Preparing Your Monthly Report

Field Service Companion helps you have your numbers ready when it is time to report — the Bible studies you conducted, whether you shared in the ministry, and (if you choose to track it) your time. What your congregation asks you to report, and how, is between you and them; for what counts as a Bible study and what publishers report, see jw.org.

What Field Service Companion Does — and Does Not Do

Field Service Companion does not generate or submit a field service report, and it never states what you are required to report. What it does do is keep the numbers you might want ready: it counts the conversations you marked as studies, it can note whether you shared in the ministry in a month, and — only if you turn on time tracking — it adds up hours you chose to log.

The Report Tab

The Report tab at the bottom of the screen is home to everything reporting: Prepare your report, Your time, and Your categories, plus this help article. If you don't report time, you can turn the whole tab off in Settings → Track your time — nothing is deleted, and it comes back the moment you turn it on again.

Prepare your report shows your month at reporting time:

1. The month. In the first days of a new month, the report opens on the month that just ended — the month you are most likely reporting. Tap the month name to look at any other recent month.
2. Shared in the ministry. A simple Yes you can set for the month. When the month shows you were active — a logged visit, logged time, or a new contact — it's already set to Yes for you, and one tap changes it. While it's off, this line stays out of anything you copy or share.
3. Bible studies. Every contact you logged a Study-outcome visit with that month, each with a toggle. The toggles default to on; anything you uncheck stays unchecked, even if you leave and come back. You can also edit the final number directly if you know it should be different.
4. Time. Your hours for the month, with any of your categories shown separately. A switch controls whether these numbers are included when you copy or share. The switch remembers your last choice: a new month starts the way the most recent earlier month you worked on was set, so if you included your hours then, they're included again — and if you didn't, it stays off. Months you skipped make no difference. You can change it for any month without affecting the others. See Whole hours below for how the hours figure is worked out.
5. Note. A free-text note kept with the month — for yourself, or to pass along with your numbers.
6. Copy for my report / Share. Copies the text to your clipboard, or opens your phone's share sheet. The text contains only the month, your numbers, the names of your time categories, and your note — never contact names or addresses.

The "Your month" card on your Dashboard opens the same screen — tap it anywhere.

Whole Hours

Field service time is reported in whole hours, so Field Service Companion rounds the Hours figure for you — and keeps the leftover minutes rather than throwing them away.

• If you are three quarters of the way to another hour (45 minutes or more), the report rounds up to the next whole hour, and those borrowed minutes come off the following month.
• If you are short of that, the report rounds down, and the extra minutes are added to the following month instead.

An example. You log 5 hours 50 minutes in September, so your report says 6 hours — and October begins 10 minutes behind. Log 1 hour 20 minutes in October and the report says 1 hour, carrying 10 minutes into November. Within a service year nothing is lost and nothing is counted twice; the leftovers simply travel until they add up. The carry starts fresh each September — so any minutes still travelling at the end of August simply retire with the old service year rather than crossing into the new one.

Your own records are never rounded. Your time always shows exactly what you logged, to the minute, and the service-year total there is your real total. Only the Hours figure on your report is expressed in whole hours — your other categories are shown exactly as logged.

How the Helper Decides What to Show

The study list is based on visit outcomes, not contact status. A contact is shown if they had at least one visit that month with the outcome marked Study. This means:

• Logging a visit with the Study outcome is what makes a contact appear on the report — there's nothing else to set.
• A contact whose status is "Studying" but who you haven't visited that month with a Study-outcome visit will not appear in the list.
• A contact whose status is "RV" but who you happened to study with that month will appear, because the visit outcome is what counts.

When Is a Study Counted?

Field Service Companion doesn't decide that — and doesn't try to. For guidance on what counts as a Bible study and what publishers report, see jw.org, where this is covered in detail. Count what you're comfortable reporting; the app just does the arithmetic.

Privacy

Your report is built entirely from what is already stored on your phone. Names, addresses, and visit notes never leave your device — the text you copy or share contains only the numbers and the note you typed yourself.

Copying or sharing also records that you did so, along with how many studies were on the report, whether you included hours, and the hours figure. It tells us the feature works. It never includes who you visited or what you wrote. For the full picture of what the app collects, see Privacy and Your Data.

Submitting Your Report

Field Service Companion helps you have your numbers ready — but it does not submit anything for you. Report however you normally would, whether that is through an app, a paper form, or by speaking with your group overseer.

Need More Help?

If you have difficulty with the Report tab, a friend who is familiar with Field Service Companion may be able to help you. You can also contact us at support@returnvisits.org.