Document Management
Uploading, organising, and sharing documents
ServiceCortex provides a full document management system so you can store, organise, and share files alongside your jobs, clients, and properties. Documents are stored securely in cloud storage and can be linked to any entity in the system, making it easy for your team to find the right file at the right time.
Uploading a document
Navigate to Documents and click Upload. The upload process works in two steps:
- Select a category -- every document must belong to a category such as "Contracts", "Certificates", or "Site Photos".
- Choose a file -- select a PDF or image file (JPEG, PNG, or WebP) up to 10 MB.
- Set metadata -- give the document a descriptive name, an optional description, and choose a folder to store it in.
- Confirm upload -- the file is uploaded to a presigned URL, and you confirm when the upload is complete. The document then appears in your library.
You can also set additional options during upload:
- Expiry date -- set a date when the document expires, useful for licences or certifications.
- Visible to owner -- controls whether the document is shown on the client portal.
- Attach to emails -- automatically includes this document when sending related emails.
- Attach to portal -- makes the document available in the client portal.
- Requires signature -- flags the document as needing an e-signature before it is finalised.
Organising with folders
Folders provide a hierarchical structure for your document library, supporting up to five levels of nesting.
Creating folders
Click New Folder from the documents sidebar. You can specify:
- Folder name -- must be unique within its parent folder.
- Parent folder -- nest the folder under an existing folder, or leave it at the root level.
- Colour and icon -- customise the appearance for quick visual identification.
Auto-generated folders
When you create a job, client, property, or team member, ServiceCortex can automatically create a linked folder for that entity. These auto-generated folders keep related documents together without manual setup. Auto-generated folders cannot be renamed, moved, or deleted manually -- they update automatically when the linked entity is renamed or archived.
Default folder structure
Administrators can seed a default folder structure for the workspace by navigating to Settings > Documents > Seed Defaults. This creates four root folders: Clients, Team, Company, and Templates.
Moving folders
Drag a folder to a new parent, or use the Move action from the folder menu. The system prevents circular references (you cannot move a folder into one of its own descendants).
Document categories
Categories let you classify documents by type. Navigate to Settings > Document Categories to manage them.
- Click Add Category and enter a name (e.g., "Insurance Certificates") and an optional colour.
- Categories are unique per workspace -- duplicate names are not allowed.
- A category cannot be deleted while it still has documents assigned to it. Reassign documents first.
Linking documents to entities
Documents can be linked to jobs, clients, properties, and other entities using a many-to-many relationship. This means a single document -- such as a safety data sheet -- can be linked to multiple jobs.
- Open a job, client, or property and navigate to the Documents tab.
- Click Link Document and search your library by name or category.
- Select one or more documents to link. Documents that are already linked are excluded from the search results.
- To remove a link, click the unlink icon next to the document. Unlinking does not delete the document -- it only removes the association.
Downloading documents
Click the download icon on any document to generate a secure, time-limited download URL. Download links are valid for one hour.
Document expiry and alerts
When a document has an expiry date, ServiceCortex monitors it and generates alerts as the date approaches. View active alerts from the Documents > Alerts panel. Dismiss alerts you have already acted on so they do not clutter the view.
Activity log
Every action on a document is recorded in the activity log. Open a document and click the Activity tab to see a chronological list of events, including:
| Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| Created | The document was uploaded. |
| Viewed | A team member opened the document. |
| Downloaded | A team member downloaded the file. |
| Updated | Metadata such as name or category was changed. |
| Moved | The document was moved to a different folder. |
| Linked / Unlinked | The document was linked to or unlinked from an entity. |
| Shared to portal | The document was made visible on the client portal. |
| Signature requested | An e-signature request was sent for this document. |
| Signature signed | A signer completed the signature. |
| Category changed | The document category was updated. |
| Expiry set/cleared | The expiry date was added or removed. |
You can also view account-wide document activity from Documents > Activity, filtering by date range, actor, or specific document.
Access control
Document visibility is governed by permissions:
- View any -- team members with this permission can see all documents in the workspace.
- View own -- team members see only documents in folders they have access to. Access is determined by folder links to their assigned jobs, properties, or their own resource folder.
- Edit -- required to upload, update, link, or request signatures on documents.
- Delete -- required to remove documents or folders.
After an appointment is completed, the assigned team member retains read-only access to related job and property folders for a 48-hour grace period.
What's next
- Create document templates to generate structured forms.
- Request e-signatures on uploaded documents.
- Link documents to jobs as part of your job workflow.