10 min guideUpdated September 2026App review required

Configure reusable job tasks

Build the organisation task catalogue so jobs, quotes, the scheduler, Production Planning and timesheets describe labour with the same names, hours and rates.

Best forOwner / Admin · Project Management / Production

Before you beginUse a representative record and confirm you have the permissions required for this area.

Step by step

Open Settings → Job Tasks as an Owner or Admin and read the Organisation task catalogue table before adding a new name for work that already has one.
Under Add task, enter a Task name the estimator, workshop and installers all recognise, and add an optional Department label.
Enter Default hours, Cost/hr and Sell/hr, leave Billable on for chargeable work, then select Add task and wait for Task added.
Repeat for each meaningful activity until the table lists every task the business estimates, schedules or times.
Correct an existing row by editing its fields in place and selecting Save, or select Reset to discard an unsaved change.
Switch Active off on a task the business no longer uses so it leaves the pickers while existing job records keep their saved details.
Use the trash icon and confirm Delete task only for a task created by mistake.
Open Settings → Production Planning, choose the Departments tab, and tick each new task under Job task items for the department that owns it.

Good practice

Create a task only when someone will estimate it, own it, book it in the scheduler or record time against it; ten well-named tasks that every department understands are worth more than fifty that overlap.

When you are finishedA clean organisation task catalogue with realistic default hours and rates, every active task owned by one production department, and the same task names visible on quotes, jobs, the scheduler and timesheets.

Before you begin

You hold the Owner or Admin role.
The business has agreed a short task vocabulary that estimators, the workshop and installers all use.
Labour cost and sell rates are known for each kind of work.

Complete workflow

How the workflow moves

01
Agree the vocabulary
List the activities the business estimates, schedules or times, using the words the floor already uses.
02
Build the catalogue
Add one task per activity with default hours, cost rate, sell rate and billable setting.
03
Tidy and retire
Correct existing rows in place and switch obsolete tasks off rather than deleting them.
04
Assign ownership
Map each active task to its department in Settings > Production Planning so capacity reporting can place the work.

Setup dependency

Settings that change this workflow

The same task can behave differently between organisations. Check these settings before treating a different result as an error.

Organisation task catalogue/settings/job-tasks

Defines the reusable task names, default hours, cost and sell rates and billable defaults that quotes, jobs, scheduling and timesheets draw from.

Open in SignBas3 →

Active switch/settings/job-tasks

Removes a task from the job and quote template pickers and the Production Planning task pickers while existing job records keep their saved details.

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Job task items/settings/capacity-planning

Gives each active task one owning department so its open work appears in a Capacity Reporting lane.

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Labour Rates/settings/labour-rates

Holds the staff-side cost rates that sit alongside the per-task Cost/hr and Sell/hr defaults.

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What this controls

Settings > Job Tasks holds the organisation task catalogue: the reusable labour tasks that jobs, quotes, scheduling and timesheets all draw from. The page describes them as reusable labour tasks used for job allocation, staff scheduling, imports and timesheet matching. Every task carries a name, an optional Department label, default hours, a cost rate, a sell rate, a Billable switch and an Active switch. The names you choose here become the shared production vocabulary.

Before you start

You need the Owner or Admin role; the page carries an Admin badge.
Agree the task vocabulary with the business first.
Have labour cost and sell rates ready. Cost/hr and Sell/hr are stored per task; Configure labour rates covers the staff-side rates.
The Department field here is only a text label; ownership for capacity reporting is set in Settings > Production Planning.

Walkthrough

1. Open the catalogue

Open Settings > Job Tasks. The Organisation task catalogue table has the columns Task, Department, Default hours, Cost/hr, Sell/hr, Billable, Active and Actions, listed alphabetically by task name. A task that came from another system shows an Imported badge. When nothing exists yet the table reads "No tasks yet. Add the first organisation task below."

2. Name the task

Scroll to the Add task section under the table. Enter the Task name exactly as people say it on the floor, for example Print, Laminate, Weld frame or Install. Department is optional free text that reminds estimators which area normally does the work. Names are compared without regard to case, so the page shows "A task with this name already exists." until a duplicate is changed.

3. Set hours, rates and billing

Default hours accepts quarter-hour steps and becomes the starting estimate a job or quote receives when the task is added. Cost/hr and Sell/hr accept decimal rates. Billable is on by default; switch it off for internal work such as cleaning. Select Add task. The button stays disabled while the name is empty or duplicated, reads Adding… while it saves, then the page shows Task added and clears the form. A new task is Active immediately. If the save fails the page shows "The task could not be added. Check the details and try again." and keeps your entries.

4. Build out the catalogue

Repeat for each activity the business estimates, schedules or times. When two names describe the same work, keep one task.

5. Edit an existing row

Every cell is editable in place. Change a value, then select Save at the end of the row; Save enables once something has changed and the name is present with hours of zero or more. Reset returns the row to its saved values. A successful save shows Task saved; a failed one shows "The task could not be saved. Your draft is still available."

6. Retire a task

Switch Active off and select Save. Inactive tasks leave the job and quote template pickers and the Production Planning task pickers, while jobs that already use the task keep it. This is the safe way to remove an outdated name.

7. Delete a mistake

The trash icon in the Actions column opens a dialog titled Delete followed by the task name, explaining that the task will no longer be available for new work and that existing job records keep their saved task details. Choose Keep task or Delete task; the page then shows Task deleted, or "The task could not be deleted. Try again." Prefer retiring over deleting for any task that has been used.

8. Give each task a department

Open Settings > Production Planning, choose the Departments tab, expand a department with Edit department, tick the new tasks under Job task items and select Save. A task belongs to one department only; a task owned elsewhere is greyed out with Assigned to and that department's name. Only active tasks appear here. The full setup is in Configure production planning.

What changes elsewhere

Job workspace, Tasks tab (/jobs/:id): the Task templates panel lets the team search the catalogue, select templates (Select shown) and review the selected set before adding them.
Quote editor, Time allocation tab (/quotes/:id/edit): the Quote time allocation panel lists active templates, so a labour line starts from the catalogue task, its default hours (one hour when none is set), its sell rate and its cost rate.
Settings > Production Planning (/settings/capacity-planning): the Job task items picker and the Normal task capabilities list show only active catalogue tasks.
Capacity Reporting (/capacity-planning): open job tasks reach a lane only through the catalogue task's department mapping.
Scheduler (/staff-scheduler): the Prefill week automation builds its review-only draft from department priorities first, then the task capabilities chosen from this catalogue.

Common problems

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Add task stays disabled	The Task name is empty or matches an existing name, or a save is in progress.	Enter a distinct name and wait for the Task added message.
Save stays disabled on a row	Nothing has changed, the name is blank or Default hours is negative.	Correct the field; Save enables as soon as the row differs from its saved values.
"Tasks are unavailable"	The catalogue could not be loaded; the alert reads "No empty catalogue has been assumed. Reconnect and try again."	Select Try again, then reload the page if the alert persists.
A task is missing from the Production Planning pickers	The task's Active switch is off.	Switch Active on and select Save on that row.

Check your work

The Organisation task catalogue lists every activity the business estimates or times, with no near-duplicate names.
Each row shows the intended Default hours, Cost/hr, Sell/hr and Billable setting, and obsolete tasks show Active off.
In Settings > Production Planning, every active task appears under exactly one department's Job task items.

See time and labour tracking in SignBas3 →

If your workspace behaves differently, record the relevant job, client or record number and raise a support ticket so the team can investigate the exact context.