Choose or change which branch a piece of work belongs to

Each work order, project, task, booking, quote, invoice, payment, time entry and mileage trip belongs to one branch. Pick it when you create the work, or move it later if you are allowed.

In the sidebar, open Operations, then Work Orders, open the work order and choose Edit work order from its Actions menu. The page address is /work-orders/ followed by the work order, then /edit. New work gets its branch in the form you create it with: the Schedule's create sheet, a project or task form, a booking, a quote or invoice, the time entry drawer or the mileage drawer.

In Nova the branch lives on the work, not on the customer. A customer's branch is their home branch: new work for them starts there, but a crew from another branch can take the work and it then belongs to that branch. Payments take the branch of the invoice they pay. Who sees the work, which branch's calendar it sits on and which branch's numbers it uses all follow the work's own branch.

Before you start

• The Branch field only shows when your organization has more than one branch and your plan splits work by branch. With one branch, everything belongs to it and there is nothing to choose.
• Picking a branch other than the one Nova suggests needs the "Choose which branch new work belongs to" permission. Moving work that already exists needs "Move existing work to another branch", and your plan has to allow moves. Your admin gives roles these permissions under Roles & Permissions.
• You can only pick branches you belong to (see Give a team member access to branches). Work orders, projects, tasks and bookings only go to branches that do scheduling; quotes, invoices and payments only to branches that do billing.

Steps

To choose the branch for new work:

1. In the form, find Branch (on a quote or invoice it is Quote branch or Invoice branch). It shows the branch Nova will use and what it follows: the project, the work order, the service, the customer's home branch or your current branch.
2. To keep that, do nothing. To pick another branch, press Change, then choose one from Search branches.
3. Changed your mind? Press Keep following (or the link to follow the suggestion instead).
4. Save the work as usual.

To move existing work to another branch:

1. Open the edit form (for a work order, Edit work order).
2. Under Branch, pick the new branch.
3. Fill in Why is it moving? if your organization asks for a reason. Otherwise it is optional but helps whoever reads the history later.
4. Press Save changes (or the form's own save button).

What you see

• Lists of work orders and projects, task rows and the Schedule's hover card show a small branch tag when your organization runs more than one branch.
• Every move is recorded in the audit log with the old and new branch and your reason.
• The branch picker at the top of Nova (Switch branch) chooses which branch's work you are looking at. It never changes the branch saved on a piece of work.

If something looks different

• Branch is a plain line with "Only people who can move work between branches can change this.": you do not have the move permission, or your plan does not allow moving work. Ask your admin.
• Branch is missing: your organization runs one branch, your plan does not split work by branch, or only one branch can take this kind of work.
• Saving refuses the branch you picked: you do not belong to that branch, it cannot take this kind of work, or your plan only lets work follow the customer's home branch.