Deleting vs Cancelling
When a work order can be deleted outright, and when cancelling is the only option.
A work order that shouldn't exist has two exits: delete or cancel. Which one is available depends entirely on whether it has cost entries.
Delete — only for clean, non-terminal work orders
You can delete a work order only when both are true:
- It is not Closed or Cancelled (it's still Open, In progress, or Pending parts), and
- it has no time logs and no material usage.
Deletion is permanent and audited. The work order disappears from the project, its phase, and every list.
Who can delete: admins, ops directors, branch managers, and project managers.
Has entries? Deletion is refused
If anyone has logged time or recorded materials, the system refuses to delete the work order and suggests cancelling it instead. Those entries are real cost history — deleting the work order would erase spend the project already carries.
Cancel — when work was done but shouldn't continue
Cancelling is available in every non-terminal state (Open, In progress, Pending parts, Completed) and requires a reason, which is recorded with the audit trail.
Cancelling is different from deleting in one crucial way: the work order and its cost entries survive. A cancelled work order stops accepting new entries and can't be worked on, but its recorded time and materials stay in the project's actual costs. That is intentional — if a crew logged three hours before the job was called off, that cost happened, and hiding it would make the budget look healthier than reality.
- Admins, ops directors, branch managers, and project managers can cancel any work order they can see. Technicians and supervisors cannot cancel — they hand that call to a manager.
Quick reference
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Created by mistake, nothing logged, not closed | Delete — it vanishes completely |
| Work stopped partway, hours already logged | Cancel — keep the cost history, stop the work |
| Work order was completed and closed | Neither — only an admin can reopen it and take it from there |