What to Put Inside a Custom Tally Book
The cover gets your company noticed, but the inside is what makes a custom tally book worth carrying. With custom inserts and pads, you decide exactly what's in every book, so your crew has what they need without fumbling for a phone, a calculator or a binder.
Here's what our customers put inside, and how to choose the pads that hold it all.
Inserts that earn their place
Measurement and conversion tables. Nobody remembers every equation in the field. Put the conversions, units of measurement and quick calculations your crews use most at the front or back of the book. Oilfield customers often include references for thermal gradient, bottom hole pressure and stretch due to weight in hole.
Company standards and policies. Condense the essentials, like how to record figures, uniform policies and on-site conduct, into a few pages. New employees learn the standard way faster, and experienced hands have a reference when something unusual comes up. It beats reprinting training manuals for field crews.
Best practices. A supervisor can't be on every site. Printing your best practices inside the book, or on the inside covers, reinforces training every time someone opens it.
Emergency and company contacts. List local emergency numbers, the right company contact for an incident, and numbers for things like vehicle repairs. Add the steps to follow after an accident. You hope nobody needs them, but your crew will feel better knowing they're there.
Custom forms. Custom pads can carry printed forms or formats on any number of pages, from a single page to all 200.
A tip from customers who've done this well: before ordering, run the list past your most experienced field employees. They know which references actually get used on the ground.
Pick the right size and layout
Tally books come in two standard heights, standard (8.25") and junior (6"), and our covers fit both. Think about how each crew records information:
- Taller, narrower pages suit fast, frequent notations.
- Wider layouts suit detailed notes.
- Different field units can get different books if their jobs differ.
Choose your refill pads
| Pad | Best for | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Everyday use | Stitched and sewn binding, 200 pages of 20# white paper, ruled in red and blue. Fits 8.25" and 6" covers |
| Wire bound | Writing on a flat surface | 200 pages; lays flat on the table for an easier writing experience. Stock item, available in bulk |
| Stone paper | Wet and dirty conditions | Waterproof, tear resistant and grease resistant; sewn, 200 ruled pages, 8.25" x 3.5" or 6" x 3.5". In stock |
| Completely custom | Your own forms and references | 8.25" or 6" tall, printed in 1 color or 4 color process, optional perforated pages, wire bound available |
Stone paper deserves a closer look for crews working outdoors. It has no grain, collects no static charge, is acid-free, and resists water, grease and insects. It can be recycled with No. 2 plastics, and it's photodegradable and compostable in commercial settings.
Plan for refills
Once your custom book is set up, refills are simple. We keep your specifications on file, so a reorder repeats everything, from manuals and tables to emergency numbers, and your crews never have to make do with a different book while waiting. Refill pads can also be bought in bulk without covers.
Next step
Ready to plan your inserts? Contact us or call (800) 715-9255, and we'll help you lay out the pages. For the outside of the book, see our custom tally book design guide.