Automators are powerful tools in Karbon that empower you to automate how your Workflows, Tasks, and Work statuses update. By setting up 'if this, then that' rules, you can ensure your processes are efficient, consistent, and adapt automatically to changes. Whether you need to automatically mark Work as complete, update a status based on a deadline, or create dynamic workflows that show or hide sections based on conditions, Automators make it happen. Karbon offers two types of Automators: Global Automators and Tasklist Automators. Global Automators apply broadly across your practice, while Tasklist Automators give you granular control over individual task sections in your Work Items and templates.

To make the most out of Automators, it's important to have a good understanding of workflow statuses. You can control the Global Automators from Settings > Workflow > select the Automators tab. We recommend firms start with these settings and then make adjustments as desired:

Note: you will need to be an Admin user to adjust these Automators and other Settings. Keep in mind, any changes you make to your status settings will immediately go into effect across your whole team.

Available global automators include:

Best Practice Tip: Often times when a work item hits its start date, it's not always 'In Progress'. Consider using the status, 'Ready to Start' and apply this to When Planned work reaches its start date, update its status to 'Ready to Start'. This will help identify work items that are truly 'In Progress' vs. an alternate status like 'Ready to Start'.

If an automator has triggered an item, an activity will display on that work item. For example, if a work item's status is updated automatically, the details of this will display on the work item's Timeline.

Tasklist Automators allow you to apply 'if this, then that' rules to task sections in your Work Items and templates. The status of Tasks or a Work Item can be set to automatically update based on what happens to other Tasks or conditions within the Work Item. These Automators are key to building conditional workflows and automating specific actions within sections.

The Tasklist Automators are added to the section level of your list of tasks. They can also be added to Client Task sections, and you can add multiple rules within one section.

The process for adding an Automator here is the same, whether you are adding it to a work item or a template. From the task section options menu, choose Add Automator.

The Automator you create will 'listen' for the activity that happens. When the event that you set happens, the rule will trigger.

Your options for creating rules from the drop-down menus include:

When

Have the status

Change the Status, Due Date or Assignee of

To

Once you have set the Automator, it will appear at the top of that task section.

Once you have created your Automator, you can click on it to edit or delete it.

When a tasklist Automator has triggered, it will appear with a 'strikethrough' - with a horizontal line through their center.

If there are still tasklist Automators within that section, they will remain without a strikethrough.

If an automator has triggered and you want to go back and reset the automator. Simply click on the automator that is struck through that you want to reset and click 'Reset'. You can't reset automators that will instantly retrigger, so in some cases you may have to go back and untick tasks before you are able to reset that automator, to make sure the automator doesn't automatically retrigger.

For example: Your client has marked a client task as complete, and the automation on the next internal section has changed the status of the tasks in the section to 'Ready to start' even though you need more information from the client. Untick the client task, then click on the automator and click 'Reset' and then you can add a comment to the client task asking for more information and have the client mark the task as complete again when they have provided it.

In some circumstances, a Tasklist Automator can become invalid. This is indicated by the color of the Automator, once you have created it.

A valid Automator appears grey and will trigger without any issues.

If your Automator displays a warning in orange, it indicates that the scenario is not ideal but will still work.

Example: The Automator will assign a section of tasks to a job role, rather than to an individual team member

If you are unsure why the warning is displayed, open the Automator to reveal the cause of the warning and a suggested solution.

A red warning indicates that an Automator is invalid, and will not work.

Example: If you move a section of tasks to the top, containing an Automator to change the assignee when the tasks above move into the status of 'Completed', it renders that Automator impossible.

Tasklist Automators are essential for building conditional workflows in Karbon. By setting sections to inactive by default in your templates, you can use Automators to make them appear only when specific conditions are met. This keeps your Work Items clean and focused, showing only the relevant tasks and information at the right time.

For a step-by-step guide on setting up these workflows, refer to:

Karbon has introduced enhanced Automator options specifically designed to streamline your tax extension workflows. These options go beyond standard status changes to provide greater flexibility and automation.

The primary new capabilities for extension automators include:

For detailed instructions and examples on how to utilize these powerful automator options within your extension workflows, refer to:

Create and customize Work Templates

Set Up Conditional Workflows with Active/Inactive Sections

Using Automators for Conditional Workflows

Overview of Karbon's Extension Workflow

Extension Statuses in Karbon