ServiceM8 how-to
How do you turn a Word or paper form into a ServiceM8 form?
Split it in two. Each blank, tick box and signature line becomes a question in ServiceM8's Form Editor (Settings, Forms, Add Form). Your Word document becomes the template, with a merge field where each answer goes. Forms need the Growing plan or higher, and repeating tables and calculations do not convert directly.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Yes, natively on Growing and up: rebuild the questions in the Form Editor and turn your Word document into the template, but tables and calculations need redesigning.
Step by step
- Check the Form Store first (Settings, Forms, Form Store). It has over 250 ready made forms, and a close match may only need editing.
- Mark up a printed copy of your form: next to each blank write the question type (Text, Number, Date, Multiple Choice, Multi-answer, Signature, Photo).
- Go to Settings, Forms, Add Form. Enter the form name, badge name, and whether the badge is mandatory (and whether on check in or check out).
- Add each question with New Question. Use only letters and numbers in question names, and note the Template Field Code ServiceM8 generates.
- Add Skip Question If conditions for the 'only if' sections.
- For a quick result, set Form Template to Automatic and Preview it. Stop here if the auto layout is good enough.
- For your own layout, open your Word document, and at each answer spot use Insert, Quick Parts, Field, MergeField (Insert, Field on a Mac) and enter the question's field code.
- Rebuild the layout in borderless tables, keep images inline with text, and use a font on ServiceM8's supported list.
- Upload the template, link it to the form, then Preview and complete a test form to check the PDF.
Gotchas
- Symbols in question names (such as / ( ) # & - : and quotes) can break the generated PDF. Write 'Site contact mobile', not 'Site contact (mobile):'.
- Word tab stops do not survive merging for multi line answers. Use borderless table cells for layout.
- Tick marks for multi answer questions need Word IF fields created with Ctrl+F9 (Cmd+F9 on a Mac). Typed curly brackets do not work.
- Store bought forms cannot always be downloaded and edited; check the listing before buying if you plan to change it.
- Forms and certificates are listed from the Growing plan. ServiceM8 says Form Store purchases work on every plan, but building your own needs Growing or higher.
- ServiceM8 describes building forms with your own template as for advanced Word users, and points others to its partner directory for a paid build.
What the official help article misses: It walks through three example questions but gives no mapping from paper form elements to question types, does not say what cannot convert (tables, calculations), and does not say when a document template or PDF Fill-in is the better tool. Read ServiceM8's article.
The two halves of a ServiceM8 form
A ServiceM8 form is not your Word file uploaded. It is a set of questions the tech answers in the app, plus a Word template that the answers are merged into to produce the PDF. Every question gets a Template Field Code (for example form_site_contact), and wherever that code sits in the Word document as a MergeField, the answer appears.
That split is why converting takes longer than people expect. The layout you have spent years refining stays in Word, mostly untouched. The work is going through it line by line and deciding which question type captures each blank.
There are two ways to start. The quick one: build the questions and choose the automatic template, which needs no Word work at all and suits checklists and simple reports; you can later click Download Auto Template to get a Word starting point. The faithful one: build the questions, then insert their field codes into your own document so the PDF looks like your old paperwork.
What maps to what
Blank lines and boxes become Text questions; comment areas become Text (Multi-line). Readings (voltage, pressure, quantity) become Number, which accepts decimals and negatives. Date lines become Date. "Tick one" boxes (Pass / Fail, Yes / No / N/A) become Multiple Choice. "Tick all that apply" lists become Multiple Choice (Multi-answer), and to print a tick beside each chosen option ServiceM8 uses a Word IF field on a code built as form_question_answer. Signature lines become Signature. "Attach photo" boxes become Photo, printed small, medium or large depending on which field code you use.
Sections that only apply sometimes ("If fail, describe the fault") become questions with a Skip Question If condition, so the tech only sees them when needed.
What does not convert, and when to skip forms
Repeating tables. ServiceM8's question types have no table or repeating row type. A table of ten circuits is ten sets of questions, or, if each row is a physical item you service again, ten assets with one short form each.
Calculations. There is no calculated question type. Totals, averages and pass marks worked out on paper must be worked out by the tech, or moved to the quote or invoice where ServiceM8 already does the arithmetic.
Regulator paperwork you cannot redesign. If the document is an official PDF the regulator wants in its own layout, the PDF Fill-in feature (all plans) lets techs fill or mark up the PDF in the app instead.
Documents with no answers. Terms, method statements and cover letters that only need job details belong in a document template, not a form.
Sources
- ServiceM8 forms use a Microsoft Word template: questions are created in the Form Editor, each with a Template Field Code, and answers populate the template's merge fields; completed forms are converted to PDF and saved to the job diary. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Question types are Text, Text (Multi-line), Number, Date, Multiple Choice, Multiple Choice (Multi-answer), Signature and Photo, and a form can use an automatically generated template that needs no merge fields. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- ServiceM8 advises using only letters and numbers in question names, because symbols can cause problems generating the completed form PDF. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- To show a tick for a multi answer choice, the merge field name combines the question field code and the answer (spaces replaced with underscores), wrapped in a Word IF field inserted with Ctrl+F9; ServiceM8 returns Yes for a selected answer. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- The Form Store has over 250 ready made forms; purchased forms are available on all ServiceM8 plans, and not all can be downloaded and edited. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- On ServiceM8's Australian pricing, Electronic Forms are listed from the Growing plan, and PDF Fill-in (fill or mark up forms and plans in the app) on all plans. ServiceM8, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- ServiceM8's template tips recommend tables for layout, images inline with text, supported fonts only, and not using tabs to position multi line fields. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.