In this Ask the Expert session, our team covers best practices for creating, managing, and completing work orders more efficiently in UpKeep. This session includes live customer questions and real-world examples.
What we cover
How to create and close work orders quickly with less friction
How to align work order statuses and fields with real workflows
What consistent completion looks like—and why it matters for reporting
How to use templates and saved views to manage work more efficiently
How NOVA helps prioritize work and generate detailed closeout notes faster
Key takeaways
Speed comes from setup: clear creation paths, realistic statuses, and lightweight work order forms
Consistent completion drives reporting: follow UpKeep best practices to keep your work orders and reports up to date.
Add an asset and location where applicable
Accurately update work order statuses
Add time, parts, cost and closeout notes accurately and consistently
Backlog is often a clarity problem: clear roles and expectations keep work moving
Best practices at a glance
For admins
Keep work order forms lightweight—require only what’s essential
Use statuses that reflect how work actually progresses
Assign ownership and priority clearly
Standardize what “done” means across your team
For technicians
Start work from the work order to track time automatically
Update status as work progresses
Log time and key details consistently
Use clear closeout notes (or NOVA) to document work
Using NOVA for work orders
NOVA helps reduce manual effort while maintaining documentation standards. Use it to:
Identify and prioritize high-priority work orders
Surface work orders missing key information
Generate detailed closeout notes and complete work orders faster
Example prompts
What are my high priority work orders, and how should I prioritize them?
Show work orders missing priority, assignee, or due date.
I completed work on work order ## and did XYZ. Write a detailed closeout note, add my time, and mark it complete.