Workflows
Acting Office manages workflows through tasks, which can help the user to seamlessly navigate through various processes. From drafting necessary documents to gathering financial information, every task is meticulously organised to enhance productivity. The tasks are further split into task steps which can be managed through automation based on practice requirements. It updates task status, guiding the user through each stage—from initial preparation to final approval. This system not only boosts efficiency but also provides real-time updates and comprehensive status tracking for all tasks.
For an instance, let us see how the company accounts and tax return workflow is managed.
Creation of workflow
Our integration with Companies House allows us to automatically create tasks for the accounting period due, based on set frequency from the practice profile settings.
Task workflows can be created manually also. You can go to business and click on the add icon placed at the right side of the screen or by navigating to the tasks section and clicking on '+Task'.
Input the required details
a. Type of task - This would help in determining the due dates and automation triggers. b. Business- Business for which the tasks need to be created. c. Title of the task - This would help in quickly identifying the task and will get displayed at all the places including client profile's side panel. d. Action date - The date on which an action is due on the task from the assignee. This is the date on which a particular task would appear on user's dashboard. e. Due date - To set the due date for completion of the task by the assignee. f. Deadline - The date by which the entire task should be completed. g. Priority - To identify if it is a high, medium or low priority task. This would determine the color of the task on user dashboard to say red for urgent tasks, orange for medium level and blue for low level. h. Description of the task - This is recorded in the history of the task and is generally used for any specific instructions and other details about the task from the creator. i. Assignee - The person who is responsible to action the task. This would determine the person on whose dashboard the task would appear and can be changed in future. Attach any relevant documents and proceed by clicking on the ‘Save’ icon. You can also select whether the task is specific to any particular client or not by checking on the ‘Client specific’ checkbox.
Navigating to the workflow
To proceed further with a workflow, navigate to the business for which task had been created and then select the desired one from the tasks section displayed on the right side.
Alternatively, you can go to the tasks section in the left panel and select the particular task from the list.
Observe-
Important Companies House deadlines are placed just below the task section in the user profile for easy reference and timely submissions.
Tasks in Acting Office
When inside a workflow, note the various stages and statuses of each task step. There are several options -
Edit task- The edit feature allows you to modify various aspects of a task, including the title, start date, priority, deadline, description, period and assignee. Once you have made the necessary changes, click ‘Save’ to apply them.
Add new note- To add a new note, use the shortcut 'Shift + N’. You can select the type of note from the dropdown menu and specify the date. There is also an option to notify a user, simply check the box and select the user to be notified. Write a detailed note for future reference, and attach any necessary files using the attachment icon. Click ‘Save’ to finalise.
Send email- If you need to compose an email, click on the email icon. A comprehensive guide on how to compose an email, along with all relevant tools, can be found in this article.
Create invoice- To create an invoice, use the shortcut 'Shift + I’. Select the services for which invoices need to be sent to the customer. Detailed instructions on drafting an invoice are provided in this article.
Change assignee- To change the assignee or saviour, use the button located on the left side of the panel. Toggle the switch to indicate whether you want to change the assignee i.e, reassign the task permanently or temporarily appoint a saviour for the task where you will need to specify the period for which the new assignee needs to be appointed and input any relevant information in the note section. On completion of the period, the task would be again shifted from saviour to assignee.
Delete task- To remove a task, click on the 'delete' icon. A confirmation message will pop up, enter a relevant note in the provided box and click ‘Yes’ to proceed.
Change action date- A dropdown menu is available within the task workflows to change the action date. Simply select the new date to update the action date for the task.
Managing tasks
History section displays all the edits within the task . The steps of task help in setting a workflow. The status for steps of a task could be updated manually or through automation triggers. Just to understand this more, let us see sample task steps of company accounts tasks -
Gather financial information
Reviewing AML and KYC
Preparation of drafts
Quality assurance
Sending of drafts to the client
Submission to Companies House
Submission to HMRC
Updating the client about the filings
Task steps
Status of task steps
Waiting: Where the work has not yet started, it is shown as 'Waiting'.
In Progress: When a task is currently being worked on and not yet completed, the status will be displayed as ‘In Progress’.
Completed: When a task is fully completed and all associated requirements are met, the status will be marked as ‘Completed’.
N/A: If a task step is not applicable for a particular client, the status will be updated to ‘N/A’.
These statuses are updated in real-time and can also be manually adjusted from the dropdown menu by selecting the relevant stage for the specific client.
Automation of workflow
The first and the last step is generally kept manual for users to confirm its completion.
Further, in the Tax and Accounts module, when drafts are prepared and sent for internal review, the 'Quality assurance' stage will automatically change to ‘in-progress’. Once the reviewer thoroughly examines the reports and clicks the ‘Approve’ button, this stage is marked as ‘completed’.
On creating an e-signature, 'Send drafts to the client' step will be marked as ‘in-progress' and once sent to the client, it will be marked as ‘completed’ and 'Get the drafts approved' step will change to 'in-progress'.
Once the drafts are digitally approved by the client via the e-signature, 'Get the drafts approved' step will be marked as ‘completed’.
Upon initiating the steps to file the accounts with the Companies House, the system will mark the step as 'in-progress.’ Once filed and updated on Companies House, this stage will be marked as ‘completed’. Similarly, when tax return along with the accounts are processed for filing with HMRC, the Submission to HMRC step will be marked as ‘in progress’ and on generation of successful submission response, it will be marked as 'completed'.
The final step would be to acknowledge the filings to client and mark this step as 'completed'. On completing all the steps, the entire task is marked as 'completed'.
Observe
Steps and its automation can be changed depending on the practice requirement from the practice profile settings.
In cases where the reports are rolled back, the workflow steps would accordingly go back to previous stages.
If any of the steps are not relevant, the step can be marked as ‘N/A’ for that particular task.
Hope this is helpful.
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