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Forms & Checklists Overview (Digital Job Checklists & Field Reports)

Forms & Checklists in OctopusPro let you create structured, reusable digital forms that appear at key stages of a job—so your team captures the right information at the right time. Use them to standardize service delivery, improve quality control, collect customer feedback, and create an audit-ready record for every booking.

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What are Forms & Checklists?

A Form (or checklist) is a structured set of questions/fields you design once and reuse across bookings. You control:

  • Who can see it (office/admins, fieldworkers, customers, or all).
  • When it appears (e.g., always displayed, check-in, check-out, accept/decline quote, booking acceptance, customer feedback, and more).
  • What data is required (mandatory fields, photo uploads, signature sign-off, etc.).

For configuration details (visibility, display rules, assigning to services/statuses, activating/deactivating forms), see: Setting Up Forms & Checklists.

Forms and Checklists Configuration

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Why use them?

  • Standardize service delivery: ensure every fieldworker follows the same steps on every job.
  • Improve quality assurance (QA): require proof (photos/notes) before a job can be started or completed.
  • Reduce errors and rework: capture the right site details, risks, and customer preferences at the right stage.
  • Strengthen compliance: document safety checks, risk assessments, and customer approvals with a clear audit trail.
  • Improve customer experience: collect feedback or confirmations at the best moment (e.g., after completion).

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Forms & Checklists vs Service Custom Fields

These two features solve different problems:

  • Service Custom Fields are mainly used during booking/quoting to capture service requirements and can affect pricing and invoice breakdown (e.g., options, add-ons, measurements).
  • Forms & Checklists are used at workflow stages before/during/after a job (e.g., check-in, mid-job updates, check-out, feedback), and are designed for operational control, QA, and documentation.

If you need booking-stage questions/options that can affect pricing, see: Custom Fields (Booking, Lead Capture & CRM Data).

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Where they appear (Admin, Fieldworker, Customer)

Forms can be completed and viewed in different places depending on how you configure visibility and display rules:

  • Admin (web app): office teams can fill, review, and verify forms from the booking record (and manage the form templates in Settings).
  • Fieldworker (app/web): fieldworkers can complete forms during the job flow (especially at check-in/check-out stages).
  • Customer (Customer Portal): customers can be shown specific forms (e.g., approvals, feedback, confirmations), depending on your portal settings and the form’s visibility options.

To see examples of how each role interacts with forms, read: Using Forms & Checklists.

Forms and Checklists Data Collection

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Visibility & Display options (when/where they show)

1) Visibility (who can access the form)

Visibility controls which roles can see and fill the form (e.g., office/admin only, fieldworker only, customer only, or all).

More detail: Forms & Checklists visibility options.

2) Display options (when the form appears)

Display rules determine when the form appears in the workflow. Common examples include:

  • Always displayed (persistent access on the booking)
  • Check-In / Start Job (perfect for “before” photos, safety checks, access confirmations)
  • Check-Out / Finish Job (completion QA, “after” photos, parts used, sign-off)
  • Customer feedback / satisfaction (collect ratings or comments after completion)
  • Booking acceptance / request acceptance (confirm readiness, availability, or prerequisites)
  • Quote accepted / quote declined (capture approval/decline reasons, objections, or confirmation)
  • Decline booking request form (capture structured decline reasons)
  • Gift card / voucher flows (where applicable)

To configure and learn what each option does, see: Setting Up Forms & Checklists.

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How to set up a Form or Checklist

Use this setup sequence to ensure forms appear exactly where you want:

  1. Create the form template: go to Settings > General Settings > Forms & Checklists, then click Create new.
  2. Name the form clearly (e.g., “Before Photos + Safety Check”, “Completion QA Checklist”).
  3. Set Visibility (who can view/fill it).
  4. Choose Display option (when it appears in the workflow).
  5. Add fields/questions (text, dropdowns, photos, signature pad, etc.).
  6. Make critical items mandatory so jobs can’t progress without them.
  7. Assign the form (to services and/or booking statuses where relevant).
  8. Save, then test using a sample booking and a fieldworker login.

Step-by-step with screenshots: Setting Up Forms & Checklists  |  Using Forms & Checklists.

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Field types (photos, signatures, mandatory fields)

OctopusPro supports a wide range of field types so you can capture structured, validated job data (not just free-text). Common field types include:

  • Short/long text, numbers, date/time pickers
  • Single-select and multi-select options (dropdowns, radio buttons, checkboxes)
  • Mandatory fields (block progress until completed)
  • Photo upload fields (capture evidence for QA/compliance)
  • Signature pad (collect customer sign-off and embed as a PDF audit trail)

See all available field types and configuration tips: Forms & Checklists Fields Types/Elements.

Need customer sign-off inside a form? See: Collect Customer Signatures (including signatures via Forms & Checklists).

Digital Signature Collection Management

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Job photos: before/after, tags & mandatory rules

Photos are one of the most powerful QA and dispute-prevention tools. OctopusPro supports multiple ways to capture and control job photos:

1) Require “Before” photos at Check-In (Start Job)

Prompt fieldworkers to upload photos when they start the job (e.g., site condition, pre-existing damage, access points):

Fieldworker Before Photo Upload at Job Start

Require “Before” Photos at Job Start (Check-In)

2) Require completion photos at Check-Out (Finish Job)

Set job completion photos to optional or mandatory. If mandatory, the fieldworker cannot complete the visit without uploading at least one image:

Fieldworker Job Completion Photo Upload

Fieldworkers Upload Photos at Visit Completion (Mandatory/Optional)

3) Create custom Job Photo Tags (Before/After, Damage, Progress, etc.)

Use tags to standardize and organize photos across your team:

Job Photo Tags Setup

4) Customer photo uploads (Customer Portal)

Customers can upload photos/documents through the portal (useful for scoping, proof, and reducing back-and-forth):

5) Photos & attachments on bookings/quotes/inquiries

For broader “Photos & Attachments” workflows (images + PDFs + documents), see:

Upload Images, PDFs & Docs to Bookings, Quotes & Inquiries

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Viewing results, exports & audit trails

  • Inside the booking record: office users can view completed forms and the captured data for the job.
  • Inside the Fieldworker App: fieldworkers can complete and review forms assigned to their bookings.
  • PDF / audit trail: completed forms (including signatures) can be embedded as an extra PDF within the parent document (useful for compliance and dispute prevention).

Export-related workflows: Export Bookings & Related Documents

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Best practices (what high-performing teams do)

  • Use short, action-based form names: “Pre-Start Safety”, “Before Photos”, “Completion QA”, “Customer Feedback”.
  • Make only the truly critical items mandatory: keep completion fast while ensuring compliance.
  • Use photo tags: “Before”, “After”, “Damage”, “Progress”, “Receipt”, “Signature”.
  • Match display rules to operations: Check-in for pre-work proof, Check-out for completion proof, “Always displayed” for job notes that may be updated anytime.
  • Capture reasons when users decline: structured decline reasons improve scheduling decisions and reduce job refusal rates over time.

If you capture structured decline reasons, see: Fieldworker Job Decline Reason Form  and (optional automation enhancement)  Fieldworker Reschedule Assist (Decline Form Enhancements).

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Troubleshooting

Form isn’t showing where I expect
  • Check Display option: it must match the workflow moment you’re testing (e.g., check-in vs check-out).
  • Check Visibility: the user role (admin/fieldworker/customer) must be allowed to see it.
  • Check assignments: if the form is assigned to a service or linked to a booking status, confirm you’re using the matching service/status.
  • Test with a real booking flow: some forms only appear when you trigger the specific event (e.g., Finish Job / Check-Out).
Mandatory items are blocking progress
  • Confirm which fields are marked Mandatory and whether the workflow expects photos/signatures before allowing completion.
  • If you need mandatory photos at job start or completion, ensure the correct workflow setting is enabled:

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