Which item type do I choose for my materials, hours and machines?
Everything you put on a quotation, work order or invoice in Robaws is an item: the tiles you lay, your tradesman's hour, the running hours of your excavator. With the Item type you tell Robaws what kind of item it is. That determines where you can choose the item afterwards, for example for the hours on a work order or on an equipment file. You choose the item type at the top of the item file, in the Item info card. A new item gets the Item type by default.
Which item type do you choose?
What do you want to register? | Choose | Example |
|---|---|---|
Material you supply or use | Item | Tiles, cable, a bag of cement, a radiator |
The hours of your employees | Hour code - employee | Roofer hour, electrician hour, travel |
The running hours of a machine or vehicle | Hour code - material | Excavator hour, aerial work platform day |
A machine, device or vehicle you own yourself | Equipment | Excavator, scaffolding, van, drill |
What you install at your customer's and maintain later | Installation | Heat pump, air conditioning, boiler, solar panels |
Something you rent out | Rental item | Container, construction hoist, site hut |
You only see Rental item if you work with rental tickets.
What each item type does
Item
The ordinary item for material. If you work with time norms, only this type gets the Time norms card.
Hour code - employee
Only this type can be chosen as hour code for the hours of your employees, for example in the Employee hours block of a work order. Give each employee a Default time operation on their employee file, and Robaws fills it in itself. If you work with hour types, you also choose the Hour Type on the hour code. Where the cost price of an hour comes from, you can read in How is the cost price of my hours on a work order determined?
Hour code - material
Only this type can be chosen as hour code for the running hours of your machines, for example in the Material hours block of a work order. That way you charge the hours of your excavator separately.
Equipment
For the machines, devices and vehicles you own yourself. Only items of this type can be linked to a file in the equipment module. On the item you also fill in the Hour code - material: Robaws uses it when you register the running hours of this equipment. If you book a stock change with an item of this type and a serial number, Robaws creates the equipment automatically.
Installation
For what you install at your customer's and maintain afterwards. Only items of this type can be linked to an installation. On the item you get the Maintenance card, in which you set the maintenance schedules. Every new installation of this item takes over those schedules.
Rental item
For what you rent out. On the item you get the Rental Tariff card, in which you set the rental price.
Item type and cost type
If you work with calculation, an item has a Cost type in addition to the item type. These are two different fields. The item type determines where you can use the item. The cost type determines in which column it counts in your calculation and recalculation: Material, Labor, Equipment, Subcontractor or Other.
When you choose an item type, Robaws suggests the matching cost type:
Item type | Suggested cost type |
|---|---|
Item, Installation, Rental item | Material |
Hour code - employee | Labor |
Hour code - material, Equipment | Equipment |
You can still change the cost type yourself afterwards. How to work with cost types, you can read in How do I calculate a quotation with cost types, posts and parameters?
Updated on: 19/10/2026
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