Workflow

Overview

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The purpose of the workflow tool is to standardise and give visibility of all the tasks across your business with minimal clicks. Here you will learn how to create templates, customise your views and Workflow can be used in your day-to-day for ultimate control. Workflow is a stand-alone tool that you can add to your AccountKit subscription in isolation, although it's at its best when combined with the Correspondence Register (with the email extension) and the upcoming Knowledge Centre (coming late 2022).

If you're not much of a bookworm 🤓 head over to our Workflow 101 page which contains a series of short videos to help you get set up and familiar with the functionality of workflow.

Before you start

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Workflow is a hugely personal endeavour, as we all like to work in different ways. What amplifies this issue is the fact that everyone on your team has their own way of how they manage their work. So the task of implementing a new workflow system largely becomes about people management and bringing them on the journey. Otherwise, it's ensuring you have a setup that will scale and adapt to the way you work and give you the visibility you need.

 

Things to consider

With consideration to the above, this is a short list of things we believe will help you get AccountKit Workflow up and running in your practice.

1. Select a Champion - Depending on the size of your practice, have at least one person assigned as the champion of workflow. Normally it's a case of a champion per piece of software, but this is big enough in its own right to warrant a champion of its own. They will be responsible for experimenting with Workflow and getting intimately familiar with the capabilities.
2. Identify & prioritise the current workflow requirements - The champions should then arrange to meet with the stakeholders of the business, from the principals (for they will ultimately authorise the change if they can see the value) through to the individual teams across the business. By identifying the requirements and current pain points, the champion will start to formulate a picture of how the functionality will help to resolve or alternatively identify the shortcomings.
3. Assess suitability - Utilising the collated information, the champion should summarise a prioritised list of the requirements and a proposal that addresses the issues via a recommended setup. This should be accompanied by some demonstration data addressing the requirements. There should also be an assessment of upcoming announced features for inclusion in the assessment. If the champions believe the tool is up to the task, it's now time to get the team on board.
4. Approval for implementation - Once again the champions will pull together the stakeholders to put forward their recommendations highlighting the pro's and cons along with the recommended setup and timelines.
5. Implementation - If all things have gone to plan, the champions now have approval, and it's time to put the plan into action. Remember these pertinent points.
   • Get your practice defaults setup from the start. Involve different members of different teams to help ensure no areas are missed. This is the foundation - it doesn't have to be perfect, but will give you a great foundation. We recommend running with the defaults before making too many changes to ensure you identify changes that are REALLY required.
   • It's human nature to struggle with change, they have to see the benefit in it for them. Be patient and take baby steps.
   • Following on from this, choose to focus on one or two smaller areas first. As people become confident you can begin to expand. Their positive experience will feedback into the team and give them confidence.
   • Use the first example as a test case, listen to feedback, evolve the settings and details and repeat.
   • Continue to roll out across other areas expanding on the different functionality and always carry out ongoing reviews, gathering feedback from the team so you can continue to improve the system.
   • Continue to evaluate new and upcoming features to get the very best out of the system.

 

Quick Overview | Workflow 101

Whilst workflow was in beta, we prepared a rough Workflow 101 video to help get you up to speed. And now that Workflow is out of Beta we've added a link here to our new article which has further pragmatic videos on how to use workflow.

Workflow 101 Recording

 

Setting up your practice defaults

Getting your practice settings 90% of the way is a huge part of getting the best out of AccountKit. So start here by getting agreement with your team on how you want the basics setup.

First select Your Name and select the Practice Settings options before heading to Tool Settings where you'll find the Workflow settings under the Administration tab.

i	Note that these settings are only accessible by users with Practice Admin or Super Admin access.

 

Before you start editing your settings, here are some hints and tips that apply across all settings.

• You can not delete any settings with padlocks, as they are system entries. Often you can rename and edit their details though.
• Closely assess whether you need to add new settings beyond the defaults. The more you add the harder it is to administer the system. We would recommend you start with what's there in the early days and then after a few months evaluate as a team what is really required.
• Once any of the items here have been used, they can not be deleted, only archived.

 

Workflow Settings in detail

Area		Details
1	Status Flows	Status flows represent the different steps any given task may go through from commencement to completion. We have created some basic ones, but you can customise those provided or create new ones as required. To build a new Status Flow: First agree on what is needed, before then creating any potential new Status Types you may need. Next create and name the new Status Flow with a name that will make it obvious when selecting from the task / task templates setup. Drag from the Available Status Types into the new Status Flow and re-order as required.   To edit a Status Flow: Hover over the flow title or individual flow items to be presented with any options such as move, delete, archive, delete or rename. Watch the short video below for the detail.
2	Work Types	Work Types are one of the more important elements of your setup. They define the different types of work we do and enable grouping of logical work types. flows represent the different steps any given task may go through from commencement to completion. To create a new Work Type: Select the Create New option Enter a Name and a short Abbreviation (1 - 3 characters) Choose your background and font colours Press Create To edit or delete/archive an existing Work Type: Edit - Click on the work type you want to edit, then update the details. It will save automatically. Archive / Delete - Hover over the item and press the 3 dot menu and select from the available options.
3	Priority Flags	Priority Flags enable you to allocate a priority to a task. Beyond the obvious benefit of seeing a priority, it enables you to filter and group by them as well. To create a new Priority Flag: Select the Create New option Enter a Name Choose your colour Press Create To edit or delete/archive an existing Priority: Edit - Drag and drop or click on the priority you want to edit, then update the details. It will save automatically. Archive / Delete - Hover over the item and press the 3 dot menu and select from the available options.
4	User Roles	User Roles can be embedded into a task template enabling a task or sub-task to be automatically populated. There are two examples where these are used. Create from template - if I created a new task from a template that has User Roles assigned to tasks, you will be prompted to populate those fields in bulk by selecting specific users to populate. Create from repeating template - Tasks automatically populated via a repeating template will check for placeholder roles and can populate based on the practice authorities assigned to individual users. Eg. If a particular user is responsible for completing the tax work for a client, they will be allocated the Practice Authority, this way the appropriate people are assigned to the right task.   To create a new User Role: Select the Create New option Enter a Name Press Create To edit or delete/archive an existing User Role: Edit - Drag and drop or click on the user role you want to edit, then update the details. It will save automatically. Archive / Delete - Hover over the item and press the 3 dot menu and select from the available options.
5	Practice Authorities	Practice Authorities represent the work we are authorised to do for our clients. By assigning these to a client, we can very tightly target clients based on the work and frequency that we do work for them and the applicable person that does the work. Here you can see at a client level, what practice authorities, frequency and user has been assigned to each. To create a new Practice Authority: Select the Create New option Enter a Name Optionally select a frequency Press Create To edit or delete/archive an existing Practice Authority: Edit - Drag and drop or click on the Practice Authority you want to edit, then update the details. It will save automatically. Archive / Delete - Hover over the item and press the 3 dot menu and select from the available options.

 

 

The Workflow List view

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The workflow list view is a flexible view showing what you need to see, depending on the view options selected. Here we won't go through the way the views work, as these are covered under Shared Elements. 

i	Note that what's visible may differ from the below image depending on the type of view select. ie. List view v's Card Wall view.

1	Tool Heading & Views	This is covered under the Shared Elements.
2	Grouping Heading	When you choose to group by anything, this is where your heading for the grouping will reside. For example, this could be Work Type, User, Priority, Status. In this instance, we're grouped by Work Type. Where there is more than can be shown on initial load, it will tell how many are visible as compared to how many in total meet the filter criteria. You then can elect the option to load more records.
3	Client & Task Name	There are two potential elements you will see here: Parent / Primary Task This is the headline task that is always visible and will contain a series of checklists and sub-tasks. The first section identifies the Client that the task belongs The second section is the Task Name. Child / Sub Task If you see the icon under the client, you have sub-tasks enabled within your view settings. This simple indicates that it's a sub-task within a parent task. If you hover over it, you will see the parent task as well.
4	Assigned User	This identifies who the Current User assigned to the task. This can either be updated here direct from the view or from within the task once open
5	Priority	Here you can optionally set the priority on a task. This can either be updated here direct from the view or from within the task once open
6	Status	Here you can set the current status of a task. The tasks available here will depend on the Status Flow assigned to this task. This can either be updated here direct from the view or from within the task once open.
7	Start / Due Dates	Here you can optionally update the Start Date or Due Date utilising the date picker.  This can either be updated here direct from the view or from within the task once open.
8	Current Status Note	This field enables you to leave a short note to remind yourself and other teammates what the current state of the task is. This also applies to sub-tasks and checklists as well. If another user leaves a note, the full history is captured here as well. This can either be updated here direct from the view or from within the task once open.
9	Action Bar	The action bar only appears upon mouse-over, but gives you some quick important actions. It varies depending on whether we're looking at a standard task or reminder. Standard Task Actions Reminder Actions  Quick Complete: This is a quick way to mark a task as complete. Add to Daily Plan: Select this to add a task to your daily plan. When it's green, it's already on your list.  Watchers: This identifies if there are any users identified as a watcher. Usually this would be other teammembers or the associated manager. Here you can also set a task to Private such that only watchers or the person who created it can view.  Convert to Task: This is specific to reminders and enables you to convert a reminder to a task. 3 Dot Action Menu: Here are some other actions you can apply.  Duplicate: Use this to create a copy of the task Create Template: Use this to create a template from a task. Most useful when you've created an amazing set of sub-tasks and want to create a template from it. Delete: Simply deletes the task. These can either be updated here direct from the view or from within the task once open.

 

 

Workflow Specific View Settings

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While the way views work in Workflow is very similar to saving views across every tool (as shown here in Shared Elements), there are some key differences that we're going to cover here.

A view is made up of the following components, all of which are saved under a views settings;

• Standard elements (as covered under Shared Elements), but spedific to workflow.
  
  1. Grouping - ie. grouping by type, priority, status, assigned user, partner, manager.
  2. Filters - ie. filtering by dates, clients, groups, users, watchers, partner, manager, type and status.
  3. User (unique to Workflow) - This is a quick filter to get to work owned by yourself or specific users. This is useful to quickly see my work or other users work.
  4. View Select - ie. where you can select (and favourite) any saved views.

• Workflow elements (captured within the workflow view settings)
  

1	View Specific Settings	You can find the specific view settings by selecting the overflow 3 dot menu by the view name.
2	View Options	These options define 3 important elements of a view. Favourite - these always appear at the top. Home - This is the default page that loads when you go into workflow. This is usually your own worklist. You can only have one home. Lock - Locking a view means you can't inadvertantly change the view settings.
3	View Name	This is simply the name you want to appear in the tab name and list selection view.
4	Layout	You have two view types to select from, depending on your preference and what you're looking to achieve with a view. List - This simply shows all tasks in a thin list view format. Great for showing lots of information about tasks at the same time. Cardwall - This is a Kanban style view. Best for see allocation of work between teammembers.
5	View Settings	This is a variety of settings to enable you to tweak the behaviour, just the way you like it. You can't edit this if the view is locked. They will differ depending on if you're in a List or Cardwall view. Share view with all users - This means you can make a view available for the whole team (eg. All Tax Workflow) or just a view for yourself that gets you the information that you need quickly. Autosave view - As the name suggests, having this turned on means any changes made to the view at all will be saved. Wrap view - Only for the Cardwall view - Means the cards don't extend off the screen to the right, but wraps to the next line. Show completed tasks - Simply shows completed tasks. By default completed tasks are hidden. Show empty groups - By default we hide any groups that are empty. But it's useful to see other groups (such as status) even if they are empty, so that you can still drag tasks into that group. Show subtasks - This will show all sub-tasks in relation to ever active Parent Task. By default this is off, as it can result in an overload of visible tasks.  Note that this does NOT include checklist items.

 

 

 

Reminders

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Reminders are very similar to tasks, but without all the complexity. It's for capturing the myriad of small things that come up throughout the day, but where you don't need full status tracking and the like, yet they still need to be on your list and prioritised. This could be something as simple as a reminder to go and pick up some milk for home! 

 

i	By default these are only visible to the user who created the reminder, but by adding other watchers to the reminder, you can assign visibility to anyone else.

 

Breakdown of a reminder

1	Description	Here is where you'll put the detail of your short reminder.
2	User Assigned	This is the user assigned, which will be the current user by default. This can be assigned to any other user though.
3	Priority	Here you can simply select the applicable priority, like any task.
4	Due Date	Set when you need to
5	Priority	Here you can optionally set the priority on a task.This can either be updated here direct from the view or from within the task once open

 

Creating a reminder

Creating a reminder is super simple:

1. Go to the at the top of the page to get started
2. Enter any required details and press <Enter> to save and close the window. 
3. It's made to be quick, so if you want to enter further details, make sure you tab through before you press enter.

 

Tasks

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Tasks are the backbone of the workflow tool, enabling you to build up a series of checklists and sub-tasks which can have their own set of tasks. The aim is to have everything your team does captured within a task to standardise, streamline and create visibility of the state of all work within the business.

 

Breakdown of a task

There are many elements to a task that we'll break down over the next few sections.

1	Task Details	Here we can see at a glance the following details The workflow type Entity Name it's assigned to The task label Copy URL icon - so you can link direct to a task. Minimise and Close icons
2	Task Settings	A number of these items are the same as those found on the list view. They can be updated from the list or from here. Current Status: This is the current status assigned to the task. Status Note: This is for leaving a short note to let people know and remind yourself where you're up to. This is also on the list view. User Icon: This is the current user within the task. The last person to save the task will be saved. Priority: For updating the task priority. User Assigned: For updating the current user assigned. Watcher: For assigning and maintaining job watchers. Calendar: For setting the Start Date & Due Date.
3	Task Menu	These are the other major elements of a task that is expanded upon below. Overview: This contains the overarching details of the task. Task List: This houses the list of tasks and checklists. Collaboration: Here you'll find a history of all comments made. Client Folder: This will provide a window into the client's folder. (If their default folder has been set up). NOTE: A Document Management System must have been authorised. See here for more information. Links: Presently this is just where you've linked other tools back to the selected task. Related Tasks: If a client is part of a group, this will show all tasks associated with other entities in the group, giving you a quick and easy way to switch between related tasks. History: This is your audit trail for all changes in relation to a task.
4	Work Space	This section of the task will update to reflect the options selected from the Task Menu above. See below for more detail.
5	Save status	Here you can see the current save status. Once you've saved the first time, the task will automatically save for you. Your only other option here is to cancel to exit the selected task

 

Breakdown of the Task Menu

Quick Select to jump to the required section:

1. Overview Tab
2. Task List Tab
3. Collaboration Tab
4. Client Folder Tab
5. Links Tab
6. Related Tasks Tab
7. History Tab

Task Menu | Option 1 - Overview Tab

This area houses the main elements that define the task and are ongoing.

1) Client & Task Details

• Client Name: Select the name of the client to assign to that client, or leave blank to be counted as Internal. (ie. simply a task belonging to the practice).
• Task Label: This is the short name you'll see on the list view of all tasks. Use standard naming to make it easy to see at a glance what a task represents.
• Workflow Type: Here you define the workflow type.
• Status Flow:  The chosen status flow that makes sense for the task at hand.
• Description: This is an optional field if you want to add more detail for context as to what the task represents.

2) Carry Forward Notes

• Any notes added here are only relevant to repeating task templates. If you leave a note here and don't mark it as complete, it will carry forward to the next repeat.
• Your other options for a carry forward note includes:
  • Mark the note as completed. It won't repeat on the next repeat.
  • Delete the selected note. Only recommended to delete if entered by accident.

 

Task Menu | Option 2 - Task List

All of the groups, sub-tasks, checklists and related information is captured here along with any related comments and short form instructions (if it's come from a template)

 

1) Task List Header - Options control what is visible and the addition of new tasks.

• Show completed toggle - Toggle this show and hide any completed tasks.
•  Add new - Use this to add a new group, checklist or task; Alternatively, you can create checklist items direct into the task list by selecting the + Add an item to group option at the bottom of the lists. Here are the options under the menu.
  • Create a Group - a group is a heading that holds checklists and tasks. This can be collapsed as well.
  •  Create a task - a task here is called a sub-task, which you can drill in to have further with its own checklists and sub-tasks. They can even have their own status like a full task.
  •  Create a checklist - checklists are a simple object that only has two stats complete / not complete.
•  Show hidden - If any tasks have been hidden, you show them all here.

 

2) Comments & Work Instructions

•  Comments - Much like the list view, here you can leave a comment against any task or checklist
• Work instructions - If the task was generated from a template, this icon will appear giving you the ability to show any work instructions (ie. simple processes) that have been put into the template. 

 

3) Task Lists & Groups

• Groups - Groups hold a list of sub-tasks and checklists. Your options are as follows
  
  
  • Move the group - grab the handles to drag and move the whole group.
  • Collapse the group - hides all of the items within the group
  • Add to group - your only options are adding a Task or Checklist to the group. You can NOT add a group to a group.
  • Other options - your options are to Rename, Delete, or Hide Group

 

• Tasks (Sub) - Sub tasks are identical to a standard task, in that you can assign a status and each can have it's distinct list of tasks and checklists.

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  • Move the task - grab the handles to drag and move the task anywhere within the list
  •  Status - Simply select this to assign a status to the sub-task.
  • Assign to Daily View - Select this to assign the task to the daily view. If it's lit up, it's already there.
  •  Options Menu - Your options here are Rename, Delete or Hide task.
  • Priority - Set the priority on the sub-task
  • User - This is where you can assign a user to a sub-task.
  •  Link - Use this to link back to a file within any connected Document Management System.
  • Dates - Use this option to allocate a start and due date on a sub-task.
  • + Add a new comment - Here you can leave a short comment to remind you or other teammates anything of relevance to that sub-task. This is a rich text field and is able to capture full conversation history per sub-task.
    

 

• Checklists - These are identical to a task identified, with exception to the fact that it only has two states; Complete or Not Complete AND you have the ability to convert the checklist item to a sub-task utilising this option.
  

 

 

Task Menu | Option 3 - Collaboration & Comments

This area is simply a summary of all comments made within the task and sub-tasks. In time this will expand for deeper collaboration. This does not include comments made against checklists.

 

Task Menu | Option 4 - Client Folder

If you have a document management system connected, you will be able to browse the clients folders and files with all the normal functionality of the DMS component - drag and drop, preview documents etc. See here for more info.

 

Task Menu | Option 5 - Links (In-progress)

Here you can see any records that have been linked back to a specific task enabling you to click back through to relevant records. In this example we're linked back to a phone call summary and an equipment finance schedule. This section will continue to be expanded upon over the coming year.

 

Task Menu | Option 6 - Related Tasks

Here you quickly switch between any related tasks. For example, when you're working on one entity within a group, often you'll need to switch between other tasks in the same group. The way this works is that it filters by the same Work Type and any tasks within the same Client Group.

If you need a different task within the group, simply add or remove Work Types from the filter

 

Task Menu | Option 7 - History

This area simply captures the full history of every change in relation to the task including checklists and sub-tasks.

 

Create a task

There are a couple of ways to create a task as follows

1. From Blank
2. From Template

1. Create a task from blank

For when you want to create a new bespoke task that you don't yet have a template for.

• Select the icon
• Choose the From Blank option
• Fill in the basic details including the client, workflow type, status flow and description.
• Optionally you add a priority, user and watcher.
• Press the Create Task button
• Upon creation, you can then optionally add detail to the Task List
  
  

2. Create a task from a template

• Select the icon
• Choose the From Template option
• Filter,  preview and select from the available templates. 
• Press Continue.
• If the template has any Placeholder Roles you can optionally assign the roles to a user.
• Press Continue.
• Select the applicable Client and review the other items for changes.
• Press the Create Task button
• Review the pre-populated Task List for any change
  

 

 

Task Templates

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Task templates are where you're going to get the ultimate in standardisation and efficiency. 

Breakdown of a task template 

A task template is very similar to the standard task identified above, but with some core differences which we go through below.

1	Task Details	Here we can see at a glance the following details The workflow type that the template belongs to The template name Copy URL icon - so you can link direct to this template Minimise and Close icons
2	Task Template Settings	Priority: For setting the task priority. User Assigned: You have a couple options here By employee - Assign direct to an employee (not ideal) By role - useful for when creating a job from template. By repeating role - This is unique and the most powerful and is identified by the icon. By utilising these options, when the task repeats, it either looks at the Partner / Manager of the client OR the Client Authority for the specific practice authority being targeted. Eg. If you have a Compliance - Tax authority and you have a user Paul Murray assigned to that authority. When the task repeats for that client, he is assigned to the task.
3	Task Menu	The options here are very similar to the options within the task which are expanded upon here. Otherwise, the unique elements are covered below. Overview: This contains the overarching details of the task. Task List: This houses the list of tasks and checklists. Also includes short form work instructions. Repeating: This is where you set 1 or more repeating options. Client Folder: Not used in task templates. Links: Not used in task templates. History: This is your audit trail for all changes in relation to this task template.
4	Work Space	This section of the task will update to reflect the options selected from the Task Menu above. See below for more detail.
5	Save status	Here you can see the current save status. Once you've saved the first time, the task template will automatically save for you. Your only other options here are: Set to Active - By selecting this, the template is no longer in draft meaning that: It's now available to select for use as a template. Any repeats will now be triggered, including those prior to today. Set to Draft - Once a template is Active, you have the option to Set to Draft. This will make the template un-available and stop any repeats. Close - to exit the selected task

 

Breakdown of the Task Template Menu

Quick Select to jump to the required section:

1. Overview Tab
2. Task List Tab
3. Repeating Tab
4. Client Folder
5. Links
6. History Tab

 

Task Menu | Option 1 - Overview Tab

This area houses the main elements that define the task and are ongoing.

1) Task Template Name

This simply identifies the name of the task to choose from the task template list.

 

2) Task Details

This is made up of a number of important components that differentiate the template from an ordinary task.

• Task Label - Use the placeholders here to generate consistent naming conventions for your tasks. See below for a full list of available placeholders. Select the icon to see a list of the available placeholders.
  
  
  • Placeholder Options
    • [FinYear] = Current financial year in format YYYY
    • [FinYearShort] = Current financial year in format YY
    • [Year] = Current calendar year in format YYYY
    • [YearShort] = Current calendar year in format YY
    • [Month] = Current month in full format; eg. September
    • [MonthShort] = Current month in short forms; eg. Sept
    • [MonthNum] = Current month in numerical format; eg. 09
    • [Today] = Current date in numerical format; eg. 14
    • [Date] = Current date in format of practice settings; eg. DD/MM/YYYY
    • [RepeatLabel] =This is a special label, in that it inserts any extra placeholders included within any repeating options. Great for when you want a name to reflect something about the repeating options (eg. Weekly v's Fortnightly or a specific period in relation to the frequency)
  • Variations
    • Modify the placeholders with the placement of a "-" or "+" within the placeholder; eg. [Year - 1]/[YearShort] - [MonthShort] BAS
  • Example
    • Task Label: [finyear-1]/[finyearshort] - Compliance Tax 
    • Task Label Preview: 2021/22 - Compliance Tax
      
      
• Task Label Preview - Here you get a live preview of what the anticipated task will be named utilising the placeholders.
  
  
• Description - This description whilst optional, is very helpful where you have a lot of templates to quickly identify the purpose of a template.
  
  
• Workflow Type - Same as for other areas here.
  
  
• Status Flow - Same as for other areas here.

 

Task Menu | Option 2 - Task List Tab

The details here are identical to the standard task items identified here. The only unique element is the Instructions field where you can enter short form instructions for each item in the task list.

Each instruction can have links to other websites or files on your DMS to enable quick access to supplementary information sources that will help the user with the task they're undertaking.

 

Task Menu | Option 3 - Repeating

The repeating tab gives you the ability to create multiple repeating options for a single template. That way you can target different clients with different repeating options for those clients. For example, utilise a Payroll Process template, that can be applied on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.

 

Setting up a new repeating schedule

1. Select + Add a new repeat
   
   
2. Set the Repeating Details
   
   
   • First the Name to make it easily identifable (eg. Quarterly)
   • Optionally set the Repeat Label - This is only relevant where you've set the parent task with the placeholder [RepeatLabel]. For Example
     • Parent Placeholder:
       [Finyear]/[FinyearShort+1] | [RepeatLabel] | Business Activity Statement
       2022/23 | [RepeatLabel] | Business Activity Statement
     • Repeating Placeholder:
       [MonthShort-3] - [MonthShort-1]
       Jul - Sep
     • End Result:
       [Finyear]/[FinyearShort+1] | [MonthShort-3] - [MonthShort-1] | Business Activity Statement
       2022/23 | Jul - Sep | Business Activity Statement
   • Lastly, optionally add a Description for the repeat
     
     
3. Select the clients you want to target for the repeat.
   Client Selection - Here is how you target clients for when the template repeats. Your options are:
   
   
   • By Practice Authority - This is the most useful, in that it will use the Practice Authorities you've identified and allocated to each client.
   • By Client Group - For targeting one or more client groups.
   • By Client - For targeting one or more clients individually.
     
     
4. Repeat Options: Here you can define on what basis a task will repeat along with the other options associated with a repeat. 
   
   
   • Every - Defines the frequency between repeats. Options are as follows, of which you can select the number as well. 
     • Daily
     • Week
     • Month
     • Year
   • On - This varies depending on what has been set on the prior Every setting. It gives tighter targeting of the repeat day.
   • Start repeat - This tells the system when a repeat is due to commence. If the date is prior to Today it will populate all instances from the Start repeat date to Today. 
     NOTE: You will get a warning if the start repeat is prior to today, for when you Set a template to Active it can potentially generate a lot of entries. 
   • Ending - Here you can define when a repeat will end. Your options here are.
     • on date
     • after x number of occurrences
   • Status - Utilise this field to define what status a task will be created with upon repeat.
   • Start Date - Here you get to set the start date of the created task. Your options here are
     • no start date (ie. stays blank)
     • # of days after task created
   • Due Date - Here you get to set the due date of the created task. Your options here are
     • no due date (ie. stays blank)
     • # of days after Start Date
   • Create Repeat - This button saves the repeat option.
   • Cancel - This button will cancel the setup of the repeat. 

 

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Note an active template will automatically be put into a draft state if you change any repeat settings. This is to prevent the accidental creation of templates in bulk by setting the start date prior to day. If you're confident of the settings, simply press the Set to Active button to enable the template and associated repeating options.

 

Task Menu | Option 4 - Client Folder

This is not used within Task Templates.

 

Task Menu | Option 5 - Links

This is not used within Task Templates.

 

Task Menu | Option 6 - History

This area simply captures the full history of every change in relation to the task template so you know who's making changes.

 

Deleting a repeating schedule

1. Simply hover over the repeat you would like to delete and click on the  on the right
   
2. Select ok to confirm it's deletion.
   

 

 

Create a Template

There are a couple of ways to create a task template as follows

1. From Blank
2. From the AccountKit library
3. From Pre-existing Task template
4. From Pre-existing Task

 

From Blank

For when you want to create a new bespoke task template from scratch.

• Select the icon
• Choose the From Blank option
• Enter all of the required details on the Overview Tab including template name, client selection criteria, task label, workflow type, status flow and appropriate description.
• As required update the priority, user and repeat options (this can be done later)
• Press the Create Draft button to create the basics and to trigger the autosave.
• Build up the Task List including Work Instructions.
• When completed, press the Set to Active button.

 

From the AccountKit library

For when you want to choose a pre-existing template from the AccountKit library as a starting point.

• Select the icon
• Choose the From AccountKit Library option
• Review the list of available templates until you find what you're after.
• Select and press the Import button.
• Review the task template details and modify to make it to suit your practice.
• Review the Task List and modify until fit for purpose, then create the work instructions.
• When you're ready, set it to Active.
  

 

From Pre-existing Task Template

For when you want to create a variation on a pre-existing task template.

• From the list view of all tasks templates, find the task template you want to duplicate
• Select the icon upon mouseover of the identified task task template.
• Select the Duplicate Option
• Review the task template details and modify as required.
• Review the Task List for updates and modify the work instructions.
• When you're ready, set it to Active.
  

 

From Pre-existing Task

For when you want to create a new template from an ordinary task you have already been using.

• From the list view of all tasks, find the task you want to convert
• Select the icon upon mouseover of the identified task.
• Select the create template option. 
• Review the task template details and modify to make it generic ready for broader use.
• Review the Task List for updates and create the work instructions.
• When you're ready, set it to Active.
  

 

 

Other useful workflow features

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Here you can find everything else in relation to the Workflow tool that sits outside of the standard area.

Shared Toolbar | Workflow Component

This is an icon found on the shared toolbar across all of the tools enabling the creation or linking of tasks back to any records across AccountKit. More details can be found here.

 

The Daily Plan

The daily plan is your day to day task list where you can add your tasks and reminders, arrange the priority before marking them off. Any not completed will be carried over to the next day.

How to use the Daily Plan

• It's available as a tile on your Dashboard (make sure you favourite it in your Dashboard View)
• Otherwise you can access it from anywhere in AccountKit via the icon in the main menu.
  
• Add tasks to Daily Plan by:
  • Within the Daily Plan - Simply select the option to select a task or reminder.
    
  • Task List View - elect this  icon when you hover over any task or reminder. If the icon is  green, it's already on your list, simply select it again to remove it from your plan.
    
• Once an item is on your list, simply drag to re-arrange the list into the order you're planning to implement.
• As you complete items on the list, mark them as completed.
• Any not completed will carry over to the next day, so you don't have to re-write your list every day.

 

Your Projects List

The Your Projects dashboard is where you can have all the other work that is important to you, but is not on the daily plan yet.  Perhaps it's an ongoing project to update your website, or a significant client restructure or you're assessing outsourcing for a new teammember. All of which need to be front and centre in case anything changes at any point in time. Like the Daily Plan, this is available anywhere within AccountKit for quick access to.

How to use Your Projects

• It's available as a tile on your Dashboard (make sure you favourite it in your Dashboard View)
• Otherwise you can access it from anywhere in AccountKit via the Daily Plan icon   in the main menu, then switch to the Your Projects view using this icon in the header of the daily plan.
  <image>
• Add tasks to Your Projects by:
  • Daily plan - Simply select the option to select a task or reminder.
    
  • Task list view - Select this icon when you hover over any task or reminder. If the icon is  green, it's already on your list, simply select it again to remove it from your plan.
    
• Modifying the order - Once an item is on your project list, you can drag to re-arrange the list into your preferred order.
• To update - Any change to the task can be completed with the list, or selected to open and edit the task in detail.
• Removing a task - At any time, you can remove an item from this list by selecting the X icon
  

 

Bulk Update

At times you need the ability to update tasks in bulk, rather than one at a time. This tools massively streamlines the updating of your tasks in bulk, but note there are some restrictions wrapped around this which we've included down below.

Here are a few practical use cases for where you may like to utilise this functionality.

• A team member departs and all of their work needs to be re-assigned.
• A team member is overloaded and some of their work needs to be re-assigned to another team mate.
• The person assigned to the task needs to update the status and assignee for a family group upon completion of their work. Eg. Assign to manager for review; Client work has come in and the status and dates need to be updated for the whole group.
• Client has an urgent need for work to be completed, so the priority, assignment and dates need to be updated.
• The placeholders weren't setup correctly and the task names need to be corrected in bulk.

How to use the Bulk Update tool.

1. Filter for the clients you're looking to update, ensuring you use the grouping options (eg. by family group) to tightly define your list.
2. Select the relevant clients.  Either one by one or by their grouping.
3. Select the Bulk Update icon from the bulk edit toolbar that will have appeared.
4. Select each of the fields you are looking to update and populate the fields with the changes.
   Note that fields left blank will delete the contents within.
5. After a final review of the changes, press the Update button.
6. Confirm the changes and press Continue

After a short wait, all the tasks will have been updated with all changes captured with the history of the task.

 

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Restrictions & Limitations

Given the power of updating tasks in bulk, there are some restrictions around who can update tasks in this fashion. If you select clients and attempt to bulk update any tasks and you don't meet the rules, the tasks simply won't update.

Essentially there are two categories of user that can carry out the action.

• User assigned / Client Partner / Client Manager - If you are an assigned user to a task, or you are the Partner or Manager of a client in relation to a task. 
• Super Administrator - Any users that have this role in the practice have ultimate access to everything with the practice. So if you're making sweeping changes to tasks (eg. a particular employee has left and their tasks need to be re-assigned), this is the person for the job.

 

Email Extensions 

If you have the Correspondence Register and your DMS attached to AccountKit, it opens up a world of possibilities with the way you connect workflow to your emails and other correspondence. See here for more details.

• Outlook Email Extension
• Gmail Email Extension (coming soon)