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.
In the Client Record click on the Tasks tab, then select Create Task or Add a task.
In the Task list, click on Create task in the upper right corner.
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.
Note: After linking a client to a task, you'll find two new fields in the task details: Engagement and Resolution Case, which you can link if necessary.
7. Link the Task to an Engagement (Optional).
If you've already created an Engagement for the client, you link the Engagement to the task. Learn how to create an Engagement here!
When an Engagement is linked to a Task, you can optionally connect a specific Engagement Item from that Engagement to the Task. This is useful when the Task's work directly relates to a particular Engagement Item
8. Link the Task to a Resolution Case (Optional).
You can link a Resolution Case if you've already created one for the client. To learn how to create a Resolution Case, click here!
9. 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. You will need to add subtasks to the task to see this option.
10. Set a time budget in the Budget hours field.
11. Set a Priority status for the task by clicking on the Priority dropdown.
You can choose between low, medium, high, or no priority.
12. Add a description for the task.
13. 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. For more information on how to create a relative date, click here!
14. Tap the Recurring button to create a repeating task.
Click the "Recreate on" dropdown and select an option:
Completion - The task will recur when the task status is set to complete.
You can set the task to recur daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Due Date Schedule - The task will recur at a certain frequency based on the due date set on the task.
Example: To create a monthly recurring task due on the 30th, you would set the recurrence to "Monthly, every 1 month" and schedule the task to be created "1 week before the due date." This ensures the task appears in your list one week before the 30th each month, allowing a one-week completion period.
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.
Click New file to add a file saved on your computer or hard drive. Click Existing file to add a file stored in Canopy.
To remove a file, click the (x) icon.
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.