The Essential Before & After Checklist for Every Service Call

Good documentation doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be consistent. Here's a battle-tested checklist you can adapt for any service job — whether you're a plumber, a cleaning company, or a pest control operator.

Run through it on every job, every time. That's the whole strategy.

Before you start work

These steps take less than three minutes and can prevent hours of headaches later.

1. Photograph the entry point. Capture the front door, gate, or access area with the timestamp visible. This establishes when you arrived.
2. Document existing damage. Walk through the relevant areas and photograph anything that's already worn, stained, cracked, or broken. Do this before touching anything.
3. Note the condition of key items. Boilers, appliances, surfaces, carpets — whatever your work touches. A short voice memo or text note works too.
4. Confirm the scope of work with the customer. A quick verbal confirmation ("so today we're doing X and Y — is that right?") that you capture on a job note is worth its weight in gold later.
5. Get a signature or acknowledgement on the job brief. Even a digital tick-box saying "I confirm the above scope" makes a dispute much harder to sustain.

After the work is done

1. Photograph the completed work. Match angles with your before shots where possible — the comparison is your best evidence.
2. Document the condition you're leaving. Specifically: anything that was already damaged, anything adjacent to your work area, and the exit condition of the space.
3. Get a completion sign-off. "Work completed to my satisfaction" — signed or digitally acknowledged by the customer on-site.
4. Send a job report immediately. Email it to the customer within 30 minutes. This creates a timestamp on delivery and gives them a professional record they'll actually appreciate.

The one step that matters most

If you can only do one thing, make it this: photograph pre-existing damage before you start. This single step eliminates the majority of customer disputes.

It removes any ambiguity about who caused what. Everything else builds on that foundation.

How CYA automates all of this

CYA structures this entire workflow into a guided mobile checklist. Your team opens the app, follows the prompts, takes the photos, and sends the report — all in one flow. GPS and timestamps are embedded automatically. Customer sign-off is captured digitally.

The result is a professional, legally defensible job record that takes under two minutes to generate and lives securely in the cloud.

Apply for early access and we'll show you how it works for your specific trade.