Client Task Management

If you are a portal user, within ExpensePlus you will find a brilliant, free, easy-to-use task management tool. It enables you to efficiently manage recurring and one-off tasks for all the clients that you work with. You can assign tasks to different members of your team and track progress.

Template task sets enable you to generate tasks for the coming month, or for a project or specific workflow, at the click of a button.

Note: if you are a regular ExpensePlus user (not an Independent Examiner or External Bookkeeper) go to this article about the Task Management Module within ExpensePlus.

Summary of Tasks

Each team member can see a summary of the tasks they have been assigned for that week, as well as any overdue tasks, directly from the main screen in the portal. They can also click to view the tasks related to a particular client.

Task Management Screen

The task management screen displays tasks per client. There are a number of filters at the top of the screen that enable you to select which tasks are displayed.

Client - To view a different client, update the 'Client' dropdown in the filter bar at the top of the screen.
Date Range - The date range filter allows you to view tasks for 'this week', 'this month', 'this year' or 'all years'.
Status - The 'Overdue Only' view enables you to view only tasks that are overdue, 'Hide completed' allows you to hide completed tasks, and 'All' enables you to see all tasks.
Assignee - Enables you to filter by the assignee.

Adding Tasks

To add a new task, click the 'Add New task' button at the top of the screen.

Note: if adding recurring tasks e.g. monthly finance tasks or tasks within a workflow (e.g. Independent Examination tasks), you are best to use the 'Generate Next Set of Tasks' (see section further down this article).

When adding a task, you will need to enter a task name, select a task date, select an assignee (the person who will do the task), and you can add any notes (optional).

To make a task private (so that no other users can see it), click this option under the 'visibility' heading.

If you click the 'Link' checkbox, you will be able to link the task to the relevant module within ExpensePlus. For example, if the task is 'Check Receipts' you can link it to the receipts module, enabling the assignee to go directly to that screen when they click on the task. As well as linking to modules within ExpensePlus, you can also link to external websites.

Actioning a Task

If a link has been provided for a task, then you can simply click on the task link to go to the module or external website associated with that task e.g. if the task is to 'Check Receipts' then clicking on the task should take you to the receipts module for that client within ExpensePlus.

To mark a task as complete, simply click on the 'Status' checkbox.

Editing a Task

To edit a task or to add a note, click the edit button to the right of the task. This option enables you to amend the date of a task, or assign a task to another team member.

Managing Template Task Sets

Template task sets provide a quick and efficient way to add recurring tasks e.g. monthly finance tasks or tasks within a workflow (e.g. Independent Examination tasks).

Template task sets can be associated with a particular client or can be used for multiple clients.

To view/add/edit template task sets, click the 'Manage Template Task Sets' button at the top of the page:

Any task sets already created will be displayed on the Manage Template Task Sets screen.

To add a new task set, click the 'add template task set' button at the top of the screen. Task sets can be set to be 'private'. If this option is selected the task set will only be visible to you. Typically task sets will want to be visible to other users (rather than private).

Note: It is not possible to change whether a task set is private or not once it has been created.

To edit the task set (e.g. update the name, the default start date, or the 'client' a task set is associated with), click the 'edit' button to the right of the task set.

Note: the 'default start date' enables you to specify a default start date e.g. if the first task in the task set is your 'weekly receipt check' which you always do the first Tuesday of a month, then you should set the default start date as 'first Tuesday of the month'.

To deactivate a task set, click the 'x' button to the right of the task set. Click the 'Manage Deactivated' button at the top of the screen to view deactivated task sets. Task sets can only be deleted if there are no tasks associated with the task set.
To view or edit tasks associated with a task set click on that task set. To add tasks, click the 'Add Template Task' button or click the 'Copy' button to the right of an existing task that is part of the template task set. You can also edit and delete template tasks.

Generating Next Set of Tasks

To generate your next set of tasks (e.g. the next month's finance tasks for a particular client), first ensure that you have the correct client selected, before clicking the 'Generate Next Set of Tasks' button.

Select the task set you wish to generate tasks from, and if a default start date hasn't been specified, you will also need to select a start date.

Note: if you create a task set with the visibility set to 'private', only you will see this task set in the list of template task sets.

The tasks that are part of the template task set will then display in the popup, enabling you to alter the start date if it isn't correct and deselect any tasks that you don't wish to be added.

Once you are happy, click 'Submit' to add tasks.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can my clients see the tasks within our portal?

No, only users within your team can see the tasks in your portal, and each user can only see clients that they have been given access to view.

My client is saying that I haven't done the tasks assigned to me

Most likely, your client has set up the task management module within ExpensePlus (which is different), and they have assigned tasks to you within that. We'd recommend that they don't assign you tasks from within the task management module in ExpensePlus (because you have your own separate task management tool for managing ALL of your clients).

Note: the task management tool within your portal does not link with the task management module that each of your clients has within ExpensePlus.

When I click on a task, it takes me to the wrong place

To update the link associated with a task, just click the 'edit' button to the right of the task.

Note: if the task is part of your template task set, it could be a good idea to update the template task set too, in order to ensure future generated tasks have the correct link.