# Active Job Dashboard

How to read the Active Job Dashboard: the grid of active jobs and its money columns, the invoices behind each row, the job actions, and what is particular to this screen when you sort, filter and group it.

Source: https://getjobbook.com/help/Active_Job_Dashboard
Last updated: 2026-09-18

## Key Concepts

Administrators, Managers and Job Coordinators use the Active Job Dashboard for an overview of every active job. It
brings job status, labour from Daily Work Records (DWRs), expenses and billing together in one view. Most of the screen is the grid of jobs, one
row per job, with the money each job has run up so far read straight off the row. It is Job Book's job costing screen: what each active job has run up and billed so far.
What that does for a surveying business is on the [Budgeting & Estimates](https://getjobbook.com/features/budgeting-and-estimates) product page; this page is how to read the screen.

Technicians do not get the Active Job Dashboard.

Only active jobs are listed, and these are the columns to read first:

- **Job #**: the job number, and a link that opens the job.
- **Status**: where that job sits in your workflow. The values are the product's fixed list, chosen on the job itself:
  the jobs below are at **Job Setup**, **Scheduled**, **Processing** and **On Hold**, and a job that is ready to bill
  reads **Ready to Invoice**. The full list is on [Job and Client Attribute Tags](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Client_Attributes#job-statuses).
- **Billing Type**: the job's **DWR Billing Type**, one of **Fixed Price**, **Time & Materials**, **Non-Chargeable** or
  **Overhead**. See [DWR Billing Type](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Setup#dwr-billing-type).
- **Due**: the job's due date.
- **PO $**: the job's **PO Amount** from the job form, the value of the client's purchase order.
- **DWR $**: adds up every DWR line on the job, whether or not the DWR has been submitted or approved yet: the labour hours at their billing rates, and the equipment and materials lines with them. This is the job's burn, the
  money the work has consumed so far, and the column most people watch.
- **Expense $**: all reimbursable costs submitted through the expense workflow.
- **Invoice $**: the total already invoiced on the job.
- **Last Invoice**: the date of the most recent invoice on the job.

**DWR $** and **Expense $** are money, not hours: a job with $5,215.00 under **DWR $** has that much work recorded
against it, not 5,215 hours.

## Performing Common Tasks

### Opening the Active Job Dashboard

On the dashboard, in the **Jobs** card, click **Active Job Dashboard**.

![The Jobs card on the dashboard, with Active Job Dashboard marked](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/jobs-card-active-job-dashboard.DYGt4B7Y.png)

*The Active Job Dashboard is the costing grid: active jobs only, with the money on each.*

The screen is titled **Active Job Dashboard** and opens on the whole list of active jobs, sorted by **Job #**
ascending.

![The Active Job Dashboard, showing the toolbar, the grouping bar, the grid of active jobs and the totals row](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/active-job-dashboard.XnMbDFFI.png)

*One row per active job, with the money it has run up so far.*

- The toolbar, the grouping bar and the ⋮ column menu are the report grid described on [Report Grids](https://getjobbook.com/help/Report_Grids).
  **Job #** carries the sort arrow the grid opened with, and **Actions** is the one column without a menu.
- Each **Job #** is a link that opens that job.
- A row across the foot of the grid totals **PO $**, **DWR $**, **Expense $** and **Invoice $**.

### Reading the columns

From left to right, the grid shows **Job #**, **Client**, **Project Manager**, **Status**, **Billing Type**, **Due**,
**PO $**, **DWR $**, **Expense $**, **Invoice $**, **Last Invoice** and **Actions**.

More columns are available but not shown to start with. Turn them on from the column menu's **Columns** checklist:

- **Project Name**: the project name on the job.
- **Ordered**: the order date.
- **Office**: the office the job belongs to.

Money cells are blank rather than zero where nothing has been recorded: job 999999 above is an **Overhead** job with
no PO, no DWRs, no expenses and no invoices, so its money columns are empty.

### Seeing the invoices on a job

There is a blue triangle on the left side of the grid, at the start of every row. Click the triangle and the row expands
to show all the invoices linked to that job.

![A job row expanded to show the invoices linked to the job](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/active-job-dashboard-expanded-row.D1F7nwGs.png)

*Expanding a row is the quickest way to see what has been billed on a job without leaving the dashboard.*

The sub-grid's columns are:

- **Invoice #**: a link to the invoice.
- **Invoice Date**: the date on the invoice.
- **Acct. Ref**: the accounting reference carried on the invoice.
- **Labour**, **Equipment & Materials** and **Fixed Price**: what the invoice came to under each of those three
  headings.
- **Total**: the invoice total.
- **Paid**: whether the invoice has been paid.

A row across the foot of the sub-grid totals **Labour**, **Equipment & Materials** and **Fixed Price**, and ends
with the invoice total.

### Opening a report or starting an invoice

The **Actions** column holds four buttons, and each one is specific to the job on that row. They are icons, so hover
one to read its title. From left to right:

- **Job Charge-Out Rate Report**, **Summary Report** and **History Report**: the three reports every job carries,
  described on [Job Reports](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Reports). They only read what is already recorded.
- **Create Invoice**: starts the billing for the job. It is not displayed on a **Non-Chargeable** or **Overhead**
  job, so those rows carry three buttons instead of four.

### Sorting, filtering, grouping and templates

Sorting, filtering, choosing columns, grouping, templates and **Export to Excel** are all described on
[Report Grids](https://getjobbook.com/help/Report_Grids). What is particular to this screen:

- To see only the jobs you manage, filter the **Project Manager** column with **Starts with** and your name.
- **DWR $**, **Expense $** and **Invoice $** take the number operators, so **Is greater than** and the like are on
  offer. **PO $** takes the text operators instead.
- Group by **Client** or **Project Manager** to read the money columns one client or one manager at a time.

## Best practices

- Update job statuses as soon as milestones change, so everyone can see which jobs are moving and which are waiting.
- Deactivate jobs when they complete, so staff don't accidentally book time to completed jobs. See
  [Activating and Deactivating Jobs](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Setup#activating-and-deactivating-jobs).
- Make sure new jobs include budget quantities, even for Time & Materials work, so the
  [Summary Report](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Reports#job-charge-out-rate-summary-report) can compare what has been recorded against
  what was budgeted.
- Encourage technicians to enter their DWRs and submit their expenses every day. Otherwise **DWR $** and
  **Expense $** fall behind reality.
- Check the dashboard every morning to spot issues before crews leave the office.
- Watch for jobs carrying recorded work but nothing invoiced. **Create Invoice**, in the **Actions** column, is
  where the billing starts.
- Read **DWR $** against **PO $** before a client call. That is burn against budget, and it is where a job
  running over shows up first.
- Put a recurring dashboard review in the calendar with your project managers and administrators.

## Video

Watch the video: [Job Book How to Use Guide #7: Active Job Dashboard](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgXTzjZu-_k)

## Related Guides

- [Job Setup](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Setup)
- Active Job Dashboard
- [Report Grids](https://getjobbook.com/help/Report_Grids)
- [Job Reports](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Reports)
- [Job Maps](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Maps)
- [Invoicing a Fixed Price Job](https://getjobbook.com/help/Invoicing_a_Fixed_Price_Job)
- [Invoicing a Time & Materials Job](https://getjobbook.com/help/Invoicing_a_Time_and_Materials_Job)