Jobs, templates and chasing

A job is one piece of work for one client, such as a confirmation statement or a year-end. Jobs give your team one list of what is due, who owns it and who is waiting on whom. This page covers the jobs list and board, the checklist each kind of job starts with, and how to chase a client who has not sent what you need.

The jobs list and the board

Open Tasks, then Jobs, to see every job in one list. Filter it, save the view for yourself or share it with the practice, and change many jobs at once: stage, owner or snooze. The Jobs board shows the same work in columns by stage: Not started, Waiting for client, Being prepared, In review, With client to approve, and Filed. The figures at the top count overdue jobs, jobs due in the next 14 days, jobs with no owner, and jobs waiting for the client.

If a client's jobs look out of date, the board has a button to refresh them. It does the same work as the daily run.

Checklists for each kind of job

In Settings, Job checklists, write the steps each kind of job starts with, one step per line. A job copies its steps when it is first opened, so changing a checklist later does not rewrite jobs already under way. You can reset a kind back to the standard steps.

Chasing a client for records

1. In Settings, Chasing, an owner sets the days after the first request on which to remind, for example 7, 14, 21.
2. Set the escalation day. After that many days with no reply, the client is not chased again and a person on your team is told instead.
3. Write the subject and message for each kind of work. Words in curly brackets are filled in for each client.
4. Move a job to Waiting for client. The chase clock starts from that move.

Each reminder day sends once. If a send fails, the next day's run tries one more time. The chase pauses by itself when the client has replied by email, sent a portal message or uploaded a document, and the job's owner is told. If the job has linked document requests, the email lists what is still needed, and a client who has supplied everything is not chased. A client with no contact email is skipped; nothing is guessed.

Chase now on a job sends the message straight away, whatever the schedule says. A person chose to send it, so it ignores the pause.

Chasing by text message

Text chasing is off until an owner switches it on in Settings, Text message chasing. Your own provider account sends the texts, and its key is stored encrypted and never shown again. A text goes only to a client who has a phone number and is marked as opted in.