Why businesses use job orders

Businesses use job orders to account for and guide unique work order processes. Without job orders, business communications and operations can become cluttered and inefficient. This is because products and services that are not standardized or documented via job orders can be botched, misunderstood or completed late thereby lowering both the performance of the business and the quality of service. Effective business job orders may also be used for one or more of the following purposes.

• Initiate

A business job order can be used to initiate a project or job that is a-typical of a standard procedure. If the procedure is unchanged, the job order may instead be referred to as a process order. In the former case, the job order will initiate the preparation for the new job and its requirements.

• Inform

To properly inform employees who will be completing the job, business job orders are used to let the employee know what is expected of them. The job order provides instructions as to what needs to be completed, how it should be completed and by when. In this sense a job order is similar to an instruction manual with associated costs included.

• Specify

Specificity is an important aspect of job orders because details may be essential to completing the job correctly. For example, suppose a roof repair company receives a call to repair broken shingles. The job order should specify the type of shingles, and how much they cost so the installer charges the right amount and knows what materials he needs for the job.

• Tally

Job orders are also used by businesses to keep track of costs. By documenting inventory usage and costs via job orders, materials can be used resourcefully and costs of goods sold can be kept track of more accurately and in a timely manner. The job orders can also be analyzed for trends and cost adjusting.

• Record

Another important reason why businesses use job orders is to keep track of what's going on. This can help with managerial accounting in terms of assessing scheduling requirements, inventory management, and cost control. By having recorded job orders, a quick reference is available for audits, bookkeeping  and managerial decision making.

Sometimes job orders are referred to in a different context, specifically as a recruitment mechanism for new employees i.e. job listing and application process. This is generally not the traditional business use of the term however. Job orders may be used alongside or with work orders and process orders depending on the task. Businesses may also use job orders to measure resource capacity utilization.

Sources:

1. http://bit.ly/bSNmac (DOD: Job order accounting)
2. http://bit.ly/aFeWj8 (Miami Dade College: J.Hortens)
3. http://bit.ly/bsCyVE (State of Montana)