Managing Orders
Once orders start flowing in, you'll spend most of your day on two screens: the Orders list (where you find, filter, and batch-update orders) and the order detail page (where you work a single job through its lifecycle). This page gives you a concrete tour of both.
Note: On the Free plan this screen is titled Inquiries (and Archived Inquiries for the archived view). Everything below still applies — you're just managing quote requests instead of paid orders.
The Orders list
Open Orders in the left sidebar to see every order as a table. Each row shows the order number, customer, status, total, key dates, and more, and the whole list updates live as orders come in and statuses change — no refresh needed.
Search and filters
- Search — Type in the search box to find orders by order number, customer name, PO number, or product.
- Filters — Narrow the list by status, date range, job type, and product / option. Combine filters to answer questions like "In-Production maple orders due this week."
- Saved views — Once you've dialed in a useful search-and-filter combination, save it as a named view (for example "Past due", "My customers", or "Pending shipment") and switch back to it in one click.
The column picker and pinning
Click the column picker to show or hide columns so the table shows exactly the information you care about. You can also pin important columns (like Order # or Customer) so they stay put on the left while you scroll the rest of the table sideways — handy on wide lists and smaller screens.
Stat tiles
Above the table, summary tiles give you an at-a-glance pulse of your business — total orders and value, how many are Ordered or In Production, quotes outstanding, invoiced vs. pending, and recent growth. They reflect whatever filter is currently applied, so they double as a quick report.
Archived view
Orders you've archived drop out of the default list into the Archived view. Switch to it from the list to find an archived order and Unarchive it. See Duplicate, Archive & Bulk Actions.
Free-plan inquiry cap
On the Free plan a banner shows how many of your monthly inquiries you've used. Once you hit the cap, upgrade to a paid plan to keep collecting inquiries and to unlock payments, shipping, and documents. See Subscriptions & Plans.
Bulk actions
Tick the checkboxes on one or more rows to run a bulk action across all of them. The available actions depend on your plan and on whether you're in the Archived view — see Duplicate, Archive & Bulk Actions for the full list.
The order detail page
Click any order row to open it. The page has a set of main tabs across the top and a details sidebar down the side, plus an Options menu.
Main tabs
| Tab | What you do here | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | See and edit the order's items, options, dimensions, quantities, and pricing | Free+ |
| Payments & Documents | Record payments, see the balance, and send each Quote / Acknowledgement / Invoice with its Send Email button | Commerce+ |
| Print Outs | Print cut sheets, the packing slip, documents, attachments, and labels — see Print Outs | Commerce+ (build sheets/labels need Build) |
| Exports | Download per-item CSV and ORD (Cabinet Vision) files — see Exports | Build+ |
| Shipping | Choose the delivery option, shop carrier rates, book a shipment, add tracking — see Order Shipping | Commerce+ |
Note: Until a quote is accepted, only the Overview tab appears; the rest show up once the order is placed. Customers who sign in to their portal see only Overview and Payments & Invoice.
The details sidebar
The sidebar on the right holds the order's particulars, grouped into collapsible sections:
| Section | What's inside |
|---|---|
| Details | Order name / PO, customer, status, sales rep(s), order type, payment terms, and discount (tax is derived automatically from the shipping address — it isn't entered here) |
| Shipping | Shipping method and delivery address, carrier rate and tracking (once shipped) |
| Billing | Billing address and payment-term details |
| Notes | Order notes — shown on documents / to the customer |
| Shop Notes | Internal notes for your team only (staff roles only; never shown in the customer portal) |
| Attachments | Reference photos, drawings, and documents attached to the order |
| Dates | The seven editable date pickers — see Statuses & the Dates panel |
| Timeline | A chronological audit of status changes, station progressions, and system events, with who and when |
Note: The Sales Rep field is a multi-select — an order can carry several reps ("Select Sales Rep(s)"), which drives per-rep notifications and commission tracking. Assigning reps to orders is a Build-plan feature. The Timeline is fully populated once you've configured Stations and Order Tracking (Production).
The Options menu
The Options button opens a short menu:
- Edit — Toggle the order into edit mode so you can change items, prices, and details.
- Duplicate — Copy the order into a fresh one and open it (needs the Duplicate Order permission).
- Archive / Unarchive — Move the order out of the default list, or bring it back (needs the Archive Order permission).
See Duplicate, Archive & Bulk Actions for details.
Changing an order's status
The quickest way to move an order forward is the inline status pill — it's on both the list rows and the detail page. Click it, pick the new status, and it saves automatically and stamps the matching date. If you use stations, the "In Production" option expands to let you set the current station, and the pill shows that station's name.
A Quote's pill reads Quote Pending until the quote is accepted, and shows its expiry date (or "Expired") so you know at a glance which quotes need a nudge.
For the full pipeline and how each date is stamped, see Statuses & the Dates panel.
Editing an order — including after it's placed
You can edit an order at any stage. Editing items or prices on an order that's already past Quote does not knock it back to Quote — the order keeps its status and simply generates a new invoice version. There's no need to cancel and recreate an order to correct a mistake.
This is important enough that it has its own page: Editing an order after it's placed.
When a price change happens (even on a Quote), TimberCloud voids the previous document and creates a new version, so the customer always sees current numbers. Older versions are kept for history under Past versions in the Print Outs and documents view.
Invoices and documents
Three document types are generated over an order's life:
| Document | Created when | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Quote | A quote is created or its pricing changes | The pricing document the customer approves |
| Acknowledgement | A quote becomes Ordered | Confirms the order is accepted and in the queue |
| Invoice | You generate one (often near completion/shipping) | The final billing document |
You view, regenerate, and send these from the Payments & Documents tab and the Print Outs tab. Remember that automated customer emails are off by default — you send each document yourself with its Send Email button until you turn automation on. See Notifications.