How to schedule a job
In Pillar a job is the work and an appointment is the visit that carries it, and creating one creates the other. This guide walks the whole booking, from the customer to a technician standing on the calendar.
Open the job form
Where to clickJobsCreate Job
Press Jobs in the left sidebar, then press Create Job at the top right of the list. A dialog headed Create New Job opens over the page, so you never lose your place.
The same button sits at the right of the calendar toolbar. Clicking any empty slot on the calendar opens the same dialog with that date and time already filled in.
Name the customer and the work
Where to clickCreate New JobCustomerJob titleService type
Customer * and Job title * are the only required fields. Search for the customer, then type what the visit is, for example "Annual AC tune-up".
Priority runs Low, Normal, High, Emergency, and the calendar can filter on it later. Normal is the default.
Service type is next. Picking one sets the default length of the visit from the appointment template behind it, and it turns on the suggested time windows and technician matches further down the form.
If the picker has nothing in it, an owner can press Add starter service types right there. Step 5 covers where they live afterward.
Open More details at the foot of the dialog for Branch, Job-site address, Equipment, Linked estimate, and Linked project. The address fills itself in from the customer, so you only touch it when the crew is going somewhere else.
Pick the time and the crew
Where to clickCreate New JobDateStart timeTeamCreate Job
The Schedule section splits the booking into Date, Start time, and End time. The end time fills itself from the service type's default length, and typing your own over it wins.
Once a service type and a technician are set, Pillar lists suggested windows for that day, headed with the length of the visit. Pressing one fills the start and end times and assigns the technician it checked.
Under Team, smart matches appear as soon as a service type and a date are set, and Assigned is where you add people by hand. The first technician added becomes the primary one, marked with a star.
Press Create Job at the bottom of the dialog. The job and its first appointment are created together, and the job page then lists that visit on its Appointments card.
See and move work on the calendar
Where to clickCalendarMonthWeekDay
Press Calendar in the left sidebar. Month, Week, and Day sit at the top right of the header bar, with Today and the arrows at the left of the same row.
Unscheduled runs down the right side and holds every visit with no time on it. Drag a card onto a day and a Schedule Appointment dialog asks for Start Time, End Time, and Assign Technicians *.
Drag an appointment that is already booked to move it. In Week and Day the drop is the move; in Month a Reschedule Appointment dialog asks which time you meant.
Filters: across the toolbar narrows the board by technician, priority, and status. The layout button in Week and Day switches the grid into one column per technician.
Set default lengths and checklists
Where to clickAdminAppointment TemplatesAdd Appointment Template
Press Admin at the bottom of the left sidebar, then Appointment Templates. The page is headed Appointment Templates, with Manage appointment types for multi-visit jobs with default checklists under it.
Each template carries a Name, a Default Duration (minutes), and a Default Price ($). That duration is what fills the end time and sizes the suggested windows when the service type is picked on a job.
Under the form, Checklist Template holds the steps for the visit. Press Edit Checklist to add items, tick Photo required on the ones that need proof, and drag the handles to reorder them.
Those items copy onto a visit when the appointment is created from the template, which is what Add Appointment then From Appointment Template does on a job. The technician then works through the same list on their phone.
Common questions
Can I create a job before I know when it happens?
Yes. Leave Date empty and the job is still created, with its visit marked Needs Scheduling and waiting in the Unscheduled panel on the calendar until you drag it onto a day.
What happens if the technician is already booked?
Pillar checks while you pick the time, names the technician, lists the appointments that overlap, and offers alternative times you can press. Nothing is blocked, so you can still book the overlap when it is deliberate.
Why are there no suggested times?
Suggested windows need both a service type and a technician. They come back empty when everyone is booked that day, or when nobody has working hours set up for it yet, and you can still type any start time you like.
Can one job have more than one visit?
Yes. Open the job and press Add Appointment on the Appointments card, choosing From Appointment Template or Manual Entry. Converting an approved estimate can also create several visits at once, one for each service that carries a template.
Can technicians move their own jobs on the calendar?
No. The calendar is read only for technicians and filtered to their own schedule, so owners and dispatchers do the booking and the moving.