We have improved the experience of creating and managing recurring tasks within the Canopy Workflow module to provide more flexibility, context, automation, and precision related to work within your company. These enhancements allow users to create tasks to repeat on a schedule based on the task’s due date (not just on completion), automatically create tasks within a specified amount of time before the task’s due date and set recurring details in a template.
These new enhancements will add to the existing functionality related to recurring tasks within Canopy. So don’t worry, the above capabilities won’t go anywhere, you’ll just be able to do more to accurately reflect or improve your current workflow processes around recurring tasks.
Let’s break down each of these new enhancements to better understand the new functionality and how they might help your business:
Create tasks to repeat on a schedule: Previously, users only had an option to create a recurring task based on the completion of a task. With this option, a task would only appear in the task list after the first task in the recurrence was completed. Users can still select this option, but now have an additional option to create a task to repeat on a schedule based on a due date.
Creating a recurring task on a schedule allows users to select specific intervals (including Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly) for tasks to automatically repeat in the task list based on those specifications.
There are many use cases where this would be beneficial, but here are a few examples where it could be useful:
- monthly accounting services – Companies that provide monthly bookkeeping services can have tasks automatically created each month to perform any task related to bookkeeping services for their repeat customers.
- Quarterly Business Tax Preparation Services: – Businesses that file quarterly business taxes can schedule recurring tasks to accommodate these services. There is no quarterly interval option, but you can easily adapt it by selecting Monthlyand specifying that you want the task Repeat every 3 months.
- Annual Tax Preparation Services (Businesses or Individuals): If your business does annual tax preparation for clients, you can select an annual schedule for those tasks to appear in the task list when you want them to appear.
Also, users will be able to see the next future job at that recurrence interval. For example, if you select a monthly task recurrence starting next month, you might see upcoming work in your task list for the next few months, even before you finish all of this month’s task work on that recurrence. This could be useful in a situation where you’re still working to finish subtasks for a particular month, but you’re also starting subtasks for next month’s work. This can also be useful for planning and viewing future work at your company.
Automatically create tasks within a specified time period before a task’s due date:
When you create a task on a timeline, you can also select the time period when those tasks are created and appear on your task list. For example, if you have set up annual tax preparation tasks that are due on the tax deadline date in April but want to start your work in January, you can select Create task(s) 3 month(s) before their due date. This would keep the due date in April, but would automatically generate the task(s) on your task list for that annual tax preparation on whatever date you select for it to start appearing.
Set recurring details in a template:
Creating tasks to repeat on a schedule has value in unique situations as described above. However, there is more added value when Canopy users can apply them to templates. Templates provide consistency across the company internally (ie, facilitate training) and externally (ie, provide consistent customer experiences).
Edit or delete recurring tasks
We’ve made it easy to make changes to any set of task recurrences. Just locate the most recent task (it may or may not complete) in the recurrence and open the task. Within the individual tasks view, you will see a link to the Parent Recurring Task at the bottom for that set of recurring tasks. If you want to make a change to all tasks connected to the scheduled recurring task, you’ll need to make those changes to the parent recurring task. Otherwise, if you make a change to a recurring task in the series that is not the parent Recurring Task, the change will only be made for that specific task.
We mentioned some of these earlier when describing each new enhancement, but from a high level, you can enjoy the following benefits with this product update:
More information– With this new functionality, you’ll be able to get more information about upcoming work because you’ll be able to see it visually in your task list, regardless of whether the work has started, completed, or is waiting for it to start. And as mentioned above, you can also start working on the future before the current tasks are completed.
Time savings and increased efficiency: This will also save team members time by automatically generating the tasks in your task list based on parameters you set. This is especially pertinent when applied to templates.
Better employee and customer experiences: Using the new recurring tasks on a schedule and applying them to templates will make it easier for your team members to create consistent processes and empower their employees. When you set up the recurring task on a schedule in a template, you can ensure internal processes are done consistently, which can help improve relationships and build more trust with your customers.
These are just a few examples of the benefits this new feature will bring to your business. We hope there are more benefits you experience that we have not listed.
Available in Canopy for users licensed for the workflow module.
Learn how to apply recurring task improvements with these step-by-step instructions and a more detailed explanation of this new feature release.