The job isn't done until the office knows it's done.
A step-by-step walkthrough of CloseOut for the technician on the phone and the office on the desktop. Follow one real night from setup to close-out to review.
Before you start
CloseOut is two apps that share one record. The technician follows the job on a phone. The office sets the job up and reads what came back on a desktop. When the technician closes out, the office already has it.
1Which app is yours
What do you do?
| App | Where it runs | Who it is for | Opens to |
|---|---|---|---|
| CloseOut Field | A phone, in the browser | Technician and helper | My Jobs |
| CloseOut Office | A desktop or laptop, in the browser | Whoever sets up jobs and reviews them | Open Jobs |
2What to have ready
- Technician: your phone, charged, with the camera allowed for the browser. No account, no password, nothing to install.
- Office: a desktop browser. For a new job you will want the site address, how to get in, the night contact, the scope as it was sold, and who is going.
3Where this build stands
- The two apps share data only inside the same browser on the same computer. A phone out in the field and a desktop in the office do not see each other yet. The link between devices is the next phase of the build. Until it ships, use this guide to learn the screens and to run the full loop on one computer.
- APPROVE & PRINT is greyed out on the office review screen. Printing and sending the customer report, and finishing the FDNY form on the desktop, arrive in that step. They are not in this guide because they are not in the build.
- Everything lives in the browser. Clearing browser data erases it. EXPORT BACKUP (.json) first. See Data, Home and Log out.
This guide was built from CloseOut Field v3.5.0 and CloseOut Office v0.5.1. The version chip in the corner of each app tells you what you are running. The photos inside the screenshots are labelled stand-ins.
Presenter run sheet
Ten minutes of setup so the loop demos cleanly on one computer. Everything below the run sheet is the same guide your users get, with a presenter note under each step.
1Set the stage
- Open CloseOut Office and CloseOut Field in the same browser on one computer, from the same site address. Put them side by side. Narrow the Field window to phone width.
- In Office, go to Data & Version and press LOAD DEMO DATA. If jobs already exist it asks for a second tap. This replaces everything in that browser.
- Click back into the Field window. It reads the same data. Press ENTER → and pick James.
- When you switch windows, Office re-reads on focus, so a change made on the phone side shows as soon as you click the desktop side.
2The order that lands
- Phone first. Riverside Diner: check in, a few ticks, one before photo, one after, + FOUND SOMETHING, close out. Four minutes.
- Click the desktop. Open Jobs now says a close-out is waiting. Open it. Let them read it without you talking.
- Then the hard night. Metro Tower on the phone: CAN'T FINISH TONIGHT with a reason. Back on the desktop it is its own red block with SCHEDULE THE NEXT NIGHT one click away.
- Close the loop. Save that night in Job Setup, click the phone, and the new night is in the job.
- After 8 PM Eastern, the phone card shows the date instead of Tonight, and the Office Tonight block counts from the next day. Demo before 8 PM or skip the word.
- After the office schedules another night on a job that has an unfinished one, the phone's job card still headlines the unfinished night. Open the job to show the new night in the visit list.
Open the app and pick your name
Once per phone. It stays until you log out.
1Press ENTER
Open CloseOut Field in your phone's browser. Press ENTER →. The line under the button is true: it works with no signal.
- 1ENTER
2Pick your name
Tap your name. If you are not on the list, tap Not on the list and carry on. The office adds names on their side.
- 1Your name
- 2Not on the list: carry on anyway
My Jobs
Your nights, soonest first. Closed work drops to the bottom.
1Read a job card
Each card answers three things: where, what, and when. A job on today's date reads Tonight in orange. A job that runs more than one night shows NIGHT 3 OF 3. The work order number sits small on the right.
Show all at the top right shows every job on this phone, not only yours. Just mine switches back.
Tap a card to open the job.
- 1Tonight's job
- 2Your nights / Show all
- 3Closed work
Open the job
Everything you need before you leave the truck.
1Address, contacts, scope
The top card is the address and how to get in. Under it is who to call, with their role. Tap CALL and the phone dials.
Scope of work is what was sold. If you are asked to do something that is not in it, that is a call to the office, not a favor.
Tap the visit at the bottom to start the night.
- 1Address and how to get in
- 2Tap to call
- 3Scope of work, as sold
- 4Tonight's visit
2A job with several nights
Some jobs take more than one visit: a diagnostic, then a repair, then a follow-up. They stay on one record. Each visit shows its date, who went, and the first line of what he wrote. Tap any of them to read it.
- 1A closed visit you can read back
- 2Tonight's visit
Check in
One tap when you are on site. The list opens after it.
1Read the office note, then check in
Press CHECK IN — I'M ON SITE. The time is recorded for you. If the phone allows location, that is saved with it. If it does not, the check-in still stands.
- 1From the office
- 2CHECK IN
2Quick look before you start
On nights that need the fire department cleaning checklist, three questions appear right after check-in. Three taps. The office fills in the rest of that form.
Nights that do not need it skip straight to the work.
- 1On site, with the time
- 2Three taps
The work
The list is the actual work, in plain words. Tap what you did.
1Tick, count, and add
- Tap the box on a line when it is done. The counter at the top keeps score.
- Standard FDNY steps is one line for the routine items every cleaning includes. The small print under it says what it covers.
- A line with − / + wants a number, such as access doors installed. Tapping + ticks the line for you.
- Did something that is not listed? Type it in the box and press ADD.
- 1Tap to tick
- 2One line for the routine steps
- 3A count
- 4Add what is not listed
2Lines you add are marked as yours
Your line goes on the list already ticked and tagged added by you, so the office can tell their list from your additions. Tap + COUNT if it needs a number.
- 1Added by you
Before and after photos
Every required photo is named what @ where, so nobody has to guess which hood.
1Take the Before photos
Each slot says what to shoot and where, such as Hood @ Kitchen, west wall. Red text means it is needed before close-out.
TAKE PHOTO opens the camera. CHOOSE picks one already on the phone.
Every visit also asks for one photo of the work area as you found it.
- 1Taken: time and source shown
- 2Optional: another photo of the same thing
- 3Still needed
2Take each After from its Before
As soon as a Before is taken, its After slot appears under After with the same name. Press TAKE AFTER when that section is clean. The app makes the pair, so the report shows them side by side.
- 1The After slot, already named
3Extra photos never hold you up
Tap + ANOTHER PHOTO OF HOOD to add more of the same item. It is labelled Hood — 2 for you, keeps the same location, and is optional. It never blocks close-out.
4All pairs complete
When every required Before has its After, this part is done.
5Check, retake or remove a photo
Tap any thumbnail to see it large. RETAKE replaces it. REMOVE deletes it. CLOSE goes back.
- 1Retake
- 2Remove
- 3Close
Found something?
Damage, a leak, a dead motor, anything out of compliance. It goes to the office as its own report, not mixed into the before and after.
1Report it in one line
Press + FOUND SOMETHING.
- Say what is wrong, in a few words.
- Pick which unit. The list is the equipment the office has on record for this site. If it is somewhere else, choose Somewhere else — type it.
- Say how urgent: Just a note, Needs follow-up or Urgent.
- Add a photo.
- Press SEND TO THE OFFICE.
- 1What is wrong
- 2Which unit
- 3How urgent
- 4Photo
- 5Send to the office
2It is on the record
The finding shows on the visit with its photo. Add as many as you find.
- 1Saved finding
What you did
Your words. The ticks say what was done; this says how it went.
1Write it the way you would say it
Type in What you did. It saves as you type. Write what you found, what you did about it, and anything the office should know before they talk to the customer.
On checklist nights, Quick look before you go follows: three more taps. If you answer Yes to a leak or a spot you could not reach, a box opens to say where.
- 1Your own words
- 2Three taps before you go
Close out
The button tells you exactly what is missing. When nothing is, you are done.
1If something is missing, it says what
Under Close out a red box lists each thing still needed: a photo by name, or checklist questions. The button stays pale until the list is empty. Go back up, finish those, and come back.
- 1Exactly what is missing
- 2Not available yet
2When it is green, close out
The box turns green: Everything required is here. Press CLOSE OUT.
- 1Everything required is here
- 2CLOSE OUT
3Done for the night
The visit shows when you closed out and that the office has the record. The screen is read-only from here. Go home.
- 1Closed out, with the time
Can't finish tonight
Locked roof, kitchen still open, wrong part. Say so here instead of in a text.
1Say why and send it
Press CAN'T FINISH TONIGHT, type the reason in a few words, and press SEND. The visit goes to the office marked for review, with your reason on it. Whatever you already captured stays on the record.
- 1CAN'T FINISH TONIGHT
- 2Why, then SEND
2What you see after
The visit shows Sent for review with the time and your reason. The office schedules the next night and it appears inside the same job.
Data, Home and Log out
The bar at the bottom of every screen.
1The three buttons
- HOME goes back to My Jobs from anywhere.
- DATA shows the version, whether you are online, and what is stored on this phone.
- The red LOG OUT returns to the front page and forgets who you are. It deletes nothing.
- 1Online or offline. Offline still works
- 2What is on this phone
2Backup and the buttons to leave alone
- EXPORT BACKUP (.json) saves everything on this phone to one file. Do it before clearing browser data or changing phones.
- IMPORT BACKUP loads a backup file.
- SWITCH TO DARK MODE is a preference. It sticks.
- LOAD DEMO DATA and ERASE EVERYTHING ON THIS PHONE replace or wipe what is on this phone. Both need a second tap: the button turns red and says what it is about to do. Tap anything else and it stands down.
- 1Export a backup
- 2Import a backup
- 3Light or dark
- 4Erase: needs a second tap
Open Jobs: what needs you
The screen the desktop opens to. Exceptions first. Work that went fine is silent.
1Read it top to bottom
- Waiting for you lists close-outs to review, newest first. The chips on the right say, at a glance, tasks done, photo pairs complete, findings, and whether the FDNY draft exists. Green is complete. Red is not.
- Couldn't finish shows the technician's reason in his words, with SCHEDULE THE NEXT NIGHT right there.
- Findings open lists every finding not yet resolved, and whether the client has been told.
- Tonight and Coming up are the schedule. A job with no night on the calendar shows under Open, nothing scheduled with SCHEDULE A NIGHT.
The heading counts what needs you. The number on the menu button is the same count. Click any row to open that night.
- 1Close-outs to review
- 2Couldn't finish, with the reason
- 3Findings open
- 4The schedule
- 5The menu
Review a night
One screen with everything the technician sent, laid out the way you would read it.
1Read it, then mark it reviewed
Left side: the facts and on-site times, your instructions, the list with counts and anything he added, what he wrote, the checklist answers from the field with anything worth a second look in red, and findings.
Right side: each Before next to its After, named what @ where, with the time taken. Extra photos are counted under the pairs.
When you have read it, press MARK REVIEWED. It leaves the waiting list and you are back at Open Jobs.
APPROVE & PRINT is greyed out in this build. See Where this build stands.
- 1Facts and on-site times
- 2The list, counts, and what he added
- 3What the technician said
- 4Checklist answers from the field
- 5Findings
- 6Before and after, side by side
- 7MARK REVIEWED
Find any job
Search for what you remember. The system finds where it lives.
1Job Search
Type anything: the site, the customer, an address, a work order number, a technician, a piece of equipment, a word from what the technician wrote, or a finding. Every word you type must match somewhere in the job.
Open, Completed and All filter the list. Click a row to open its latest night.
Nothing found? It says Nothing matches. Try fewer words.
- 1Search what you remember
- 2Open / Completed / All
- 3Found by a finding the technician typed
Set up a job
Job Setup is one page with four cards. Fill them top to bottom and press SAVE THE NIGHT.
11 · Customer & site
Pick an existing Site and its address, access notes and contacts fill in. For a new one, leave it on — new site — and type the customer, site name and address.
How to get in is what the technician reads in the truck. Be specific: which door, which key, where the roof hatch is.
Under Who to call, put the night contact and the person who bought the job. They are rarely the same person. + ADD A CONTACT adds a row.
- 1Existing site, or new
- 2How to get in
- 3Who to call, with roles
22 · The job
Leave Job on — new work order — and give it a number and a title, or pick an open job to add another night to it. Paste the Scope of work — as sold from the proposal, including what is not included.
- 1New work order, or another night on an open one
- 2Scope, as sold
33 · The night
Set the date and window, the type of call, the lead technician, and the crew (hold Ctrl to pick more than one).
Instructions to the technician appears on the phone above the check-in button. Say how you want it done, what to bring, what to watch for.
Tick This night needs the FDNY cleaning checklist if it applies. The technician then gets the six quick questions and nothing more.
- 1Date and window
- 2Lead and crew
- 3Instructions to the technician
- 4FDNY checklist
44 · The list and the photos
- Tasks: plain words, the way you would say it. A unit (ea, ft, hr) gives the technician a counter. The FDNY box column says which box on the form that task answers when he ticks it. A note shows in small print under the line.
- Required photos: What and Where. Every one must be shot before he can close out. The After is made from the Before automatically.
SAVE THIS LIST AS A TEMPLATE keeps this list for next time. The browser asks you for a name.
- 1Start from a template
- 2Tasks
- 3Required photos: what @ where
- 4Save this list as a template
5Save the night
The bar at the bottom sums up what you are about to save. Press SAVE THE NIGHT.
If something is missing it tells you: Still needs a date, a lead technician. Otherwise you land on Open Jobs with the night under Coming up.
6It is on the phone
The technician sees the new job in My Jobs, and your instructions above the check-in button.
- 2The job you just set up
Schedule the next night
When a job needs another visit, add a night to the same job. Do not start a new one.
1From a night that could not finish
On Open Jobs, press SCHEDULE THE NEXT NIGHT on the red block. Job Setup opens with the job already chosen, and the customer, site, work order and scope locked in. Pick the date, the lead, write tonight's instructions, and save.
The summary bar says which night this is, such as night 4 on WO-1039.
- 1The job is already chosen
- 2Pick the date
- 3Tell him what changed
2Then clear the unfinished one
The new night shows under Coming up. The unfinished night stays in the red block until you open it and press MARK REVIEWED. That is deliberate: someone in the office has to have read why.
- 1Both new nights on the schedule
Job Templates
A template is a kind of job, written once.
1Edit the library
Each template holds a name, a trade, whether it needs the FDNY checklist, standing instructions, the tasks and the required photos. Changes save as you type. + NEW TEMPLATE starts a blank one.
Editing a template changes future nights, never past ones. Picking a template in Job Setup copies it onto that night; the night never points back.
DELETE needs a second click.
Customers, Sites and Technicians
The records behind the jobs. Each list has a search box and a button to add one. Click a row to edit it in a dialog.
1Customers
Who pays. Main contact, billing address, where invoices go, terms, whether a PO is required before work, billing notes, and any other contacts. Setting up a job for a new customer creates the customer for you.
- 1SAVE
- 2DELETE needs a second click
2Sites
Where the work happens. Address, how to get in, site notes, who to call, and equipment at this site: each hood or fan with where it is, make, model, serial and the manufacturer's job number.
The equipment you list here is what the technician picks from when he reports a finding.
3Technicians
Name, role, kind (technician, helper or office), phone, email, employer if they are a sub, and their FDNY Certificate of Fitness number and expiry. The certificate prints on the cleaning form, never on the customer report.
Active — shows in Job Setup controls whether they can be picked in Job Setup. Names you add here are the names on the phone's Pick your name screen.
4What delete will and will not do
| Record | If it has history |
|---|---|
| Customer | Has sites or jobs: it stays. This customer has sites or jobs — it stays. |
| Site | Has jobs: it stays. |
| Technician | Was on a past night: marked inactive instead of deleted, so old records keep his name. |
Data & Version
Where the record lives and how to keep a copy.
1Back up before anything you would not want to undo
The whole record is one file. EXPORT BACKUP (.json) downloads it. IMPORT BACKUP loads one; a file that is not a CloseOut backup is refused and what you had is left alone.
LOAD DEMO DATA and ERASE EVERYTHING replace or wipe everything in this browser. Both ask for a second click.
The Build Record at the bottom lists what changed in each version, in plain words.
When something goes wrong
The most useful page in the guide. Find what you see, do what it says.
1On the phone
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| CLOSE OUT stays pale | Something required is missing | Read the red box above it. It names each item. |
| The list and photos are not showing | You have not checked in. The list opens once you are on site | Press CHECK IN — I'M ON SITE. |
| A button turned red and changed its words | It is asking you to confirm | Tap again to go ahead. Tap anywhere else, or wait six seconds, to cancel. |
| No names on this phone yet | The office has not added technicians, or this phone has not received them | Tap it and carry on. Tell the office. |
| No open jobs or No jobs on this phone yet | Nothing open is assigned to your name on this phone | Tap Show all. If it is still empty, call the office. |
| The network chip says offline — still works | No signal | Keep working. Everything saves on the phone. |
| The camera does not open | The browser is not allowed to use it | Use CHOOSE and pick a photo taken with the phone's camera app. Fix the permission later. |
| The app opens on Data & Version and says the stored data is unreadable | The saved record is damaged. The app refuses to touch it | Do not erase. Call the office. Import your last backup if told to. |
2In the office
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Still needs a date, a lead technician | Job Setup is missing those | Fill them and save again. |
| Could not save: … | The record failed its own check and nothing was written | Read the message, fix the field it names. |
| This customer has sites or jobs — it stays. | Delete is blocked to protect history | Nothing. Rename it if it is wrong. |
| On past nights — marked inactive instead. | The technician has history | Nothing. He no longer shows in Job Setup. |
| What the phone did is not showing | In this build the two apps only share inside one browser on one computer | Click the Office window so it re-reads. On separate devices it will not appear. See Where this build stands. |
| Import refused | The file is not a CloseOut backup, or is a version the app will not guess at | Your existing data was left as it was. Try the right file. |
Quick answers
What people ask in the first week.
- Do I need an account or a password?
- No. The technician picks a name. The office opens the page.
- Does it work with no signal?
- Yes. The phone saves everything on the phone.
- Does Log out delete my work?
- No. It goes back to the front page and forgets who is holding the phone.
- I took a bad photo.
- Tap the thumbnail, then RETAKE. Until the visit is closed you can replace any photo.
- Can I change something after I close out?
- No. A closed visit is read-only on the phone. Tell the office.
- Why is there always a Work area @ as found photo?
- Every visit, of every type, gets a before and an after of the area. If the office did not list one, the app adds it at check-in.
- Why does the technician only answer six checklist questions?
- They are the ones only he can see. Tasks he ticks answer their own boxes. The rest belongs to the office.
- I edited a template. Did that change last month's job?
- No. Templates are copied onto a night when you pick them. Past nights never change.
- Where is my data?
- In the browser you are using, on that device. Export a backup regularly, and always before clearing browser data.
- Can the office print the report or the FDNY form?
- Not in this build. That step is next.