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ServiceM8 how-to

How do you set up 6 monthly and yearly jobs in ServiceM8?

ServiceM8's Recurring Jobs + Reminders add-on, included on every plan, handles 6 monthly and yearly work. ServiceM8 recommends the Reminder type for long intervals: the work arrives in your Inbox before it is due, so you confirm a time with the client. Fixed time Recurring Jobs suit daily, weekly and fortnightly visits.

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

Yes, natively

Yes, natively: use the Reminder type for 6 monthly and yearly work, and add Asset Management (Growing plan and up) when each visit covers many items.

Step by step

  1. Go to Settings, ServiceM8 Add-ons, and switch on Recurring Jobs + Reminders. It is included on every plan.
  2. Create a Job Template for each service type in Settings, Job Templates, with the description, checklist, items and Job Category the job should start with. Recurring work must be based on a template (or a Service).
  3. In the Online Dashboard, open the Dispatch Board and click New Recurring Job in the top left. This cannot be done from the mobile app.
  4. Search and select the client, then choose the Job Template.
  5. Set the Recurring Type to Reminder should arrive in the Inbox for 6 monthly or yearly work. Use Job should be automatically scheduled only when the time and staff member are fixed.
  6. Open the Frequency dropdown. If the interval you need is not listed, choose Custom to reveal the advanced recurrence options, then set every 6 months or once a year.
  7. Set the Start Date. The first occurrence is the first recurrence date after it, so a yearly job starting after this year's date first appears next year.
  8. Check the Bookings pane on the right, which lists future dates based on your settings, then click Save.
  9. In Settings, Preferences, Recurring Jobs, set how many weeks ahead reminders and jobs activate (1 week by default, up to 12).
  10. When a reminder reaches the Inbox, contact the client, agree a time and convert it to a job, or delete or snooze it.

Gotchas

  • Recurring Jobs and Reminders can only be created and edited in the Online Dashboard (Dispatch Board, Recurring Jobs tab). Staff in the app can work the resulting jobs but cannot change the schedule.
  • You cannot turn an existing job into a Recurring Job with the full add-on. ServiceM8 requires a Job Template, so build templates first, which also lets you change pricing for every recurring client by editing one template.
  • Changing a recurring job's settings never changes jobs that have already activated. If you raise the activation window or change the frequency, check the jobs already created.
  • A follow up badge is a lighter alternative: it creates a reminder a set period after a job is Completed, but only if the badge is applied before the job is marked Completed. Put the badge on the Job Template so it is never missed.
  • Asset Management is not on the Free or Starter plans, and assets can only be created in the mobile app. Order the QR labels before the first compliance round.
  • Weekly patterns are not monthly ones. A job set to every 4 weeks falls 13 times a year and creeps earlier each month, so use a monthly or yearly pattern for dated service.

What the official help article misses: It says Reminders suit 6 and 12 month intervals but never walks through a 6 monthly setup, does not tie the one week notice to the 12 week maximum, and does not connect recurring compliance work to Asset Management for sites with many items. Read ServiceM8's article.

Recurring job or reminder: pick by the interval

The Recurring Jobs + Reminders add-on manages two kinds of repeat work, and choosing the wrong one is why most 6 monthly setups feel clumsy.

Recurring Jobs create and schedule themselves to a named staff member at a fixed time, such as 8am every second Friday. ServiceM8 describes them as the tool for daily, weekly or fortnightly service, where the time and the tech are known well in advance. Set a 12 monthly job this way and ServiceM8 will book a tech for a time nobody has agreed to, a year out.

Reminders are ServiceM8's answer for 6 month and 12 month intervals. Instead of booking a slot, the work arrives in your ServiceM8 Inbox ahead of the due date. You call the client, agree a time, and convert the reminder into a job, or delete or snooze it if they do not want to go ahead. ServiceM8 says you are only charged for reminders that are converted to jobs, so a declined service does not use up your plan's job allowance.

There is also an older Simple Recurring Jobs feature, set from the Recurrence button on a job card, which recreates a job only after the current one is completed. It is fine for a handful of regulars, but it cannot run from a template and a job that is never completed never comes back.

When one visit covers dozens of items

Test and tag rounds, fire equipment servicing and similar compliance work are not one job per client. They are one visit that covers many items, each with its own history. A Reminder gets the visit booked; it does not record what happened to each item.

That is the job of the Asset Management add-on, available on the Growing plan and up. Each item gets a QR label ordered from ServiceM8, the tech scans it and completes a form against it, and every question shows the item's past answers. When the job is Completed, ServiceM8 produces a Service Report from the asset forms, and you can generate an Asset Register PDF for the whole customer at any time.

The practical setup for compliance work is both together: a yearly or 6 monthly Reminder per site, based on a Job Template that carries the asset badge and forms, and Asset Management recording each item. For intervals that depend on the item, such as test and tag, check the test and tag due date calculator before you fix the reminder frequency.

How far ahead the work appears

ServiceM8 does not create every future booking at once. Future occurrences sit as inactive, yellow "TBC" bookings until they reach the activation window, then they become real jobs with job numbers, or land in the Inbox if they are Reminders. The default window is one week before the due date, and you can raise it to 12 weeks in Settings, Preferences, Recurring Jobs.

One week is short notice for a commercial site that needs a permit or a tenant notice, so most businesses doing 6 monthly or yearly work raise it to 4 to 6 weeks (that range is our own suggestion, not a ServiceM8 default). The setting applies to the whole account, so pick a lead time that suits your longest booking process.

Sources

  1. Recurring Jobs suit daily, weekly or fortnightly work where the time and staff member are known; Reminders suit longer term work such as 6 month or 12 month intervals, and a Reminder arrives in the ServiceM8 Inbox one week before the occurrence by default. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  2. Recurring jobs activate a default of 1 week before their recurrence date, and this can be changed to a maximum of 12 weeks in Settings, Preferences, Recurring Jobs. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  3. ServiceM8 only charges for reminders that are converted to jobs. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  4. The Start Date is the date after which jobs are created; a yearly job whose recurrence date this year falls before the Start Date is first created the following year. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  5. On ServiceM8's Australian pricing, Recurring Jobs are included on all plans and Asset Management from the Growing plan up. ServiceM8, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  6. Asset Service Reports are generated when forms are completed against assets and the job is Completed; Asset Registers consolidate all assets for one customer. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  7. A follow up badge creates a reminder only if it is activated before the job's status is changed to Completed. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.