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Proposals & Work · Feature guide

Work Orders for Subcontractors

The mobile workflow for subcontractors: see the jobs assigned to you, tell the office you’re on the way, and flag a problem before it becomes a missed appointment.

New · Updated Sep 8, 2026 · 4 min read
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1Who this is for

Subcontractor accounts are a distinct kind of user in ClientTether. When you sign in to the mobile app as a subcontractor, you don’t get the full CRM — you get a focused workflow built around the jobs assigned to you.

That’s intentional. A subcontractor doesn’t need the pipeline, the proposal builder or the contact database; they need today’s work orders and a way to keep the office informed.

Different screens by design

If someone tells you about a screen you can’t find, it isn’t a permissions bug to report — subcontractor accounts route to their own set of screens. Everything described on this page is what your account is meant to see.

2Your work orders

The Work Orders screen lists the jobs assigned to you, each as a card summarising the work. Pull down to refresh when you want the latest — useful when the office has just dispatched something new.

Tap any card to open the full work order.

3Inside a work order

The detail view shows the job itself, broken down into its line items — the individual pieces of work that make up the order. This is what you should check against before you start, and what the office is invoicing from.

From here you also update the job’s status as you move through it, which is how the office knows where the work stands without calling you.

Update status as you go, not at the end

Status updates are what feed the office’s view of the day. Updating in the moment takes seconds; reconstructing four jobs at 6pm takes a lot longer and is usually less accurate.

4On My Way

When you set off for a job, use On My Way. You enter your estimated arrival time in minutes, and the app starts tracking the trip.

That does two things at once:

  • The office knows you’re en route and roughly when you’ll arrive
  • The trip is recorded against the work order, so there’s a record of the visit

Trip information is also held on the device, so a patchy signal on the way to a job doesn’t lose what you’ve already recorded.

Give a realistic number

The minutes you enter are what the office — and often the customer — are told to expect. An optimistic estimate turns into a chased phone call. If you’re not sure, add the buffer up front rather than explaining later.

5Reporting a problem

If something goes wrong on the way or on site, the On My Way screen has a problem status option — “Having problems? Update your status.” Use it for traffic, an access issue, a job that turns out bigger than the order describes, anything that changes the plan.

The point is that the office finds out from the app rather than from a customer complaint. A status update takes a moment and gives whoever’s coordinating the day a chance to react.

6Troubleshooting

A job I was told about isn’t in my list

Pull down to refresh first. If it still isn’t there, it hasn’t been assigned to your account yet — that’s on the office side, not something you can fix from the app.

I don’t see the pipeline, contacts, or proposals

Correct — those aren’t part of the subcontractor experience. Your account routes to work orders instead.

I started On My Way and then lost signal

Trip details are stored on the device as well as sent up, so the record isn’t lost. Once you’re back in coverage it catches up.

I need to change my arrival estimate

Use the problem status update to tell the office rather than leaving the original estimate standing. An out-of-date ETA is worse than a late one.