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ServiceM8 how-to

Why do ServiceM8 recurring jobs land on the wrong date?

A ServiceM8 recurring job that keeps landing early is usually one of four things: a weekly pattern such as every 4 weeks instead of a monthly one, the job card being created early by the activation window (1 week by default), one move saved to all future bookings, or the simple recurring feature restarting from completion.

Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

Yes, natively

Fixable natively: correct the pattern and the start date, then move any jobs that already activated on the wrong date by hand, because settings changes never touch existing jobs.

Step by step

  1. In the Online Dashboard, open the Dispatch Board and click the Recurring Jobs tab. Search by customer, address or Job Category and double click the recurring job.
  2. Check the Frequency. If it says weekly with an interval of 4 weeks, that is the cause. Change it to a monthly pattern on the date or weekday you want, using Custom if the option is not in the list.
  3. Check the Start Date. Occurrences are only created after it, so a wrong start date can skip or shift the first visit.
  4. Read the future dates in the Bookings pane on the right. They are calculated from the current settings, so confirm the next several land where the client expects before you save.
  5. Click Save. Inactive TBC bookings now follow the new pattern.
  6. In the same Bookings pane, find current (already activated) bookings on the wrong date, right click and choose Edit Booking to set the correct date and time.
  7. If an inactive booking should not happen at all, right click it and choose Cancel Booking.
  8. Check Settings, Preferences, Recurring Jobs so the activation window is what you intend. A long window means more jobs are already activated, and each of those needs fixing by hand.
  9. For clients on the Simple Recurring Jobs feature, set them up again as a Recurring Job with a Job Template so their dates stop depending on completion.
  10. From now on, when you drag a single recurring visit on the Staff Schedule, choose this booking only.

Gotchas

  • The Recurring Job List Export (Advanced Reporting Pack plus the Recurring Jobs add-on) gives a CSV of current recurring jobs. Use it to find every client on a 4 weekly pattern at once instead of opening each job.
  • With the Recurring Jobs Auto-Routing add-on, ServiceM8 may change the time and staff of a recurring Service job, but it never moves it off its recurrence date. If dates move with auto-routing on, the pattern is the cause.
  • Auto-routing only picks a time and staff member once, when the booking activates. Changing the recurring job afterwards does not rearrange jobs already activated.
  • Recurring job settings can only be edited online in the Dispatch Board, not in the mobile app, so a tech cannot fix drift from site.
  • Arrival windows in confirmation emails and texts are clipped to your operating hours. Check Preferences before assuming the booking time is wrong.

What the official help article misses: It explains activation and the reschedule prompt but never says why jobs drift, does not warn that a 4 weekly pattern is not monthly, and does not explain how to repair jobs that already activated on the wrong date. Read ServiceM8's article.

Why a monthly job creeps earlier

The most common cause is arithmetic, not a bug. A job set to repeat every 4 weeks repeats every 28 days, while calendar months run 28 to 31 days. So each month the visit lands up to 3 days earlier than the month before, and over a year you get 13 visits instead of 12 (52 weeks divided by 4). A client who expects the 3rd of every month sees the 3rd, then the 31st, then the 28th, and so on.

ServiceM8 does support patterns tied to the calendar. Its own help articles use examples such as a job that recurs on the 8th of a month and one that recurs on the first Monday of October every year. These are reached from the Frequency dropdown, and the Custom option reveals the advanced choices. If the job must follow a date or a weekday of the month, set it that way rather than as a number of weeks.

The second route to drift is the older Simple Recurring Jobs feature (the Recurrence button on a job card). It creates the next job only when the current one is marked Completed. ServiceM8's article does not say whether the next date is counted from the original booking or from the completion, so if a client's jobs move whenever a job is closed late, move that client to a proper Recurring Job built on a Job Template.

Is the job early, or just created early?

Future occurrences of a recurring job are inactive, yellow "TBC" bookings until they reach the activation window. At that point ServiceM8 turns them into real jobs with job numbers. The default window is one week before the recurrence date, and it can be set as high as 12 weeks.

So a job due on the 3rd can appear as a live job card, in job lists and in searches, a week or more before the 3rd. The booking itself is still on the 3rd. Before changing anything, open the job and check the booking date on the schedule. If the booking is right, nothing is broken: your team is simply seeing jobs as soon as they activate.

Arrival windows cause a similar false alarm. ServiceM8 will not quote an arrival window outside the operating hours set in Preferences, so a 9am job with a 2 hour window may be sent to the client as 9am to 11am rather than 8am to 10am. The booking has not moved; the message has been clipped to your hours.

Repairing jobs that already drifted

Fixing the pattern does not fix the past. ServiceM8 states that changing a recurring job's settings never affects jobs that have already been created. Inactive TBC bookings follow the new settings, but every occurrence that has already activated keeps its old date until you move it.

Moving a recurring job on the Staff Schedule brings up a prompt asking whether to reschedule this booking only or all future bookings. Choosing all future bookings for a one off change (a public holiday, a client away) is the third common cause of drift, because it resets the pattern from the moved date. Train office staff to pick this booking only unless the client has asked for a permanent change.

Sources

  1. Future bookings of a recurring job stay inactive and 'TBC' until a set timeframe before their recurrence date; moving a recurring job on the Staff Schedule prompts to reschedule this booking only or all future bookings; the Custom frequency option reveals advanced recurrence options. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  2. Recurring jobs activate a default of 1 week before their recurrence date, adjustable to a maximum of 12 weeks. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  3. The recurring jobs system never moves a job to a date outside its recurrence date (for example the 8th of a month), and changing a recurring job's settings never affects jobs already created. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  4. With the Simple Recurring Jobs feature, a job is set to recur once completed and is recreated at the previously scheduled time with the previously scheduled staff member. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  5. Merge fields for arrival windows will not suggest an arrival time before or after the operating hours set in Preferences, so a 9am job with a 2 hour window can show as 9am to 11am. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  6. The Recurring Job List Export produces a CSV of current recurring jobs and needs the Advanced Reporting Pack and Recurring Jobs + Reminders add-ons. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.