Three uses that need different things
- Proving the work to the customer: it needs a signature, a date and a description that a non-technical person can understand.
- Billing: it needs hours, materials and travel, accurately.
- Feeding the history: it needs the right asset, the failure mode and notes that help the next person.
A paper report usually covers only the first. The other two are the ones that affect billing and maintenance.
What makes it useful
The closing notes. “Belt showing wear, replace on next visit” is the most valuable line in the whole document: it is the starting point for the next preventive job.
The usual mistake
Filling it in from memory at the end of the day. Hours get rounded, materials get forgotten and notes disappear. And every forgotten hour is work that never gets billed.