Use custom job statuses

When working on a job, you may need to show that it’s delayed or waiting on client input. This is where custom job statuses come in. In this article, you’ll learn how to use them to clearly communicate the job’s current state to your team.

Change the job status to a custom one

Changing the job status to a custom one is always done manually. To do it:

1. Open the job card. Click the status next to the Job info section.

2. Select an existing custom status or add a new one.

3. In the sidebar, select the status automations you want to trigger. For example:

• To handle filing extensions, apply a custom status like Needs extension and use the Create task automation with instructions on how to file it.
• To handle missing client information, use a status like Missing info with the Send client request automation listing what the client needs to provide.

Then, click Change status. 

4. You will see linked elements created by automation in a color-coded section on the right of the job card. To manually link existing element or add new ones, click Link or Add New inside the color-coded section of the job card.

   

Entities linked to the job status are also displayed in the Linked section of the job card. In the Automove column, they are marked with the clock icon, meaning they impact the status change to Active.

You can also set up custom job statuses with automations for each pipeline . When that status is applied to a job in the pipeline, the linked automations will be preselected by default.

Tip

To make the process smooth for your team, create a wiki page with step-by-step instructions and add it to the job template or use the Add wiki page automation to include it in the pipeline stage.

Change the job status back to Active, automatically

When blockers are removed, it’s time to put the job back to work. To do so, you need to change custom status back to Active. There are two ways to do it:

• Automatically: If the job status had automations that created linked action items or you manually linked them to it, they need to be completed for the job to become Active again. For example, if you linked a client request to the Missing docs status, when your client provides the information (like a missing K-1), the job status automatically changes to Active. The same can be done for firm requirements with firm tasks, invoices, etc. Any linked item can serve as a trigger for the job to return to the active status, automatically, removing the need for extra stages in your pipeline.

• Manually: If the job status has no linked action items, you only need to click the job status and select Active to activate it again. If the job status has linked action items, you can do it, but then, like with moving jobs with the unfinished linked elements to another stage, you must select what needs to be done with the linked entities.

Change the job status to Archived

When you stop working on a job for some reason (for example, the work has been canceled or finished), you may archive it so that it doesn’t clutter your kanban view and job list. One way to do this is to change its status to Archived. 

To do so, click the job status on the job card and select Archived. It will remove the job from the kanban view. 

You can review or restore it from the Archived tab on the Workflow > Jobs page.

View jobs with custom statuses

Jobs in custom statuses can be easily distinguished from active ones. 

• In the job list: Go to Workflow > Jobs and review the job status in the Job status column. If you don’t see the column, click the gear icon and enable it. The status is displayed with its assigned icon and color (if configured). Here, you can sort jobs by status or filter by the status name. This way, you can easily see all jobs in the same status from different pipelines. However, please keep in mind that for this to work, job status names must match exactly, including the capitalization.

• In the pipeline kanban view: custom job statuses are color-coded so that you can always clearly see where you have blockers inside the particular pipeline. Here, you can filter jobs by the status name. However, if you apply filtering by status in one pipeline from the kanban view and then switch to another pipeline, you’ll need to apply filtering again, as it will be reset.

Who can do this?

Custom job statuses can be updated by firm owner, admins, or any team member who has access to a job in a pipeline. Here’s more on managing access to pipelines and jobs . 

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