# Maintenance Tasks & Service Log

_ReadyHelm Owner app guide, chapter 03 · Last updated 2026-10-28 · https://app.readyhelm.com/guide/owner/maintenance-and-service-log.html_

ReadyHelm tracks two related but different things: **scheduled maintenance** (what's due, and when) and the **service log** (a record of work already done).

## Maintenance Tasks

A Maintenance Task is a reminder for maintenance work, such as an oil change or an impeller replacement. Each task shows a status:

- 🔴 **Overdue**: past due.
- 🟡 **Due soon**: coming up.
- 🟢 **OK**: current.

### Setting up a task

Under **📋 Service Log → All maintenance tasks**, click **+ Add maintenance task**. Pick the system, describe the task, and choose when it's due:

- **Days**: repeats every so many days (for example, every 365 days).
- **Engine hrs**: repeats every so many engine hours (for example, every 100 hours).
- **Due date**: a one-time task on a specific date.

Optionally, link the task to one or more pieces of **equipment** so it shows up in that equipment's service history. Edit a task's interval and starting point any time with the ✎ icon, or delete it. Deleting a task removes the reminder and its history for good.

Your boatyard or service provider can also set up tasks for you. Those appear in the same list.

Not sure where to start? With guided setup, **Suggested maintenance** on Home offers typical tasks for your kind of boat that you add with one tap (see [Simple Mode & Guided Setup](https://app.readyhelm.com/guide/owner/simple-mode-and-guided-setup.html#simple-mode-and-guided-setup-suggested-maintenance)).

Setting a replacement schedule on a piece of equipment (see [Equipment](https://app.readyhelm.com/guide/owner/equipment.html#equipment-replacement-tracking)) also creates a matching task here, so it's tracked like everything else.

### Automatic reminders

When a task becomes due or overdue, ReadyHelm automatically adds a matching item to your [To-Do list](https://app.readyhelm.com/guide/owner/to-do-items.html). The to-do is then included in your daily reminder email. The task and its to-do stay in sync:

- Mark the **task** done and its to-do is closed.
- Complete the **to-do** and the task's schedule rolls forward to the next due date.

A recurring task keeps repeating like this without ever creating duplicate to-dos.

### Marking a task done

Use **Mark as Done** (from Home's Action Needed list) or **Mark done** (from the task list in the Service Log tab). Confirming logs the completion with today's date and restarts the countdown.

If the task is linked to equipment, ReadyHelm then asks **Log a condition update too?**, which gives you a quick way to record the equipment's condition while you're looking at it.

## Service Log

The Service Log is your boat's history — every completed job, in one place. Entries come from two sources, shown separately:

- **Verified History** — independently confirmed, either because a service provider (boatyard) logged it, or because your provider confirmed an entry you logged. These carry a verification badge showing who did the work.
- **Owner-Reported History** — added directly by you. Not independently verified, but every edit is tracked and visible so the record stays honest.

If your boatyard bills through QuickBooks, a job they invoiced also shows the invoice number and whether it's **Paid** or how much is still due. If they take online payments, **Pay invoice** opens the invoice so you can pay it.

### Quotes from your boatyard

When a service provider sends you a quote, you get a notification and an email, and it shows at the top of the boat's Service Log under **Quotes to review**: what the work is, each line with its price, and the total before tax. **Approve** tells them to go ahead. **Decline** lets you add a reason for them. You can also answer straight from the email's **Approve** and **Decline** buttons without signing in; each email's buttons work once, and stop working if the provider revises the quote or it passes its "valid until" date. Answered quotes move to **Show earlier quotes**. Quotes work on every plan, and only the boat's owner can answer them. To ask a question first, reply to the email or use the quote's thread in **Messages**.

A quote can ask for a **deposit**, shown under the total with its amount. It's invoiced when the work is scheduled.

### Booking a time with your boatyard

If your boatyard takes bookings, its open jobs and approved quotes for your boat show at the top of the Service Log under **Service bookings**. **Pick a time** shows the services you can book and their open times over the next two weeks (**Later dates ›** for more). Times are in your time zone; work that takes a day or more is booked as drop-off dates. Add a note if you like, then **Request this time**.

The time is held for you until the business confirms it, and you're notified when they do (some businesses confirm straight away). If they don't confirm in time, the time is let go and you can pick another. **Move** or **Cancel booking** any time, with an optional reason that goes to the business. A booking link in an email from the business opens the same place.

### Adding an entry yourself

Use **+ Add service entry**. You can attach:

- The system/category it relates to (engine, electrical, rigging, etc.)
- A note describing the work
- Engine hours at the time
- Linked equipment (so it shows up in that equipment's own **Service History** tab too)

If the entry's engine hours are higher than the boat's current reading, the boat's engine hours go up to match. A lower number never lowers the reading. The same applies to entries your service provider logs.

### Editing your own entries

You can edit or delete a service log entry **you added yourself**, as long as it hasn't been independently verified. A checkmark icon distinguishes a verified (boatyard-logged) entry — those are locked to protect the record's integrity, but you can still **dispute** one if you think it's wrong (see below).

### Asking your provider to verify an entry

If a service provider did the work but you logged it yourself, open the entry and choose **Request verification**. Your provider confirms it happened (it then counts as verified) or declines it (it stays owner-reported). You need a provider connected to the boat first (see [Vessel Records](https://app.readyhelm.com/guide/owner/vessel-records.html#vessel-records-providers)).

### Disputing an entry

If a boatyard-logged entry looks incorrect, open it and choose **Dispute this entry**, optionally with a reason. The service provider will see the dispute and can resolve it.

## Linking equipment

Both Maintenance Tasks and Service Log entries can reference specific equipment (e.g. "Volvo Penta D2-40" rather than just "Engine & Mechanical" in general). This builds a per-equipment history you can review from [Equipment](https://app.readyhelm.com/guide/owner/equipment.html) — useful for tracking exactly what's been done to a specific part over its life.

## Common questions

### Can ReadyHelm remind me about boat maintenance by engine hours?

Yes. A maintenance task can repeat every so many days, every so many engine hours, or fall on one date. When it comes due, it becomes a to-do and goes in your daily reminder email.

### What's the difference between verified and owner-reported service history?

Verified entries were logged by a service provider, or logged by you and then confirmed by your provider. Owner-reported entries are ones you added yourself; every edit to them is tracked. The verified history report keeps the two apart, because a buyer weighs them differently.

### Can my boatyard log work on my boat in ReadyHelm?

Yes. Give the business access under Vessel Records → Sharing & Ownership → Providers, and its staff can log verified service and set up maintenance tasks. Their entries show with a verification badge, and you can dispute one you think is wrong.