Automove (Basic): Creating Tasks & Link to Jobs
You can have your tasks created and assigned automatically to save time spent on task distribution and delegation processes. Though TaxDome automates most of your routine and repeated processes, your team still has to perform the manual aspects of the job, such as assignments to prepare or forms to review. As your employees do their part of the job and mark tasks as completed, your jobs can automatically move to the next stage of the pipeline.
Covered here:
- Set up the task-distribution stage and enable automove
- Link task to a job manually
- Automatic task creation when the client completes their part
- Using tasks to distribute work between team members
Set up the task-distribution stage and enable automove
Each job requires a set of tasks, such as getting a client to sign a proposal, complete an organizer or upload a document. TaxDome allows you to automate your pipelines so that tasks are created on their own as jobs progress. It is a huge time-saver when you set up your pipelines to automatically generate tasks at different stages.
Need an example? Add a Manager Review task in the Review stage of a pipeline, so that when jobs hit that stage, team members responsible for the jobs are automatically assigned the task to review the returns.
The launch point for automated task creation is selecting a suitable stage in your workflow. Follow these steps:
- You need a task template with assignments you want to delegate automatically. If you don't have one, you can create it by clicking New Template when you add the automation. The template may include subtasks to list all manual work processed in your team for each client (e.g. requesting e-signature, requesting approval, locking a doc to an invoice, etc.)
- Make sure you have a stage in your pipeline for new tasks, then add the Create task automation. Once the job enters this stage, a new task is automatically assigned to the responsible team member. At the same time, it is automatically linked to the job and your employee receives a notification about the new work.
- Ensure that you have the Automove jobs toggle for the stage turned on. This way, once all tasks are done, the job is automatically moved to the next stage.
Link task to a job manually
In some cases, you may also want to link tasks to jobs manually. For instance, you might want to link the task Ask the client for additional income info to a Individual tax return job. Once the task is manually linked, the automove jobs feature works the same as for tasks sent and linked automatically: when it is completed or canceled, the job is moved to the next stage.
Learn how to link tasks to jobs manually and use them inside pipelines.
Note! If the task is not completed or canceled and you manually move the job to another stage, you’ll be prompted to decide what to do about the pending task(for more details, read about handling unfinished elements when moving jobs).
Automate task creation when the client completes their part
Performing services for your clients is like passing the ball back and forth. But how do your team members find out that the ball is in their court? This is when automated tasks come in handy. When you have task automations added to the pipeline, they are created and automatically assigned only when the client has completed their part of the job.
Below you will find the example of a payroll pipeline where the task for the team is created only when the client is done and has uploaded the forms that you expect from them.
So, this pipeline has two main stages:
- The "Forms sent" stage -- The ball in the client's court: a folder template for the client with a form to be processed is automatically created and a message is sent asking the client to fill out form. The message includes a client task that triggers automove.
- The "In prep" stage -- The ball is in the firm's court: once the client fills out the form and marks the task in a chat thread as completed, a task is automatically created for the appropriate team member. They can now proceed with the payroll process.
And this way, with these automations, you can minimize the amount of work and monitoring you have to do.
Using tasks to distribute work between team members
Due to the pipelines, tasks can be linked to each other, so that when one is completed, the next is automatically created. This way, you can use automated tasks to notify people to start their part when several people are working on the same job.
Below, find the example of a part of a tax preparation pipeline where the task for the person who reviews the return is created once another team member has uploaded the return and marked their task as completed.
So, this part of the process has two main stages:
- The "In prep" stage -- Team member 1 gets the automatically created task to prepare the return. Once they have uploaded it and linked the document to a job, they mark the task as completed. That triggers automove.
- The "In review" stage -- The task for Team member 2 is created, they get a notification and can now review the uploaded return.
And this way, with these automations, you can cut out unnecessary communication and focus on the work itself.