The complete Bookwits user handbook

Where to find this workflow and its controls

After signing in as a professional, use Getting started in the Need help? box at the bottom of the left sidebar. The sidebar is your module menu; the tabs across a page belong to the module you have already opened. On a narrower window, use the menu icon near the Bookwits logo to reveal the sidebar.

For your first client, choose Clients → All clients → Add client, above the directory on the right. To import a spreadsheet instead, open Actions → Import clients from CSV above that table. For account setup, open your name/avatar at the top right and choose Settings. To return from Settings, use Workspace in the top bar.

A client invited by a firm should use the invitation and client sign-in instead of following the professional setup checklist. A staff member joining an existing firm should accept the team invitation before starting another workspace.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

The setup path (in order)

1. Create your account and profile
2. Verify your email so everything works
3. Create one real client to test your workflow
4. Import clients if you have 10+ clients
5. Set up templates tasks + emails + tax checklist
6. Add your team (optional)

7. Connect email Gmail / Outlook
8. Set up reminders scheduled follow-ups

1) Create your account

2) Confirm your email address

3) Create your first “real” client (test client setup)

4) Import clients in bulk (CSV + mapping)

5) Set up Templates (Tasks + Emails + Personal Tax Checklist)

6) Add your team (optional)

7) Connect your email (Gmail or Outlook)

1. Open your mailbox settings. Select Emails in the left sidebar. If the mailbox is not connected or access has expired, use the configuration/reconnection control shown in the notice. You can also open your name at the top right, then Settings → Email.
2. Choose the provider for the mailbox you actually use. Select Gmail or Outlook where offered. This connects a mailbox for reading and sending email; it is not a client-platform invitation and does not change the client’s contact address.
3. Complete the provider’s sign-in personally. Review the account shown by Google or Microsoft and the requested access. If your browser has several accounts, make sure you are authorizing the firm mailbox you intended. Never give another person your password to finish this step.
4. Return to Bookwits and check the result. Wait for the mailbox folders to become available. If the expired-access notice remains, the connection is not restored yet. Check the selected provider/account and ask the mailbox administrator for help when access is restricted.
5. Check the sender before your first real message. Open a new email and inspect its sender, signature and recipient fields. If you send an authorized test, use your own intended test address and verify delivery separately. A connected account alone does not prove a particular email arrived.

8) Set up Email Reminders (scheduled emails)

Choose your starting point before following the setup checklist

Firm owner: configure the firm workspace, define access and prepare templates before inviting everyone. You are setting up the environment your colleagues will share, not a separate workspace per employee.

Bookkeeper or team member: accept your firm’s invitation first. Ask which clients have been shared with you and who reviews your work. Do not create a second firm merely because a shared client is missing.

Client: start from the request your bookkeeper sent. A checklist, shared folder, client task and signing request have different access steps. The client-portal chapter explains each one; you do not need to follow the firm-administration setup.

Bookwits organizes the work around bookkeeping and tax services. A company profile, task marked complete or uploaded return does not itself prepare books, submit a tax return, remit tax or prove government acceptance. Record those outside outcomes only after your firm has verified them.

Check one complete example before working in bulk

1. Open an authorized client and confirm the name, company or tax year.
2. Create or review the appropriate internal task and its owner.
3. Check where the supporting documents belong and what is shared with the client.
4. Preview the relevant template. Confirm the recipient and wording before sending anything.
5. After a real response, reopen the correct record and review the result. A sent invitation is not a completed client response.

Keep preparation separate from sending. Inviting a member, sharing a folder, sending a checklist, starting a recurring email and sending a signing request can contact real people.

Example: prepare a small firm before inviting its first client

Imagine a firm owner, a preparer named Jordan and a reviewer named Morgan. The owner prepares a monthly-close task template and decides which clients Jordan needs. Jordan should join that workspace through its invitation rather than create a second firm with a similar name. Morgan needs a clear review handoff; merely adding Morgan to the team does not explain which work is ready.

Use Sarah Thompson as the first example relationship. Create her client profile, add Thompson Consulting Inc. and review the resulting company workspace. Decide where statements belong, which staff need access and which information the onboarding checklist should collect. Preview a task created from the template and replace generic dates and descriptions with this engagement’s details. Keep invitations and sends separate until the recipient and wording have been checked.

The useful outcome is not “every settings screen was visited.” It is that a colleague can locate Sarah, distinguish her company from her personal-tax work, find the documents, understand the next task and identify its owner. Resolve these questions before importing a large list or scheduling recurring communication.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

First distinguish a staff Owner, Admin or Member from a client-portal account. A Member is a working staff role, not a read-only guest; its client scope, task visibility and approval controls differ from management roles. Ask for the specific missing client or task permission rather than requesting Admin for every problem.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Dashboard in the left sidebar, or use Workspace in the top bar. The four summary figures are at the top. Below them, the task area contains Upcoming tasks, Today's tasks and Overdue tasks; open a task from its card rather than creating another copy.

Show completed tasks and View calendar are in the task-area heading. The overdue area has its own period selector. Recent clients opens profiles you have visited, while View All clients returns to the complete directory. The Quick actions area provides shortcuts for creating work, adding a client and starting time tracking.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

The Dashboard is a starting point for finding work, not the place where every record is edited. Use its task panels, recent clients and shortcuts to enter the detailed module.

Read the dashboard without confusing the indicators

• Client, company and personal-tax totals: these refer to different record types. One client with two companies is not three clients.
• Today’s tasks: start with work due today. Open a task to read its actual instructions, assignee and status.
• Upcoming tasks: inspect future deadlines before allocating work.
• Overdue tasks: investigate the blocker and update the underlying task. Opening the panel does not resolve the overdue work.
• View calendar: move into the task calendar to inspect deadlines by date.
• Recent clients: reopen a client you visited. This is a convenience list, not your complete client directory.
• Add a new client: starts client setup. Search for an existing record first to avoid duplicates.

Find a record from the header

1. Find the magnifying-glass button in the top application bar and open Search your workspace. This searches across supported record types; the Search field above an individual table searches that table instead.
2. Enter at least two characters of a distinguishing name or phrase. For example, search “Sarah Williams”, then choose Clients in the search panel if you need her profile rather than a task mentioning her. The input accepts up to 200 characters.
3. Compare the result’s name and supporting details before opening it. Use the keyboard arrows and Enter when convenient; Escape closes the search. After opening a result, confirm its client, company or year before editing.
4. If the record does not appear, try a more distinctive term, review the module’s own filters and ask whether the record is shared with you. Search results respect access; a search is not a way to obtain another person’s permissions.

Use notifications as a route back to the work

Open the notification bell to review updates and follow a notification to its related record. Read the record’s current state: a notification describes an event that may already have been followed by another change. Email notification preferences are managed in Settings; chat mute settings belong to the conversation.

A practical daily routine

Review overdue work, today’s tasks and upcoming deadlines; open each important task; read the latest activity and comments; review client submissions; then update the responsible task or list. A zero on one panel does not prove there is no work in another module or under a different filter.

Example: turn an overdue indicator into a clear next action

Suppose the dashboard shows an overdue October close for Thompson Consulting. Open the task before changing anything. Its description may say the bank statement is missing, while the latest comment says Sarah uploaded it yesterday. Follow the client/company context into Documents and check the file itself. If it is the correct October statement, the blocker may now be resolved even though the task’s old status remains.

Jordan can then resume reconciliation, update the task’s state and leave a comment explaining what changed. If the upload is actually September’s statement, keep the blocker explicit and request October instead. Neither the overdue counter nor an upload notification decides that question for you.

During a team review, compare the dashboard’s current scope with the Tasks view. A future-dated task belongs in upcoming work rather than today’s list. Work excluded by a filter or not shared with a member may not appear in that member’s view. Use the indicator to open the underlying record, not as an unexplained total to copy into a client report.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Owner/Admin see team-wide internal tasks; a Member’s task widgets follow assignments unless Can view all tasks is enabled. Assigned parent tasks can make their subtasks visible. Dates, selected ranges and completion filters still matter. A dashboard summary is not a complete permission map: open the underlying record/list to see what your account can actually work on.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Open your name/avatar at the top right → Settings. Settings has its own left-hand category menu, not the normal Clients/Tasks sidebar. Use General for your profile and language, Security for login details and verification, and Billing for the payment information available to your account.

The communication group contains Email and Notifications. The workspace group contains Company branding, Fields configuration and Tasks when your permissions enable them. Notifications has separate Email notifications and In-app notifications views. Save the particular section you changed; opening another category is not a universal Save command.

The magnifying glass and notification bell remain in the top bar. Workspace returns to the dashboard. Do not use Log out merely to leave Settings.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

From a signed-in workspace screen, look at the upper-right corner of the green header. Select your own name or round avatar, then choose Settings in that menu. This is your account menu, not a client’s three-dot menu. The Settings page groups its sections under Account, Communication and Workspace. On a smaller screen, use the section selector near the top of Settings instead of the desktop sidebar. General and Security concern your own account; branding, field configuration and default task reminders can affect the team.

Change your profile and interface language

1. Open your name/avatar at the top right of Bookwits and select Settings. In the settings sidebar, choose General; this sidebar replaces the normal module menu while you are in settings.
2. Find the profile section you want to change and use its Edit control. Check the first/last name or avatar you are updating; this is your account identity, not the name of the firm or of a client.
3. For interface language, select English or French in the language control and save the relevant section. Read the changed screen to confirm the choice. User-entered names, notes and document contents are not automatically translated.
4. Use Workspace in the top bar to return to the application. You do not need to log out merely to leave Settings. If you cancel an edit, check that your previous value remains.

Change your login email

1. Select your name/avatar in the upper-right header, choose Settings, then select Security under Account in the Settings sidebar. On a small screen, choose Security in the Settings section selector.
2. In Login credentials, find the Email row and select its Edit action. Do not use the separate Password or Phone 2-Step Verification controls.
3. The Update email dialog opens. Replace the address with the permanent mailbox you control, check the spelling, then choose Update. This action starts email verification; opening the dialog alone changes nothing.
4. Open the verification message in that mailbox and follow its verification link. If it does not arrive, check spam/junk and the address before using Resend email.
5. Return to the Bookwits verification dialog and select Confirm email verified. Resolve any verification error and check the Email row afterward. Until verification succeeds, the previous login address remains unchanged.

Example: changing your own sign-in address from an old work mailbox to your new work mailbox does not edit Sarah Williams’s contact email or reconnect an Outlook account. A client’s contact email, your login email and your connected Gmail/Outlook mailboxes are separate settings.

Change or reset your password

Open your name/avatar → Settings → Account → Security. Under Login credentials, select Edit on the Password row, not Edit on the Email row. Enter your current password, a new password of at least 12 characters containing uppercase and lowercase letters and a number, and the matching confirmation. Choose the password section’s Save; use its Cancel to abandon the draft. If you do not know the current password, Reset password sends a recovery email; it is not a way to reveal the old password. When signed out, use the login page’s recovery option instead. Never share a password or verification code with a colleague or support contact.

Enable phone two-step verification

1. Open your own name/avatar at the upper right, choose Settings, then Security in its Account group. Find the Phone 2-Step Verification row. Use a phone you control, not another staff member’s number. On a small screen, select Security in the settings section selector.
2. Follow the enable/verification action, enter the correct phone and country code, then request the code. This sends a real verification message; review the number before requesting it.
3. Enter the code you receive and complete the confirmation. Check that the security screen now shows verification enabled. Entering a number without completing the code step is not the finished setup.
4. If the code does not arrive, check the number and use the offered resend/recovery controls. If you will change phones, review this setting while you still have access rather than waiting until you are locked out.

Disabling two-step verification requires confirmation and reduces account protection. On a shared computer, sign out when finished; closing a tab is not the same as signing out.

Choose useful notifications

In Settings → Notifications, review task updates, document uploads, unread chat messages, client task completion, reminder success/failure and the other categories available to your account. Save the changes. The option to update upload notifications for all shared folders is broader than a personal preference: read the confirmation before applying it. Keep failure notifications visible so unsuccessful scheduled communication is not mistaken for delivery.

Example: distinguish three email addresses before changing one

Jordan signs in to Bookwits with a personal work address, connects a separate Gmail or Outlook mailbox for correspondence and maintains Sarah’s contact email in her client profile. These addresses have different jobs. Updating Sarah’s profile does not switch Jordan’s sending mailbox. Connecting a mailbox does not establish that Jordan’s login email was changed or verified.

If Jordan moves to a new permanent login address, follow the Security change and verification flow, then inspect the account’s displayed verified address. If the problem is that replies are coming from the wrong mailbox, inspect Email settings instead. If only Sarah’s future invitations should use another address, inspect the client’s contact details and existing invitation state.

The same distinction applies to language: choosing French changes interface wording, not Sarah’s typed name, a colleague’s note or the text inside a PDF. Review a composed message or template in its own context before sending. Never assume that switching the interface translated every client-facing document automatically.

Use the top-bar workspace search instead of guessing a module

For professional accounts with search access, the magnifying glass near the top-right notification bell opens workspace search. Enter at least two characters. The search panel provides available record-type tabs, grouped results and a result count. Your role and enabled modules determine what can appear; search does not bypass a colleague's private client permissions.

Example: enter “Sarah Williams,” then choose the Clients or Companies type to distinguish her person record from Blue Horizon Partners. Read the result's context before opening it. A person's name can appear in several companies, annual files or work items, so the first result is not automatically the intended destination.

Use the arrow keys to move through results, Enter to open the selected result, and Escape to close. Scroll within the results for more available matches. Recent items help return to previously opened records; they are not a complete client directory. If the panel reports an error, use its retry control rather than treating missing results as deleted records.

Separate notification emails, the bell inbox and popup alerts

The bell in the top bar opens notifications. All includes read and unread items; Unread limits the list. Opening an item marks it read and follows its available destination. Mark all as read changes the inbox state; it does not complete the tasks or client requests mentioned in the messages. A destination may be unavailable if the underlying record was removed or your access changed.

Open Settings → Notifications. Email notifications controls the email categories shown there, such as client uploads, unread chat, client-task completion, task updates and reminder outcomes. In-app notifications controls the bell inbox and popup choices. In the in-app matrix, a popup depends on the corresponding in-app notification being enabled. Review the available per-type options, then use Save for changes to that matrix.

Example: keep a task event in your bell inbox but turn off its popup if you do not want an interruption. That choice does not necessarily disable the separately configured email notification. Muting a chat conversation is another conversation-specific setting, not a universal notification switch.

Know which billing and security action you are changing

Settings → Billing contains the subscription options available to your account. Monthly/yearly selection changes the plan comparison; purchasing requires the appropriate checkout action and confirmation. Separate subscription, credit and promotional-placement pages serve different purchases. Review price, billing period and the intended workspace before confirming a payment. Leaving checkout or seeing a button is not proof of a completed purchase.

Settings → Security separates login email, password and phone two-step verification. Use Edit for the relevant item, follow its verification/validation, and save that section. A password change uses the current password and a matching new-password confirmation; the reset link is for recovery when the current password is unavailable. Do not send passwords or verification codes to another user. Changing your own login email does not update every client's contact email or reconnect your external mailbox.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

All staff roles manage their own name, login/security and notification preferences. Owner/Admin is not permission to change another person’s password or read their mailbox. Billing is Owner-only; Admin is not a substitute. The Owner’s professional-profile features are also separate from an employee’s personal account settings.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Clients in the left sidebar, then All clients in the top tab row. The search field is above the table. Open Actions → Table settings to change the columns or Actions → Import clients from CSV to import a spreadsheet. Filters changes which clients appear; the green Add client control starts the client wizard.

Click the client's name to open their profile. Its top tabs are Overview, Companies, Personal taxes, Client tasks, Mailbox, Chat, Budget and Sign. In Overview, find the Client details card. Edit is at its top right; the three-dot button immediately beside Edit contains Link partner, Invite to Bookwits, invitation follow-up actions where applicable, and archive/delete actions.

Contacts, software credentials and the task calendar are separate sections below the details card. A contact person is not automatically a connected portal account. A partner is not the same thing as a contact, staff member or company owner.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

The Bookwits data model

Quick Start (What to Do First)

Working through the module

1) Add a New Client

A client record represents the person or primary relationship your firm serves. It is the starting point for their contact details, companies, annual personal-tax work and staff access. Search the directory before creating it: adding the same person twice can split documents and work between two profiles.

For example, create one client for Sarah Thompson, then attach Thompson Consulting Inc. as a company. If Sarah also needs a personal return, add its year under the same client. You do not need a second Sarah record just because you provide two services. Enter the required first and last names; add verified contact details rather than inventing missing information.

1. Open Clients in the left sidebar. On the page that opens, select All clients in the top row of tabs. This is the directory of people; Companies and Personal taxes show different kinds of records.

   

2. Check whether the person already exists. Use Search above the table and compare the name and contact details of matching rows. If Emma Laurent is already listed, open her name to update her profile instead of adding a second Emma. Clear the search when you are done.
3. Select Add client at the upper right, above the table. It is the green control with a plus sign, beside Filters. The Create client page opens with five stages: Personal info, Address, Companies, Additional details and Team.
4. Complete Personal info. Enter the first name and last name in separate required fields. Email and phone are optional here; if you provide an email, use a complete valid address. For phone numbers, check the country dial code. The example shows Emma Laurent with an illustrative address; it is still an unsaved draft.

   

5. Use Next to reach Address. Enter the client’s personal street address, city, country, province and postal code when known. Check the country before choosing a province. These are not automatically the company’s mailing details. You can leave information you do not yet have blank and continue.

   

6. At Companies, decide whether a business belongs on this profile. A blank company editor can open automatically. For a personal-tax-only client, choose Cancel inside that company editor, then the page’s Next; do not invent a company. If adding a business, enter its name and applicable details, then use Save company to add it to the unsaved client draft. The small round + beside Companies adds another business. Final client saving is still required.

   

7. Review Additional details. Choose any relevant tags and the client’s preferred language. Contacts, software-credential entries and custom fields are separate areas on this screen. Add only information your firm needs; leave optional areas empty rather than guessing. The available custom fields depend on your workspace.

   

8. At Team, review the manager and staff access. Owners/admins can choose a client manager for accountability; that choice does not grant access. Use the team search and selection boxes for the Members who need the client. Owners/admins already have access to all clients. Check the selected count and names; this does not invite the client to the platform.

   

9. Use Next to open the review screen. Read the sections together: person, address, companies, additional details and team. Use a section’s pencil icon to correct it, then review again. Choose Save only when the record is ready. The illustrated review is a draft, not a saved client.

   

10. Understand the early-save option. Finish and save client saves from the current stage; it is not merely a button for previewing the final screen. Use it only if the information already entered is sufficient. After saving, Bookwits opens the client profile: verify the name and email there. Creating the record does not automatically send a portal invitation.

The client appears in All Clients . You can attach Companies, Personal Taxes, tasks, documents, and more.

If you don’t have all details yet, create the client anyway and complete fields later.

2) Edit a Client’s Information

Update the existing client when the person’s contact details change. Editing preserves the relationship with their existing work; creating a replacement profile does not transfer tasks, documents or invitations. Open the profile and identify the particular section you need to change.

For example, Sarah moves home but her corporation keeps its office. Change Sarah’s personal address and inspect any company address-matching option separately. Similarly, correcting her contact email is not the same as changing your connected mailbox or her account’s login address. After saving, reopen the section and check the exact value before using it for a new request.

1. Open Clients → All clients, search above the table, then select the client’s name. Check the profile heading so you are not editing another person with the same name.
2. Select the profile’s Overview tab. Find the Client details card and use Edit at its upper right. Contacts, company details and personal-tax years have their own editing areas; changing one does not necessarily change the others.
3. Change the intended fields and review the surrounding information. For an email correction, confirm the actual address with the person; do not replace it with a colleague’s address simply to receive the client’s invitations.
4. Save the change, wait for the form to close or show success, then read the updated value on the profile. Reopen the editor if you need to check an important detail. To leave a draft unchanged, use Cancel rather than saving blank or invented replacement values.

Make edits from the client profile (not the list view) to avoid missing fields.

3) Delete a Client (and when you should not)

Archiving and permanent deletion solve different problems. Archive a former client when you want the active directory to be easier to read but still need their history. Consider permanent deletion only after checking the confirmation, related work and your retention obligations. Removing a duplicate name without checking its contents can remove the profile that contains the useful records.

For example, if two Sarah Thompson profiles exist, compare their companies, years and documents first. Do not assume the newer profile is empty or that deletion merges anything. If the relationship merely ended, archiving is a more appropriate starting point than destroying the history.

1. Find the person in Clients → All clients and open their profile. Confirm the name, companies and reason for removing the record before using any destructive command. A search filter hiding the row is not evidence that the client has been deleted.
2. In Overview → Client details, open the three-dot menu beside Edit. Choose Archive if the intention is to stop showing an inactive client in ordinary active lists while retaining their record. Read the confirmation before accepting.
3. To find an archived person again, return to All clients and open Filters above the table. Review the Archived switch and any search or other active filters. Open the intended record and use Unarchive when appropriate.
4. Use Delete permanently only when permanent removal is authorized and your retention requirements permit it. Read which record is named in the confirmation. Cancel if anything is unclear; archiving, unlinking a partner and cancelling an invitation are different operations.

Do not delete if the client has work history you may need later or records tied to reporting/audit trail.

Safer alternative: use an Inactive/Archived status (if your workflow supports it) instead of deletion.

4) Add Business Information (Companies)

A company is a separate business entity within a client relationship. Its legal name, contact information, fiscal year-end and obligations can differ from the individual’s details. Keep separate entities separate even when they have the same owner, accountant or office address.

For example, Sarah owns Thompson Consulting Inc. and Thompson Properties Inc. Create two companies under Sarah, with their own year-ends and workspaces. Store the consulting company’s payroll material in its company context, not in the property company or Sarah’s personal tax year. The parent client keeps the relationship together; the company selection keeps the work correctly separated.

1. Start with the person who owns the company record. Open Clients → All clients, search above the table and select the person’s name. Check the name at the top of the profile before continuing.
2. Open the company workspace. Select Companies in the client profile’s top tabs, not the global Companies directory. Existing company names appear as tabs. Select Add company beside those tabs to create another entity for this client.
3. Enter information for the business, not the individual. Give the company its own name, type and business number when known. Review its year-end, business activity, email, phone and address. For example, Emma Laurent’s personal email and Maple Grove Design Ltd.’s business email may be different.
4. Review the sections that apply. Complete the tax registrations, payroll obligations, forms and custom fields shown by your firm’s configuration. Turning on a registration may reveal extra questions. Do not select Yes merely to make a section look complete, and do not guess missing account numbers or filing frequencies.
5. Save and check the new company tab. Use the form’s save action, wait for confirmation and open the resulting company. Under Details, compare the name and year-end with what you entered. Its Tasks, Documents and Checklists sections now refer to this company, not every company belonging to the client.

If a client has more than one business, add each entity under the same client profile.

5) Add Custom Fields to a Business Profile

Custom fields capture your firm’s own operating information rather than replacing standard company identity fields. Decide what a value means and who will maintain it before creating a new definition. Two similarly named fields can otherwise become competing sources of truth.

For example, use a checkbox called “CRA representative access confirmed” for a verified yes/no condition, a date for “Engagement start date,” and text for an account identifier that must keep leading zeroes. Apply a definition to all companies only when it should be shared across the workspace. A one-company exception should not automatically become a column everyone must maintain.

1. Open the client’s name from Clients → All clients, choose Companies in their profile, then select the specific company tab. Check the business name before editing.
2. In the company’s Details section, use its edit control. Scroll through the form to the custom-fields area. These fields describe this business; they are not questions in a checklist that has already been sent.
3. Fill an existing field with the correct type of information: text in a text field, a date in a date field, and an offered choice in a dropdown. If a new definition is needed, use Add custom field where your role permits it.
4. When adding a definition, choose its type and meaningful name. Read Apply to all companies carefully: it broadens where the field is available, rather than meaning “save this one value”. Use a company-specific field for an exception.
5. Save the field and company changes as requested by the form. Reopen Details to check the saved value. If you want it visible in a directory column, configure that table separately; adding a field does not mean every table automatically displays it.

Start with 5–8 custom fields that directly reduce follow-ups and missed steps.

6) Open a New Personal Tax Year

A personal tax year keeps annual work distinct. It is not the client’s birth year, the company’s fiscal year-end or a replacement for last year’s file. Choose the year of the return you are working on, not automatically the current calendar year.

For example, preparing Sarah’s 2025 return during 2026 belongs under 2025. A later correction to 2024 still belongs in the 2024 context. Before using a multi-client creation option, inspect the selected people and year together. After creation, open one result and verify its year tab before adding checklists, tasks or documents.

1. Open the correct person’s profile. In Clients → All clients, search for the person and select their name. Choose Personal taxes in the profile’s top tabs. This keeps the year attached to that person rather than a similarly named client.
2. Look at the existing year tabs first. If the required year already exists, open it instead of creating a duplicate. Otherwise, select Add year beside the year tabs and choose the tax year requested by the engagement, not automatically the current calendar year.
3. Keep a single-person operation limited to that person. If the form offers Apply to multiple clients, leave it off unless you intentionally want a batch. For a batch, review every selected client or search group before confirming; the selected year will apply to that selection.
4. Create the year and select its tab. Check both the client name and the year in the workspace. Open Checklists, Tasks, Documents, Notes or Guidelines within that year for annual work. Opening 2025 is not the same as opening the person’s 2026 records.
5. Check what still needs to be done. Creating a tax year does not send a checklist, prepare a return or file it. For intake, open the year’s Checklists section and prepare the appropriate request. Assign preparation and review work separately in Tasks.

Tip: Need to open the same tax year for multiple clients? Turn on “Apply to multiple clients” and use Advanced Search to select the client group(s) you want. This lets you create the personal tax year in bulk instead of repeating the steps one-by-one.

7) Understand All Clients vs Companies vs Personal Taxes

All clients answers “Which person or relationship am I looking for?” Use it to find Sarah Thompson, review her contact details, see linked relationships and enter her complete workspace. Sarah appears as one client even if your firm handles several businesses and multiple years for her.

Companies answers “Which business entity needs work?” Thompson Consulting Inc. and Thompson Properties Inc. are separate rows because each can have its own year-end, registrations and work. Use this cross-client view to organize company obligations rather than opening every owner in turn.

Personal taxes answers “Which person and annual file needs attention?” Sarah’s 2024 and 2025 files are different annual records. Use this view for work across people and years; use the selected year inside her profile for its documents, tasks and checklists.

Suppose Sarah calls about a new phone number: start with All clients. If you need corporations with December year-ends, start with Companies and the relevant criteria. If you are checking missing 2025 tax intake, start with Personal taxes. Moving between these views does not copy, merge or complete records. Always check the selected person, company and year before acting.

8) Customize Tables (Hide Columns / Pick Fields)

Table settings change your working view, not the saved information. Choose columns that help answer the question in front of you, and distinguish a hidden column from an empty field. Search and filters can also exclude rows even when all columns are visible.

For example, a year-end reviewer may need company name, year-end, manager and status. A colleague checking invitations may need client email and team access instead. Hiding phone numbers does not remove them from profiles or stop a request from using a saved address. After changing the view, open a representative record if you need to inspect information that is no longer displayed.

1. Open the table you actually want to change. For the people directory, use Clients → All clients → Actions → Table settings. A company or personal-tax table has its own settings; do not assume one table’s layout changes every other table.
2. In the settings form, review the column names. Show the information useful for your work and hide unnecessary columns. Where ordering or frozen-column controls are available, arrange them so the identifying client/company information remains easy to follow.
3. Apply/save the layout with the control shown in that settings form. Return to the table and check the headers and horizontal scrolling. A hidden column does not delete the data stored in the record.
4. If a record is missing, inspect Search and Filters instead of adding more columns. Layout settings control how rows are displayed; filters control which rows are included. These are separate adjustments.

Typical views: Tax season (status/year/missing docs), Year-end (fiscal year-end/status), Onboarding (access requested/docs received).

9) Client Lists (Your deadline & workflow control center)

A Client List turns a defined group of records into an operational tracker. Its selection criteria determine the rows; its name explains the purpose to colleagues. A list named “December year-ends” will not select December companies unless its actual criterion and parameters match.

For example, create a list for December corporate year-ends, inspect its companies, then track a row as Waiting on client while statements are missing. Add a short note naming the missing period and create a task for the colleague responsible for follow-up. The list’s row status and that task’s status remain separate signals that you should reconcile during review.

1. Choose Clients in the left sidebar, then Client lists in the top tab row. Open the list-creation control above the existing lists. This is a work tracker, not the All clients address directory.
2. Give the list a specific name and, if useful, a description. “December 2026 year-ends” is more informative than “Important”. The title explains the list to colleagues but does not itself choose the records.
3. Under Select criteria, choose the type of work and complete its parameters, such as the applicable year-end period or personal tax year. Use the actual offered criteria; a phrase typed in the name is not a filtering rule.
4. Create the list and inspect its rows. Check several client/company names and the count against the selected criteria. If a company is absent, check the year-end or obligation recorded on that company rather than creating a duplicate client.
5. Use the list’s statuses and notes to track progress. When someone needs an assigned action and a deadline, create or open a Task as well. A status in a client list is not automatically proof that a return was filed or a client request was completed.

Create one list per real workflow. If it doesn’t map to a real outcome, it becomes clutter.

10) Practical workflow examples

The same client structure supports different services, but the sequence should match the engagement. Start with the correct person, choose the appropriate company or annual record, then connect work and supporting material. Do not use one generic status as evidence that every service is finished.

For a new bookkeeping engagement, create the client and company, confirm staff access, collect setup information and assign onboarding work. For a returning personal-tax client, keep the existing person, open the correct year and collect annual information. For a client with several businesses, check the entity on every task and document. The examples below show the overall order; the dedicated chapters explain each operation.

1. New business client: create the person through Add a New Client, then open their profile’s Companies tab and add the business. Review its year-end and obligations. Use Client lists for the relevant work population and Tasks for named owners, deadlines and execution steps.
2. Personal-tax client: open the person’s Personal taxes tab, select/create the correct year and open that year’s Checklists section to prepare intake. Keep preparation/review assignments in Tasks. Link a partner only when two separate client profiles genuinely need that relationship; do not merge their annual files.
3. One person with several businesses: keep one appropriate person profile and add separate company tabs for the distinct entities. Before opening tasks, documents or checklists, select the company name and then its section. Use the global Companies directory when comparing entities across several people.

Upload Clients in Bulk (CSV Import + Column Mapping)

If you already have clients in a spreadsheet, upload them using a CSV file instead of adding them one-by-one.

What “mapping columns” means

Mapping is telling Bookwits: “This column is First Name”, “This column is Email”, “This column is Company Name”, etc. This matters because spreadsheets use different column names (Given Name vs First Name, Cell vs Phone, Business vs Company Name).

Before you upload

• Each company can have its own row; repeated client names are grouped as explained below
• Clear column headings (top row)
• Save/export as .CSV
• Clean duplicates first (to avoid double-importing)

How to upload clients with CSV

1. Open the client directory. In the left sidebar, select Clients, then the All clients tab at the top. Above the table, open Actions → Import clients from CSV. This is different from Add client, which creates one person at a time.
2. Prepare the spreadsheet. Use the import page’s example/template to understand the available columns. Give first name and last name separate columns. Save as CSV; do not simply rename an Excel file. Keep the header row, accents and leading zeroes in identifiers.
3. Select a small, manageable batch. The documented limit is 100 data rows, not 100 different people. A person with several companies can occupy several rows. For example, two rows for Emma Laurent and her two businesses still consume two rows of the batch.
4. Match the columns on the mapping screen. For each source heading, choose the Bookwits field that means the same thing. Map personal email to the client email, not company email. Leave an optional destination unmapped when you do not have that information; do not select a similar-looking but unrelated field.
5. Read the preview before importing. Check names, company ownership, dates, country/province choices and custom fields. Correct any highlighted errors. A row containing some useful information needs review; it is not the same as a completely blank row.
6. Confirm once, then inspect the saved records. Wait for the import result. Return to All clients, search for several imported people, open their profiles and check their companies. If an error occurs, inspect what was created before uploading the same batch again, so you do not create duplicates.

Common mistakes

• Missing headers: mapping won’t work properly if your CSV doesn’t have column names
• Combined full name: you may need to split into first/last (first and last name are separate required fields)
• Mixed formats: keep phone numbers/dates consistent
• Duplicates: importing the same CSV twice often creates duplicates

Troubleshooting (Common Beginner Issues)

Glossary

The client creation wizard, screen by screen

Choose Clients → All clients → Add client. The wizard contains Personal info, Address, Companies, Additional details and Team. Next moves through the setup; Finish and save client lets you finish without filling every optional section. Use it only when you intend to create the record.

Manual client entry accepts up to 100 characters for each first/last name and 200 for email. CSV import has stricter limits: 30 characters for each name and 50 for the client email. A value accepted by manual entry is therefore not necessarily accepted by import. Do not abbreviate a legal name without checking your firm’s recordkeeping requirements.

Use the profile for ongoing maintenance

1. Search All clients and open the correct person.
2. Use the information card’s Edit action to update contact details, address or language. Review the exact section rather than creating a new client to change an email.
3. Use the client menu for invitation actions, linking a partner, archive/unarchive and permanent deletion when available.
4. Review contacts and linked partner records separately. A partner relationship is not permission to send one person’s private link to the other.
5. Open the company or tax-year workspace for business/year-specific tasks, documents, checklists and guidelines.

An invitation can be pending even though the client record already exists. Resend or cancel the pending invitation as appropriate; adding the same person again does not fix acceptance. Archive hides an inactive record from ordinary active work; permanent deletion is a separate, destructive decision. Review related records and your retention obligations before confirming it.

CSV import: prepare, map, review, then commit

1. Open the client directory. In the left sidebar, select Clients, then the All clients tab at the top. Above the table, open Actions → Import clients from CSV. This is different from Add client, which creates one person at a time.
2. Prepare the spreadsheet. Use the import page’s example/template to understand the available columns. Give first name and last name separate columns. Save as CSV; do not simply rename an Excel file. Keep the header row, accents and leading zeroes in identifiers.
3. Select a small, manageable batch. The documented limit is 100 data rows, not 100 different people. A person with several companies can occupy several rows. For example, two rows for Emma Laurent and her two businesses still consume two rows of the batch.
4. Match the columns on the mapping screen. For each source heading, choose the Bookwits field that means the same thing. Map personal email to the client email, not company email. Leave an optional destination unmapped when you do not have that information; do not select a similar-looking but unrelated field.
5. Read the preview before importing. Check names, company ownership, dates, country/province choices and custom fields. Correct any highlighted errors. A row containing some useful information needs review; it is not the same as a completely blank row.
6. Confirm once, then inspect the saved records. Wait for the import result. Return to All clients, search for several imported people, open their profiles and check their companies. If an error occurs, inspect what was created before uploading the same batch again, so you do not create duplicates.

Important grouping rule for repeated client names

Within a CSV batch, rows with the same first and last name are grouped into one client, and their company rows are attached to that client. The first row in the group supplies client-level email, phone, address, birthday, identifier and client custom-field values. Later rows do not act as successive updates to those client fields. Keep shared client details consistent across the group and use separate company columns for entity-specific details.

Two different people with identical first and last names can therefore be grouped incorrectly in one file. Import them separately or create them individually and verify their identities. This grouping is not an assurance that a new upload will update existing clients; do not reimport a file merely to correct one saved value. If company email/phone are omitted, import can use the client contact values for the company; review whether that is appropriate.

Search, filters and table controls

Use the correct tab first: All clients finds people; Companies finds entities; Personal taxes finds annual records. Clear an old search, check archive and other filters, and inspect the Manager and Team access columns before concluding a record is missing. Column options, resizing and table settings change how you read the table, not the underlying client identity. A hidden email column does not remove the saved email.

Worked example: one client, two businesses and two tax years

Sarah Thompson is your contact. She owns Thompson Consulting Inc. and Thompson Properties Inc.; the firm also prepares her 2024 and 2025 personal returns. The intended structure is one client, two companies and two annual personal-tax records. These are five related records serving different purposes, not five interchangeable client profiles.

Store Sarah’s personal phone on her client profile. Enter each company’s business contact information under that company. Attach the consulting company’s monthly-close task and bank statements to the consulting company. Put Sarah’s 2025 slips in the 2025 personal-tax context. Before sending a checklist, inspect which company or year will receive the answers, not only the recipient address.

Worked example: import two company rows without mixing two people

A CSV can contain two rows for Sarah, one for each business. Repeat the same verified client-level details and put each entity in its company columns. The name grouping within the batch uses the first and last name; the first row supplies the grouped client’s personal details. A later row with a different personal email is not an instruction to update that client.

If your file also contains a different person named Sarah Thompson, do not rely on email to keep them apart in the same batch. Import them separately or create them individually. Count company rows toward the 100-row upload limit, and review the resulting client and both companies after import. A correct client count does not prove the company mappings or shared access are correct.

Screen example: Sarah’s client information before saving

The live example below shows the first wizard screen with Sarah’s name entered. First and last name have required markers; email and phone are separate contact fields. The progress bar distinguishes Personal info, Address, Companies, Additional details and Team. Next advances the setup; Finish and save client is the explicit save action. A filled form is not yet proof that a client was saved. After saving, reopen the profile to verify the record and any company or access choices.

Link two clients as partners without mixing their records

Link partner records a relationship between two separate client profiles. For example, Sarah Williams and Michael Williams may both be clients of the same firm. Linking them helps staff move between their records; it does not merge their names, companies, personal tax years, documents or portal accounts. It is not a declaration of marital status or authorization to act for the other person.

Link someone who is already in your client directory

1. Open Clients → All clients and search for the first person. Open their name, then the Overview tab.
2. In Client details, open the three-dot menu beside Edit → Link partner. Choose Existing client.
3. Search by name, email or phone. A result can match an email address even when the displayed first name differs from your search. Compare the secondary contact information, especially when two people have the same name.
4. Select the intended person's radio button. There is one partner selection, not a checklist of household members. Scroll within the results for additional eligible people.
5. Choose Link partner to save the relationship. After success, inspect the partner row on the profile. The relationship appears on both profiles.
6. To abandon the selection, choose Cancel before saving. Merely searching or selecting a result does not create the link.

Example: Sarah's directory contains two Michael Williams records. One has the expected email and phone; the other belongs to a different engagement. Select by the person's actual identity, not by the first matching display name. Linking the wrong Michael does not move his existing files into Sarah's file, but it creates a misleading relationship that should be corrected.

Create a missing partner and link the new profile

In the same dialog, choose New client. Enter the person's own First name and Last name, both required. Email and phone describe that person; do not copy Sarah's contact details solely to fill blanks. Review the phone country/dial code when providing a number. Choose Create and link only after checking that the person is not already in the directory.

This creates a separate client in the same team and links the two records together. The new profile starts with the source client's language; open its details afterward if the person prefers another language. Creating the profile is not an invitation to the portal. If Michael needs online access, invite him separately using his own profile and the correct recipient email.

Understand eligibility, missing results and unlinking

• Only one partner per client is supported. A person who is already linked is not a spare selectable partner for another profile.
• The two clients must belong to the same team. You cannot link a client to themselves. Archived/deleted or inaccessible candidates are not ordinary eligible results.
• Regular team members may only see clients available to them. If a known person is missing, check spelling, archive state, existing partner relationships and staff access before creating a duplicate.
• A loading failure is different from an empty result. Use Retry when offered; do not treat a failed search as proof that the client does not exist.
• When permitted, click the linked partner's name to open their profile. A restricted-access message means the relationship exists but you cannot inspect that person's details.
• Use Unlink partner on the partner row and confirm the named person to remove the relationship from both profiles. Neither client is deleted. Their own work remains in its original profile.

Example: if Sarah and Michael should no longer be shown as partners, unlink them. Do not permanently delete Michael just to remove the relationship. If each still needs a 2025 return, retain two separate 2025 files and review each person's portal access independently.

Invite a client to the Bookwits platform, then track the connection

A directory record is not automatically a portal account. Use Invite to Bookwits when the person should create or connect a client account for ongoing collaboration. This is different from sending one checklist, one client task or one document-sharing link.

1. Open client profile → Overview → Client details. Check the person's name and email first. The invitation goes to the client profile's email, not whichever contact or staff member you last selected elsewhere.
2. Open the three-dot menu beside Edit → Invite to Bookwits. The dialog is titled Invite client to Bookwits.
3. Review the Sending to card. If the email is wrong or missing, cancel and correct the profile before sending. This dialog is not an address book for choosing an unrelated recipient.
4. Review Email subject and Message. The default message introduces the sender and the secure client portal. Replace it with clear instructions suited to the engagement, without including passwords or private information about other clients.
5. The secure account-setup link is added automatically. Do not paste another person's invitation or invent a link. Choose Send invite only when the recipient, subject and message are correct.
6. After sending, return to the profile and check the connection/invitation status. Ask the person to confirm receipt if necessary; an outgoing invitation is not evidence that an account was created or accepted.

Example message: “Hello Sarah, please use the invitation button to create or sign in to your client account with the email shown above. Verify your email and accept our invitation. You will then be able to see the tasks and shared documents made available to you. Please contact our team if the invitation was not expected.”

Pending, expired and connected are different states

• Pending: the invitation still needs acceptance. The same menu provides Resend invite and Cancel invite instead of another initial invitation action.
• Resend: issues a fresh invitation. Tell the client to use the newest email; older pending links are revoked when a new invitation is issued.
• Cancel: confirm that you intend to revoke the pending invitation. Cancelling a pending link is not a way to disconnect an account that already accepted.
• Expired: invitations last 30 days. Send a fresh invitation using the available invitation action rather than asking the person to keep retrying an expired email.
• Connected: the client account has been linked. The initial invitation action is no longer shown for an already-connected profile. Review actual sharing and permissions instead of repeatedly sending invitations.

If the client's email changes while an invitation is outstanding, cancel the old pending invitation and issue one to the corrected address. Acceptance requires a verified client account using the intended email. See the client instructions for registration, verification, acceptance and recovery.

Directory controls: selection, table layout and archive state

The search field, filter panel and column filters are separate controls. A client can be present but hidden by a tag, client-type condition or archive view. Clear the relevant condition before concluding that the record has disappeared. A company-name match or personal-tax association is not permission to change a different person with the same display name.

Column options are opened beside a table heading. Depending on the column, they offer sorting, filtering, freezing, auto-fit, hiding or moving left/right. Drag the resize handle to change width. These are display settings, not edits to the client's stored email, partner or custom-field values. Hidden columns can still contain saved data.

For bulk work, inspect the selected rows before opening Actions. Selecting currently loaded rows is not evidence that every record matching a large search has been loaded or selected. Clear old selections before moving to a different batch. Use the row's own action menu for a single-client operation, and check the name in any destructive confirmation.

Current application screen examples

Customize the All clients table without changing client information

Open Clients → All clients. In the toolbar above the directory, open Actions → Table settings. This configures the client directory, not the Companies or Timesheets table and not the fields in the Add client wizard.

1. Find the column in the settings dialog. Turn Visible on to display it, or off to remove it from this table. Hiding a column does not erase its saved values or change who may access the record.
2. For a visible column you need to keep on screen while scrolling sideways, enable Frozen. Hidden columns cannot be frozen. The required identification column stays visible and frozen; its disabled switches are intentional.
3. Use the dotted drag handle to rearrange columns within the frozen or scrollable group. To move a column between those groups, change Frozen first, then arrange it in its new group.
4. Choose Save settings to keep the layout, or Cancel to leave the dialog without applying its draft. Reopen the table and check that the columns you wanted are present.
5. In the table itself, drag a column’s right-hand header edge to resize it. Use the available double-click/Auto-fit action to size it to the loaded content; a much longer value on a later page may still need more room.
6. Open a column header’s menu for the actions available to that column, such as sorting, filtering, freezing, hiding, moving or auto-fitting. These change presentation or the matching rows, not the underlying client or time record.

Example: keep the identification column and a useful contact/work column frozen, show the few fields needed for the current review, and place less-used details farther right. Scroll horizontally to confirm that frozen columns remain useful without taking up the entire screen. This is your table layout, not a request to give every colleague the same layout.

Restore defaults (labelled Reset to defaults in Companies) resets the table presentation, including the configured order, visibility, frozen state and widths; it does not delete custom-field definitions or record values. Review the resulting draft before saving. If a column is missing, inspect visibility, available definitions and access before concluding that its data was deleted. Restoring a layout is not a recovery tool for deleted business data.

For example, show the client contact fields needed for a call and hide less-used columns. A hidden Email column does not disconnect that client from the portal or change your own sign-in email. For additional client information, create the appropriate client custom field through Fields configuration, enter its value in the client’s Additional details, and then make its available table column visible.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Member: works with assigned/shared clients, may create clients, and automatically receives access to a client they create. Owner/Admin see the team’s full client set. Partner candidates, contacts, credentials and linked company/year work must still be accessible; linking partners does not share a complete second client profile by itself.

The client form’s manager selector is for Owner/Admin, and a Member’s ordinary Team access choices are limited to their own entry. Do not confuse that form with the Clients selected-row toolbar: its Manager and Team access actions are also exposed for accessible selected clients. A Member’s sharing update retains their own access, and recipients must be active colleagues in that client’s team. These actions neither change team roles nor open the Team administration module. Review the entire selected set before applying.

Owner/Admin have permanent client deletion; Member does not see that single-row or selected-row delete action. Archiving, table layout and the available client reports are distinct controls. A client’s portal invitation is not a staff invitation or an Admin promotion.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

For the cross-client directory, use Clients → Companies, either in the expanded sidebar or in the top tab row. Its upper toolbar contains Reports, Settings, Filters and Add company. Reports offers Excel/CSV exports; Settings changes the table, not the selected company's tax obligations.

For one entity's working file, open Clients → All clients → client name → Companies, then choose the company-name tab. The selected company tab has its own three-dot options button; Add company is at the right end of the company selector.

The next navigation row is Details, Tasks, Documents, Checklists, Notes, Guidelines and More. More opens contacts and software credentials; it is not another company. Edit company is also available at the bottom of Details. Always read the selected company name before adding a document, note or task.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

A company is a business entity attached to a client. Use a separate company record for each business whose details and work must be kept distinct. Do not rename the person’s client record to a business name just to represent a second entity.

Create a company in the correct place

1. Start with the person who owns the company record. Open Clients → All clients, search above the table and select the person’s name. Check the name at the top of the profile before continuing.
2. Open the company workspace. Select Companies in the client profile’s top tabs, not the global Companies directory. Existing company names appear as tabs. Select Add company beside those tabs to create another entity for this client.
3. Enter information for the business, not the individual. Give the company its own name, type and business number when known. Review its year-end, business activity, email, phone and address. For example, Emma Laurent’s personal email and Maple Grove Design Ltd.’s business email may be different.
4. Review the sections that apply. Complete the tax registrations, payroll obligations, forms and custom fields shown by your firm’s configuration. Turning on a registration may reveal extra questions. Do not select Yes merely to make a section look complete, and do not guess missing account numbers or filing frequencies.
5. Save and check the new company tab. Use the form’s save action, wait for confirmation and open the resulting company. Under Details, compare the name and year-end with what you entered. Its Tasks, Documents and Checklists sections now refer to this company, not every company belonging to the client.

What the main field groups represent

• Identity: legal/company name, business number, business activity, company type, revenue information and corporation/company key where enabled.
• Contact: company email, phone and address. These may differ from the owner’s details.
• Company year-end: the fiscal year-end used for organizing the business workflow. It is not the individual’s personal tax year.
• GST/HST: registration, method, reporting frequency, year-end and rebate frequency where applicable. A reporting frequency is not the same thing as a fiscal year-end.
• PST: registration, reporting frequency and associated year-end where applicable.
• Payroll and workplace obligations: payroll remittances, WSIB/WCB account and frequency, EHT and related choices.
• Forms: T4, T5, T5018, T4A and standby-charge indicators help identify work to track; they do not generate or file those forms by themselves.

Work from the company workspace

Open the entity’s Company info, Tasks, Documents, Checklists and Guidelines areas as needed. Always check the selected company when the client owns several businesses. A task or file stored at client level is not automatically the correct company-level record. For budgets, select company scope if you want to analyze just this entity.

Use the global Companies table to work across clients

Search by a distinguishing company name, apply the available obligation/year-end filters, and use Settings to show the columns you need. Reports are available from this view. Before reporting, check the active filters and compare the included records with the purpose of the report. Field configuration determines which fields your team uses; table settings determine which available columns you see.

Change and retire records safely

Edit the existing company when an address, contact or obligation changes. Use archive/restore controls for inactive records where offered, rather than deleting business history to clean up a table. Review the consequences before permanent deletion. Updating a profile does not retroactively prove that old returns or prior-period tasks were corrected.

Example: Alex owns a consulting corporation and a rental company. Keep one client for Alex and two company records. Create each entity’s tasks, upload folders and checklists under that entity; keep Alex’s annual personal return under Personal taxes.

Example: keep a company obligation separate from the owner’s details

Thompson Consulting and Thompson Properties share an owner, but their business numbers, year-ends and obligations may differ. Open the specific entity before editing GST/HST, payroll or other applicable information. A company field expresses that company’s situation; it is not an instruction to change every business Sarah owns.

Suppose the consulting business needs payroll work while the property company does not. Confirm the applicable payroll fields on Consulting, then use the appropriate company task or list to organize the work. Do not mark both companies identically just to make a table look consistent. An unknown answer should be investigated rather than silently recorded as “No.”

When checking the global Companies table, display the entity name, client and relevant obligation or year-end columns. If two companies have similar names, open the row and verify its parent client and business details. Exporting or filtering the wrong entity can produce a plausible-looking report that describes the wrong engagement. Profile flags help organize work; they do not themselves prepare or file returns.

Current application screen examples

Set up the Companies table for an entity-level review

Open Clients → Companies to see companies across accessible clients. Above this table, select the standalone Settings button near Reports, Filters and + Company. Do not look for the All clients Actions menu: Companies has its own table settings entry point.

1. Find the column in the settings dialog. Turn Visible on to display it, or off to remove it from this table. Hiding a column does not erase its saved values or change who may access the record.
2. For a visible column you need to keep on screen while scrolling sideways, enable Frozen. Hidden columns cannot be frozen. The required identification column stays visible and frozen; its disabled switches are intentional.
3. Use the dotted drag handle to rearrange columns within the frozen or scrollable group. To move a column between those groups, change Frozen first, then arrange it in its new group.
4. Choose Save settings to keep the layout, or Cancel to leave the dialog without applying its draft. Reopen the table and check that the columns you wanted are present.
5. In the table itself, drag a column’s right-hand header edge to resize it. Use the available double-click/Auto-fit action to size it to the loaded content; a much longer value on a later page may still need more room.
6. Open a column header’s menu for the actions available to that column, such as sorting, filtering, freezing, hiding, moving or auto-fitting. These change presentation or the matching rows, not the underlying client or time record.

Example: keep the identification column and a useful contact/work column frozen, show the few fields needed for the current review, and place less-used details farther right. Scroll horizontally to confirm that frozen columns remain useful without taking up the entire screen. This is your table layout, not a request to give every colleague the same layout.

Restore defaults (labelled Reset to defaults in Companies) resets the table presentation, including the configured order, visibility, frozen state and widths; it does not delete custom-field definitions or record values. Review the resulting draft before saving. If a column is missing, inspect visibility, available definitions and access before concluding that its data was deleted. Restoring a layout is not a recovery tool for deleted business data.

Example: show company name, year-end and the tax-obligation columns needed for a year-end review. Two companies owned by Sarah Williams still need separate rows and correct entity facts. Table visibility does not turn GST/HST, payroll or another obligation on or off in either company’s profile. Clear active filters as well as checking columns when investigating a missing company.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

A Member sees company records through accessible shared clients; Owner/Admin have team-wide client scope. The Companies listing’s Reports button is shown to Owner/Admin, not Members. This does not remove a Member’s ordinary company work, filters or personal Table settings. Existing company tags and custom-field answers can be used on accessible records; managing the reusable tag library and custom-field definitions is for Owner/Admin.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

For season-wide tracking, choose Clients → Personal taxes. Search, Filters and Add personal tax year are above this directory. A row belongs to a particular person and year, not to every member of their household.

For one person's working file, choose Clients → All clients → client name → Personal taxes. Select the year tab first. Add year sits at the right of the year selector; the selected year's three-dot menu contains Edit year, Archive/Unarchive and Delete year.

Under the year selector, use Checklists, Tasks, Documents, Notes or Guidelines. Send personal tax checklist is in the Checklists section, on the right. Documents and notes opened here are year-scoped; the general Documents/Notes sidebar entries are broader views.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

A personal tax year is an annual work container attached to a client. Creating 2026 does not replace 2025, and creating a year does not file a return.

Create and verify a year

1. Open the correct person’s profile. In Clients → All clients, search for the person and select their name. Choose Personal taxes in the profile’s top tabs. This keeps the year attached to that person rather than a similarly named client.
2. Look at the existing year tabs first. If the required year already exists, open it instead of creating a duplicate. Otherwise, select Add year beside the year tabs and choose the tax year requested by the engagement, not automatically the current calendar year.
3. Keep a single-person operation limited to that person. If the form offers Apply to multiple clients, leave it off unless you intentionally want a batch. For a batch, review every selected client or search group before confirming; the selected year will apply to that selection.
4. Create the year and select its tab. Check both the client name and the year in the workspace. Open Checklists, Tasks, Documents, Notes or Guidelines within that year for annual work. Opening 2025 is not the same as opening the person’s 2026 records.
5. Check what still needs to be done. Creating a tax year does not send a checklist, prepare a return or file it. For intake, open the year’s Checklists section and prepare the appropriate request. Assign preparation and review work separately in Tasks.

Use tabs and year options

Switch the year tab to view a different annual file. Year options include editing, archive/unarchive and deletion. Read the confirmation before deleting a year containing checklists, files or work history. An archived year may be absent from active-only views; verify the archive filter before recreating it.

Understand documents and checklists for a family

A tax year can contain several checklist submissions, including separate submissions for a spouse or family members. Check the person named in each submission: several responses in one client/year do not mean the answers belong to the same filer. Uploads collected by personal tax checklists appear in the relevant year’s document folders, including slips, receipts and supporting documents.

A linked partner record, a dependant entry in a checklist and another client record serve different purposes. Do not replace a spouse’s answers with the primary contact’s details or forward one recipient’s access link as if it were a general family login.

Find the file from the global view

Use the Personal taxes tab when you need to work across clients by annual record. Apply the available filters, open a result and confirm both identity and year. If the client is present but the year is missing, check whether that year was actually created; a company record or an earlier-year checklist does not create the new annual file for you.

Example: prepare 2025 while preserving the 2024 history

Sarah’s 2024 file already contains its checklist and supporting documents. You now need to prepare 2025. Keep the 2024 record and create or open the separate 2025 record. Check the selected year tab before uploading slips or creating the preparation task. Renaming an old task or uploading a new slip into an old folder does not create the new annual workspace.

If Sarah sends a 2024 reassessment while you are working on 2025, identify that document’s actual period and preserve it in the appropriate context. Explain any relevance to the current work in a note or task rather than pretending the document was issued for 2025. A file’s upload date is not its tax year.

For family intake, identify who each checklist submission describes. Sarah’s answers, her spouse’s separate submission and a dependant section serve different purposes. Review names, dates and document ownership before using the answers. A shared contact email does not make every uploaded slip Sarah’s, and a completed checklist means intake was submitted—not that any family member’s return was filed.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

A Member’s personal-tax-year directory follows shared-client access; Owner/Admin can review the team’s years. A relationship, spouse/partner link, year tab or assignment to an internal Task is not by itself a share of every household member’s profile. Checklist, Client Task, signing and private-note permissions remain separate even for the same client/year.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Open Clients → Client lists. Use Search lists to find a saved list. The List button starts a new list; opening an existing list shows its own contents and rules. Show archived reveals lists that are absent from the active view.

Check whether the list is maintained manually or by conditions before changing its membership. The title of a list does not itself select a tax year or create annual records. For example, a list named “2025 personal returns” still needs correct membership and the appropriate year-related conditions.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

Where to find Client Lists

Go to: Clients → Client Lists

From here you can

• Create a new list based on criteria
• View existing lists
• Update statuses and notes
• Generate reports
• Create tasks for list items

What is a Client List?

Create a new Client List

Steps

1. Choose Clients in the left sidebar, then Client lists in the top tab row. Open the list-creation control above the existing lists. This is a work tracker, not the All clients address directory.
2. Give the list a specific name and, if useful, a description. “December 2026 year-ends” is more informative than “Important”. The title explains the list to colleagues but does not itself choose the records.
3. Under Select criteria, choose the type of work and complete its parameters, such as the applicable year-end period or personal tax year. Use the actual offered criteria; a phrase typed in the name is not a filtering rule.
4. Create the list and inspect its rows. Check several client/company names and the count against the selected criteria. If a company is absent, check the year-end or obligation recorded on that company rather than creating a duplicate client.
5. Use the list’s statuses and notes to track progress. When someone needs an assigned action and a deadline, create or open a Task as well. A status in a client list is not automatically proof that a return was filed or a client request was completed.

Common criteria options

Company year-end Sole proprietorship T-slips GST/HST reporting Personal tax year WSIB Payroll remittance

After choosing a criteria, Bookwits will ask for the key parameter(s) needed to generate the list.

Example: Company year-end list (most common)

Statuses (track progress per row)

Each row has a status so work is visible as it moves forward.

Default statuses

To do In progress In review Waiting on client Completed

Custom statuses (team workflow)

You can add custom statuses and control their order so lists match how your firm actually works (e.g., Prep → Review → Filed → Delivered).

The goal isn’t fancy statuses—it’s consistency. A shared status language prevents dropped files.

Notes (quick context per row)

Each row can include a note so your team can record blockers, requests, and “next steps” context.

Examples

• “Waiting on bank statements”
• “T2 draft ready for review”
• “Client confirmed year-end adjusting entry”

Keep notes short and actionable—write them as if someone else will pick up the file.

Create tasks from Client List items (turn tracking into execution)

Client Lists aren’t just tracking—you can create real tasks from rows so work gets executed in Tasks.

What you can set on the task

• Task title
• Assignee
• Due date
• Priority (if you use it)
• Subtasks (if needed)
• Attachments / comments (if needed)

The list stays as the high-level tracker; tasks are the day-to-day execution layer.

Bulk actions (checkboxes)

Select multiple rows and apply bulk updates to move faster—especially during weekly review meetings.

Common bulk actions

• Bulk change status (e.g., mark 10 items as “Waiting on client”)
• Batch update workflow state after a review meeting

Bulk updates are the secret weapon: 5 minutes of updating beats an hour of spreadsheet cleanup.

Reports (CSV / XLS exports)

Other Client List types (what they pull)

Why Client Lists save a lot of time

Build a list you can explain to another team member

1. Choose Clients in the left sidebar, then Client lists in the top tab row. Open the list-creation control above the existing lists. This is a work tracker, not the All clients address directory.
2. Give the list a specific name and, if useful, a description. “December 2026 year-ends” is more informative than “Important”. The title explains the list to colleagues but does not itself choose the records.
3. Under Select criteria, choose the type of work and complete its parameters, such as the applicable year-end period or personal tax year. Use the actual offered criteria; a phrase typed in the name is not a filtering rule.
4. Create the list and inspect its rows. Check several client/company names and the count against the selected criteria. If a company is absent, check the year-end or obligation recorded on that company rather than creating a duplicate client.
5. Use the list’s statuses and notes to track progress. When someone needs an assigned action and a deadline, create or open a Task as well. A status in a client list is not automatically proof that a return was filed or a client request was completed.

Understand three different progress signals

The list row’s status tracks that list item. An internal task’s status tracks the assigned work. A checklist or client task has its own client-response lifecycle. Finishing one is not evidence that the others have been reviewed or updated. During weekly review, reconcile them deliberately.

Bulk changes and reporting

Select the exact rows before applying a bulk status change. Check whether your selection is still appropriate after changing filters. Use short notes such as “Waiting for March statement; follow up Friday” rather than a status word with no next step. Export CSV/XLS for a dated snapshot and inspect which rows and period it contains; an exported spreadsheet is not a live synchronized view.

Recover from an incorrect list

Check the chosen list type, period and source-record values. A company year-end list and a personal tax-year list cannot be repaired by simply renaming one to the other. Correct the underlying record when it is wrong and use the appropriate list workflow. Preserve useful notes and work history before replacing a list.

Example: use a year-end list to coordinate preparation and review

Create a list whose criterion selects the company year-end and period you intend to review. Give it a name such as “December year-ends — preparation review.” Inspect the returned companies before assigning work. If Thompson Consulting is missing, check its company year-end and the list parameters; adding a duplicate client does not repair an incorrect source value.

For a company waiting on statements, set the appropriate row status and write “October statement missing; Jordan follows up Friday.” Create a task when that follow-up needs an assignee and deadline. Later, when the statement arrives, inspect it, update the work task and update the list row as appropriate. Neither update should be assumed to complete the other automatically.

Before a bulk change, check the exact selected rows and whether a filter remains active. “Mark reviewed” should describe companies actually reviewed, not everything currently visible by accident. A CSV/XLS export is a dated snapshot of included records; inspect the names, count and period before sharing it. Keep internal notes out of a client-facing report unless sharing them is intentional.

Choose the list type by the work you are trying to organize

A Client List is a reusable, criteria-based work population. It finds matching company records or personal tax years from information already saved in their profiles. It is not a separate address book, a manually copied set of clients or an automatic tax-filing service. One person with three matching companies can contribute three company rows.

1. Open Clients in the left navigation, then choose Client lists in the Clients navigation. On the Client lists page, the saved-list directory is on the left and the selected list’s rows are on the right.
2. Select + List above that directory. Give the list a recognizable name, such as “December year-end review,” then select its Type. The type controls which criteria appear below it.
3. Select the appropriate criteria. Where multiple values are offered, add each value you need. All means all choices within that criterion, not every client regardless of the selected type. Do not combine All with a narrower selection expecting it to mean “all except those.”
4. Save the definition, select the resulting list and inspect the actual company/person-and-year rows before assigning work. If an expected business is missing, check its saved profile facts, your access, the list criteria, search and status filters.

The ten Client List types, with practical examples

Track list progress without changing unrelated workflows

Select a saved list, then use its row status and note to record that list’s follow-up. For example, “Waiting for payroll summary” is more useful than “Waiting.” The same company may have a different status in its GST/HST list and its year-end list. A list’s Done count belongs to that tracker; it is not proof that an internal task, a Client Task or a government filing is complete.

Use the saved-list directory search to find the list definition. Use the selected list’s search/status controls to narrow its rows. These are different searches. The directory’s three-dot menu includes Show archived; enable it when looking for an archived list instead of creating another copy. Check the selected list’s name and criteria again after switching lists.

Generate Client List reports in Excel or CSV

1. Open the correct saved list and review its criteria.
2. Set the row search, status filters and sort you want reflected in the report. Clear them first if you want the complete matching population rather than a filtered subset.
3. Open Reports above the selected list’s table and choose Excel or CSV.
4. Open the downloaded file and check its rows against the selected population. The tracking export contains the name, the list-related value where supplied, the list status and note text; it is not a full company profile export or a tax return.

Example: filter a December year-end list to “Waiting,” add a search for the business you are discussing, then export CSV for that focused follow-up. Remove the search before exporting the whole waiting population. Reports request the matching set rather than merely copying the few rows currently visible on screen. Do not infer successful tax filing from an exported Done status.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

The same saved list can show fewer company/year rows to a Member because its results are restricted to that Member’s shared clients. Owner/Admin see matching team-wide records. Members can select existing list statuses; creating, editing, deleting or reordering the shared status definitions is for Owner/Admin. Do not confuse this with the Companies listing’s separate management-only Reports button: use the report controls actually available in this Client List.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

The consolidated tracking page is Clients → Checklists. Use its search, filters and status views to locate a sent request. Open the request itself for its answers, documents, progress and activity. This is different from editing a reusable checklist template.

For a company-specific request, open client profile → Companies → company name → Checklists → Send company checklist. Review the client, company, recipient email, template and completion-notification option in the send dialog. Cancel closes the draft dialog without sending an email.

To change the reusable questions, use Templates → Company checklists. The sender's tracking view and the recipient's emailed questionnaire are different screens; a staff member opening the tracking card is not completing the questionnaire on the client's behalf.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

Where to find Company Checklists

What Company Checklists are for

Step 1: Create or open the client company

Steps

1. Start with the person who owns the company record. Open Clients → All clients, search above the table and select the person’s name. Check the name at the top of the profile before continuing.
2. Open the company workspace. Select Companies in the client profile’s top tabs, not the global Companies directory. Existing company names appear as tabs. Select Add company beside those tabs to create another entity for this client.
3. If the company already exists, select its name rather than creating another copy. In the selected company’s section row, choose Checklists. Confirm the client and company names before preparing any request.
4. Use the company-checklist send control to open the composer. Choose a suitable template and review the recipient, subject and message before sending. Opening this composer does not itself email the client.

What this does

It creates the company workspace where the checklist submission, documents, tasks, and future activity can live together.

Step 2: Send a checklist to the client

In the company’s Checklists tab, click Send checklist .

What the dialog includes

• Client email*
• Select a template*

You can also preview the selected template before sending.

What sending does

• Bookwits emails the client a link to the checklist
• The client fills it out online
• You’re notified once it’s submitted

Important: the client does not need a Bookwits login to complete the checklist.

Choosing a template (and previewing it)

What’s inside a company checklist template

Templates are built from sections , and each section contains fields the client fills out.

Example sections

Basic Company Information

Collect core business details needed to set up bookkeeping and tax work.

Legal company name* Operating name Business number (BN)* Incorporation date Registered business address

---

Accounting Software

Current accounting software Connected apps

---

Sales & Revenue Systems

Capture POS systems, ecommerce tools, and invoicing platforms.

---

Payroll Information

Gather payroll software, employee count, and payroll frequency.

---

Documents & Record Storage

Record where receipts, source docs, and financial files are stored.

---

Bookkeeping Preferences

Capture workflow preferences and anything the team should know before onboarding starts.

Adding & Customizing Fields in Templates

Inside a template section, use Custom fields to add the questions you want the client to answer.

Text Text area Date Number Checkbox Yes/No Condition logic Note

Typical configuration

• Custom field name
• Field type
• Whether the field is required
• Placement inside the correct section

Keep templates focused. Ask only for information your team actually needs to start the engagement smoothly.

Conditional Logic – Make Checklists Smarter & Shorter

Conditional logic lets your checklist adapt in real time based on what the client answers. Instead of showing every possible question to everyone, the form only displays relevant follow-up fields, sections, or stop messages when certain conditions are met.

How conditional logic works

It follows simple “IF → THEN” rules:

• IF = the condition (e.g. answer to a previous Yes/No or dropdown question)
• THEN = the action (most common: Show / Hide a field, section, or even stop the form early)

You can create rules at different levels:

• Root-level (top of the checklist)
• Nested / dependent levels (rules that only apply if a parent condition is true)

Tax checklist examples

• IF “Did you use us to file your personal tax return last year?” IS Yes
  THEN Show the next question about updates this year
• IF “Has any of your personal information changed?” IS No
  THEN Show a stop message and end the checklist early (no further info needed)
• IF “Marital status” = Married or Common-law
  THEN Show spouse consent checkbox + spouse information fields

Benefits: shorter forms, higher completion rates, less client frustration, and cleaner data for you (only relevant answers are collected).

Look for the Conditional logic toggle or button when editing fields or sections — it lets you build these dynamic rules visually.

Where to manage Company Checklist templates

Go to: Templates → Company checklists

From there you can

• Create new company checklist templates
• Edit existing templates
• Delete templates you no longer need

Think of this as your reusable company onboarding library.

What happens when the client completes the checklist

1. You get notified Once the checklist is submitted, your team can review the completed information in Bookwits.
2. The completed checklist appears in the company record Open the client, go to the company, then open Checklists to view the answers grouped by section.
3. Your team can review onboarding details in one place This makes it easier to start bookkeeping, tax setup, software migration, or other firm workflows without hunting through emails.

Best use cases for Company Checklists

Best practices (what to do first)

Choose the right intake tool

A company checklist gathers structured company information through a link. It is not an internal to-do list and not the same as a Client Task. Choose the company first, then the template appropriate to that company’s situation. A personal-tax template is not a substitute merely because the contact email is the same.

Use the combined Checklists view

Clients → Checklists brings company and personal-tax checklists together. Search by checklist, client or email; combine that with the available type, client/company and status filters. The current statuses are In progress, Completed, Expired and Cancelled. Open a record to inspect its recipient, related entity, creation/update/expiry dates, response sections and activity timeline.

Before sending and after receiving

1. Confirm the selected client and company, recipient email and template. The send dialog requires a usable template with enabled content; an empty template is not a finished form.
2. Preview the template, especially required fields and conditional branches. A field hidden by a condition cannot be treated as an unanswered question shown to every client.
3. Send only when the email is correct. Check the checklist record and activity afterward.
4. After submission, review the actual section answers and any supporting documents. Resolve contradictions before updating company data or commencing related work.

Manage an existing checklist

The available actions include resend, copy link, duplicate, cancel and delete, depending on the record and permissions. A copied checklist link provides access: send it privately to the intended recipient, never post it in public notes. Duplicate creates a separate request; it is not a way to correct the original submission in place. Read cancellation/deletion confirmations and keep required business records.

Client guidance: open the received link, confirm the company, read each section and answer the questions shown. Correct validation messages and finish submission. This link-based checklist does not require creating a full Bookwits account. If it is expired or cancelled, ask the sender for the appropriate replacement rather than registering an unrelated account.

Example: collect company setup details without asking every question twice

For Thompson Consulting’s onboarding, choose a company checklist that asks about the actual business. Review its sections for accounting software, sales systems, payroll and document storage. If a follow-up applies only to employers, use the template’s conditional structure so a business without payroll is not asked to invent an employee count.

Preview both branches before sending: the relevant follow-up should appear for the applicable answer, and the other branch should remain understandable without it. A required field should represent information you genuinely need from the people who see it. Do not make a specialized question universally required merely to prevent blank-looking submissions.

After Sarah submits, open that specific company checklist and read the answers by section. If the response says payroll is outsourced but a setup field says no payroll obligations, investigate the meaning rather than copying one answer over the other. Verify supporting material, record the decision and create follow-up work for missing information. The completed checklist is evidence of the response, not proof that the company’s accounting setup has already been performed.

Screen example: understand a company checklist’s questions

This live template-editor excerpt groups legal name, operating name, business number and incorporation date under Basic Company Information. The section note explains why the information is being collected. A legal name identifies the entity; an operating name may differ. Required markers belong to the questions configured in this example, not a universal rule that every checklist must ask the same questions.

The pencil, add, drag and delete controls are template-authoring controls. They are not instructions for the client to redesign the form. Preview the recipient’s view before reuse, check required questions and keep the section note clear enough that a first-time client knows what document or information to consult.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Staff checklist work follows access to its client/company; Member does not automatically see another colleague’s unshared clients. Owner/Admin have broader client scope. A recipient’s checklist link is an external response workflow, not membership of your team. Creating a template, sending a request, reading a response and viewing a related private note are different permissions and actions.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose client profile → Personal taxes → year → Checklists, then Send personal tax checklist at the upper right of the working area. Verify the year before choosing the recipient or template. Use Clients → Checklists for the cross-client follow-up view.

Reusable questions and document-folder requests are under Templates → Personal checklists. A recipient follows the secure link in their email, moves through the available sections and submits the questionnaire. Staff review the resulting answers and files in the selected year or consolidated tracking page.

The card's follow-up controls depend on its state. Do not confuse Resend checklist or Copy checklist link with inviting the person to create a Bookwits portal account.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

Where to find Personal Tax Checklists

What Personal Tax Checklists are for

Step 1: Create a personal tax year (example: 2025)

Steps

1. Open the correct person’s profile. In Clients → All clients, search for the person and select their name. Choose Personal taxes in the profile’s top tabs. This keeps the year attached to that person rather than a similarly named client.
2. Look at the existing year tabs first. If the required year already exists, open it instead of creating a duplicate. Otherwise, select Add year beside the year tabs and choose the tax year requested by the engagement, not automatically the current calendar year.
3. Keep a single-person operation limited to that person. If the form offers Apply to multiple clients, leave it off unless you intentionally want a batch. For a batch, review every selected client or search group before confirming; the selected year will apply to that selection.
4. Create the year and select its tab. Check both the client name and the year in the workspace. Open Checklists, Tasks, Documents, Notes or Guidelines within that year for annual work. Opening 2025 is not the same as opening the person’s 2026 records.
5. Check what still needs to be done. Creating a tax year does not send a checklist, prepare a return or file it. For intake, open the year’s Checklists section and prepare the appropriate request. Assign preparation and review work separately in Tasks.

What this does

It creates the year container where checklists , tasks , and documents will live.

Step 2: Send a checklist to the client

After the year exists (e.g., 2025), click Send checklist .

What the dialog typically includes

• Client email*
• Select a template*

Example templates: First-Time Tax Filer, Rental income, Basic checklist, Self-employed individual.

What sending does

• Bookwits emails the client a link to the checklist
• The client completes it online
• You’re notified by email when it’s submitted

Important: the client does not need to register to complete the checklist.

Choosing a template (and previewing it)

What’s inside a checklist template

Templates are built from sections , each containing fields the client fills out.

Example sections

General information

Basic personal information for tax purposes (name, address, DOB, phone).

First name* Last name* Birthday* Phone* Address*

---

Marital status

Marital status* Partner details Status change date

---

Dependants

Children or supported persons (name, relationship, DOB, address).

---

Documents

Guided upload areas to submit documents.

---

Additional details

Custom questions for edge cases you want to capture.

Adding & Customizing Fields in Templates

Inside a template section, click + Add custom field and choose a field type:

Text Text area Date Number Checkbox Yes/No Condition logic Note

Then configure

• Custom field name (required)
• Is field required? (checkbox)

Mark fields “required” only when you truly need them for every filer. Too many required fields reduces completion rates.

Conditional Logic – Make Checklists Smarter & Shorter

Conditional logic lets your checklist adapt in real time based on what the client answers. Instead of showing every possible question to everyone, the form only displays relevant follow-up fields, sections, or stop messages when certain conditions are met.

How conditional logic works

It follows simple “IF → THEN” rules:

• IF = the condition (e.g. answer to a previous Yes/No or dropdown question)
• THEN = the action (most common: Show / Hide a field, section, or even stop the form early)

You can create rules at different levels:

• Root-level (top of the checklist)
• Nested / dependent levels (rules that only apply if a parent condition is true)

Tax checklist examples

• IF “Did you use us to file your personal tax return last year?” IS Yes
  THEN Show the next question about updates this year
• IF “Has any of your personal information changed?” IS No
  THEN Show a stop message and end the checklist early (no further info needed)
• IF “Marital status” = Married or Common-law
  THEN Show spouse consent checkbox + spouse information fields

Benefits: shorter forms, higher completion rates, less client frustration, and cleaner data for you (only relevant answers are collected).

Look for the Conditional logic toggle or button when editing fields or sections — it lets you build these dynamic rules visually.

Where to manage Personal Checklist templates

Go to: Templates (nav bar) → Personal Checklists

From there you can

• Create new personal checklist templates
• Update existing templates
• Delete templates you no longer use

This is your reusable “intake library.”

What happens when the client completes the checklist

1. You get an email notification Once submitted, you’ll receive an email letting you know it’s done.
2. You can view the completed checklist in the client profile Client → Personal Taxes → Year (e.g., 2025) → Checklists. Answers are displayed clearly by section.
3. Uploaded documents are saved into folders automatically Uploads are organized into standard folders like:

   T Slips Receipts Other documentation

   This keeps tax-season uploads structured without manually sorting email attachments.

Multiple checklists per client (family members / multiple filers)

Best practices (what to do first)

Separate the year, the person and the template

Before sending, check all three: the annual record that will hold the response, the intended recipient/filer and the checklist template. A returning-client checklist and a first-time-filer checklist can ask different questions. The newest calendar year is not necessarily the year of the return you are preparing.

Review a submission in a useful order

1. Open the client, personal tax year and specific checklist, or find it in the combined Checklists view.
2. Confirm who submitted it and the relevant year. Review general information, marital/partner details and dependants before interpreting later answers.
3. Read the questions actually shown by the selected template and its conditions. Note information that needs clarification rather than inventing an answer for a blank.
4. Open the associated document folders and check the files themselves: filer name, tax year, all pages and legibility. A filename alone does not prove the right slip was uploaded.
5. Turn missing information into a clear follow-up task or request, then update the team’s work tracker.

What the recipient should expect

The recipient opens the email link without registering, works through the enabled sections, uploads requested files and submits. Required-field errors must be resolved; information for another family member should be entered in the correct person’s section or separate checklist. If a question does not fit, ask the firm how to answer instead of entering an invented date, zero or identifier.

Recover safely

For an expired/cancelled link, ask the firm for a valid request. If the wrong year or person was selected, the firm should review the original record before issuing another form. Do not repeatedly submit different copies in the hope that one will silently replace the other. Completion of intake means information has been submitted, not that the tax return has been prepared, approved, signed or filed.

Example: choose intake for a returning filer with a new rental activity

Sarah is a returning personal-tax client, but this year she also has rental activity. Open the intended annual record and preview the selected checklist. A returning-client template that only asks whether contact details changed may not collect the new income information your firm needs. Choose or adapt the appropriate template before sending rather than asking Sarah to place unrelated answers into any available text box.

Explain what each requested upload should contain. For a slip, ask for the complete readable document and the correct year, not a screenshot of a filename. For a family submission, identify the filer associated with each section and upload. A marital-status answer and a spouse’s separate return are related facts, not the same record.

On receipt, compare the actual answers with the documents and flag contradictions. If a question was hidden by a condition, do not treat its missing answer as an ordinary unanswered visible field. Turn clarification into a specific follow-up. Completing the annual intake does not prepare the rental schedule, obtain approval, sign authorizations or transmit the return; those remain separate work stages.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

A Member works with checklists for accessible shared-client tax years; Owner/Admin have team-wide client scope. A partner link is not an automatic grant of access to the other person’s complete return. The recipient still uses the intended checklist link/account flow. Sharing a client does not override private notes or the separate Primary-contact restriction of Client Tasks.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

For staff, choose Clients → Client tasks, or open a client's profile and its Client tasks tab. Search and Filters are above the list. The status row contains All, Draft, Waiting on client, Overdue and Completed. The right-hand Quick actions panel contains Create client task and the template entry point.

Open a task card for its detailed request and responses. In an edit flow, distinguish one occurrence from a recurring series before changing dates or instructions. Tasks in the professional sidebar is a separate module for internal work.

For a signed-in client, the sidebar entry Tasks opens their client tasks. The person receiving a task invitation follows that invitation; they do not use the professional's Clients directory.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

Module overview

Who uses Client Tasks

Glossary

Distinguish task creation from sending

For the team, use Clients → Client tasks and the Quick actions shortcuts Create client task or Create from template. Enter the title, instructions, client, related company/tax year where relevant, primary contact, due date, tag and reminder. Primary contact is the firm’s team member who will be the client’s point of contact, not the recipient. Request actions are optional; add them when the client needs to submit a specific confirmation, document, answer or approval. Review the recipient and any action requirements before sending; a saved draft is not yet the client’s to-do list.

Complete each request type, not just the chat

A file posted in task chat is useful conversation context, but does not by itself prove that an Upload documents action was completed. Complete the actual action and the overall submission controls shown on the task.

Help a new client accept the invitation correctly

1. Open the original task invitation.
2. If a new account is needed, select Create an account to accept on that invitation page. Do not start registration from a different page: the account must be connected to the invitation.
3. Enter the name, email and secure password, verify the email, and sign in.
4. Return to the invitation and choose Accept invitation, then open the task. Use the invited account, not another household or colleague’s login.

Read the same status from both sides

The team’s Waiting on client appears as To do to the client. Submitted appears as In review; Completed stays Completed; Cancelled appears as Closed. Submission hands the work back for review. The team completes the workflow after checking the responses; neither a viewed invitation nor a chat reply equals a completed package.

Reminder frequency versus recurring requests

A reminder nudges an outstanding request: No reminder, Every 3 days or Every 7 days. Recurrence schedules future client-task occurrences. These are different settings; enabling a reminder does not create next month’s request.

For recurrence, select the frequency, an integer interval from 1 through 100, and next send date. Frequencies include daily, weekly, every two weeks, twice monthly, monthly, quarterly, twice yearly and annually. Monthly-family schedules offer the selected day, first day, middle or last day of the month. A selected day beyond a shorter month’s end is capped to that month’s last day. Twice-monthly dates use the 15th and last day.

Review the upcoming-date preview before saving. New recurring setup starts with a future send date; scheduling uses the Toronto calendar, not an assumption based only on your device’s date. Review or pause the series when the engagement ends instead of merely completing one occurrence.

Worked example: request missing statements and a separate approval

Create a Client Task for Sarah with a clear title such as “October close — statements and review.” Add an Upload documents action that names the missing bank accounts and month. If you also need written answers, add an Answer questions action with specific questions rather than hoping Sarah will infer them from a document upload. Add Review and approve only for material that is actually ready for that decision.

Sarah should upload the statements on the upload action, answer the questions and submit through the task’s controls. Sending the same file in chat can explain something, but it does not prove the upload action was completed. If she requests changes on the review action, read that decision and its context instead of treating “a response arrived” as approval.

The team then reviews files, answers and the overall submission. The client’s In review state corresponds to the team’s Submitted stage, not final completion. Only complete the package after your review. For monthly reuse, inspect recurrence and next send date separately from reminders: a seven-day nudge follows up an outstanding task, while recurrence creates future work. Check the selected client and period on future occurrences rather than sending October’s instructions indefinitely.

Distinguish a draft, a sent request and a recurring series

A draft is work still being prepared; it is not evidence that the client received an invitation. Check the client/contact, related company or personal tax year, due date, instructions and requested material before sending. The selected client and the related entity must describe the same intended engagement.

Example: “Upload the March bank statements for Blue Horizon Partners by April 8” is a specific client action. “Prepare the March close” is internal staff work and belongs in the internal Tasks workflow. Keep these linked operationally without telling the client to complete a staff-only task.

When editing recurring work, use the operation for the particular task or the series deliberately. A one-off corrected due date should not unintentionally alter future periods. Review the resulting occurrence dates after editing. If a requested view is unavailable, return to All and inspect the visible due dates/statuses; an unavailable or failed view is not proof that there are no outstanding requests.

Current application screen examples

Find the creation shortcuts and understand the firm contact

1. Choose Clients in the left navigation, then Client tasks in its submenu or the page’s top tabs. This is the client-request workspace, not the separate internal Tasks module.
2. On the right, find Quick actions. Choose Create client task for a fresh request or Create from template to start with an existing structure. A template still needs the correct client, dates and message.
3. In Task details, write an actionable Task name, such as “Upload September bank statements,” then select the actual Client. Use Related to for the appropriate company or personal tax year when relevant. Select the client before choosing its related record.
4. Review Primary contact. This is a member of your firm’s team: the client sees that person as the main point of contact, receives updates from them and can communicate with them. It is not the field for choosing the client who receives the task.
5. Continue down the form to set the Due date, description and tag as needed. Explain the period, documents and expected result rather than relying on a short title alone.

Example: ask Sarah Williams for the September statements for the correct business, name the firm colleague who will answer questions, and specify all pages and the statement period in the instructions. The screenshot is an unfinished draft: its client still needs selecting. Do not send it merely because its title and firm contact are filled.

Add the request actions the client actually needs

The Requests area is optional. Use Add another request to display the four choices below. Choose the action that matches the evidence you need; a descriptive task does not automatically require every request type.

• Confirm completion: ask the client to confirm a specific action, such as checking that a mailing address is current. It is not a substitute for uploading a document you need to review.
• Upload documents: name the required files and period. For example, request all pages of the September bank statement rather than “send documents.”
• Answer questions: ask clearly separated questions so the client can provide answers and relevant optional attachments.
• Review and approve: provide the information the client must review and explain what approval means. A request for changes is not approval and a chat reply is not necessarily the action’s recorded decision.

Review each added card and remove or correct irrelevant requests before sending. When reviewing a submitted task, open the actual response/file for each card, then use the task’s review/completion controls. A progress indicator alone cannot tell you whether the right document or a useful answer was supplied.

Separate a draft, a template, an email and a recurring series

Farther down the creation page, review reminders, recurrence and the email subject/message. Save draft keeps work for later; Save current as template preserves a reusable structure; Send client task is the real recipient-facing action. Read the selected client and actual message again before sending. Smart fields and a signature help compose the email but do not select the right recipient for you.

Automatic reminder emails apply after the task is sent; the 3-day/7-day choices are follow-ups to that task. Recurring client tasks schedule new tasks and sends, even if earlier occurrences are unfinished. For a monthly collection, check the next send date, recurrence preview and recipient before activating the series. This is different from resetting an internal task when it is completed.

In the Client tasks list, only active recurring tasks show a recurring chip with the series’ next send date, not the date of the current task. Paused setups do not show a chip. Open Filters and select Active recurring only to show tasks with an active recurring setup across all pages; combine it with search and other filters, or use Clear all to remove filters. A paused setup remains available in Task details and will not send new tasks until repeating is started. On an existing recurring task, open Task details. Below Reminder frequency, review the recurring status, frequency and next send date. Use Start repeating or Stop repeating to manage future sends, or Edit setup to change the series. The information icon explains which tasks are affected.

Use Back to client tasks at the top to leave. If an unsaved-changes confirmation appears, stay on the page to preserve the draft or confirm leaving to discard it. Back is not Save draft. In the list, use Search client tasks, Filters and the All/Draft/Waiting on client/Overdue/Completed views to find the saved item in the appropriate state; an unfinished page is not proof that a draft was saved.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

A Member needs two things to see a Client Task: access to its client and their own name as Primary contact. This applies to the list, detail, returned documents and task-linked conversation; simply creating it is not enough. Owner/Admin can review the team’s Client Tasks. Primary contact means the firm’s team member, not the client recipient.

Example: Morgan is a Member with Sarah’s client shared. If Alex is Primary contact on Sarah’s document request, Morgan does not get that Client Task merely because Sarah appears in Clients. For Morgan to follow the request, arrange the appropriate contact/client access with the firm. For recurring Client Tasks, a Member must use an accessible shared client and themselves as requester/contact; Owner/Admin can review team series and delegate to an eligible colleague. Can view all tasks applies to internal Tasks, not this Client Task rule.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Start with the invitation sent by your firm. For a full portal connection, the invitation page offers Create account to accept or Log in to accept. After client sign-in, review the sender and choose Accept invitation. Open workspace takes you into your client work.

Inside the client workspace, Tasks opens requests assigned to you. Use Documents and Chat when available to your account and the firm's sharing arrangements. Your name/avatar at the top right opens your own Settings.

A checklist, folder-share invitation, upload-only file request or signing email may open a specific recipient workflow instead of the whole workspace. Follow the action described in that email. Do not create a professional firm account simply to answer a client request.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

You may use Bookwits only to give your bookkeeper information, upload files, complete a request or sign a document. You do not need to learn the firm’s administration tools. Start from the message the firm sent and identify the type of request.

Upload useful files, especially from a phone

1. Check the person, business and year requested before selecting files.
2. Choose the document, not only a screenshot of its filename. For photos, check that every page is readable, upright and uncropped.
3. Wait for each upload’s visible result and resolve an error before moving on.
4. Review the uploaded list and use the final submit/complete control where the request provides one. Selecting a file is not always the last step.
5. Keep your original until the firm confirms the document is usable.

If you cannot open something

Confirm you used the latest message and the invited email. If another account is already signed in, sign out and use the correct account rather than sharing passwords. An expired, revoked or cancelled link needs the sender’s help; creating unrelated accounts does not restore it. Ask the firm which request you should use if it sent several similar links.

If the information is wrong or the request is unclear

Do not approve incorrect information merely to remove an outstanding request. Use Request changes on a review action, the request’s chat, or contact the sender. Explain which item or page needs attention. Never forward someone else’s signing or private checklist link, and do not post access-bearing links publicly.

What you may not see

Clients do not inherit the firm owner’s client directory, budgets or internal tools simply by creating an account. A missing menu can be intentional. Ask the firm to share the specific folder or request instead of asking for a staff password.

Example: choose the correct link when the firm sends several requests

Sarah receives a tax checklist, an upload-only file request and a signing request. She should not use whichever link she finds first for every action. The checklist gathers answers; the file request collects files at its intended destination; the signing request presents documents and fields assigned to Sarah. Completing one does not silently complete the others.

On a phone, open the request, check the firm, person, company or year shown, and read the instructions before choosing files. After selecting a photo or PDF, wait for its upload result and inspect the list. Use a final Submit or Complete action when the request provides one. A photo selected in the device’s picker but not successfully uploaded has not reached the firm.

If a portal invitation requires an account, use the invited identity. If a checklist does not require registration, creating a new account elsewhere does not repair an expired checklist link. Ask the sender to identify the correct current request when messages conflict. Do not forward a personal signing or checklist link to a spouse as if it were a general family login.

Accept a platform invitation from start to finish

Your bookkeeper may have entered your contact details before you ever used Bookwits. That directory record is not your login. The platform invitation connects your own verified client account to the firm's client relationship.

1. Open the invitation email's button and review the sender and client identity. If the invitation was unexpected, contact the firm through a known channel before proceeding.
2. If you are new, choose Create account to accept on that invitation page. This keeps the invitation connected to your registration journey. Do not leave it to register as an unrelated professional.
3. Enter your own first name, last name, the same email that was invited and a secure password. Never ask a colleague to create the account with their own email just to get past this step.
4. Open the Bookwits verification email and confirm your email address. Registration and verification are separate steps; finishing the form alone does not accept the firm's invitation.
5. Sign in as a client. If you already had a client account, use Log in to accept instead of creating another one.
6. Return to the invitation page when prompted and choose Accept invitation. If you return to a general page instead, reopen the original valid invitation email.
7. After the acceptance confirmation, choose Open workspace. Inspect the tasks and shared areas available to your account. Your firm's private internal work is not automatically exposed.

Example: Sarah receives an invitation at her personal email but is currently signed in to a different account used by another family member. She should not accept as that person. She signs in with her own verified client account at the invited email. Linking Sarah and Michael as partners in the firm's records does not let either accept the other's invitation.

If you cannot accept

• Wrong account/email: use the intended client account. A professional account is not the same role as a client account for this process. If the firm invited the wrong address, ask it to correct the profile and send a fresh invitation.
• Unverified email: finish email verification before trying acceptance again. Do not give your email password or verification link to the firm.
• Expired, cancelled or replaced link: ask the sender for a current invitation. Platform invitations expire after 30 days, and an older pending link is not valid after a fresh one replaces it.
• Decline: if the invitation is not appropriate, use Decline when offered and review the confirmation. Declining does not connect you to the firm.
• Leaving the page: the warning explains that the connection is not finished. Closing the page is not acceptance. Return through the valid invitation when ready.
• Temporary failure: use Try again when offered. Do not assume that a failed acceptance granted access or that repeatedly registering new accounts will repair it.

Recognize which kind of invitation you received

Keep all recipient links private. If you cannot find the right email, ask the sender which type of request was sent rather than forwarding an old family member's link.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

The client portal is not a fourth staff role. Clients see linked/shared client-facing content, their assigned requests/conversations and the document permissions actually granted. They do not become staff Members or gain Team, Budgets, colleague timesheets, firm billing or the internal client directory merely by accepting an invitation. Staff Owner/Admin rights do not make every file automatically visible to the client.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Tasks in the professional sidebar. List, Board and Calendar are the view controls at the top. The toolbar also contains grouping, subtasks, Show done, Assigned to me, Filters and saved Views. The Task button starts a new internal task.

In List, work is grouped beneath headings such as a status; open the task name for its detailed editor. Board arranges the same kind of work in columns, and Calendar uses date placement. The filter panel includes client, status, assignee, due/deadline dates, priority, tags, created date, archived work and recurring-only work.

A company's or personal year's Tasks subtab is already scoped to that entity. Check that relationship in the task before saving. To ask a client for an action, use Client tasks instead of assuming an internal task is visible to them.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

What a Task is

Where you can access Tasks

Working through the module

1) Create a New Task

An internal task should describe an outcome another staff member can execute without guessing. Its title identifies the deliverable, its description supplies the period and instructions, and its assignee and due date establish responsibility. A client connection supplies context; it does not send that client a request.

For example, “Reconcile October banking — Thompson Consulting” is more useful than “Bank.” Explain which accounts and period to reconcile, where statements are stored and who reviews exceptions. Use Client Tasks separately if Sarah must upload missing statements. That keeps the client’s response and the bookkeeper’s work distinguishable.

1. Choose Tasks in the left sidebar. Use the task-creation control above the work area; do not choose Client tasks unless the client is supposed to perform the action. A new internal-task editor opens.
2. Give the task a title that explains the action and period, such as “Review Maple Grove’s September bank reconciliation”. Add the instructions and expected result in the description. Avoid a title such as “Check this” that makes a colleague search for context.
3. Choose the correct client and, when relevant, the company or personal-tax year. Review the selected record names before assigning work: two companies belonging to the same person still have separate workspaces.
4. Select the assignee, dates and suitable priority/status. The assignee is the person expected to act; mentioning someone does not replace assignment. Due date and Deadline date are separate controls: follow your firm’s scheduling convention, for example a planned review date and a final delivery date. Review both rather than assuming one fills the other. For repeating work, open the due-date recurrence settings instead of creating manual copies.
5. Add any useful subtasks and supporting files, then select Create in the new-task dialog’s footer. Close leaves the draft without creating it. After creation, open the resulting task from the list and confirm the client, assignee and dates. Correct any validation message before leaving; an open draft is not a saved task.

The task appears in your task list/board/calendar depending on your selected view. You can edit it anytime, add subtasks, or convert it into a template later.

If you’re missing details, still create the task with Title + Assignee + Due date. Refine later.

2) Attachments (files on a task)

Attachments keep source material beside the work that needs it. Choose the actual relevant file, not merely a similarly named version. A task attachment is not automatically the same thing as a document shared through the client portal.

For example, attach the October reconciliation working paper to the October task and explain any unresolved transaction in a comment. Keep the final client-facing report in its intended Documents location and share it through the appropriate access controls. Before a handoff, open the attachment and verify its period, pages and contents so the reviewer does not discover an empty or outdated file.

1. From Tasks, open the title of the task that needs the file. Read its client/company/year connection before selecting an attachment, especially if several clients use the same document name.
2. Find Attachments in the task detail/editor and use its file-selection control. Select the actual document from the file picker, not just a screenshot of its filename. Wait for the upload’s visible result.
3. If the editor has unsaved changes, save them. Reopen the attachment from the task to check the file and pages. A file attached to an internal task is not automatically shared with the client in their portal.
4. If uploading fails, keep the original file and read the error. Check whether the attachment already appears before retrying, so a slow response does not leave several copies of the same document.

Attach the file to the task instead of leaving it in an email thread—so the assignee can complete the work without hunting.

3) Activity (what changed + when)

Activity explains the sequence behind a task’s current state. Inspect it when the deadline, assignee or recurrence no longer matches your expectation. A current field tells you what is saved now; history helps you understand how it got there.

For example, a task due Friday now shows Monday. Check whether someone changed its due date, completed an occurrence that reset the schedule or reassigned the work. Read the timestamps and associated comments before changing it back. Reversing a legitimate scheduling change without understanding its cause can create a second coordination problem.

1. Open the task from Tasks and select its Activity area. This is the record of changes, not the place to type new instructions.
2. Read the event, person and time together. A due-date change, reassignment, status update or attachment event tells you what changed; it does not necessarily mean the work was reviewed or approved.
3. If you need to explain a change, return to the task’s comments and add the reason in the appropriate conversation. To change the task itself, use its editing controls rather than treating the activity history as an editable checklist.

Activity acts as your audit trail. It helps you diagnose “what happened” without relying on memory.

If a task “mysteriously changed,” Activity will usually show exactly when and by whom.

4) Comments + @Mentions (team communication)

Comments preserve the discussion about one task. Use a mention to direct a specific question or handoff, but also update the task’s assignee or status when responsibility actually changes. A message is not a substitute for the workflow controls.

For example, write “@Reviewer, October reconciliation is ready; please check the two transactions listed in the attachment” and move the task into the appropriate review state. A comment saying “done” while the task remains In progress leaves contradictory signals. Keep unrelated client discussions in their own tasks or conversations so later readers can follow the decision.

1. Open the task and find its Comments area. Read the recent discussion first so you do not repeat a question that was already answered.
2. Write the specific result or question, including the period or document involved. For example: “September statement is missing page 2; please request a complete copy” is more useful than “Missing file”.
3. To notify a particular colleague, type @ and choose the intended person from the suggestions where mentions are available. Check the selected name; typing plain text that looks like a name is not necessarily a mention.
4. Post the comment once and confirm it appears in the discussion. If the colleague must own the task or the status must change, update those controls separately. A comment saying “done” does not complete the task.

Use @mentions for explicit actions: “@Alex confirm slips are complete” or “@Maria please review before filing.”

5) Subtasks (and Subtasks Mode)

Subtasks divide one deliverable into meaningful actions. Use them to make a recurring process repeatable and to show handoffs, not to create dozens of lines that merely restate the title. Check whether a subtask has its own responsible person and due date.

A monthly-close task could contain “Collect statements,” “Reconcile accounts,” “Review exceptions” and “Deliver reports.” If the reviewer must act independently, inspect the Separate subtask presentation and its actual assignment. Collapsing subtasks changes their display; it does not mean they are complete. Review the parent and relevant subtasks before closing the overall work.

1. Open the parent task from Tasks and locate Subtasks. Add a short action title for each meaningful handoff, such as “Collect statements”, “Prepare reconciliation” and “Review differences”.
2. Open an individual subtask to review any available assignee, date and details. Give a separate owner or deadline when that step needs its own accountability; do not assume every subtask should use the same person and date.
3. Choose the appropriate subtask display mode where offered: Closed keeps the view compact, Opened exposes the steps for execution, and Separate supports separate tracking. These are display/tracking choices, not three copies of the work.
4. Save the changes and check the resulting parent and subtask view. Complete each real step as it is finished, then review the parent’s status; do not assume checking one step proves the whole engagement is complete.

Use Opened when executing step-by-step. Use Separate when subtasks are basically “real tasks.”

6) Recurring tasks (set recurring)

Recurrence describes how future work is produced, not simply how often a reminder appears. Choose between resetting the same task after completion and creating separate upcoming tasks. These modes have different consequences for planning and identifying individual periods.

For example, separate monthly-close occurrences let you distinguish October from November and plan their workload. A simple repeating internal reminder may fit a reset-on-completion task. Review the date pattern and next occurrence before saving, then check Activity if the result surprises you. Do not repeatedly complete the task as a test: completion can itself advance the recurring workflow.

1. Open the relevant task, select its Due date control and choose Set recurring. Start here rather than duplicating the task manually every month.
2. Choose the repeat pattern and interval shown by the form. Review the starting/next date and any end condition. For monthly work, check the actual date produced rather than assuming “monthly” means the final day of every month.
3. Read the recurrence type carefully. Reset on completion reuses the task for its next cycle; Create upcoming tasks prepares separate upcoming work. Choose according to whether the team needs separate occurrences visible in advance.
4. Confirm the recurrence settings and save the task. Reopen the date settings and review the recurrence indicator or next occurrence. Completing one cycle does not mean every future cycle is completed.

Recurring usually triggers when the task transitions to Done. You’ll typically see a “Next occurrence” date once configured.

If it’s not repeating, confirm you moved the task to Done and that recurrence settings are saved.

7) Views (List, Board, Calendar)

List, Board and Calendar present the same kind of work for different decisions. List helps compare details and grouped workloads; Board emphasizes progress through statuses; Calendar emphasizes dates and scheduling. A view is not a separate copy of the task.

For example, the manager can group List by assignee to find an overloaded colleague, then inspect Calendar to see several deadlines on one day. The preparer may use Board to identify work waiting for review. Check filters and completed-task visibility when switching, because a narrower selection can make a task seem missing even though the record still exists.

1. Open Tasks from the left sidebar. In the toolbar above the task area, select List to scan rows, compare details and work with grouping or filters.
2. Select Board in the same toolbar to see work arranged in columns. Read the column/group labels before moving a card: where moving changes a status or grouping value, that is an edit to the task, not merely scrolling.
3. Select Calendar to inspect deadlines by date. Check the displayed period and any active filters, then open a task to read its full details. Changing views does not create a duplicate task or remove the need to save edits.

If you’re managing a team, start in List with Group by Assignee and Due date.

8) Group By + Filters (find what you need fast)

Grouping changes organization; filtering changes which tasks are included. Use both deliberately, and inspect collapsed groups before concluding work has disappeared. A saved view may carry an older filter that is no longer appropriate for today’s question.

For example, to review Sarah’s current work, filter by Sarah and relevant statuses, then group by due date. To assess the whole team, clear that client filter before grouping by assignee. Otherwise the apparent team workload contains only Sarah’s tasks. Search, Show done, archive filters and date limits can all affect the result and should be checked together.

1. From Tasks, find Group by above the task list/board. Choose the offered grouping that answers your question: assignee for workload, status for progress, or client/company/year for engagement work. Select None to remove grouping.
2. Open Filters beside the view controls. On narrower windows, open Options for controls moved out of the toolbar, such as grouping or visibility options. Select the client, assignee, status, priority or dates you need. Check archived/recurring inclusion; several active filters narrow the result together.
3. Compare the displayed tasks with your selections. If the list is unexpectedly empty, remove one restriction at a time or clear the filters; do not create a new task merely because the existing one is filtered out.

If you “lost” a task, check whether a filter is still turned on (especially Client/Assignee/Archived).

9) Templates (standardize repeat workflows)

A task template stores reusable preparation; a task created from it is actual work. Maintain a clean shared pattern and review the resulting task’s client, owner and dates every time you reuse it. Old client names or attachments should not travel into the next engagement.

For example, save a “Monthly close” template with standard subtasks and instructions, but remove Sarah’s private links and October-specific notes first. Create November’s task from that template and enter November’s scope. Updating the template later is not proof that an already-created October task changed, so inspect live tasks separately when a process is revised.

1. Open the task-template library. Choose Templates in the left sidebar, then Tasks. Do not choose Client tasks unless you are preparing a request for a client to complete.
2. Add a reusable workflow. Use the library’s add-template control and give it a name such as “Monthly bookkeeping review”. Explain the work in the description and add the subtasks in the order the team should perform them.
3. Remove details that belong to one engagement. Keep general instructions, but remove another client’s name, old deadlines, confidential attachments and one-off comments. A reusable template should tell the next person what to do without carrying another client’s information into the new task.
4. Save the template, then use it from a task. In Tasks, open a new task and its three-dot menu, then choose Create from Template. Select your template and review the resulting title, client, assignee, dates and subtasks before creating the actual task.

Remove client-specific names/links before saving a task as a template so it’s reusable.

Recurring Tasks (in the Due Date menu)

Views: List, Board, Calendar

Templates (standardize repeat workflows)

Troubleshooting (Common beginner issues)

Glossary

Set up a task so another person can execute it

Use a title that states the outcome, then explain the period, scope, source documents and definition of done in the description. Select the correct client and company or personal tax year. Set the responsible assignee, due date, status, priority and tag as appropriate. Attaching the task to a client is not the same as inviting that client to complete it: use Client Tasks for client-facing requests.

Know which control changes data and which changes your view

Hand off work with evidence

1. Open the task, read its description and verify its client context.
2. Complete or assign the subtasks, checking whether they have their own owners and dates.
3. Attach supporting files and add a comment explaining the result or blocker. Mention a colleague only when they need to act.
4. Update the actual status. A comment saying “done” does not change the task’s status.
5. Before reopening or changing a completed task, review Activity to understand previous changes and any recurrence.

Choose the recurrence mode deliberately

Reset on completion keeps cycling the same task forward. Create upcoming tasks creates separate occurrences so future work can be planned. They serve different needs: use separate occurrences when you need distinguishable periods and future capacity visibility. Check the pattern, date anchor, next occurrence and whether you are changing one task or the recurring setup before saving.

Do not repeatedly complete or recreate a recurring task while troubleshooting; that can create confusing future work. Confirm the saved recurrence and activity first. Compare task dates with your actual statutory and engagement deadlines rather than treating a generated date as tax advice.

Worked example: make the monthly-close handoff understandable

Create “October close — Thompson Consulting,” connected to the consulting company. Jordan prepares the work; Morgan reviews it. Put the scope, statement period and location of source files in the description. Use subtasks to distinguish collection, reconciliation, exceptions and review rather than writing one unexplained “Complete close” item.

If the statement is missing, keep the blocker explicit and create the client-facing request separately. When it arrives, Jordan checks the actual period and resumes work. Before handoff, attach the working paper and comment on unresolved items. Morgan should be able to identify what needs review without searching several unrelated chats.

After review, update the task’s real state. If the task is recurring, inspect how the chosen mode produces the next period. Separate upcoming tasks help distinguish October and November; reset-on-completion advances the same cycling task. Do not rename or complete several occurrences experimentally to “make the next month appear.” First inspect saved recurrence, date anchors and Activity. A task’s completion records work status; it does not execute reconciliation inside an external accounting system.

Current application screen examples

Save a useful working setup with Views

1. Open Tasks from the left navigation. Choose List, Board or Calendar, then configure the search, filters, grouping and display options you actually need.
2. For example, turn on Assigned to me, keep Show done off, and choose the appropriate Due date range to build a daily work queue. Review active filters before saving.
3. Select Views → Save current view. If Views is not visible beside Filters, open Options in the same toolbar; controls move there when space is limited.
4. Enter a recognizable name, up to 100 characters, such as “My weekly bookkeeping reviews,” then choose Save. Cancel closes the naming dialog without saving a view.
5. Later, open Views and select that name. It restores the saved setup; it does not change task ownership or complete work.

Views are private to you and stored with your account, so another staff member does not automatically get your view. They can include presentation, grouping, subtask mode, Show done, Assigned to me, search/sort, task and connection filters, Due/Deadline ranges, Created date period, archived/recurring selections, calendar month and Deadline visibility. Relative ranges such as “This week” remain relative when reused; a deliberately selected calendar month can return you to that month. A view never bypasses company scope or access restrictions.

To remove a saved view, open Views and use its trash icon, then read the confirmation. On desktop the icon may appear on hover/focus; touch layouts keep it available. Deleting a view does not delete its tasks. If loading or saving fails, use the visible retry/error controls rather than assuming a missing view was saved.

Use Due date for planned work and Deadline date for the outside limit

The two dates serve different purposes. Due date is the team’s planned completion date. Deadline date records the separate official/outside deadline. For example, plan a review for October 20 while recording October 31 as the outside deadline. Enter dates appropriate to the real engagement; the app does not determine a statutory deadline for you.

1. In the Tasks toolbar, open the Table settings gear. On narrower layouts it is inside Options.
2. Enable Deadline date and save the display settings. This makes the date available in task views and task dialogs; it does not assign a deadline to existing tasks.
3. Open a task and use the Due date or Deadline date row for the specific date you intend. Review both dates before saving.
4. In Filters, use the independent Due date and Deadline date ranges deliberately. A task can match one range but not the other.

When Deadline visibility is off, hidden deadline filters do not narrow the results or count as active filters. With it enabled, selecting multiple tasks also offers a Deadline date action. A bulk deadline change is a real update to those selected records: verify their names first. It does not change their Due dates or configure a recurring schedule.

Configure recurrence: repeat the same task or prepare upcoming work

Open the task’s Due date control and choose Set recurring below the date picker. Start by distinguishing the Recurring type choices, Repeat same task and Create future tasks, from the separate Create a new task for each recurrence option. They are not different names for one control.

• Repeat/reset when completed: the next occurrence is driven by completing the task. Review the status it should move to and its next dates. With “Create a new task each recurrence” off, the same task can be moved forward. Turning it on keeps the completed occurrence and creates a new task for the next cycle.
• Create future/upcoming tasks: choose how many occurrences to prepare ahead, so future work is available for planning instead of waiting for the current task’s completion. Read the preview before applying this to an existing task; creating many future tasks is not a harmless view change.

Select the frequency and Every interval. Every must be a whole number from 1 to 100: “Monthly, Every 2” is every two months, not twice per month. Bi-weekly and semi-monthly are different patterns. The future-quantity caps vary by frequency: daily 31, weekly 52, bi-weekly 26, monthly 12, quarterly 12, annually 10, semi-monthly 24 and semi-annually 20. These numbers count occurrences, not a universal number of months.

Choose the next Due date and, if needed, the next Deadline date separately. Where offered, the date-anchor controls distinguish a particular day from the last day of the month. For example, a month-end workflow should use the intended last-day rule instead of assuming every month has a 31st. Check Next occurrence, the selected status and any generated-task preview before saving. Showing the Deadline field alone does not create a recurring deadline; leave that schedule empty for a due-only recurrence.

Include the recurrence period in the task name

In the recurring-task dialog, enable Include recurrence period in task name when the title should identify the occurrence. Start with a reusable base name such as “Monthly bookkeeping review.” The generated-name preview is based on Due dates, not a guess from the client name or Deadline date. Monthly names use month/year, quarterly names use quarter/year, annual names use the year, and shorter frequencies use their date or period ranges.

Example: a monthly review whose occurrence Due date is in September 2026 can include “September 2026” in its generated name. If the business calls that work “August close,” do not assume the automatic suffix will use August; inspect the preview and use a clear base name/date pattern suited to your process. Review the preview again after changing frequency, interval, quantity or next date. Changing a created occurrence’s Due date later does not automatically rename it. An unsuccessful save must be resolved before treating the recurrence as changed.

Find task-linked timesheets inside an existing task

1. Open the existing task and locate Track time among its properties, below the other work fields. The task shows its time information there; this is separate from the task description.
2. Open the Track time control to see the time-tracking dialog. Confirm the task and work connection before starting a new entry.
3. Use Start timer when actually beginning work and Stop timer when finished, or enter the appropriate time-in/time-out details for manual recording. Starting a timer is a real time-recording action, not a preview.
4. Review the note and saved entries, then reopen Timesheets from the left navigation to inspect the recorded work. Check the client/company/year, user, date, duration and task association rather than relying only on a running clock.

The task’s aggregate time and the time entries are related but not interchangeable. Do not record the same work once from the task and again as an unrelated manual entry. Changing a task title does not mean the work becomes a new time entry. Current task labels are used to identify linked work when you revisit Timesheets; the underlying record connection matters more than a copied title.

Read a populated calendar and investigate missing tasks

Choose Calendar in Tasks, then check the displayed month/year before interpreting the grid. Existing searches and filters still matter. A blank month does not prove there are no tasks: the task may have no Due date, belong to another month, be completed while Show done is off, or be excluded by a client, assignee, Created date or other filter. Clear the relevant filters and inspect List when troubleshooting, then return to the intended month. Open the actual task from its calendar entry to confirm the work instead of judging only the shortened calendar title.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Member visibility: assigned tasks and subtasks visible through assigned parents, unless an Owner/Admin enables Team → person → Settings → Can view all tasks. Owner/Admin already see team tasks. This scope also matters in Calendar, dashboard task widgets, Client List task names and search. A Member’s filtered or saved View cannot unlock tasks outside that scope.

Members use existing statuses/tags and the available creation, recurrence, Deadline and time-tracking workflows; the add/edit definition gears are management-only in individual and bulk menus. Enabling all-task visibility does not grant Budgets, another person’s timesheets, all client profiles, other people’s Sign transactions or Client Tasks where the Member is not Primary contact.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Templates in the left sidebar. The top tabs are Tasks, Client tasks, Emails, Personal checklists, Company checklists, Documents and Sign. Choose the type first, then a template from that type's list. A task template and a client-task template are not interchangeable.

The selected template opens in its corresponding editor. Look for the create/template control in the list area and the editor's own Save action. In checklist editors, open the relevant section or custom field before changing questions, choices or document requirements.

To use a template, return to the destination workflow: create a task, compose an email, send a checklist, create document folders or prepare a signing request. Editing the library is not the same action as sending or assigning live work.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

A template is reusable preparation; a live task, email, checklist or signing request is a specific instance. Prepare the template once, then review the recipient, period, dates and client-specific data on each new instance.

The seven template libraries

Create an internal task template

1. Open the task-template library. Choose Templates in the left sidebar, then Tasks. Do not choose Client tasks unless you are preparing a request for a client to complete.
2. Add a reusable workflow. Use the library’s add-template control and give it a name such as “Monthly bookkeeping review”. Explain the work in the description and add the subtasks in the order the team should perform them.
3. Remove details that belong to one engagement. Keep general instructions, but remove another client’s name, old deadlines, confidential attachments and one-off comments. A reusable template should tell the next person what to do without carrying another client’s information into the new task.
4. Save the template, then use it from a task. In Tasks, open a new task and its three-dot menu, then choose Create from Template. Select your template and review the resulting title, client, assignee, dates and subtasks before creating the actual task.

Create a client-task template

1. Open Templates → Client tasks and add a template.
2. Write client-friendly instructions and add the required request actions. State exactly what files, answers or approvals are needed.
3. Review reminder settings and the client email content. Save the template.
4. Use Create from template in Client Tasks, then select the real client and contact and review the live request before sending.

Change templates without confusing current work

Treat a template edit as preparation for later use, not proof that every existing task or already-sent form changed. Review live work separately. Use clear version names when changing a process and retire obsolete templates where supported. Keep one accountable owner for the shared library so different team members do not unknowingly maintain conflicting versions.

The dedicated chapters below explain document folder templates and signing templates in their full workflows. Checklist templates are covered with each checklist type; email templates are covered with composing and reminders.

Example: reuse an engagement process without copying another client’s data

Your firm wants consistent onboarding, but a task template, checklist template, folder template and Sign template are different tools. The task template organizes staff work. The checklist asks questions. The folder template builds a document structure for matching new records. The Sign template prepares reusable signing material and roles. Choose the library that produces the result you need.

When turning Sarah’s task into a reusable template, remove her private links, filenames, names and old period references. Keep reusable instructions such as “Confirm source statements for the agreed period.” When creating another client’s live task, fill in that client, dates, owner and actual missing items. A generic role in a Sign template must likewise be assigned to the real recipient in the request.

After revising a shared template, tell colleagues which version to use and inspect an example created from it. Do not assume existing live work was rewritten retroactively. If October’s task needs a correction, review October’s task itself. A template is preparation for reuse, not a synchronized master copy of every past engagement.

Choose the right template family before adding a field or attachment request

A client/company profile custom field, a question in a checklist template and a document-folder template are different definitions. Start in the editor for the information you want to collect. For example, a permanent client preference belongs in the client profile-field library; an annual question belongs in the personal checklist; a reusable folder structure belongs in Documents templates.

In personal checklist templates, review the Documents section as well as the question sections. Folder-based document requests organize a set of source files. Where an Attachment question is offered, it collects evidence for that particular question; it is not interchangeable with a general upload folder. Write a clear label describing the expected evidence and inspect the recipient preview before sending.

Example: “Bank statements” is a sensible folder request for multiple statements. “Attach the signed authorization discussed in this question” describes a particular attachment question. Required/conditional settings affect when the recipient must answer or provide material; test the intended branch in preview rather than creating two nearly identical fields with different hidden rules.

Editing the reusable template and reviewing an already-sent request are separate operations. Do not assume a library edit retroactively rewrites a recipient's existing request. Check the actual sent instance and issue the appropriate new/corrected request when the engagement requires a different questionnaire.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Do not treat the entire Templates module as Owner/Admin-only. Staff with the enabled module can use its available reusable-content workflows. The task-template tag-definition library has Owner/Admin management restrictions. Checklist-template questions are not client/company custom-field definitions; those profile definitions have their own management permissions. Applying a template still requires an appropriate accessible target and does not expand client or task access.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Notes in the sidebar. The left panel contains All notes, Pinned, Private, Folders, Tags and a client filter. The next panel contains Search notes, New and the note list. Select an existing note to read it in the editor; the details panel contains its folder, tag, pin and privacy controls.

Use the panel-toggle controls if the list or details panel is hidden. The fullscreen control enlarges the editor; it does not create a second note. Folder/tag management is separate from the note's own text.

For entity-specific information, open client profile → company or personal tax year → Notes or Guidelines. Keep reusable operating instructions in Guidelines rather than losing them inside a dated conversation.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

Where to find Notes

What a note contains

Quick Start (First 10 minutes)

Working through the module

Troubleshooting (Common Beginner Issues)

Glossary

Choose the right place for the information

Use a note for reusable context, decisions or a handoff explanation. Use a task for work with an owner and deadline, a comment for discussion of a particular task, and a document for a source file. Guidelines inside company or tax-year workspaces help keep instructions near the record; always check the selected connection before entering content.

Save and confirm before leaving

1. Choose Notes in the left sidebar. Use the green New button beside the notes search to open a blank note. If you opened Notes inside a client, company or year, verify that context before writing.
2. Enter a title that explains what the note contains, such as “Maple Grove — month-end review questions”. Write the actual instructions or findings in the body, not only in the title.
3. Review the linked record, folder, category and privacy in the details area. A private note is different from a note placed in a folder; folder organization alone is not a privacy setting.
4. After writing, click outside the editor to trigger its save behavior and check the last-edited feedback. Reopen the note to verify an important change. If an error appears, keep your text before navigating away.

Private means creator-only, not merely “not client-facing”

A note marked Private is visible only to its creator. It is not a shared confidential team note. If a colleague needs a handoff note, do not mark it private and then assume the colleague or administrator can read it. A non-private note still follows the relevant client/team access; unchecking Private does not make a note public on the internet.

Use folders, categories and pins for different purposes

A folder provides broad organization, a category classifies the content, and pinning makes it easier to surface important notes. None replaces linking the correct client. Combine search with All/Pinned/Private, folder and category filters. Clear all of them when a note appears missing. Hiding a side panel or entering fullscreen changes the editor layout, not visibility permissions.

Maintain the shared structure carefully

Owners/Admins can manage folders and categories. Renaming, recoloring and reordering are organization changes; deleting a note is a separate action. Move notes from a category when required before deleting it. Keep attachments relevant and open them to confirm the correct file is linked; an inserted image is not the same as a file deliberately shared through Documents.

Example: write a useful handoff without hiding it from the reviewer

Jordan discovers that Sarah’s bank uses a different statement cutoff than expected. A reusable company note can explain the cutoff and where the supporting statement is stored. Link the correct company, use a recognizable title such as “Bank statement cutoff — operating account,” and separate verified facts from open questions.

If Morgan must read this handoff, do not mark it Private. Private means creator-only, including when the intended colleague has an administrative role. Conversely, removing Private does not publish the note on the internet; normal record and workspace access still matter. Choose the visibility deliberately before asking someone to rely on the note.

After typing, leave the editor field and check the save indication. Reopen the same note to confirm a critical instruction. Use a folder for broad organization and a category for classification; neither replaces linking the company. If the note seems missing, clear search, private/pinned filters and category/folder selections before creating a duplicate. A guideline explains recurring context; an action with an owner and deadline belongs in a task.

Private notes, guidelines and links to records have different effects

A private note is personal visibility, not merely a note placed in a folder named “Private.” Use the actual Private note control and inspect its description. Pinning changes prominence; a folder or tag changes organization. None of those labels should be treated as a substitute for the note's visibility control.

Example: keep a personal draft of a review question private, then put the agreed recurring procedure in the appropriate company's Guidelines. Do not assume everyone can read the personal draft or that moving it into a named folder changes its permission.

Where the editor offers Link record, use the record picker to locate an existing accessible item and inspect its type/context before inserting the reference. A link is a route back to a record, not a copy of that record and not a grant of access. Someone following it still needs the destination's permissions. Ordinary web links and smart-field substitutions serve different purposes.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Member sees accessible shared-client/company/year notes and non-private general team notes. Owner/Admin have broader client scope, but a private note remains creator-only for every role. Member may use existing folders/categories; Owner/Admin manage their definitions, names, order and deletion. In the client Guidelines panel, the management edit/delete menus and category gears also differ by role. A visible category does not mean every note in it is visible.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Documents in the sidebar, then the Companies, Personal taxes or Internal tab. The toolbar offers folder creation, file/folder upload, access management, file requests, rename, download, delete and filters. A disabled action may require selecting the appropriate folder or file first.

Open the client/company/year hierarchy before uploading. The breadcrumb above the file list takes you back up the folder tree. A company or year's Documents subtab opens the narrower workspace directly.

Manage access controls sharing. Request files asks someone to provide files; it is not permission to browse all existing documents. Templates for a reusable folder structure live separately under Templates → Documents.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

What “Documents” is for

Folder creation in Bookwits (Automatic + Manual)

Automatic folders

Folders are created automatically when you:

• Add a Company
• Open a new Personal Tax Year

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Manual folders

You can also create folders manually any time to match your firm’s process.

Common manual folder examples

Client Uploads Engagement / Admin Workpapers Filed / Final CRA / NOA Payroll / T4s

Use the same folder structure across clients so staff (and clients) always know where to place files.

Uploading documents (basic workflow)

1. Choose Documents in the left sidebar, or open the client and the intended company/personal-tax year, then its Documents section. Read the selected client, business and year before choosing files.
2. Open the destination folder in the folder tree/list. Use the upload control in the document toolbar and choose the actual files from your device. For example, September bank statements belong in the intended company’s September supporting documents, not another year’s personal-tax folder.
3. Wait for each file’s upload result and resolve any visible error. Keep meaningful names that include the document and period; do not assume renaming the file changes the period or owner inside the document itself.
4. Open the uploaded file from the destination folder and verify its pages and readability. Uploading stores the file; sharing the folder or submitting a separate request may require another action.

Share a folder with your client (Client Portal access)

Sharing gives your client portal access to the folder(s) you choose.

Steps

1. Open Documents, select the correct client/company/year and open the exact folder to share. Check its subfolders and contents first so you understand what access could expose.
2. Use the folder’s Manage Access control where available. Review existing access before adding another person; someone may already have the intended access under their accepted account.
3. Enter/select the intended person and verify their email. Choose View for read-only access when that is sufficient. Grant a broader role only when its permitted actions are actually needed.
4. Save or send the access invitation using the form’s explicit action. Opening the dialog and entering an email does not itself confirm a successful share. Check the resulting access list/status.
5. Ask the recipient to use their own invited account and confirm they can open the intended folder. Sharing this folder is not an invitation to join your staff team and does not mean every client folder should be visible.

What happens next (important for beginners)

• The client receives an email invitation.
• They must register (create their portal account) before accessing shared folders.
• They’ll see a folder-style view limited to only what you shared.

Share only specific files or subfolders You don’t have to share everything. You can share only a specific subfolder (e.g., “Client Uploads”) or only specific files (e.g., engagement letter).

Start restrictive (only what the client needs), then expand access if required.

Copy and Move folders/files (organize without re-uploading)

Preview a file without downloading

You can view document contents without downloading:

1. Open the correct destination in Documents and select the file’s name. Use the preview that opens to check the document itself, not merely its filename or extension.
2. Check the person/company, period, page count, orientation and readable details. If that file type cannot be previewed, use its authorized download action and inspect it with an appropriate viewer. Close the preview to return to the same folder.

Great for quickly confirming

• “Is this the right slip?”
• “Is this the signed version?”
• “Does the date match the tax year?”

Documents from inside a Client Profile

You can access documents directly from the Client profile, filtered to exactly what you’re working on.

Company documents view Shows folders/files only for the selected company/entity.

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Personal Tax Year documents view Shows folders/files only for the selected tax year.

Personal Tax Checklist creates extra folders automatically

When you use the Client Files Personal Tax Checklist, Bookwits creates folders like:

Other Documentation Receipts T-Slips

You don’t need to search the entire Documents module—Bookwits narrows it to the company or tax year you’re currently in.

Security and storage (Azure + encryption)

Best-practice setup (simple and effective)

Choose the correct document area before uploading

The main library separates Companies, Personal taxes and Internal material. Within client work, confirm the company or year and then the destination folder. A similarly named folder under another year is a different location. Open the client’s own Documents tab when you want its context rather than the entire library.

File operations: what changes

• Upload: adds the chosen file to the selected destination. Wait for confirmation and open the file to verify it.
• Preview: reads a supported file in the interface. If a type cannot be previewed, use the permitted download action.
• Download: saves a copy on your device; it does not move the cloud original.
• Move: changes location. Recheck the destination and intended sharing before confirming.
• Copy: creates another copy. Later edits or organization must be considered separately; do not treat the copies as a single file.
• Delete: removes the selected item according to the confirmation. Inspect selection carefully, especially for folders and bulk actions.

Shared portal access versus an upload-only request

Manage access shares a file/folder with named people under a role. The recipient follows the invitation/account flow and can use the allowed actions. A file request provides a dedicated upload link for collecting files; it is not permission to browse every document in the workspace. Select the intended destination and review the request before distributing the link.

When choosing View versus Admin access, read the available permissions. Admin is broader access, not a nicer label for an ordinary read-only client. Share the narrow folder or file required; do not expose internal workpapers merely to make uploads easier. Review access again when the relationship ends.

Verify the outcome and recover from mistakes

1. After uploading, reopen the destination and preview or download a representative file.
2. Confirm the filename, contents, pages and period. A successful transfer does not mean the document is complete or relevant.
3. If it is in the wrong place, use Move rather than uploading again and leaving ambiguous duplicates.
4. If a client cannot see it, verify the specific share, account and role. A task attachment or checklist link is not automatically portal access to the entire folder.
5. If an upload fails, keep the original and check the error before retrying. Inspect the list first so a retry does not leave unnecessary copies.

Example: collect October statements without sharing internal workpapers

Open Thompson Consulting’s document area and identify the intended October destination. A file request can collect the statements without giving Sarah general browsing access to the firm’s files. A named shared folder is different: it exposes the selected content and permitted actions to its invited account. Review what the recipient will actually be allowed to see.

Suppose Jordan uploads a working paper into the client upload folder by mistake. Check its contents and sharing before moving it to the intended internal location. Do not simply create another copy and leave the unintended shared version in place. Similarly, moving a September statement into an October-named folder does not change the period printed in the document.

Use consistent filenames that describe entity, period and document purpose. Preview or download the file to check all pages and readability. If an upload fails, retain the original and inspect the destination before retrying, so the retry does not leave duplicates. A completed upload proves transfer, not that the right account, company or period was supplied.

Current application screen examples

Request files without sharing the folder’s existing contents

In the professional workspace, open Documents from the left navigation. Its scope tabs are Companies, Personal taxes and Internal. Choose the intended company or personal-year location, open the actual destination folder, then select Request files in its toolbar. The folder’s row menu also offers the request action where available. This is the document-request feature; its English button says Request files, not Request documents. It is not offered for Internal Documents.

1. Check the folder breadcrumb and client/entity before opening Request files. “Bank statements” under one company is not interchangeable with a folder of the same name under another company.
2. Choose Get a link when you intend to distribute an upload-only link yourself. Anyone possessing that link can upload; treat it as private access, not a public website address.
3. Choose Send by email when asking particular recipients. Review each actual address, subject and instructions. Recipients receive separate links and verify the selected email address using a one-time code; they do not need a Bookwits account for this upload workflow.
4. Keep the subject within 200 characters and the message within 3,000 characters, including formatting. Follow the recipient limit shown by the form instead of assuming an unlimited distribution list.
5. Review everything before Create upload link or Send request. Those actions create access or send real requests. For a generated link, copy/store it securely at creation; do not assume the complete URL can always be recovered from a later request card.
6. After the recipient uploads, open the destination and inspect the actual files. An email-send response or a recorded upload count does not prove the required statements are complete and readable.

This is upload-only access: recipients do not browse the folder’s existing contents through the request. A name/company entered by an uploader is self-reported; email verification and the contents of a document still require sensible review. Use the recent request cards to check active/expired/revoked state, the displayed expiry and upload counts. Revoke stops new uploads through that request; it does not delete files already received or undo an email already sent.

Example: open Maple Grove Design Ltd.’s September bank-statements folder and request the missing September statement with a clear period and account description. Do not publish the request link in a general resource page or reuse another company’s request simply because its folder name matches.

The illustrated request drafts use Blue Horizon Partners as the destination and ask for all pages of the September statement. Open a subfolder first if that is where the files should arrive. Neither choosing a request mode nor writing its instructions sends it; review the final create/send action separately.

Upload a folder and preserve its subfolders

1. Open the intended destination in Documents and verify its breadcrumb.
2. Choose Upload folder, not Upload files, when you want to preserve a local directory structure.
3. In the browser’s folder chooser, select the folder and review any confirmation showing the files to be uploaded. Choosing/confirming the directory can start a real upload; inspect the destination first.
4. Wait for the operation and review individual failures. Supported files retain their relative subfolder paths, and matching destination folders can be reused. This is not a promise that a second upload is a complete replacement or a duplicate-free synchronization.
5. Open the resulting folders and inspect the actual documents. If an upload partially fails, check what already arrived before retrying; folders and successful files may remain from the first attempt.

Example: uploading a “September close” folder containing “Bank” and “Receipts” subfolders should keep that organization beneath the selected destination. A file-only selection cannot describe empty folders, and browser folder-selection capabilities vary. For large transfers, check permitted file types/sizes, keep the connection available and split the work if needed instead of repeatedly restarting the entire directory.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

For client/company/year documents, a Member needs the relevant accessible folder/share; Owner/Admin have broader team client scope. Internal is different: Owner/Admin see and create Internal roots and manage Member access at the root; a Member sees only Internal folders explicitly shared with them and can work inside those accessible folders. Sharing a client is not the same as sharing an Internal root.

Request files is not management-only: it can be used for an eligible accessible client folder, including by a Member. It is not offered for Internal folders. External clients/recipients have separate View/Edit or upload-request rights; those are not the staff Member/Admin roles. Upload folder preserves structure but does not grant the recipient access to other workspace documents.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Open Templates → Documents, not the live Documents directory. Select or create the reusable folder structure in the template list. Work inside that template when naming or arranging its folders.

To put the structure into use, return to the intended company/year document workspace and use the applicable template action there. Verify the destination before applying it. Creating a template does not upload client files, and applying a folder structure is not a sharing invitation.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

Where to find Document Templates

What Document Templates are for

The 2 types of Document Templates

How the automation works

1. Create or edit the template Build the folder tree you want Bookwits to use by default.
2. Keep the template active Only active templates are used during company or personal tax year creation.
3. Create a new Company or Personal Tax Year Bookwits creates the main folder for that new record and then applies the matching template structure inside it.
4. Folders are ready immediately Your team can start uploading documents into a clean, consistent structure right away.

Building the folder structure

Step 1: Create a new template

Steps

1. Choose Templates in the left sidebar, then Documents in the template types. This library defines reusable folder structures; it is not the ordinary Documents upload area.
2. Start a new template and choose its scope: Company or Personal tax. Select the type of future workspace that should receive the structure rather than using one template indiscriminately for every record.
3. Give it a clear name and optional internal description. Add root folders first, then subfolders, using labels such as “Bank statements” and “Review notes” that a new colleague can understand.
4. Review the hierarchy and activation options, then save. Confirm the folders generated on an authorized matching record before relying on the template broadly; saving a structure does not upload documents into it.

What this does

It creates the reusable template record that will hold your folder structure.

Step 2: Add folders and subfolders

Build your structure by adding top-level folders and then adding subfolders underneath them.

What you can do

• Add root folders
• Add subfolders inside each folder
• Reorder items to match your preferred layout
• Delete folders you no longer want

Recommended approach

• Start with broad categories
• Then create more specific subfolders inside them
• Avoid making the structure deeper than needed

Active vs Inactive templates

How to deactivate a template

To stop using a template without deleting it, open the template and click the 3 dots in the top-right corner .

Why deactivate instead of delete

• Keep the structure for future reference
• Pause older workflows without losing setup work
• Switch to a newer template when your process changes

Where to manage Document Templates

Best practices (what to do first)

Understand what this template does not do

A Document Template is a folder-tree template, not an engagement-letter editor or a signature form. Choose Company or Personal tax to match the records that will use it. Adding a file to an existing client folder is normal Documents work, not template editing.

Prepare a usable structure

1. Choose Templates in the left sidebar, then Documents in the template types. This library defines reusable folder structures; it is not the ordinary Documents upload area.
2. Start a new template and choose its scope: Company or Personal tax. Select the type of future workspace that should receive the structure rather than using one template indiscriminately for every record.
3. Give it a clear name and optional internal description. Add root folders first, then subfolders, using labels such as “Bank statements” and “Review notes” that a new colleague can understand.
4. Review the hierarchy and activation options, then save. Confirm the folders generated on an authorized matching record before relying on the template broadly; saving a structure does not upload documents into it.

Change defaults without rewriting history

Active templates are used for future matching record creation. Deactivating or changing the template is not a bulk rearrangement of every existing company or tax-year folder. Maintain existing folders through Documents when necessary. Do not delete a client or year just to make the new folder default run again.

Keep the active templates deliberate and avoid overlapping structures with confusing duplicate folder names. Before retiring a default, consider the next new company/year your colleagues will create and tell them which structure to expect.

Example: introduce a folder standard without rebuilding existing clients

The firm chooses a company folder structure with Client uploads, Workpapers and Filed or final material. Build the hierarchy in the Company document-template type, review its nesting and keep the intended template active. A personal-tax folder standard belongs in the Personal tax type rather than being substituted for the company structure.

When a new matching company is created, inspect its generated folders. Confirm that the structure is usable before applying the standard to a large onboarding batch. Do not assume the template automatically determines sharing: a folder name such as “Client uploads” is not proof that the client has access.

Later, the firm adds a “Review evidence” folder to the standard. That template change prepares future record creation; it is not evidence that every historical company was reorganized. Maintain existing folders through Documents as needed. Never delete and recreate a company or tax year merely to rerun folder generation. That would confuse the record history and associated work instead of solving a document-organization problem.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Staff template access is governed by the enabled Templates module, not a blanket Member exclusion. Using a document template does not grant access to an unshared client or another person’s signing transaction. Personal branding and a client’s external document-share rights are separate from the shared template definition.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Sign in the sidebar, or a client's Sign profile tab. Search and Filters are near the list heading. The status row includes All, Drafts, Awaiting, Completed and Archived. Request signatures and Use a template are in the action area on the right.

A signing request moves through preparation, document/recipient setup and the field designer before sending. Open an existing transaction for its details and recipient progress; opening a completed document is not the same as editing a new draft.

A signer uses their recipient email link, reviews the document and completes the required fields. The staff transaction page, designer and recipient signing page have different purposes and permissions.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

The Bookwits Sign data model

Quick Start (What to Do First)

Working through the module

1) Create a New Signing Request

A signing request is a package containing documents, recipients and assigned fields. Create a clearly named draft so you can prepare and review the complete package before contacting anyone. The request title should identify the engagement and version, not just say “Please sign.”

For example, “Thompson Consulting — 2026 engagement letter” distinguishes this agreement from Sarah’s personal-tax authorization. Saving the draft is preparation, not delivery. Inspect all documents and signers before sending, because a sent package must preserve a consistent signing record and is not an ordinary freely editable working document.

1. Choose Sign in the left sidebar, then New Signing Request above the requests. Start a new request for the actual package you need signed; do not overwrite an unrelated completed request.
2. Give the request a name identifying its purpose and period, such as “Maple Grove — 2026 engagement letter”. Review the client connection and signing mode: simultaneous for independent signers, ordered when one signer must finish before another proceeds.
3. Keep the request in draft while preparing it. Add the documents, real recipients and each signer’s fields in their respective sections. Creating a request name alone does not send a usable signing package.
4. Review every page and recipient before the final send action. After saving a draft, find it in the draft requests and reopen it to continue preparation; do not create another request merely because you closed the editor.

The signing request appears in your list as a draft. Drafts can still be edited. After the request is sent, document and field edits are restricted so the signing record stays consistent.

Use names that will make sense months later, such as “2026 Engagement Letter – Client Name” instead of “Document to sign”.

2) Upload Documents

The signing copy must contain the final intended document. Check the rendered pages after upload or conversion: the right filename does not guarantee correct contents, page order or legibility. Remove and replace the wrong file while the request is still a draft.

For example, a two-page engagement letter should include its pricing and signature page, not just the first page. If conversion changes a table or pushes the signature area onto another page, correct the source or upload a verified PDF before placing fields. Otherwise the recipient may be asked to sign incomplete or misleading material.

Supported document flow

Bookwits Sign is designed around PDFs for signing. Supported upload workflows can convert common document types such as TXT and DOCX to PDF during upload, then store the signing copy as a PDF for field placement and completion.

1. In Sign, open the intended draft request and its Uploaded documents area. Confirm the request’s name/client before selecting files.
2. Use the upload control to select the final document version from your device. Wait for upload/conversion to finish before placing fields; a filename in a selection dialog is not a completed upload.
3. Open the preview and inspect every page, including orientation, page order and readable text. Remove an incorrect draft file and add the correct version before continuing to recipients and fields.
4. After replacing or rearranging documents, inspect the field placements again. A field at the right position on an old page may be wrong on the replacement page.

For the cleanest result, upload final documents only. Avoid sending a draft file that still has comments, tracked changes, or unfinished wording.

3) Add Recipients

Recipients describe the actual people who must sign or receive a completed copy. Decide which role each person needs and whether signatures must happen in sequence. A copy recipient is not a signer, and a shared email address is not a substitute for confirming individual authority.

For example, Sarah signs the company engagement letter and the controller receives the completed copy. If two directors must sign, add each as a signer and assign each their own fields. Review spelling and addresses before sending; forwarding one person’s signing link to another does not correct an incorrect recipient setup.

Recipient types

• Needs to sign: receives a signing link and must complete assigned fields.
• Receives a copy: receives the completed document after the signing request is finished, but does not sign.

1. Open the draft signing request and locate Recipients. Add the person’s own full name and email; compare the address with the engagement information before saving.
2. Choose whether the person needs to sign or only receives a copy. A copy recipient should not be treated as a signer, and a signer must have the appropriate assigned completion fields.
3. For ordered signing, set the recipients’ order deliberately. For example, a first director can sign before a second director is invited to act. Recheck the order after adding or removing anyone.
4. Save the recipients and select each signer while placing fields in the document. If the intended recipient changes, review their email and field ownership together rather than changing only the visible name.

Double-check email addresses before sending. The signing link is sent by email, so a typo can send the request to the wrong inbox or delay completion.

4) Choose Simultaneous or Ordered Signing

When to use simultaneous signing

Use simultaneous signing when all signers can receive the document at the same time. This is usually faster for simple forms, consent documents, and cases where the order does not matter.

When to use ordered signing

Use ordered signing when one person must sign before the next person receives their signing link. This is useful for approvals, internal review flows, spouse/director sequencing, or documents where earlier signatures should be visible to later signers.

Important behaviour

• In simultaneous signing, all current signers can receive the request at once.
• In ordered signing, only the current order group receives the active signing link.
• After the current signer completes, the next recipient in the order can be notified.
• Recipients who only receive a copy are not asked to complete fields.

5) Place Signature and Completion Fields

A field tells a particular recipient what to complete at a particular place. Review its type, owner, location and required setting together. A visible box on the right page is still wrong if it belongs to the other signer.

For example, Sarah’s signature, printed name and signing date belong to Sarah’s recipient identity. A second director needs a separate set. Inspect every page under each recipient selection before sending, including checkboxes and initials. A non-editable label supplies instructions; it should not be mistaken for an answer field the client can fill.

Available field types

• Signature: captures the signer’s signature.
• Initials: captures initials for pages or clauses.
• Date / Date signed: adds the relevant date.
• Full name / Email / Company name / Title: fills identity fields.
• Text field: lets the signer type a short answer.
• Checkbox: lets the signer confirm an option or acknowledgement.
• Label: adds non-editable helper text or instructions.

1. Open the document preview inside the draft request and choose the signer whose fields you are placing. Confirm the selected recipient before adding the first field.
2. Select the field type needed at that location: signature, initials, date, text or checkbox as offered. Use a text field for a typed answer, not a signature field that merely looks like a blank line.
3. Place the field on the correct page, adjust its size and review its required setting. Keep it inside the page and away from text the signer needs to read.
4. Repeat for the remaining fields and signers, then inspect the package one recipient at a time. A field assigned to one person does not satisfy another signer’s required action.
5. Save the draft changes and perform the final recipient/page review before sending. If a document is replaced, recheck all affected positions rather than assuming old placements still fit.

Before sending, scan each recipient colour and confirm they have the right fields. A common mistake is placing all fields under the first signer.

6) Review the Email Message and Send

Sending turns the prepared draft into a real request to the selected people. Review the message as a client would: it should explain the document, the expected action and any relevant deadline. Check recipients and fields before using Send.

For example, explain that the company engagement letter covers monthly bookkeeping and ask Sarah to review all pages before signing. Do not describe it as a completed tax filing or send the wrong year’s agreement. After sending, inspect request and recipient status instead of clicking again because the email has not appeared immediately.

1. Open the prepared request in Sign and read the email subject/message the recipients will receive. Explain what the package is and what action is expected; remove unrelated wording from any template.
2. Check every recipient’s email, role and order, then select each signer and inspect their required fields across all documents. Verify the final document versions at the same time.
3. Use Send once when the package is ready, then wait for the outcome and inspect its status/activity. Do not click repeatedly while the request is processing.
4. Track the request after sending. Sent/awaiting does not mean signed, and signed does not mean a tax return was filed. For a mistaken package, use the permitted stop/correction process rather than asking the recipient to sign incorrect information.

What recipients receive

Each signer receives an email with a secure access link. They open the document, review the content, complete their assigned fields, and submit their signature. Recipients who only receive a copy do not sign; they receive the completed documents after the request is finished.

Keep the message short and specific: tell the recipient what the document is, why they are receiving it, and what they need to do.

7) Track Status and Activity

Request status and individual recipient status answer different questions. Viewed means someone opened the material, not that they signed. Partially signed means at least one required signer still needs to finish. Read Activity to understand the sequence rather than relying on the latest email alone.

For example, Sarah may have completed her step while the second director is still waiting on an earlier order group. Review who can act now before sending a reminder. When the package completes, inspect the final signed document and completion certificate; an earlier viewed event is not evidence of that completed outcome.

Common statuses

• Draft: not sent yet and still editable.
• Sent / Awaiting: sent to at least one recipient.
• Viewed: a recipient opened the document.
• Partially signed: at least one signer has completed, but not all required signers are done.
• Completed: all required signers have completed the request.
• Declined: a recipient declined to sign.
• Expired: the active signing link expired before completion.
• Cancelled: the sender voided or cancelled the signing request.

The activity history is useful when a client says they did not receive or open the document. Check whether the email was sent, viewed, signed, declined, or expired.

8) Resend Signing Links and Send Reminders

When to resend

Use resend when a recipient cannot find the original email, their link needs to be refreshed, or you want to send the request again to a pending signer.

When to remind

Use reminders when a pending signer has not completed the request. Reminders should only go to recipients who still need to act.

Important behaviour

• Signed recipients are skipped.
• Recipients who only receive a copy are skipped.
• In ordered signing, only the current signing order is reminded or resent.
• Cancelled, declined, completed, and expired requests should be handled carefully because they are no longer normal active signing flows.

A practical reminder schedule is usually every 3–5 days for pending signers, not every day. This keeps follow-up helpful without overwhelming clients.

9) Understand Completed PDFs and Completion Certificates

What happens when all signers finish

Once all required signers complete the request, Bookwits Sign generates the completed signed PDF and a completion certificate. The completed PDF shows the final document with signature fields applied. The certificate records the key signing details and audit trail.

Completion certificate usually includes

• Signing request ID and certificate ID
• Status, subject, document count, page count, and signing type
• Sender name and email
• Signer names, recipient types, signing order, and status
• Sent, viewed, signed, declined, and completed timestamps where available
• IP address and user agent where captured
• Original document and signed document SHA-256 hashes for integrity tracking

1. Open Sign, find the completed request and verify its client, subject and completion state. Do not use the original draft file as evidence of completed signing.
2. Open the completed documents and inspect the signatures and pages. Use the signed-PDF download control to retain the completed document through your firm’s approved filing process.
3. Download the completion certificate where available if your process requires the signing evidence. Keep it with the corresponding signed package, not a similarly named request for another year.
4. If the request is not complete, inspect which recipients/actions remain outstanding. A copy of an unsigned document or an outgoing email is not a substitute for the completed output.

Keep the signed PDF and certificate together. The signed PDF shows the final document; the certificate explains the signing history behind it.

10) Void, Decline, Expire, Archive, or Duplicate

Decline

A recipient can decline when they do not want to sign. The signing request is marked declined and the sender can review the decline reason.

Void or cancel

Use void/cancel when the sender wants to stop a request that should no longer be signed, such as when the wrong document was sent.

Expire

A request can expire when the signing link is no longer valid. If the request still needs to be signed, create a new version or use the appropriate resend or reopen workflow supported in your setup.

Archive

Archive old requests to keep the main list clean without deleting useful signing history.

Duplicate

Duplicate a completed, declined, expired, or cancelled request when you need a new editable version using similar documents, recipients, or fields.

If a signed record may be needed later, archive instead of deleting. Signed documents and audit records should be treated as business records.

11) Use Sign Templates

When to use templates

Use templates for documents you send repeatedly, such as engagement letters, authorization forms, bookkeeping agreements, onboarding forms, annual consent forms, and internal approval documents.

How templates work

A template is a reusable setup. It can store the document structure, field placement, signing roles, signing order, category, and default email message. When you use a template, you create a new signing request from it and then add the real recipient names and email addresses.

Why template recipients can be generic

Templates do not always need real names or emails. Instead, use roles such as Client, Spouse, Director, Officer, Internal Reviewer, or Copy Recipient. When creating a live signing request from the template, replace those roles with the actual people.

1. Choose Templates → Sign from the left navigation and open the template-creation control. Name the reusable package by its purpose rather than by one client’s current engagement.
2. Add the reusable document and review its pages. Use recipient roles where the template supports them, such as Client or Director, instead of embedding an unrelated person’s real email.
3. Place and assign the required fields for each role, then save the template. Keep client-specific amounts, dates and instructions out of generic content unless they are intentionally replaced for each request.
4. Create a real signing request from the template, enter the actual people and review the full package before sending. Editing a template does not automatically correct a request that was already sent.

Best practice: create one template per repeatable document. Avoid one giant template that tries to handle every scenario.

12) Use Categories and Filters

Categories classify requests; filters narrow the list you are reviewing. Use them to distinguish document purposes and active versus completed work without changing the contents of a signed package. An archived request may be absent from the ordinary active view.

For example, classify engagement letters separately from tax authorizations, then inspect Awaiting requests to plan follow-up. If Sarah’s signed agreement seems missing, check Completed, Archived, category filters and search before creating a duplicate. Creating a new signing request is a new workflow, not a way to recover a hidden result.

Useful views

• Drafts: requests still being prepared.
• Awaiting: requests waiting on recipients.
• Completed: finished requests with signed documents.
• Archived: older requests hidden from the active list.
• Category filters: document type, workflow, or department grouping.

Security and audit trail

Practical workflow examples

Troubleshooting (Common Beginner Issues)

Glossary

Use a final pre-send check, recipient by recipient

1. Open every document and check its version, page order and readable conversion. A correct filename can still contain an outdated agreement.
2. Review each person’s name, email, role and signing order. Copy recipients are not signers.
3. Select each signer in turn and inspect their assigned fields on every page. Check position, size, field type and required status.
4. Confirm the subject and message describe the package and any deadline clearly.
5. Send only after these checks. If the document or recipient is wrong after sending, use the appropriate stop/corrected-request workflow rather than asking the recipient to ignore incorrect fields.

What a signer needs to do

Open your own signing email, review all documents and complete the fields assigned to you. A signature field, initials, checkbox and text answer are different requirements; completing one does not fill all the others. Use the completion action and wait for its result. Do not forward the secure link to another signer or let another person use your link to sign on their behalf.

Know whose turn it is

In ordered signing, a later recipient can be waiting because an earlier order group has not finished. Repeatedly sending reminders to everyone does not remove the sequence. Check recipient-level status as well as the package status. Viewed means opened, not signed; partially signed means more required signers remain.

Correct a completed record through a new version

Keep the completed signed PDF and completion certificate together. If the agreement must change, create/duplicate a new request and clearly explain that it is a corrected version. Do not edit the downloaded signed file and represent it as the original completed record. Retain the previous version according to the firm’s policy.

Signing evidence records the workflow and document integrity; it is not a blanket guarantee that every document is appropriate or legally sufficient for every use. Your firm remains responsible for the document, the recipient’s authority and any special signing requirements.

Worked example: a company agreement with two signers and one copy recipient

Prepare the final agreement for Thompson Consulting and upload every required page. Sarah and a second authorized director need to sign; the controller only receives a completed copy. Add these roles explicitly. If both directors may act independently, use simultaneous signing. If the second must follow the first, review the ordered groups instead.

Select Sarah and place her required signature, name and date fields. Select the second director and place their separate fields. Scan every document under each recipient selection. A field that looks correct on the page but belongs to Sarah cannot serve as the other director’s signature. The controller should not be assigned required signing fields merely to receive a copy.

Read the email and recipient addresses before sending. Afterward, interpret recipient-level progress: one signer’s Viewed status is not a signed package. When all required steps finish, review the completed PDF and certificate together. If the agreement’s substance must change afterward, prepare a clearly identified corrected version through a new request and retain the original according to policy. Do not edit a downloaded signed PDF and represent it as the unchanged completed record.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

A Member’s Sign list and signing search results contain transactions created by that Member; Owner/Admin can review team-wide transactions. All-task visibility or shared-client access does not open a colleague’s signing transaction. Sending/resending and other envelope actions still depend on the transaction’s state and enabled capabilities. Billing, payment-portal and credit-purchase actions belong to the Owner; being an Admin or able to send for signature is not billing access.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Emails in the sidebar. The top tabs are Mailbox, Templates and Reminders; the expanded sidebar also provides shortcuts to templates and reminders. A client's Mailbox profile tab is the client-scoped entry point, not another connected email account.

Connect or repair your email account under name/avatar → Settings → Email. If the mailbox displays Email access has expired, use Reconfigure email settings. Reconnecting the mailbox is different from changing your Bookwits login password.

Open a mailbox message/thread to read or reply. Open Reminders to manage scheduled follow-ups, and use the reminder editor for its own schedule and recipients. Review recipients before Send; a reusable email template is not a scheduled reminder.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

What the Email feature does

Connect your email to Bookwits

Connecting is done through your provider’s secure login/authorization flow.

Steps

1. Open your mailbox settings. Select Emails in the left sidebar. If the mailbox is not connected or access has expired, use the configuration/reconnection control shown in the notice. You can also open your name at the top right, then Settings → Email.
2. Choose the provider for the mailbox you actually use. Select Gmail or Outlook where offered. This connects a mailbox for reading and sending email; it is not a client-platform invitation and does not change the client’s contact address.
3. Complete the provider’s sign-in personally. Review the account shown by Google or Microsoft and the requested access. If your browser has several accounts, make sure you are authorizing the firm mailbox you intended. Never give another person your password to finish this step.
4. Return to Bookwits and check the result. Wait for the mailbox folders to become available. If the expired-access notice remains, the connection is not restored yet. Check the selected provider/account and ask the mailbox administrator for help when access is restricted.
5. Check the sender before your first real message. Open a new email and inspect its sender, signature and recipient fields. If you send an authorized test, use your own intended test address and verify delivery separately. A connected account alone does not prove a particular email arrived.

Manage or change your connected email

If you need to switch accounts or disconnect:

• Go to Settings → Emails
• Change which email is connected or disable the connection

Inbox actions (sync behavior)

When you perform mailbox actions in Bookwits—like archive or delete—those actions update the same email in Gmail/Outlook because Bookwits is acting on your mailbox directly.

Archive Delete Other mailbox actions

If you “clean your inbox” in Bookwits, it stays clean in your provider too.

Compose features (what you can do)

Email Templates (write faster, stay consistent)

Templates let you reuse common messages: document requests, onboarding emails, reminder nudges, year-end outreach, and more.

Apply a template

1. Open Emails and start the intended new message, reply or forward. Review the recipients first; Reply all may include people beyond the client.
2. Use Template in the composer and select the reusable email you need. Templates are maintained separately under Templates → Emails; selecting one here inserts content into this message.
3. Read the resulting subject/body and every inserted smart field. Correct the name, period, company and requested action for this engagement. Do not send unresolved placeholders or another client’s details simply because the template name looked correct.
4. Review attachments, signature and recipients once more, then send when ready. Check the send result and actual delivery when necessary; choosing a template alone does not send the message.

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Create / manage templates Build a library so everyone in your firm sends consistent messaging.

Starter template list (5–10)

• Missing documents
• Upload to portal
• Year-end kickoff
• Personal tax season checklist
• Follow-up after 7 days

Smart Fields (dynamic placeholders)

Signatures (apply automatically)

Create and manage signatures, then apply them automatically (or select one when composing, depending on your UI).

Where to set it up

1. Open your name/avatar at the top right, then Settings → Email. Find the signature settings offered for your connected mailbox. These differ from the firm-wide footer in Company branding.
2. Create or edit the appropriate signature and save it with the form’s action. Check your displayed name, role, contact details and any images or links. Avoid including credentials or information about a particular client.
3. Return to Emails and open a new message or reply to inspect the actual inserted signature. Check that a reply does not accidentally contain duplicated footers before sending.

Email Reminders (scheduled emails)

Schedule emails to go out later—one-time or recurring—so clients get consistent follow-ups without you manually sending them.

What a reminder includes

• Reminder name
• Email subject
• Email message/body (supports templates + smart fields)
• Scheduled date
• Type (Custom / Corporate year-end / Personal tax year / etc.)
• Schedule (One-Time or Recurring)
• Frequency (if recurring)
• Send from (your connected email)

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How the reminder builder works (3 steps)

1

Reminder details Name, subject, message body (templates + smart fields)

2

Reminder schedule One-Time or Recurring, pick date, choose frequency

3

Client selection Select recipients (supports search, select all, show selected only)

Start with one reminder that saves immediate time: “Personal tax season start reminder” (One-Time). Then add recurring ones like “Quarterly GST/HST reminder.”

Emails inside the Client Portal (client-specific view)

From the Client Portal context, you can view emails tied to the selected client and their contacts.

When you’re in a client profile, you don’t need to search your entire inbox—Bookwits can show the emails related to that client/contact context.

Quick “Beginner Best Practices”

• Convert actionable emails into tasks immediately.
• Use templates for anything you’ve typed more than twice.
• Use smart fields for bulk personalized outreach.
• Set reminders for recurring client communications (GST/HST, year-end, tax season).

Connect the intended mailbox, not merely an available account

Use Configure email settings or Settings → Email, choose Gmail/Outlook and complete the provider’s authorization yourself. If the provider offers several signed-in identities, check which mailbox you are authorizing. Your Bookwits login address and connected mailbox need not be the same setting. Return to the mailbox and verify the intended address before composing.

Compose with a final recipient and content review

1. Choose New email, Reply, Reply all or Forward according to the intended conversation. Reply all can reach people beyond the client.
2. Check To and Cc, subject and body. Add the correct files, not a different client’s similarly named attachment.
3. Apply a template and signature if useful. Then read the resulting message, not just the template name.
4. Review every smart field against the selected client/company. If the needed context is missing, resolve it or replace the wording before sending.
5. Send once and check the result. An apparent delay is a reason to inspect the sent state before retrying, not to click Send repeatedly.

Mailbox actions are real provider actions

Archive and Delete affect the connected Gmail/Outlook mailbox. They are not a harmless cleanup of a separate Bookwits copy. Search and filters change what is displayed; deleting changes the mailbox. Converting an email to a task creates work to track—it does not reply to the sender or satisfy the request by itself.

Review every step of an email reminder

The reminder builder separates details, schedule and client selection. Review its name, subject and body; select one-time versus recurring timing and frequency; then inspect the actual selected recipients. “Select all” and “show selected only” help manage selection, but do not replace checking who will receive the email. Year-end and tax-year targeting depend on the relevant client/entity data.

Before leaving a reminder active, confirm the connected sending account, future schedule and resolved template data. Review success/failure notifications and the reminder’s recorded outcome. A scheduled reminder is not proof of delivery, and disabling a connection can affect future sends. Stop obsolete recurring communication when an engagement or campaign ends.

Example: personalize a reminder without sending the wrong client’s information

Jordan composes a missing-document message for Thompson Consulting from a reusable template. Select the intended client/company context, inspect To and Cc and read the resolved smart fields. A greeting that still contains an unresolved placeholder or another entity’s name is a reason to stop and correct the draft, not to send and hope it resolves later.

Attach the relevant request or documents and inspect the signature. Reply all can include people beyond Sarah; review that list separately from the client name shown on the page. The connected mailbox is the sending identity, so confirm it is the firm account intended for this engagement.

For a scheduled version, inspect details, schedule and selected recipients independently. One-time tax-season outreach and a recurring quarterly reminder have different purposes. Review which companies actually match the targeting and remove obsolete recipients before activation. Sending, archiving and deleting operate on the connected provider mailbox; they are not experiments on an isolated Bookwits copy. A successful scheduled action is also not proof that Sarah read the message or completed the request.

Recover an expired mailbox without confusing three accounts

Your Bookwits login, the external email account connected to Mailbox, and a client's contact email are separate identities. An Email access has expired notice concerns the connected mailbox. Open Reconfigure email settings, review the intended provider/account in Settings, and complete authorization personally. Do not ask a client to change their email to repair your connection.

After authorization, return to Emails → Mailbox and verify that the intended mailbox and threads are available. Check an existing thread before attempting a new send. If authorization is cancelled or fails, the mailbox is not repaired merely because Settings opened successfully.

Use Templates for reusable message content and Reminders for scheduled follow-up logic. A reminder's enabled schedule, recipients and stop conditions need their own review. Editing an email template does not prove an already-scheduled reminder has the intended content.

Current application screen examples

Connect and manage more than one mailbox in Settings

1. Open your name/avatar at the upper right → Settings. In the settings sidebar, find the Communication group and choose Email. On a small screen, use the settings section selector instead of the sidebar.
2. In Incoming • Outgoing email, select Add. The Email settings dialog asks for the provider and mailbox address. Pick Gmail or Outlook and confirm the exact account you intend to connect.
3. Select Connect only when ready to authorize that mailbox. Complete the provider’s sign-in/consent yourself in the new tab. Do not give a colleague your password or paste provider verification codes into a chat.
4. Return to Bookwits and check the account’s address, provider and connection state. A dialog closing or an authorization tab opening is not proof that the mailbox connected successfully.
5. Use Add again for another mailbox. For example, keep an individual work address and a shared accounts mailbox as separate connections instead of replacing one address whenever you need the other.

The account list identifies the Default account and any Disconnected connection. In an account’s three-dot menu, Set as default is offered for a connected non-default account; Edit opens its configuration and Disable affects that connection. These are different actions. Review scheduled reminders and the account they need before disabling or changing a connection.

Return through Workspace, open Emails in the main navigation and verify the selected mailbox and sender before reading or composing. Replying from the wrong connected address is not fixed by changing the client’s contact email. Your login email, a client’s email, a connected mailbox, the default sending account and an email signature are separate choices.

Manage signatures separately from mailbox authorization

In the same Email settings page, the Email signatures section has its own Add action and per-signature Edit/Delete menu. Use a recognizable name, review the signature content and save the intended signature. Adding a signature does not authorize Gmail/Outlook or set a mailbox as default. The firm-wide footer under Company branding is another setting; inspect a composed message for duplicate contact blocks before sending.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Members can use the enabled Emails module and connect multiple authorized mailboxes; this is not an Owner-only function. Mailbox connections, active/default choices, drafts and personal signatures belong to the connected user. Owner/Admin does not automatically see or manage another colleague’s mailbox. Shared email templates and client contact addresses are different from these personal connections.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Chat in the sidebar or the Chat tab of a client profile. The conversation list is on the left; use its search and All, Unread, Pinned or Archived views. New chat is above this list.

Choose Direct chat for exactly one other participant or Group chat for multiple participants. The participant picker has its own search and source tabs. A group needs a name; review any Invite required indication before creating it.

Open a conversation to use the message composer. Search messages, pin/mute/archive and conversation actions belong to that conversation's header. Per-message actions belong to the message, not to the whole channel. Do not assume inviting someone into a conversation shares the entire client file.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

Where to find Chat

What Chat is (before you start)

Quick Start (First 15 minutes)

Working through the module

Conversation rules that prevent common mistakes

Notifications and unread behavior

Troubleshooting (Common Beginner Issues)

Glossary

Keep conversation roles separate from firm roles

A group conversation has its own owner/admin/member controls. Being the manager of a client does not by itself mean you own every conversation about that client. Open conversation details to see who is active, pending or declined and which actions you can perform.

Send, verify and retry responsibly

1. Choose the intended conversation and read its participants before writing.
2. Use Reply to connect your answer to the relevant message; attach the correct file or image.
3. Send and review its visible state. Not sent requires a retry; Seen indicates reading, not approval or completion of a separate request.
4. Before retrying after a connection problem, check whether the message already appears. Keep unrelated client material out of the conversation.

Understand what pin, mute and archive do not do

Pinning helps you find a conversation. Muting reduces notifications. Archiving removes it from your active list. None changes the other participants’ access or completes a related task. Use the All/Unread/Pinned/Archived views and clear conversation search when a chat appears to be missing.

Choose the scope of deletion and forwarding

Delete for me affects your view; Delete for everyone has wider consequences and is permission-dependent. Read the action carefully before confirming. Forwarding sends content into another existing conversation: inspect that destination’s participants first, especially when the original message contains client information.

Work with records and attached files

Use the available Link record control to add useful client-work context. Use the conversation’s attachments/media views to find earlier files without scrolling the entire history. A file sent in chat is not automatically the document that completes a separate upload request; keep required deliverables in the workflow that requested them.

Example: preserve a decision without confusing a message with approval

Sarah posts a question in the task conversation and attaches a supporting image. Jordan replies to that specific message so the answer remains connected to the question. Before forwarding it to a reviewer conversation, check the destination participants; a useful internal explanation can still contain information inappropriate for another client’s group.

If Sarah writes “Looks good” in chat but the task has a Review and approve action, ask her to use the actual action when that is the required decision. The chat provides context; it does not necessarily submit the approval. Likewise, Seen indicates that a message was read, not that the recipient agreed or finished a separate request.

Use mute to reduce notifications and archive to tidy your active list. Neither revokes the other person’s access or deletes the conversation for everyone. If a send fails, inspect Not sent and the visible history before retrying. Deleting for me affects your view; broader deletion has a different consequence. Read the chosen scope rather than assuming every Delete action is harmless cleanup.

Current application screen examples

Start the right kind of conversation

1. Open Chat in the left navigation. In the conversation panel, choose New chat; the empty conversation area also offers a New chat button. Both open the same composer.
2. Choose Direct chat for exactly one other person, or Group chat for at least two selected people and a group name. Make this choice before selecting participants.
3. Use Search by name or email, then the Team members or Clients + Contacts source. Wait for the choices to load and compare the person’s identifying details before selection.
4. In Direct chat, selecting the person starts the conversation immediately. Do not select someone merely to preview the form or test a search result.
5. For Group chat, select the intended people, enter a useful group name and review the whole participant list before Create group. A name such as “September bookkeeping questions” explains the purpose better than “New group.”

The illustrated group draft has a name but no selected people. It is not a created conversation. Cancel leaves the composer without creating that group. Reopening New chat starts again with Direct chat, so check the mode rather than assuming the previous Group choice was retained.

Use Custom invitations deliberately, not as a search workaround

The Custom source lets you enter an email for someone not listed. Review the address before Add and the subsequent creation/invitation actions: the person joins after accepting the invitation email. This is not the same as selecting an existing colleague. Do not invite a second account simply because the desired person has not loaded or because a search has no result yet.

Example: an internal question for a colleague normally belongs in a Direct chat with that colleague. A discussion that includes a client and several firm participants needs a deliberately reviewed Group chat. Before posting documents or personal details, open the conversation’s participant information and confirm who can read them. Chat conversation, task comments and the client-task request actions remain different places; a message alone does not submit or approve a request.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Staff roles affect the people directory: Owner/Admin can find team-wide client/contact choices; a Member normally uses shared clients, with existing direct-chat relationships also able to remain in the directory. An existing conversation is not a grant to the full client profile. Conversations themselves require participation; workspace management does not mean every private chat is readable.

Group roles are a different permission system. A staff Member who creates a group may be that group’s Owner without becoming the workspace Owner. A workspace Admin is not automatically an Admin of every chat group. Open the group’s conversation details to see its participants and roles.

• Group Member: participates in the conversation but does not get the group’s name/image or participant-administration controls. Personal pin/mute settings and Delete for me are not shared group administration.
• Group Admin: can manage permitted group details, add people and handle permitted participant/invitation actions. Removing a participant requires a lower group role; an Admin cannot remove a peer Admin or the group Owner.
• Group Owner: can change participant roles, promote/demote group Admins, transfer ownership and use Delete for everyone. If other active people remain, transfer ownership before leaving the group. Delete for me does not delete the conversation for everyone.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Timesheets in the sidebar. The upper controls include List, Board, Calendar, Reports, Actions, grouping, My timesheets and Filters. Track time starts the live-timer workflow; Add time opens manual entry.

In the list, open an entry to inspect or edit it. The column options beside a heading control sorting, filtering, width, freezing and position. Total time spent and Total entries summarize the current view; check its filters before interpreting totals.

Task-related time can also start from the task itself. Confirm the person, client/company/year, task and dates rather than assuming the timer associates everything from the page you happened to visit last.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

What a timesheet entry is

Statuses (what each one means)

Record and review time in a practical order

1. Track time while you work (timer)
2. Add/fix entries manual time when needed
3. Review with Group By + Filters
4. Submit entries for approval
5. Approve Owner/Admin review
6. Mark Invoiced + Generate report (CSV/XLS)

1) Track time (Timer)

Option A — Timesheets → Track Time (quick timer)

1. Choose Timesheets in the left sidebar and find Track Time above the entries. Check whether a timer is already running before starting another work session.
2. Select the correct client and any relevant company/personal-tax year. Write a useful note, such as “September bank reconciliation — investigate differences”, so the saved entry explains the service.
3. Start the timer when you actually begin the work. Stop or change the work session when you switch activities; leaving the timer unattended can overstate time.
4. Stop the timer when finished and inspect the resulting timesheet entry. Check the date, duration, note and client connection before submitting it or relying on the budget totals.

Track Time screen fields

• Timer: 00:00:00
• Time in
• Time out
• Client
• Note

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Option B — Start from a Task (best practice)

1. Open the actual task from Tasks and check its client/company/year connection. Starting from that task helps associate the time with the work you are performing.
2. Use Start timer in the task’s time-tracking area when you begin. If another timer is active, review it instead of adding overlapping time for the same work.
3. Use Stop when the session ends, then open the entry in Timesheets to verify its duration and task connection. A running timer is not a completed reviewed entry.

What happens

• While running: status is In progress
• When stopped: entry is created as New
• The entry inherits task context (Client + Company/Personal Tax Year if linked)

Why this is best: it automatically ties time to the correct work item, so billing stays clean.

2) Add time manually (Create time sheet)

Use this when:

• You forgot to run the timer
• You’re logging time from yesterday
• You need a fixed block (meeting, travel, review)

Steps

1. Open Timesheets and use the manual-entry/create-time-sheet control above the list. Use this for work not already recorded by a timer.
2. Enter the work date and the time-in/time-out values in the units shown. Confirm the resulting duration; do not confuse an hour-and-minute value with a decimal number of hours.
3. Select the correct client and optional company/year/task connection, then write what was done. Before saving forgotten time, check that the same user/date/activity does not already have a timer entry.
4. Save and locate the entry in the list for that date. Review its duration and connection before submitting it; creating a time entry does not automatically invoice the client.

Result

Entry is created as New .

3) Understand the Timesheets table

Your table includes columns like:

• Client — who the work is for
• Note — what was done
• Status — New / In progress / Submitted / Pending approval / Invoiced
• Date — day the work occurred
• Time in-out — start and end time range
• Duration — calculated time
• Created by — who logged it

Grouped totals (common)

You may see grouped totals like: “Wed, 2026-02-25 — 27 sec (5 entries)” depending on grouping.

Configure visible columns You can choose which columns are shown in the table (hide what you don’t use).

For most teams, keep: Client, Note, Status, Date, Duration, Created by .

4) Review entries faster (Group By + Filters)

Filters available

• Client
• Status
• Assignee (created by)
• Date range

If something “disappears,” it’s usually a filter still applied (especially date range).

5) Submit time (New → Submitted)

6) Approvals (Pending approval)

7) Invoice + export reports (CSV / XLS)

Mark entries as Invoiced (single or bulk)

1. Open Timesheets and narrow the list to the intended billing period, people and client. Review the recorded work before selecting the rows.
2. Select the relevant checkboxes and use the Invoiced status action only when your billing process calls for it. This status is a tracker; do not assume it creates or sends an invoice in your accounting system.
3. For a report, open the export/report control separately and choose the offered format and period. Inspect the downloaded CSV/Excel file’s dates, totals and selected population before using it for billing.

What happens

• A report is generated for exactly the selected entries
• Statuses update to Invoiced

Why this matters: what you export is exactly what you marked billed—no double billing, no missed time.

Make each entry understandable and correctly connected

Record the work date, start/end or duration, client and optional company/tax year, task where relevant, and a clear note. The person who logged the time and the client who received the work are different dimensions. A task-linked timer helps carry context, but inspect that context before starting.

Prevent double-counted and misleading time

1. Check whether a timer is already running before starting another work session.
2. Stop when you change activities or finish. Review the saved entry instead of assuming an unattended timer represents productive work.
3. Before adding forgotten time manually, search the same user, date and task so you do not duplicate an existing timer entry.
4. Correct the date, time range and client connection before submitting. A good note explains the service, period and outcome without unnecessary private details.

Keep status changes and exports distinct

New is a saved entry, In progress is a running timer, Submitted/Pending approval describe review, and Invoiced marks the billing stage. Use the actual available status actions and the firm’s review procedure. A note saying “approved” does not change the entry’s status, and a downloaded report is not a payment receipt.

Review all three views and your selection scope

The live module offers List, Board and Calendar. Use List for detailed rows, Board for status-oriented review and Calendar for dates. Search, filters, grouping and visible columns help different reviews. Owners/Admins can review team time; members see their own permitted entries. A manager’s complete report and a member’s view need not have identical totals.

Before marking invoiced or generating a report

Confirm the period, user/client filters and selected entries; compare the count and total duration with what you intend to bill. For the selected-entry invoicing action, inspect both the downloaded CSV/XLS and the resulting statuses. Keep the export as a dated record of what was included. Do not rerun a billing action just because you cannot find the downloaded file; first check whether the entries were already marked invoiced.

Worked example: record 90 minutes once, then review before invoicing

Jordan spends 90 minutes on Thompson Consulting’s October reconciliation. If a task-linked timer captured that session, inspect its saved client, company, date, duration and note rather than entering the same 90 minutes manually. If the timer was forgotten, create a manual entry describing the actual session after checking that another entry does not already cover it.

A useful note says “October operating-account reconciliation; investigated two unmatched transactions,” not just “Work.” Review the period and connection before submission. Morgan can then identify what was done and whether it belongs to this client’s billing review. A member’s own-time view and an owner’s team-wide view can legitimately show different totals.

Before marking selected entries invoiced, compare selection count and total duration with the intended billing period. Inspect the generated report and resulting statuses where the selected-entry invoicing action is used. Downloading a report is not proof of payment. If the download is hard to find, check the existing statuses before rerunning a billing action; recreating time to obtain another report risks double counting.

Current application screen examples

Arrange Timesheets columns for review and reporting

Open Timesheets in the left navigation, then Actions → Table settings above the time table. Look in Options if responsive toolbar controls have moved there.

1. Find the column in the settings dialog. Turn Visible on to display it, or off to remove it from this table. Hiding a column does not erase its saved values or change who may access the record.
2. For a visible column you need to keep on screen while scrolling sideways, enable Frozen. Hidden columns cannot be frozen. The required identification column stays visible and frozen; its disabled switches are intentional.
3. Use the dotted drag handle to rearrange columns within the frozen or scrollable group. To move a column between those groups, change Frozen first, then arrange it in its new group.
4. Choose Save settings to keep the layout, or Cancel to leave the dialog without applying its draft. Reopen the table and check that the columns you wanted are present.
5. In the table itself, drag a column’s right-hand header edge to resize it. Use the available double-click/Auto-fit action to size it to the loaded content; a much longer value on a later page may still need more room.
6. Open a column header’s menu for the actions available to that column, such as sorting, filtering, freezing, hiding, moving or auto-fitting. These change presentation or the matching rows, not the underlying client or time record.

Example: keep the identification column and a useful contact/work column frozen, show the few fields needed for the current review, and place less-used details farther right. Scroll horizontally to confirm that frozen columns remain useful without taking up the entire screen. This is your table layout, not a request to give every colleague the same layout.

Restore defaults (labelled Reset to defaults in Companies) resets the table presentation, including the configured order, visibility, frozen state and widths; it does not delete custom-field definitions or record values. Review the resulting draft before saving. If a column is missing, inspect visibility, available definitions and access before concluding that its data was deleted. Restoring a layout is not a recovery tool for deleted business data.

Keep the columns needed to reconcile who worked, when, how long and for which client/company/year/task. A time entry linked from a task belongs to the same time-tracking workflow; it should not be entered a second time merely to make it appear here. Check the entry’s connection and the table filters first.

Understand the Timesheets report’s own selection and side effects

1. Open the Timesheets report/export action. Review the report dialog’s own assignee, date-from/date-to and client/company/personal-year selection. Do not assume every main-table filter or search is automatically copied into it.
2. Check the displayed columns and their order before exporting: this report uses the enabled table columns in their configured order.
3. If offered, read Mark as invoiced carefully. Leave it off for a read-only review export. Turning it on also updates the exported entries’ invoiced state; it is not just a different filename or report label. This option is not available to a Member.
4. Generate the report, open the download and compare the selected users, period, work connection and total hours with the intended population. Duration is expressed as numeric hours; do not read 1.5 hours as one hour and fifty minutes.
5. If you intentionally marked entries invoiced, refresh/reopen the relevant rows and confirm that change separately from the successful file download.

Example: to review September work for one company, choose that company and the September date range inside the report dialog. An unrelated search left in the main table is not a substitute for that selection. If reviewing a draft bill, keep Mark as invoiced off until your billing process actually requires the update.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Member: sees entries recorded for themselves, even if someone else created the entry; new entries are for their own user. The other-person User selector and team-assignee filters are not provided. They can submit time for approval and generate the available reports of their own entries, but cannot use the interface’s Approve, Invoice or Mark as invoiced controls.

Owner/Admin: review staff time across the team, filter by colleague, record time for a selected person, approve/invoice entries and optionally mark report entries invoiced. These distinctions apply to row menus, board cards, selected-row actions and the report dialog—not just one screen. A Member’s task-linked timer still creates their own time; granting all-task visibility does not grant another person’s timesheets.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Budget in the sidebar for the overall dashboard and list, or open the Budget tab in a client profile for that client's work. The summary metrics and charts are above the records. The list toolbar contains search, Reports, Filters and Add budget.

Open a budget's name for its detail page. Its linked Tasks and Timesheets explain which work contributes to the record. Row actions provide editing/deletion where permitted; these are different from filtering the dashboard.

Check the related entity, frequency, rate and allowed time before relying on the figures. A company budget and a person's annual tax budget should not be combined simply because both belong to the same client relationship.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

How Budget fits your workflow

What is the Budget module?

How Budget works (simple explanation)

Important: how data is connected

Where to find the Budget module

Permissions

Getting started (first-time setup)

To see any data, you must first create a budget.

Working through the module

1. Open Budget in the sidebar and select Add budget above the records. Decide which engagement the budget represents before entering financial values.
2. Choose the client, company or personal-tax connection required by the work. A company budget and a personal-tax-year budget can belong to the same person without being the same engagement.
3. Choose Fixed rate for an agreed fee or Hourly rate for a price per hour. Read the field’s units before entering the amount: a $600 fixed fee is not a $600 hourly rate.
4. For a Fixed rate budget, select its monthly, quarterly or annual frequency. That frequency selector is not shown for Hourly rate. Enter the budgeted time in hours and make the comparison period match the engagement; one month of work should not be compared with an annual allowance.
5. Save the budget, reopen it and review its connection, rate, frequency and allowance. Its actual time usage depends on correctly linked timesheets; a new budget does not create the work or the time entries for you.

Once saved, Bookwits starts tracking automatically.

Budget overview page

This is your main dashboard.

Top metrics

• Total Revenue from timesheets
• Time Spent (actual logged time)
• budgeted time (budget limit)
• Over Budget (number of exceeded budgets)
• Active Records (active budgets)
• Avg. Hourly Value (revenue per hour)

Visual insights

• Budget trend for daily activity
• Breakdown chart for where time is spent
• Revenue graph for performance over time

Budget table (main list)

Each row represents a budget record.

Key columns

• Client or entity
• Type (fixed or hourly)
• Frequency
• Rate
• Time usage (progress bar)
• Revenue
• Tasks count
• Timesheets count

Status colors

Within budget Approaching limit Over budget

This gives instant visibility without digging into details.

Budget details page

Click any budget record to open detailed view.

What you will see

• Total revenue
• Time spent
• budgeted time
• Remaining time
• Tasks count
• Timesheets count

Detailed breakdown includes

• All tasks linked to the budget
• All related timesheets
• Who worked on what
• Where time was spent

Use this page to answer: Why are we over budget, who spent the most time, and which tasks are inefficient?

Filters, date range, and reports

Best practices

Common questions

Summary

Choose the level before entering numbers

A client-level budget includes the client relationship across its companies and personal tax years. A company budget focuses on that entity; a personal tax budget focuses on that annual record. If you want one entity’s performance, do not select the client-level budget and then interpret its combined time as that entity alone.

Set up the four financial/time decisions

1. Open Budget in the sidebar and select Add budget above the records. Decide which engagement the budget represents before entering financial values.
2. Choose the client, company or personal-tax connection required by the work. A company budget and a personal-tax-year budget can belong to the same person without being the same engagement.
3. Choose Fixed rate for an agreed fee or Hourly rate for a price per hour. Read the field’s units before entering the amount: a $600 fixed fee is not a $600 hourly rate.
4. For a Fixed rate budget, select its monthly, quarterly or annual frequency. That frequency selector is not shown for Hourly rate. Enter the budgeted time in hours and make the comparison period match the engagement; one month of work should not be compared with an annual allowance.
5. Save the budget, reopen it and review its connection, rate, frequency and allowance. Its actual time usage depends on correctly linked timesheets; a new budget does not create the work or the time entries for you.

Understand what an actual figure depends on

Actual time comes from connected timesheets. Rate type and configuration also affect displayed financial figures. Tasks identify the work; they do not create logged hours merely by being completed. Missing time, a wrong connection, a wrong period or a wrong rate can distort the analysis even when the dashboard loads successfully.

Investigate a variance rather than only reading its colour

1. Set the date range deliberately. Check whether a preset period or custom range is active.
2. Open the budget detail and compare allowance, actual time, remaining time, tasks and timesheets.
3. Inspect which people and tasks contributed. Check for duplicate entries or time attached to the wrong client/company/year.
4. Separate a data correction from a genuine scope overrun. Fix inaccurate source entries through the appropriate permitted workflow; discuss real overruns with the engagement owner.

Report responsibly

Use Reports for the available Excel/CSV export and verify the included period and records. A budget’s calculated revenue or hourly value is a management indicator, not proof that an invoice was issued, money was received or net profit was calculated after every expense. Budget access is restricted to the permitted owner/admin roles; do not broaden a member’s access merely to share one summary.

Worked example: interpret a six-hour allowance and seven-and-a-half hours used

Suppose the firm budgets six hours for a defined period of Thompson Consulting’s work and connected timesheets total seven-and-a-half hours in that same scope. Time usage is 125% of the allowance, an overrun of one-and-a-half hours. Before treating that as inefficiency, inspect whether the entries include a one-off cleanup, duplicate time or work attached to the wrong entity.

Scope matters: a client-level budget can include Sarah’s companies and personal-tax years, while a company-level budget isolates the selected entity. Comparing the full client relationship with the consulting company’s six-hour allowance would answer the wrong question. Check period, connection, rate type and allowance before interpreting the result.

A fixed fee and an hourly rate are different financial assumptions. The same seven-and-a-half hours can produce different management indicators under different configurations. Displayed budget revenue is not proof that an invoice was issued or paid, and time usage alone is not a full net-profit calculation. Use detail and source timesheets to distinguish a data correction from a genuine change in engagement scope.

Current application screen examples

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Budgets is for Owner/Admin, not Member. This includes the module’s budget records, actual-versus-plan views, linked-time review and budget reports. Sharing a client, selecting a manager, setting an hourly rate or enabling all-task visibility does not add Budgets to a Member’s access. The Member can still record their own permitted timesheets; a manager uses the management views to review the budget impact.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Choose Team in the sidebar. The member list is on the left; select a person to open their panel on the right. New member starts a staff invitation. Pending invites provides invitation status and resend/cancel controls; an invited person is not yet an active colleague merely because their email appears there.

The selected member's Shared clients tab controls client assignments. Their Settings tab contains the available access type, hourly rate and task-visibility controls. Team-owner/admin permissions determine which management actions you can use.

A staff invitation, sharing a client with staff, and inviting a client to the portal are three separate operations. For the last one, use the client's Overview → Client details → three-dot menu → Invite to Bookwits, not New member.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

What the Team module is for

Roles and access levels

Add a new team member (invite)

Steps

1. Open the staff directory. Select Team in the left sidebar, then the new-member control above the member list. Do not use Invite to Bookwits on a client profile: that invitation creates a client connection, not staff membership.
2. Enter the colleague’s own work email. Check every character before sending. Choose the role that matches the person’s responsibilities; an Admin has broader access than a Member. Do not grant administrative access simply to avoid configuring client sharing.
3. Review and send the invitation once. The colleague completes the account and acceptance steps personally. Until they accept, an invitation is pending; seeing a sent invitation is not proof that they can already use the workspace.
4. Configure the clients this person needs. Open the member’s Shared clients area, select the intended people and save the selection. Compare the selected names, not just the count. Review other available settings, such as task visibility or hourly rate, separately.
5. Confirm access from the colleague’s perspective. Ask them to sign in with their own accepted account and open the expected client. If something is missing, check membership and sharing first rather than creating another client or sending a client-portal invitation.

What happens next

• They receive an email invitation
• They must register on Bookwits to join your workspace
• After joining, they’ll have access based on role + client sharing

View your team (list + basic info)

In Team, you can see all members and their basics:

• Initials/avatar
• Name
• Email
• Role/access type (Owner/Admin/Member)

Why this matters

It’s the fastest way to confirm who is in the workspace and what level of access they have.

Share clients with a team member (access control)

For Members , access is controlled by the clients you share with them.

Steps

1. Select Team in the sidebar and open the intended staff member. Check their name/email and role before changing access.
2. Open Shared clients for that person. Search for each client to share and use its selection box. Select the person’s client record, not a similarly named company or another household member.
3. Review the entire selection and save it. Owners/admins may already have broader role-based client access; sharing a few clients is not a way to restrict an otherwise broad administrative role.
4. Ask the member to sign in with their own account and open the expected client. If access is still missing, check accepted team membership, the selected workspace and sharing rather than sending an unrelated client invitation.

What access includes

Sharing a client grants access to:

• The Client
• All Companies under that client
• All Personal Tax Years
• Accessible client documents
• Related work and context, subject to each module’s access and privacy rules

Assign access when creating or editing clients You can assign access during client creation or by editing the client later—useful for onboarding staff, reassigning ownership, and privacy control.

Client “Manager” assignment (ownership clarity)

Team access visibility (Clients table)

See tasks assigned to a team member

From a team member context, you can review which tasks are assigned to them to understand workload and responsibility.

Typical uses

• Onboarding a new hire (confirm they have tasks)
• Checking bandwidth (are they overloaded?)
• Redistributing work (reassign tasks if needed)

Remove a team member (revoke access)

If someone leaves the firm, remove them to instantly revoke access.

Steps

1. Open Team, then the specific colleague’s record. Confirm the person and reason for removal; do not remove someone merely to correct their hourly rate or client assignments.
2. Review their open assignments and arrange any necessary handover first. Removing membership is an access decision, not an automatic reassignment of all unfinished work.
3. Use Delete member where your role permits it, read the confirmation and cancel if the wrong person is named. Confirm only an authorized removal.
4. Check the resulting team list and handover. Removing this team access is not the same as deleting every client record or deleting the colleague’s entire Bookwits account.

What this does

• Removes their access to this team workspace
• Revokes access to all clients, documents, and workspace data

Settings panel (what you’ll see) Inside a team member profile you’ll typically see: Access type (Owner/Admin/Member) and Delete member.

Common beginner issues (quick fixes)

Do not confuse four different responsibilities

• Owner/Admin: broad workspace administration and visibility, subject to enabled features.
• Member: staff access restricted by shared clients and the permissions of each module.
• Client manager: the internal person responsible for the client relationship.
• Task assignee: the person responsible for that task. Reassignment does not by itself establish that every client-access setting is correct.

Invite and confirm membership

1. Open the staff directory. Select Team in the left sidebar, then the new-member control above the member list. Do not use Invite to Bookwits on a client profile: that invitation creates a client connection, not staff membership.
2. Enter the colleague’s own work email. Check every character before sending. Choose the role that matches the person’s responsibilities; an Admin has broader access than a Member. Do not grant administrative access simply to avoid configuring client sharing.
3. Review and send the invitation once. The colleague completes the account and acceptance steps personally. Until they accept, an invitation is pending; seeing a sent invitation is not proof that they can already use the workspace.
4. Configure the clients this person needs. Open the member’s Shared clients area, select the intended people and save the selection. Compare the selected names, not just the count. Review other available settings, such as task visibility or hourly rate, separately.
5. Confirm access from the colleague’s perspective. Ask them to sign in with their own accepted account and open the expected client. If something is missing, check membership and sharing first rather than creating another client or sending a client-portal invitation.

Audit scope before using Select all

Sharing a client includes the related company/year work, not merely the name in a table. Search the client list to find the appropriate records and inspect the selected set before saving. Select all can grant much more visibility than assigning one task. Use the Clients table’s Team access column as a second view of the arrangement.

Offboard without losing the operational handoff

Before removing a member, reassign active client-management responsibility, tasks and any ongoing processes they own. Review private notes that only the author can see, scheduled emails and connected services according to your firm’s policy. Removing the person revokes their access to this team; it does not mean their entire independent Bookwits account or every other relationship is deleted.

After changing access, verify the intended shared-client set and notify colleagues through your normal handoff process. Do not promote someone to Admin as a quick workaround for one missing client.

Example: give a preparer the right access without making them administrator

Jordan joins as a Member and needs Sarah’s work, but not every client in the firm. The owner invites Jordan, confirms acceptance and shares Sarah’s client record through the appropriate team controls. The owner separately sets the client manager and assigns Jordan’s preparation task. These choices describe membership, access, relationship responsibility and task responsibility—not one interchangeable setting.

If Jordan sees the task but cannot open its client context, inspect the shared-client access rather than promoting Jordan to Admin as a workaround. If Morgan needs to review a handoff note, inspect whether its author marked it Private; broad administration does not make a creator-only note a shared team note.

When Jordan leaves, first review active assignments, recurring work, scheduled communication and client-management responsibility. Reassign what must continue, then remove the team access using the relevant confirmation. Removing someone from this workspace does not mean deleting their independent Bookwits account or every relationship they have elsewhere. Verify the intended access set after the change and preserve the operational handoff.

Current application screen examples

Complete Owner, Admin and Member feature comparison

Owner is the workspace/account owner. Admin is a staff management role with broad team/client visibility, but is not the billing Owner. Member is a working staff role whose client scope and management controls are narrower; it is not simply read-only. Invitations offer Admin or Member. The Owner is not an extra invitation choice.

Read a permission in context: first the enabled module, then staff role, accessible records, privacy/participation and the record’s current state. A hidden column, filter, client manager, task assignee, external document viewer or group-chat Owner is not a replacement for these rules. Availability can also depend on the account’s enabled features.

The tables below describe the normal application controls and record visibility. Owner/Admin access is not unlimited access to every user’s personal account. Private notes, connected mailboxes and chat participation retain separate boundaries.

Team administration and Owner-only account functions

Clients, companies, tax years and shared configuration

Tasks, Client Tasks, checklists, notes and templates

Documents, signing, time, communication and settings

Give a colleague the right access without granting everything

1. As Owner/Admin, open Team in the left menu. For an existing colleague, select their name in the directory; for a new colleague use + New member, verify the email and choose Admin or Member before sending the real invitation.
2. For a Member, use that person’s Shared clients tab to choose the intended clients and save. Owner/Admin already have team-wide client scope; disabled sharing controls for those roles are intentional.
3. Open that person’s Settings tab. Review Access type, Hourly rate and Can view all tasks. Use the all-tasks switch only when team-wide internal-task visibility is actually needed. Rate changes and role changes are real saved changes, not previews.
4. Check connected responsibilities: client manager does not automatically establish all sharing; internal task assignee is not Client Task Primary contact; an Internal document root needs its own Member sharing; timesheets and signing have their own person/creator scope.
5. Ask the colleague to reopen the relevant screen with their own account. After promotion/demotion or a membership change, refresh the session or sign in again if access still looks stale. Do not share passwords or verification links.
6. Before removal, hand off active work and review privacy-sensitive content through its authorized owner. Removing someone is not a transfer of team ownership. The normal controls prevent removing the Owner or yourself.

See the invitation email/role example · See the Team navigation example

Four practical permission questions

• “I shared Sarah, so why can’t Morgan see her Client Task?” Morgan must also be its Primary contact. Shared client access alone is insufficient for a Member.
• “I enabled all tasks, so why are Budgets and Alex’s time missing?” That switch broadens internal tasks, not the Member’s role, time-person scope or Budgets access.
• “I am Admin; where is Billing?” The Owner manages billing. Giving Admin does not transfer the subscription account.
• “I own the firm; why can’t I see a private note or every chat?” Note creator privacy and chat participation/group roles are independent of workspace ownership.

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Open name/avatar → Settings. Use Company branding for the firm's visual identity, Tasks → Notifications for task-notification rules, and Notifications for your notification channels. Staff membership and client sharing are managed separately in Team.

Company-specific values belong in the company's Details workspace. Shared field definitions belong in Fields configuration. Reusable content belongs in Templates. Changing one of these surfaces does not mean all the others were changed too.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

Settings is grouped into Account, Communication and Workspace. What appears depends on your role and enabled features. A missing Billing or workspace section is not necessarily a loading error.

Company branding

1. Open your name/avatar at the top right, choose Settings, then Company branding in its sidebar. This concerns the firm’s presentation, not one client company’s business profile.
2. Review the firm name and logo controls. Choose the authorized logo and inspect any offered sizing/preview settings so the image is not stretched or unreadable.
3. Review the client-facing email footer and any footer image separately from your personal mailbox signature. Keep contact details accurate and do not add confidential client information to a firm-wide footer.
4. Use the save action for the section you changed and inspect its preview/result. Return through Workspace when finished; opening a different settings category is not a universal Save button.

Branding is shared client-facing presentation, not your personal email signature and not a change to each client’s company name. Keep the logo readable on small screens and use wording that represents the firm accurately.

Notifications and shared-folder settings

Personal notification categories include leads/requests, reviews, client uploads, unread chat, client task completion, tasks and reminder outcomes where enabled. The separate “notify all team members about client uploads” option can offer a confirmation to update all shared folders. Read that scope: it can change communication for many colleagues, not only your own inbox. Do not disable failure alerts simply to hide an unresolved scheduled-send problem.

Default task reminders

Open your name/avatar → Settings → Workspace → Tasks and select Notifications. This section configures default task reminders, not default assignees, task names or recurrence schedules. Review the notification enable switch, reminders before/on/after the Due date and the people to notify, then use Save at the bottom. A task’s Due date and recurring pattern are configured in that task itself. Tell the team before broadening reminder recipients.

Fields configuration

Use the separate Fields Configuration chapter for built-in company fields, client custom fields, company custom fields and global scope. A shared field-definition change can affect current and future records. Prefer hiding an unneeded table column to deleting shared data just to simplify a view.

Billing and subscriptions

Open Settings → Billing where permitted. Review the active subscription, trial/expiry information, billing interval and the available Manage subscription action. Confirm current price and terms in the actual billing screen before subscribing or changing a plan; this handbook does not fix a permanent price. Lead credits and the workspace subscription serve different purposes.

Do not use payment, subscription, cancellation or credit-purchase controls merely to explore. They can create financial consequences. If paid workspace modules are unavailable, check the subscription status and role with the owner instead of creating duplicate accounts.

A safe shared-setting change

1. Identify whether the setting is personal, team-wide or attached to one record.
2. Record the intended change and review which people or records it affects.
3. Use the relevant Save/confirm action and resolve errors.
4. Reopen the setting and a representative affected screen. Tell the team what changed.

Example: distinguish a firm-wide change from a personal preference

The owner updates the firm logo and client-facing footer. Review the branding preview and save through the relevant action; these settings represent the firm, not the legal name of every client company. Jordan’s personal email signature is a separate concern and should be inspected in the composed message.

Next, Jordan wants fewer notifications. A personal notification preference and an option to update client-upload notifications across all shared folders can have very different scopes. Read the confirmation before applying a broad change that may affect colleagues. Retain useful failure notifications so a scheduled-send problem is not hidden by a quiet inbox.

For billing, inspect the owner’s permitted subscription screen and current terms. A handbook example is not a permanent price list. Changing a subscription, cancellation or lead-credit purchase is a financial action, not a safe preview control. If a module is unavailable, check role, enabled features and subscription with the owner before creating another account or altering unrelated client data.

Find the correct settings group before changing anything

Click your own name/avatar at the upper-right end of the green application header and choose Settings. The settings sidebar is grouped into Account (your profile, Security and available Billing), Communication (Email and Notifications), and Workspace (Company branding, Fields configuration and Tasks where available). These are group labels within Settings, not three modules to find in the normal Clients menu. A small-screen settings selector replaces this sidebar.

Example: to change how the firm appears in a client email, choose Workspace → Company branding. To change which alerts you personally receive, inspect Communication → Notifications. To set the default reminder schedule for tasks, choose Workspace → Tasks → Notifications. Changing one of these does not configure all the others.

Change the firm presentation one section at a time

In Company branding, use Edit beside Company Name, Upload beside Company Logo, or the separate Edit beside Email Footer. Review each section’s save/cancel controls. Scroll to Email preview to inspect the sender presentation, logo, footer and their readability before relying on them in client communication. This is a sample preview, not an email-delivery test.

The firm name/logo/footer are not a client company’s legal details and not an individual mailbox signature. For example, changing the firm footer should not be used to rename Maple Grove Design Ltd. or add one client’s private information to every notification.

Configure default task reminders and their recipients

1. In Settings, choose Workspace → Tasks, then the Notifications section.
2. Review General notification. Its enable switch controls the automated task notifications configured here; it is not the task’s completed status or a date field.
3. Choose the required before-due reminders: 30, 7 or 1 day before, on the Due date, or the custom-before option. Review the separate after-due reminders: 30, 7 or 1 day after, or custom-after. Enter a valid custom day count when using that option.
4. Scroll down to Who to notify. Review Task assignees, Task creator, All team members, Team admins and Team owner individually. Choosing a broad audience can notify people beyond the person doing the work.
5. Use Save at the bottom, resolve any error, then reopen the section to verify the saved schedule and audience.

Example: a before-due reminder can warn the responsible people that a review is approaching, while an after-due reminder is a separate follow-up if work remains outstanding. Do not enable every audience simply to ensure someone is notified. These defaults do not create a task, set its assignee, decide a statutory deadline, configure recurrence or prove that a reminder reached an inbox. Review individual task notification settings when needed.

Keep notification channels and large-scope changes separate

Communication → Notifications contains email and in-app preferences; the in-app choices govern the bell and available pop-up alerts. An email preference, an in-app alert, a conversation’s Mute action and a default task reminder are not substitutes for one another. Read any shared-folder confirmation carefully: applying a notification choice to all shared folders has a wider effect than changing one visible folder. Billing and subscription controls can create financial commitments; review those only with the appropriate role and approval.

Owner, Admin and Member: permissions for this workflow

Do not assume everything under Settings is restricted to Owner/Admin. Personal security, mailbox connections and receipt preferences belong to each user; current branding is user-specific within the team. Built-in company-profile configuration and team task-reminder controls are available through their enabled workspace settings, including for a Member, so coordinate changes that affect shared behavior.

By contrast, client/company custom-definition management, shared tag/status libraries, staff role/rate settings and Internal-root access have Owner/Admin restrictions. Billing is Owner-only. For task reminders, Admin recipients and Owner recipients are distinct choices; enable both if both groups are intended, or select another appropriate recipient group. Receiving a reminder does not grant broader records access.

Compare all staff roles, feature restrictions and exceptions

Where to find this workflow and its controls

Open name/avatar → Settings → Fields configuration. Its three selectors distinguish Company profile fields, Company custom fields and Client custom fields. Choose the scope before creating, enabling or rearranging a definition.

To enter a value for one client, open that client's Overview → Client details → Edit or the relevant wizard section. For company values, open the company's Details → Edit company. The Companies table's settings menu also links to fields configuration; showing a column does not create a new field definition.

Questions inside a checklist template are configured in Templates → Personal checklists/Company checklists, not automatically in these client/company profile-field libraries.

Owner, Admin and Member: access, restrictions and exceptions for this chapter

See the current application screenshots for this chapter

1) What Company Fields Configuration is

2) Company Profile Fields (built-in)

3) Tax Registrations & Obligations (workflow switches)

4) Tax & Payroll Forms Configuration