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Manage a variation from instruction to invoice
Follow one variation through capture, pricing, approval, work completion, office review and export in VariationDesk.
What this guide covers
The strongest record is not written at the end of the month. It grows with the job: the instruction is recorded when it arrives, evidence is added while the work is visible, approval is kept with the record, and the office reviews the complete history before billing.
Start with the instruction
Open the correct project and record what changed before the details are lost. The description should let someone who was not on site understand the request.
- Name the person who gave the instruction and their role where known.
- Choose the reason that best explains why the work changed.
- Describe the location, scope and expected outcome in plain language.
- Keep contractual notices in your agreed contract process as well as the VariationDesk record.
Choose the commercial route
VariationDesk supports work that needs a quotation first as well as work that proceeds to evidence and sign-off. Choose the route that reflects what has actually been authorised.
Quotation before work
Send the scope, evidence and resource estimate to the office. The office prices and issues the quotation before the variation continues.
Work proceeding
Capture the work, quantities and evidence, then collect on-device or remote acknowledgement where appropriate.
Do not use a signature or app status to overstate the authority given under the contract. Your team remains responsible for following the agreed notice and approval procedure.
Build the evidence as the job develops
Keep photos, files, notes and quantities on the same variation. Add evidence at the point it becomes useful rather than relying on a later search through phones and messages.
- Photograph the original condition before it changes where possible.
- Add progress or completed-work images that show context, not just close-ups.
- Enter quantities against the correct rate-card or custom line.
- Attach relevant drawings, emails or documents when they form part of the explanation.
Keep the response with the record
On-device signatures, remote review responses and quotation decisions should all remain attached to the variation they relate to. That gives the office one history to review.
- Confirm the approver or reviewer is the person your process expects.
- Record rejection reasons instead of leaving a vague status.
- Continue approved quotation work on the same variation rather than starting a disconnected record.
Let the office make the commercial decision
The office should check the description, evidence, pricing and approval history before marking the record ready for billing or sending it to an accounting connection.
- Resolve missing evidence or disputed lines before export.
- Generate the evidence PDF once the record is ready to share.
- Use the status and history to distinguish approved work from work still under review.
- Export only after the final value has been checked.
Before you finish
Final check
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