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Recurring vs non-recurring jobs — what's the difference?

How Protiv handles one-off jobs vs. ongoing route work, and why it matters.

Purpose

Protiv treats jobs differently based on whether they're recurring or non-recurring. This article explains the difference and what it means for your bonuses.

When To Use This

Use this when:

  • You're trying to understand why a job has multiple ProPays
  • You're confused about why milestones aren't generating ProPays the way you'd expect
  • A manager asks "should this be recurring?"

The Core Difference

The key rule: non-recurring jobs can have only ONE ProPay total. Recurring jobs can have MANY ProPays — typically one per milestone or visit.

How Protiv Knows Which Is Which

Recurrence flag comes from your integration. When the job syncs, Protiv reads the field and treats it accordingly.

You can't change a job from non-recurring to recurring (or vice versa) in Protiv. That's set in your integration.

Recurring: One ProPay Per Visit

Imagine a weekly landscaping route. Each week's visit is a milestone. Protiv generates one ProPay per milestone, so:

  • Week 1 visit → ProPay #1
  • Week 2 visit → ProPay #2
  • Week 3 visit → ProPay #3

Each ProPay independently calculates budget vs actual for that visit.

Non-Recurring: One ProPay Total

A house painting job. The job has a budget, the crew works the budget, the job finishes. One ProPay covers the whole thing.

Even if the job has multiple milestones (foundation prep → primer → paint → finish), the ProPay rolls them all up into a single calculation.

Group ProPays for Routes

For recurring route work, you often want to group multiple ProPays so they're managed together. That's what Group ProPays are for.

Example: A landscaping route has 12 stops. Each stop generates a ProPay each week. Instead of approving 12 ProPays separately, you approve them as a Group ProPay.

See the article on Group ProPays for setup details.

Why This Matters

Wrong recurrence type causes problems:

  • A non-recurring job mistakenly flagged recurring → multiple ProPays generated, you have to manually clean up
  • A recurring job flagged non-recurring → only one ProPay, but you needed one per visit

If you spot a misflagged job, fix it in your integration. Wait for the next sync.

Common Mistakes & How To Fix Them

  • "I expected one ProPay but got 5" The job is flagged recurring. Check your integration.

  • "The recurring job's milestones aren't generating ProPays" Check exclusion rules. Also verify milestones aren't in canceled/draft status.

  • "I want to group ProPays from a recurring job" Use Group ProPays. They're designed for exactly this.

  • What is the difference between a job and a milestone in Protiv?
  • What is a "Group ProPay"?
  • How do I add a milestone to a job? (note: milestones sync from your integration; you don't add them in Protiv)
  • How do workers, jobs, and milestones get into Protiv?