago that was.

If a copy did not go out

Every signed docket owes a copy — to its signer, or to whoever raised it if they gave no email. Under its status you will see Copy sent, or Copy not sent if it failed — press Resend to try again. Copy unconfirmed means an attempt started but nothing recorded whether it arrived — press Resend the same way. It is offered on every signed row, not only failed ones, because a client who deleted their copy is reason enough to send another.

Withdrawing a docket

Press Withdraw on any docket — a signed one, or a Waiting draft you raised over the wrong range, say — give a Reason — the client may ask for it — and press Withdraw this docket. On a signed docket, withdrawing keeps everything it froze, so the PDF a client is holding still reprints exactly as they signed it. Either way, it releases the hours and items it had gathered, so they are free to go onto a corrected docket. The list shows the row as Withdrawn, with your reason underneath it.

When a signed docket overtakes a draft

If your office raises an unsigned draft over some work, and a worker's phone then syncs an actual signature over that same work, the signed docket wins. It takes over the work, and the office's draft is withdrawn automatically — shown as Withdrawn, with the reason reading "Superseded by signed docket" and the new docket's number. The signature is evidence somebody standing on site collected; the office's draft was only ever raised so a link could go out, so it steps aside rather than fighting the real signature for the same hours.

Who gets the copy

It is addressed to the signer — or, if they gave no email, to whoever raised it. Whoever raised it, and your own docket-copy address if you have set one on business settings, are both blind-copied rather than named as recipients, so a client never sees your office's inbox. Replying to it reaches whoever raised the docket, or your office address if theirs isn't on file.