What is Workflow?
The HowNow Workflow system consists of two areas - Jobs and Tasks. These work in together to record job details and to create and monitor the tasks required to complete those jobs. They are displayed as two tabs on the HowNow main screen, Jobs and Tasks.
Jobs
The Job system records details of jobs and monitors progress as a job’s tasks are completed. Note: the word ‘Job’ can be changed in File > Options > Workflow Tabs > Name for 'Job'.
Once Workflow is enabled, a Job field (as the first field) appears on all record creation dialogs. Choosing a job automatically determines the contact, location and all other standard settings. Users with the privilege to allow job creation, can create a new job on-the-fly by right-clicking the Job field. In the case where a record doesn’t relate to a specific job, the Job field can be left blank.
Each job has a Job Type. This is a reference to a firm-defined list of Job Type Descriptions and Job Task Templates. A Job Task Template is a list of default tasks that can be attached to each Job Type. When a new job is created, the tasks for the specified job type can be automatically created.
Each job has a user-defined Job Status that defines the job’s status and allows such things as filtering. A job requires at least one task to function. Additional tasks can be added or deleted at any time.
Jobs Tab
The Jobs Tab consists of the standard HowNow search field, filter options and the search results list. A Jobs menu appears on the main menu bar when the Jobs Tab is selected.
Search Bar
The jobs search bar consists of a free text search area and five buttons.
Filter Options allows you to store a particular search filter to be recalled at a later time. Select the filters and search terms and then press Store (the first button). When you need to use this again, press Recall (the second button). If you wish to delete this search, press Clear (the third button) and return to your default settings. The Recall feature works with Date Range searches up to 5 Years only. The Recall Filter button will be greyed out if there is no filter set. For various reasons, your Stored filter may be reset by Business Fitness when new versions are released.
Press the X to the left of the search bar to clear the search text only. The last button will refresh your search.
Views
The standard search results grid shows the Due Date, Title, Job Code, Status, Start Date and Progress Indicator for each job. The columns on the grid can be changed by the Administrator from Display Field Editor. Each status on the search results grid shows green for each job due in the future, amber for each job due today and red for each job currently overdue. Completed jobs are shown in grey.
The progress indicator shows a graphical view of progress. It is a coloured band, the length of which represents the progress of the job in 25% increments. It is calculated by dividing the number of completed tasks by the total number of tasks for the job, expressed as a percentage.
The search results grid can be ordered by any column by clicking the column title.
Filters
- Contact Type and Contact - allows a single contact or range of contacts to be specified.
- Role and Person - allows filtering by person and/or their role.
- Job Status - the status filter drop-down list has the following options:
- All Jobs
- Incomplete (default)
- Completed
- Started
- Not Started
- Wait Client
- On Hold
- All Jobs
- Job - allows selection of a single job or a range of jobs.
- Type - allows filtering by job type.
- Date Range - the date range filter has the following options:
- Due Date
- Start Date
- Created Date
- Lodged Date
- Due Date
Visibility
Allows you to filter jobs that have been assigned to a specific team or teams.
Tools
Recycle Bin - When deleting records, the documents are sent to the Recycle Bin. These can later be retrieved (you will need to be an Administrator to restore records) by clicking on the Recycle Bin icon. Make sure other filters are cleared to see all deleted Records. Documents in the Recycle Bin can be permanently deleted by the Administrator.
Job Details Report
This report lists details for jobs selected in the search results. It shows the start, due and completion dates and calculates the day budget and variances for budget and actual units and value.
To run this report, Job Details from the Job tab. Unselect the Headings checkbox if you do not wish report headings to appear. This is useful if you intend exporting the report to Excel or a text file. Click Preview to display the report. The report can be printed using the Print icon on the report preview. To save a report to a file, first preview the report, then click the Save Report button. Enter a file name in the file name field and then select the type of file from the Save as Type drop-down list. Click Save to save the report.
Import Jobs
When jobs are imported from a HowNow Export file, the dates and balances are reset and the status is set to Not Started. This allows, for example, last year's jobs to be recreated for the new year. Choose Import from the Jobs Ribbon.
- The Destination Tab will appear
- Location: Choose the destination for the imported jobs. Selecting a contact is not necessary as that information is imported with the job.
- Job Type: This defaults to Use existing, but can be changed to a new job type which will apply to all the imported jobs.
- Keep Job Assignments - retains the same employees assigned to the job.
- Click Next.
- The Location Tab will appear. Click the browse button to select the folder containing the HowNow Export File to be imported.
- Click Next.
- A list of job meta-data files will appear. Use the checkbox beside each file or the Deselect/Select All button to deselect/select files for import.
- Click the Process button to start the import.
Excel Export - Export your search results to an Excel file with the use of the Excel Export button. Click the button, choose a folder to save the file into (the default is Documents), then provide the name of the file.
Right-click Menu in Jobs
Right-click an entry in the search results list to display these menu options:
- Open - opens a job
- Filter on this Contact - Only show jobs with the same contact as the selected job
- Set Status to – Allows a job’s status to be changed
- New – Creates a new job
- Create new task - create a task for this job
- Profile – Opens the job profile dialog for edit
- Profile Selection - allows multiple jobs to be changed at one time
- Export - exports the selected jobs - see Export Jobs
- Delete - only completed jobs can be deleted - it puts the job and all of its tasks into the recycle bin.
The following image provides an example only and will reflect the statuses your Firm has set.
Creating and Editing Jobs
A new job can be created by right-clicking on the Jobs search results grid and choosing New. An existing job can be edited by right-clicking the Jobs search results grid and choosing Open from the drop-down menu.
The Job Details dialog appears.
Details Tab
- Default Area - The default area to be used to store any records associated with this job. This is a list of the primary storage areas as defined in Record Locations.
- Default Contact - the default contact to be used to store any records associated with this job.
- Default Location - the default location to be used to store any records associated with this job.
- Type - the job type also determines the default task template to be used. Note: if the job type is changed from Not Started to Started and a task template exists, the user will be prompted to create tasks for the job.
- Title - by default formed by concatenating the contact name, a dash and the job type description, but it can be changed.
- Code (optional) - the job identifier, either user specified or HowNow generated using a firm-defined formula. See File >Options > Other Settings > Workflow > Next Job Number.
- Job Status - a reference to a list of firm-defined job and task status descriptions.
- Entry Date - the date the job was entered in HowNow .
- Start Date - the date the job is actually started. This date is automatically set when the first task is started.
- Due Date - the date the job is due for completion. This date controls the color of the job search results; green for current; amber for due today; red for overdue.
- Lodgment Date - the date lodgment occurred if applicable to the job.
- Progress - the progress of the job as a percentage. It is calculated by dividing the number of completed tasks by the total number of tasks for this job. It also controls the progress field on the search results.
- Partner - the partner responsible for this job.
- Manager - the manager responsible for this job.
- Reviewer - the person responsible for reviewing this job.
- Assigned By - the person who assigned the job (defaults to the user who created the job).
- Assigned To - the person to whom the job is being assigned.
- Completion Date - the date the job is completed. This date is automatically set when the last task is completed.
- Priority - Assign the priority of a job - High, Normal or Low. This will show on the search results screen.
- Deleted - specifies if the job is in the recycle bin.
- Default Contact - the default contact to be used to store any records associated with this job.
Budget Tab
Allows entry of budgets and actuals for time units and dollar values. The average hourly rate is calculated for both budget and actual by dividing the value by the units multiplied by the Minutes Per Time Unit value in Options.
Notes Tab
This is an area for notes relating to the job. The lower panel shows the notes from each of the job's tasks. The Print button allows the notes to be printed. Note: Use F3 to insert today's date and time into the text. Note: Use Ctrl-Enter to add new lines.
Visibility Tab
Only select a team if the job is only to be visible to members of that team.
Tasks Tab
A list of the tasks created for this job. To open a task, either double-click the entry or right-click the entry and choose Open.
To change the status of a task, right-click the task and choose the required status. Use the Create Tasks button to automatically create tasks for this job based on a Job Task Template.
- Job Task Template - The default Job Task Template is specified by the Job Type but it can be changed.
- List of tasks - This list displays the list of tasks specified by the Job Task Template. Select tasks as required or use the Select All or Deselect All buttons. The order the tasks appear in the list is the order in which they will be created. This can only be changed by editing the Job Task Template or by altering the due date of the created task.
- List of tasks - This list displays the list of tasks specified by the Job Task Template. Select tasks as required or use the Select All or Deselect All buttons. The order the tasks appear in the list is the order in which they will be created. This can only be changed by editing the Job Task Template or by altering the due date of the created task.
- Click the Create button to create the tasks for the job. The Task Assignment dialog will appear. This dialog allows tasks being created to be assigned to a person different from the one specified in the Job Task Template. It appears when the first task is created and for each change of position depending on the Assign all remaining tasks to this person unless the position changes check box setting.
- Position - Use this field to specify a different position. The setting in this list control the entries that appear in the Assign To list for each task. To see all possible employees, set this list to N/A.
- Assign To - Use this field to assign a different person to this task.
- Assign all remaining tasks to this person unless the position changes - Check this box if the person selected is to be allocated to all following tasks for the specified position. Unchecking this box will force HowNow to ask for a new Assign To person each time a task with a new position is created.
- Note: the order of unassigned tasks can be changed by using drag and drop. If the job has a start date, then the first task will be started automatically.
- Assign To - Use this field to assign a different person to this task.
- Position - Use this field to specify a different position. The setting in this list control the entries that appear in the Assign To list for each task. To see all possible employees, set this list to N/A.
Records Tab
This tab displays a list of records created for this job.
Time Tab
This tab displays a list of time spent on this job.
Edit Selected Jobs Profiles
This wizard allows bulk changes to be made to a range of job profiles in one operation. Select a range of jobs in the search results list by either clicking the first job, holding down the shift key and clicking the last item, or holding down the Ctrl key while clicking jobs.
From the right-click menu select Profile Selection. The Edit Selected Job Profiles Wizard will appear. The wizard welcome screen showing how many jobs will be affected by the process appears.
Click Next to continue. The Select Edit Fields dialog will appear.
Choose the field or fields to be edited by checking the boxes at the beginning of each field description. Click Next to continue. The Edit Fields dialog will appear.
Edit the required fields (only the fields selected for editing in the above step will be available). Note that in the case of some fields, attaching and removing these attributes from jobs can be done simultaneously. Click Next to continue. The notification screen will appear.
Check that the fields being edited are correct and then click the Finish button to process the changes.
Note: If a attempt is made to change a job's location from one area to another, a warning message will be displayed and the job will be skipped.
Export Jobs
The Export Wizard allows jobs to be exported to a folder on a hard drive. When exported jobs are imported, all the dates and balances are reset and the status is set to Not Started. This feature allows last year's jobs to be 'rolled forward' into a new year.
To export a range of jobs right-click the selected jobs and choose Export. The Export Wizard dialog will appear - click the Next button to create the export files.
