How to record a service record
A service record is maintenance that has already happened. It is the answer to "when was this last serviced, and what did it cost?"
When to use this
Record a service record whenever work has been carried out on an asset — a repair, a scheduled service, an inspection, a calibration, or a vendor call-out.
You do not need to create one by hand after closing a work order. Closing a work order writes a service record for you. See Work order lifecycle.
Tip Service records are the raw input for total cost of ownership and cost-risk analysis. An asset with no service records looks free to run, which is rarely true.
Requirements
- Available on: Orbit, Odyssey, Cosmos
- Roles: Owner, Admin, Manager
Viewers cannot see service records. Employees can view and complete maintenance but cannot create a new service record.
Steps
- Go to Dashboard → Assets (Individual) and open the asset.
- Scroll to the Service Records section.
- Click Add Service Record.
- Fill in the form:
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Service Performed | Yes | What was done — "Oil change", "Battery replacement", "Annual calibration" |
| Notes | No | Detail: symptoms, parts fitted, readings taken, what to watch next time |
| Service Date | Yes | When the work was done. You can backdate it. |
| Cost | No | Total spend, labour and parts combined. A plain number — no currency symbol. |
| Service Provider | No | The vendor or team that did the work |
- Click Save.
You can also reach every service record across the organization at Dashboard → Service Records.
What happens next
- The record appears in the asset's service history, newest first.
- The cost is added to that asset's total cost of ownership.
- The spend feeds the Asset Costs, Category Costs and Department Costs reports.
- A maintenance event is written to the asset timeline. Timeline entries are never edited or deleted.
- If the cost pushes maintenance spend high relative to the purchase price, the asset starts showing up in cost-risk analysis.
Common mistakes
Writing "Repair" and nothing else. In six months nobody will know what was repaired. Put the specifics in Notes.
Leaving the cost blank because it was under warranty. Enter 0. A zero cost proves the service happened and was covered; a blank cost is indistinguishable from a record nobody finished.
Creating a service record instead of a work order for work not yet done. A service record is history. Work you are about to do is a work order.
Recording the same work twice — once by closing the work order, and again by hand. Closing a work order already writes the service record.
Troubleshooting
I can't see Service Records in the sidebar. Service records need Orbit or above. On Nova the menu item is shown locked with the plan that unlocks it. See Plans and capabilities.
There is no Add Service Record button. Creating service records needs Manager or above. Employees and Viewers cannot create them.
"Your subscription has expired." An expired subscription blocks creating new records while leaving all existing data readable. Renew at Settings → Billing.
The cost isn't showing in my reports. Cost reports need Orbit or above for depreciation and cost analytics. Check Settings → Plan & Usage for your current plan.
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