This article guides you through the process of configuring Karbon's workflow settings to optimize your firm's processes, enhance visibility, and streamline your team's work management.
Prerequisites:
You must have Administrator access in Karbon to configure workflow settings.
Steps:
1. Accessing Workflow Settings:
To begin configuring your workflow settings:
Go to Settings from the Main Menu.
Select Workflow.
2. Customize Your Workflow Statuses:
Your workflow statuses are a master list that can be applied to Work Items. You have five primary statuses: Planned, Ready to Start, In Progress, Waiting, and Complete.
Under each, you can create customized sub-statuses to provide more granular detail. For example, under "Waiting," you might create "Waiting on client" to specify the exact reason for a delay.
Any changes you make to your workflow statuses will immediately go into effect across your entire team.
To create and edit your workflow statuses:
Navigate to the Statuses tab within the Workflow settings.
Under each of the main statuses, click Add Status to create a new sub-status.
To edit or delete an existing sub-status, hover over it and click the options menu '...' to the right, then choose Edit or Delete.
To reorder a sub-status, use drag & drop.
If you delete a custom workflow status, Karbon will prompt you to bulk reassign everything currently in that status to a different status of your choosing.
3. Set Up Your Work Types:
Work Types allow you to categorize and manage different kinds of work your firm performs. This is especially useful for tracking high-volume work like tax returns or recurring tasks like bookkeeping.
To add, edit, and delete Work Types:
Navigate to the Work Types tab within the Workflow settings.
Click on Add Work Type, then name the new work type.
Assign the relevant workflow and task statuses that best fit this new Work Type. Click Save.
To edit a Work Type, hover over the work type you want to modify, click the options menu '...' to the right, and then select Edit. You can rename the Work Type or adjust which statuses apply to it.
To delete a Work Type, click the options menu '...' and then Delete. If the Work Type is currently applied to any workflow, you will be prompted to replace it. If you simply want to remove the type, select 'None'.
Common work types per country
You can update your Work Types to suit your firm's needs. Below is a list of common Work Types by country:
Australia
| United States
| United Kingdom
|
New Zealand
| Rest of the world
|
|
Video Overview of Work Types:
Understand the basics and defaults for work types in Karbon's settings to better manage and automate your work and workflow.
4. Define Your Default Work Type:
The Default Work Type is applied to any Work Item that does not have a specific Work Type defined. It is also used for any note or email that has been assigned to a team member. We recommend you edit your Default Work Type and decide which sub-statuses you want to apply to it.
For each Work Type (including the Default Work Type), there are three levels of workflow that you can customize:
Work status: Impacts what statuses can be applied to the Work Item itself.
Task status: Impacts what statuses can be applied to tasks within that Work Item.
Email / Note Status: Impacts what statuses will be available for emails and notes that are assigned to team members.
You may decide to use the same statuses for all three, or select different statuses based on your needs. You are unable to uncheck any of your five primary statuses (Planned, Ready To Start, In Progress, Waiting, Completed) – they need to be made available for all items.
To configure your Default Work Type:
From the Work Types tab, locate and select the Default Work Type.
Within the Default Work Type settings, select or deselect the custom workflow statuses that will be available for work, tasks, and emails/notes.
5. Configure Your Task Types:
Task Types allow you to define and categorize the individual activities performed within a Work Item. This is crucial for accurate time tracking, billing, and granular reporting on actual time spent versus budgeted time for specific activities.
To add, edit, and delete Task Types:
Go to Settings > Workflow > Task Types.
Click on Add Task Type, name the new task type, and select Billable Task Type if the activity is billable. Click Save.
Note: When a Task Type is not marked billable, a Not Billable flag will be presented next to it, and any activity associated with it won't be included in related budgets and utilization reports.
To edit a Task Type, simply click on its name to rename it or change its billable status. Then click Save.
To delete a Task Type, click on its name and then click Delete. If the Task Type is currently in use in Work Items, you will be prompted to select a replacement or choose 'None'.
Common Task Types:
Below are common Task Types that may be pre-loaded in your Karbon instance by default:
Accounting
Admin
Auditing
Bookkeeping
Business Advisory
CFO
Compliance
Consulting
Financial Planning
Internal Admin (not billable)
Meetings
Payroll
Research
Review
Tax
Training