Job statuses: Overview

Inside a job, there are different types of statuses, each serving a different purpose: default and client-faced job statuses for internal use and client-facing statuses for external communication.

Default and custom job statuses, explained

Job statuses are internal information for your team that indicates the current state of a job. They help you manage workflow blockers and exceptions while keeping jobs organized within their pipeline stages.

There are default and custom job statuses.

Default job statuses

For standard job states,TaxDome provides three default statuses:

• Active: The job has no blockers and you can work with it. Jobs that remain Active past their due date are counted as overdue in widgets and Insights .
• Completed: The work has been delivered to the client. Use this status to signal that a job is done without removing it from the pipeline — for example, when you still have internal post-work to handle before archiving. Completed jobs are excluded from overdue counts.
• Archived: The job has been finished or canceled and you no longer need it in your active pipeline. You can archive a job directly from Active, or after marking it Completed first — depending on your firm’s process. Archived jobs remain accessible at any time.

Note

The key distinction between Completed and Archived is timing and intent: use Completed to mark that client-facing work is done while keeping the job visible, and Archived when you are ready to remove it from the pipeline view entirely.

Custom job statuses

Imagine you’re preparing a tax return, but the client hasn’t submitted all required documents yet. The job can’t move forward to the next stage, but you don’t want to lose track of it. This is where custom job statuses help.

For intermediate situations specific to your workflow—like waiting for documents, handling deadline extensions, or managing additional client requests—you can create custom job statuses in each pipeline. For example, “Missing docs,” “Needs Extension,” or “Additional Services Requested.”

When you apply a custom status to a job, it remains in its current pipeline stage.

Use automations with custom statuses

You can configure automations to trigger when a status is applied.

You can use all the automations you use in pipelines. This way, you can, for example:

• Automatically create a task for your team members to adjust the service scope when handling additional requests.
• Send a client request or message to a client with a pre-filled inquiry for the missing items.
• Generate an organizer to collect any required documents and information.

Once the blocker is resolved (for example, when required tasks are completed or documents are received), the custom job status can automatically change back to Active, or you can change it manually.

You can add all the automations you might need when creating a custom status, or select only the relevant ones each time you apply it. You can also manually link automations to the custom status after selecting it.

Job statuses vs client-faced statuses, explained

• Job statuses are visible to your team only and reflect the current state of a job.

• Client-facing statuses are designed for external communication. They give clients a clear, step-by-step view of their job progress. For example, after delivery, clients can see whether their return is pending payment, under review, or awaiting signature. This reduces inbound inquiries, since clients can check the status themselves rather than reaching out to ask what’s going on. Many firms automate client-facing statuses so they update based on the current job state or pipeline stage.

Job statuses vs. Pipeline stages

While both job status and pipeline stages indicate different job states in one pipeline, it is important to understand the differences between them:

• Stages are ordered steps in the process. They follow a specific sequence, so you always know what comes next. Statuses are not ordered. A job might stay in the same status until the very end. When a status is changed to a custom one, the job remains in the same stage and doesn’t move forward.

• Stages can include automations to move jobs forward when specific conditions are met, guiding the job toward its final stage. Custom job statuses can also include automations, but they can trigger status change only to Active, indicating the job is no longer blocked and can continue moving.

For a clear and efficient pipeline, use stages for mandatory steps and custom statuses for exceptions, like waiting for documents or handling special requests. This keeps your pipeline view simple and easy to follow.

Custom statuses on job cards

Custom job status is clearly visible on job cards inside the pipeline. You can change it right from the job card. If needed, you can even add a new custom status right from the job card and set up its automations right from there. If you’ve assigned a color and icon to the status, they will be displayed on the job card, making it easy to identify the job’s current state.

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