# Your first project, work order and scheduled job

> This is the moment the whole chain comes online. Create a customer, then a project, then a work order under it, then place that work order on the scheduling board. Everything downstream — reports, timesheets, purchase orders, invoices — depends on those four records existing.

- Product: WorkSkedge
- Section: Getting Started
- Canonical: https://workskedge.com/help/getting-started/your-first-project-work-order-and-scheduled-job
- Updated: 2026-08-31T19:04:04.557769+00:00
- Source: ACCOUNT-SETUP-PLAYBOOK.md
- Keywords: first project, first work order, schedule a job, dependency chain, price book, customer setup, workskedge quick start

## Steps

1. Open Resources > Customers and add the customer the work is for.
2. Open Resources and add any vendors you will buy materials from.
3. Build the price book with your materials, equipment and labour rates, or import it from CSV.
4. Open Projects & Scheduling > Projects and create the project against that customer.
5. Open the project and create the first work order with its scope.
6. Open the scheduling board, place the work order on a day and assign the crew.

## Before you start

Company profile and project status mode should already be set, and you need at least one employee to assign work to. A project requires a customer, and a work order requires a project — the order is not optional.

## The dependency chain

1. **Customer** — required before a project can exist. Add customers and vendors from the directory; vendors are what purchase orders point at.
2. **Price book** — the catalog of materials, equipment and labour rates, built manually or by CSV import. It is the single source of truth for pricing and is required before line items, purchase orders or invoices can reference anything.
3. **Project** — holds the contract, job site address and project managers.
4. **Work order** — holds the scope, materials and labour under that project.
5. **Schedule** — place the work order on the board and assign crew.

## Notes and limits

Without a work order you cannot create a schedule entry, a daily report, a completion report, a timesheet entry or an invoice. If something further down the app looks empty or disabled, the usual cause is a missing link earlier in this chain.

## Common errors

- **"Create work order" is unavailable** — the project is not in a status that allows work orders. Work orders can only be created on approved or active projects.
- **No one to assign on the board** — there are no employees yet, or none are available that day.
- **Line items cannot find an item** — the price book is empty. Build the catalog first.

## Related articles

- [Create a project in WorkSkedge](/help/projects/create-a-project)
- [Create a work order](/help/work-orders/create-a-work-order)
- [Schedule a work order](/help/scheduling/schedule-a-work-order)
- [Add your crew and assign roles](/help/getting-started/add-your-crew-and-assign-roles)

## Screenshots

- Create New Project screen in WorkSkedge showing project name, project code, customer and initial status: https://workskedge.com/api/public/help-image/app/v2/project-create.webp

## FAQ

### Can I create a project without a customer?

No. The customer is required. You can create the customer without leaving the project form using the New Customer button.

### Do I need the price book before my first job?

Not to create the project or work order, but yes before line items, purchase orders or invoices can reference materials, equipment or labour rates.

### What unlocks once the first work order exists?

Scheduling, daily reports, completion reports, timesheets and invoicing all become available for that work order.

### Can I schedule someone who is not an employee yet?

No. Assignment requires an employee record, which is also what timesheets and dispatch are built on.

### Can one project have several work orders?

Yes. That is the normal pattern — the project tracks the contract and the money, each work order tracks a discrete piece of scope.