What's in this Article
Tasks help track your progress on services or projects you are working on. You can assign a task to a client and add any number of team members to a task. You can also associate a task with a Resolution Case.
Create a Task
1. To get started, click the Global + button in the global navigation bar.
2. Click Create Task on the slide-in panel.
Alternatively, navigate to the Client List to create a bulk task for several clients at once.
Canopy Tip: You can also create a task from the Tasks tab in the client record or from the Tasks List.
3. Add a Task name in the provided field.
Dynamic Placeholders: Many firms, especially with a bookkeeping emphasis, like to use monthly tasks with the same name, which can get confusing. You can use Dynamic Placeholders, which add unique details to task names for easy organization.
An example of this is {{clientname}} {{currentmonthandyearnum}}. When the task is created, the task name is replaced with the client name from the client record and the current month and year, in numerical form.
4. Click Template to apply a template to the task.
5. Use the Status dropdown to apply a status to the task.
6. Using the Client dropdown, select a client to assign to the task.
7. Assign the task to a Resolution Case by using the associated dropdown.
This field will only appear if you have assigned a client to the task.
8. Using the Assignee(s) dropdown, assign users or roles to the task.
- Roles in Workflow are only available on the Pro Tier of Canopy. Learn more about Teams & Roles here.
- You can also assign the assignees to all subtasks on the task by clicking the Assign to all subtasks box.
9. Set a time budget in the Budget hours field.
10. Set a Priority status for the task by clicking on the Priority dropdown.
You can choose between low, medium, high, or no priority.
11. Add a description for the task.
12. In the Date area, add a Start date or Due date as needed.
You can also add a Custom Date Type by clicking Add a date.
13. Change the Recurring toggle to green.
14. Click the Recreate on dropdown and select Completion or Due date schedule.
Under the Completion option, set a cadence for the recurring task. Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly are the provided options.
Under the Due date schedule option, set a cadence for the recurring task and set a creation date for future tasks. You must enter a fixed due date when creating the task for recurrences to populate.
Tip: You may notice that Quarterly is not a repeat option. Set a quarterly recurrence by selecting Monthly, and specifying that you want the task to Repeat every 3 months. Enter any number in the repeat box, allowing you to specify a semi-yearly repeating task as well.
15. If needed, switch Tax preparation fields on.
You may want to filter tasks by tax year or return type for quick access and easy reference. The best way to use this feature is to enter data in the Tax Year and Return Type fields when creating tasks.
16. Set up a Reminder by clicking Add reminder in the reminder well.
- In the When box, you can select the cadence for the reminder to be sent out.
- In the For box, you can select which Team Members will receive the reminder.
- Click on the Delete trash can to delete a reminder.
- Click on Add Reminder to add additional reminders to the task.
17. In the File section, click Add file to attach files to the task.
18. Add automation to tasks and subtasks by clicking the Add automation button.
For more directions on creating automation, review this article!
19. Add a Client request to the tasks by clicking the Add a client request button.
If you need a refresher on client requests, refer to the Create a New Client Request article.
Please Note: Clients who do not have access to the client portal will have Client Requests created as drafts. They cannot be sent to the client until they have been invited to the client portal.
20. Click Add a subtask to add subtasks to the tasks.
Subtasks: Subtasks utilize much of the same information as we covered above. Refer to the above instructions if you get stuck.
21. Verify that all of the information is correct and accurate, then click Create and Manage to go to the task workspace.
You can also click Create and close to return to the page you created the task from.
Finding Recurring Tasks: You can't see all scheduled recurring tasks, even the ones not created yet. But we've added a new column called "Recurring" in the task list. It helps you sort and filter the recurring tasks that are already created.
Manage a Task on the Task Workspace
1. Start a timer for the task by clicking the Timer icon.
2. Set a task's priority by clicking the priority tag.
Select from High, Medium, Low, or No Priority.
3. Change the Status of a task by clicking on the status dropdown.
Select a preset status, or add a custom status.
Canopy Tip: To edit or archive a Scheduled Recurring Task, navigate to the Primary Recurring Task's workspace. A Primary Recurring Task's workspace looks like this:
If it is not the Primary Recurring Task's workspace when you try to edit recurring details, it will look like this:
This is where you can click the "here" hyperlink to go to the Primary Recurring Task.
4. Click the three stacked dots to Archive or Edit the task.
You can also see Edit and Archive options on the top right-hand side of the Task Workspace.
Note: You can easily see details of a recurring task on the top left-hand side of the workspace.
5. As needed, click Add a tool within the dropdown of a subtask in the Work tab.
- Tools available are Note, Reminder, Date, New file, and Existing file.
- To add a tool to the main task, simply select the Files, Notes, Reminders, or Automation tabs in the Task Workspace.
6. Add a File or a Note to a subtask by clicking the Add a tool button associated with the subtask.
To add a File or Note to a task, simply click the Files and Notes tabs.
7. Add subtasks or client requests to the task by clicking their respective buttons under the Work tab.
8. If the task was created from an email, the Email tab will be visible. Click on the Email to open the email in a new overlay.
9. Send an internal comment to your team on the right-hand side of the Task Workspace.
You can also attach files and images/GIFs to the comment thread of the task. Learn more about this in the Comment on a Task article.
Note: At this time, attaching a file to the comment thread will not make the file to be visible in the Files tab.