Creating and Assigning Tasks in Basil

You can create Tasks in Basil and assign them to yourself as the Account Owner, Team Members, or Client Users for any work that needs to be performed. When you create a task, you can provide additional detail corresponding to the task so the assigned user has the information needed to complete the task and log time spent to perform the task. Multiple logs can be created to perform a task. Tasks help you keep track of the status of work performed at all times and bill your clients accurately. We recommend that you use Tasks for all work performed for accurate tracking. 

You can create one of many pre-selected tasks or a custom task, and provide the details relevant to each type of task. You can also simply log time without creating a task, though this is not a recommended approach. It is more efficient and easier to track the progress of work performed by creating and assigning tasks before work is started. 

New tasks can be created from each of the three Task views (Placard, List, and Spreadsheet).

Creating a Task

1. Click on the 'Tasks' tab at the top of Basil. From this page, you can click on '+ Tasks' and then select 'Create Tasks' from the menu.
   1. Alternatively, you can choose to implement a Project by toggling to Projects and clicking on '+ Projects'. A Project is used for a process that has multiple tasks to be completed. View our ‘Creating Projects’ help guide for full instructions.
      
      
2. This will open the Create Tasks window. Here you will need to select the Client and the Workspace that the task(s) are going to be for.
3. The select Client drop-down menu will show all the Clients you’ve added to Basil. Please view the ‘Add Clients’ help guide if you need to add a Client.
4. The Workspace drop-down menu will show the Workspaces for the specific Client you’ve selected. Please view the ‘To create a Workspace’ instructions if you need to create a Client Workspace.
5. After selecting the Client and Workspace, you can start adding tasks. You can choose from a number of preset task options or select the custom task option. The task can then be assigned to a specific user, marked as a billable task, and a description added with instructions if necessary.
   1. The ‘Upload a File’ task will ask you to select which folder you’d like the assigned user to upload to. 
   2. The ‘Download’, ‘Review’, and ‘eSign a File’ tasks will ask you to select the specific file you’d like the user to perform the task for.
   3. The ‘Setup a Meeting’ task will ask to select a user’s calendar where the meeting will be added.
   4. There are also many other tasks to choose from such as ‘Provide consultation’, ‘Reconcile bank account’, and many others. Please note: you can create your own Task Types to add to this list by following the steps listed below in Creating New Task Types.
6. To confirm the creation of this task, you'll need to click on 'Add Details...". Here you can also mark the task as billable if it was not before, including the number of budgeted hours set aside to complete the task, and set start and due dates for the task. When all the necessary information has been added, click on 'Save' to confirm the task and return to the Create Tasks window.
   
   You can also create tasks in freeform mode. To do this make sure the ‘Use Task Template’ option is unchecked. With freeform mode, the only required fields will be the ‘Task’ field for naming the task and the ‘Assigned to’ field. You can then click on the ‘Save’ floppy disk icon at the end of the task row to confirm this task and add it to the list.
   
7. That task has now been saved. A new row will appear under the recently saved task. Here you can add an additional task for this Client and Workspace if necessary. You can continue to add as many tasks at once as you need. Once a task has been added to a row, you can use the ‘Actions’ column to clone the task or click the trash can to delete the task from the current creation list.
8. Once you’ve added all necessary tasks, you can click 'Save Tasks'. This will bring you back to the Tasks screen. Following is a screenshot of the new task in each of the three task views available.

Placard View

List View

Spreadsheet View

Editing/Deleting a Task

You can edit or delete a task by clicking the edit (pencil icon) or delete (trash icon) button in both the Placard and List View.

Placard View

List View

You can also edit or delete a task from the Spreadsheet View by checking the box for the task in the first column and then going to the 'Actions' menu and choosing 'Edit' or 'Delete'.

Spreadsheet View

Creating New Task Types

You can create new Task types to be selected from when creating tasks to better suit the needs of your particular firm.

First, open your Basil account dropdown menu and select ‘Settings’.

From the Settings page, expand the “Manage Task Stages and Types” menu and select ‘+ Add New Task Type’.

In the pop-up window, type the name of your new type of task. You can also select the gray exclamation “!” mark on each of the task’s subfields to make them required fields that will need to be filled out when creating a new task of this type. Click ‘Save’ when you are finished.

You’ll be brought back to the “Manage Task Stage and Types” screen. Here you can scroll to the bottom of the list to see your new Task type. You can click the eye icon to hide this task or any others from the list of selectable tasks when creating a new task. You may also click on the minus (-) symbol to delete the custom Task type from the list entirely. Use the checkboxes in each Task stage column to determine if you need to use the stage for the given Task type.
To start working with this new Task type you can now go back to the “+ Tasks” screen from the “Tasks” tab and you will now see your custom Task type listed with the other available options.