Prerequisites
Make sure the following are in place before transferring a serialized material to a job:
Housecall Pro connected: Your Ply account must be connected to Housecall Pro via Settings → Integrations. If you haven't done this yet, follow the steps in Connecting Housecall Pro to Ply for the First Time.
Material must be serialized: The material needs to have the "Serialized material" option enabled in its catalog settings. Here’s a step by step: How to Manage Serialized Materials in Ply: A Simple Guide
Serial number requires stock quantity: A serial number can only be assigned to a material that already has quantity in stock at a location. Make sure inventory is added before assigning a serial number.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Connect Ply to HouseCall Pro (if not already connected)
Go to Settings > Integrations > Field Service Management and select HouseCall Pro. Follow the prompts to complete the connection.
2. Enable "Serialized material" on the catalog item
Go to Manage > Catalog, open the material you want to serialize, and check the Serialized material checkbox under Material Specs. Save the material.
Make sure the material also has a category assigned — uncategorized materials may not sync correctly with HCP.
3. Add stock quantity and assign a serial number
Go to Stock > your warehouse, find the material, and click Edit Material at Location.
Make sure there's a quantity greater than 0 in the Quantity field — serial numbers can only be assigned to materials that have stock.
Enter the serial number in the Serial numbers field and save.
4. Transfer the serialized material to a job
From Stock > Your Warehouse, select the serialized material and click Transfer. Choose the target job and the serial number, and confirm the transfer.
See How to Transfer Material to a Job for a full walkthrough.
5. Verify the serial number appears in the HCP job
Open the corresponding job in HouseCall Pro. Under Job inputs > Materials, the transferred material should now show the serial number in its description field, automatically synced from Ply.
Common Questions
Why can't I add a serial number to a material? Serial numbers can only be assigned to materials with a quantity greater than 0 in stock at a location. Make sure inventory has been added at your warehouse, and confirm the "Serialized material" option is enabled in the material's catalog settings.
The serial number isn't showing in HCP, what should I check?
Confirm Ply is connected to HouseCall Pro in Settings > Integrations.
Verify the material has a category assigned, uncategorized materials may not sync correctly.
If everything looks right but it's still not showing, try forcing a manual sync from the job in Ply (see below).
How do I force a sync to HCP? Open the job in Ply, scroll to the HCP icon in the corner, and click it. This pushes the latest material data — including the serial number directly to the corresponding HCP job. If it still doesn't appear after forcing the sync, contact Support.
Does this work if the material has multiple serial numbers? Yes. Each unit of a serialized material has its own serial number. When you transfer a specific unit to a job, that unit's serial number appears in the HCP description. If you transfer multiple units, each carries its own corresponding serial number.
Is a category required for the serial number to sync? Yes! it's strongly recommended that the material have a category assigned before syncing to HCP. Uncategorized materials may not transfer correctly, and you may see this error:
"Cannot update material in Housecall Pro: The material category could not be found." You can assign a category in Manage > Catalog by editing the material.
Is this available for ServiceTitan, Jobber, or other FSMs? Not yet — serial number sync to jobs is currently only available for HouseCall Pro. We're actively working on bringing this to other FSM integrations. Check out our public roadmap or submit a feature request to help us prioritize.
Why This Matters
Serialized tracking lets you trace exactly which unit went to which job critical for warranty claims, recalls, or high-value equipment. Getting the prerequisites right (stock quantity, category, serialized flag) upfront avoids the most common sync failures.
Still need help? Contact Support!