Administering tasks

Task Management includes the Task Details app, which allows you to administer the tasks in the system.

Note: You must complete step 1 through step 6 before you create and update tasks.

Before you begin working with administration apps, read “Understanding task types and roles”.

Working with administration apps includes the following tasks:

• Adding tasks
• Updating tasks
• Duplicating tasks
• Displaying tasks
• Deleting tasks
• Archiving tasks
• Exporting tasks to Microsoft Excel
• Exporting tasks to a .csv file
• Importing tasks from a .csv file

Adding tasks

At various points in your company’s tax cycle, you may need to add tasks to track and manage tax department processes.

To add tasks:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. Click Add. A new row appears in the list.
4. Complete the following information:

   Field	Notes
   Tax Period	Select the Tax Period for the task. For information on adding Tax Periods to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   Category	Select the category for the task. For example, Income Tax. For information on adding Tax Periods to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   Description	Type a description for the task, up to a maximum of 4000 characters.
   Entity	Select the entity associated with the task. For information on adding Tax Periods to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   Jurisdiction Level	Select the Jurisdiction Level for the task. National—Select this option to create a new national jurisdiction. Regional—Select this option to create a new regional jurisdiction. You must have an existing national jurisdiction in order to create a regional jurisdiction. Local—Select this option to create a new local jurisdiction. You must have an existing regional jurisdiction in order to create a local jurisdiction. The national and regional jurisdiction level labels may differ depending on your system configuration. For example, your company’s national jurisdiction label may be set to Federal and your regional jurisdiction label to State.
   Jurisdiction	Select the jurisdiction associated with the task. This list is based on your selection for Jurisdiction Level. For information on adding Jurisdictions for Task Management, see Maintaining Task Management jurisdictions.
   Due Date	Use the Longview control to select the due date for the task.
   Start Date	Use the Longview control to select the date that the Preparer or the Assigned User should start the task.
   Workflow	Select the check box to enable workflow for the task.
   Preparer	Select one or more users to assign as the Preparers of the task. Preparers can modify supporting information for the task, along with the Notes, Attachments, and Status for a task.
   Reviewer	Select one or more users to assign as the Reviewers of the task. Reviewers can modify supporting information for the task, along with the Notes, Attachments, and Status for a task.
   Approver	Select one or more users to assign as the Reviewers of the task. Approvers can modify supporting information for the task, along with the Notes, Attachments, Status, Due Date, Start Date, and Completion Date for a task.
   Workflow Notifications	Specify whether to activate Workflow notifications for the task. Workflow notifications are automatically sent by email to the appropriate users whenever the status for a task is changed to Submitted for Review, Submitted for Approval, Rejected to Preparer, or Rejected to Reviewer. In order to use Workflow notifications, you must specify the SMTP server to use. For more information, see Specifying the email server for reminders and notifications.
   Assigned	If you did not select Workflow, select one or more users to assign to the task. If you do not select at least one user, all users will see the task on the Assigned Users page of the Tasks app.  Note: Assigned tasks do not enter the various workflow states.
   Reminder Category	If you want to associate reminders with a task, select the appropriate Reminder Category. All reminders assigned to this category will be associated with the task. If you do not select a Reminder Category, any reminders that are not associated with a Reminder Category will apply.

5. When you are finished, click Submit.

Updating tasks

Typically, those who are assigned to the task complete the following fields; however, anyone with administrative privileges for Task Management can update tasks using the Task Details app.

To update tasks:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. You can update the fields that you completed when you created the task.
   For more information, see Adding tasks.
4. Complete the following information:

   Field	Notes
   Completion Date	Use the Longview control to select the date the task was completed. For workflow tasks, this is usually the date that the Approver set the status to Approved.
   Tax Type	Select the tax type associated with the task, if applicable. For example, Income Tax. For information on adding Tax Periods to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   Form	Select, or type the name of the related tax form to submit to the tax authority, if applicable. For example, US Federal 1120 (US Corporate Income Tax Return). This field can have a maximum of 255 characters. For information on adding Forms, see Adding jurisdictions.
   Tax Due	Select one of the following, if applicable: Payment—Specifies that a tax payment is due. Refund—Specifies that a tax refund is expected.
   Method	This field applies only if Tax Due is Payment or Refund. Specify the payment or refund method from one of the following: Check/Cheque Electronic Funds Transfer Custom—Type any other custom method related to your company, up to a maximum of 255 characters.
   Amount	This field applies only if Tax Due is Payment or Refund. Specify the amount for the payment or refund.
   Processed Date	This field applies only if Tax Due is Payment or Refund. Use the Longview button to select the date that the payment was sent or the refund was received.
   Address	Select or type the address of the receiving authority for the tax due or submission. This field can contain a maximum of 255 characters. For information on adding Addresses, see Adding jurisdictions.
   Status	Select the appropriate status for the task. All tasks start with the default status of Not Started. For workflow tasks: In Progress—If you are the Preparer, change the status to this state when you start a task. Submitted for Review—If you are the Preparer, change the status to this state when you submit the task for review by the Reviewer. Rejected to Preparer—If you are the Reviewer, and you have rejected a task that is submitted for your review, change the status to this state to send it back to the Preparer. Submitted for Approval—If you are the Reviewer, and you have approved a task that is submitted for your review, change the status to this state. Rejected to Reviewer—If you are the Approver, and you have rejected a task that is submitted for your approval, change the status to this state to send it back to the Reviewer. Approved—If you are the Approver, change the status to this state when the task is complete and approved. Once you set the task to Approved, you should also set the Completion Date accordingly.  For assigned tasks: In Progress—Change the status to this state when you start a task. Complete—Change the status to this state when you complete a task. Note: If you assign a workflow task with an assigned task status, or vice-versa, the task will not appear in the Tasks app for users.
   Notes	Specify any supplementary information for the task, up to 4000 characters. If you need to add more than 4000 characters, or want formatting options, use an attachment instead.
   Attachments	If you want to attach a file to a task, see the “Working with attachments” section of the Task Management User’s Help.

Duplicating tasks

If you want to create a new task that is similar to an existing one, you can duplicate a task.

For example, if you have already created a task for Albany, New York that must be repeated for Rochester, you can duplicate the task and then change the entity.

To duplicate a task:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the row for the task that you want to duplicate and click Duplicate. A new row appears with the duplicated task.
4. Modify the information as required.
   For more information, see Adding tasks and Updating tasks.
5. When you are finished, click Submit.

Displaying tasks

The Task Details app has some display features that allow you to customize the view for your task list, including

• filtering and grouping tasks
• sorting
• reordering
• hiding columns.

Filtering tasks

If your task list is large, you may want to specify a filter on certain columns so that your task list is easier to manage. For example, you may want to filter by Start Date or Due Date.

To filter tasks:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. Click Filter. The Filter arrow becomes available in each column header.
4. Hover over the relevant column header, and click the Filter arrow.
5. Select the column values to filter on. 

Note: If you add a new row or modify values, you must click the Filter arrow and click OK to reapply the filter.

To remove filters:

1. Click Remove Filter.

   All filters in the view are removed, and the Filter arrow is no longer available in the column headers.

Grouping tasks

If you want to organize your task list in certain way, you can group the tasks by a specific column.

To group tasks:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. In the Group by list, select the column to group the task list by. The list is grouped by the selected column. Any tasks that do not include a value for that column are grouped in the Unspecified category.

To ungroup tasks

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. In the Group by list, select the blank entry. The list is ungrouped.

Changing column order

If you want to view tax tasks using a custom column order, you can change the order of the columns. Drag and drop a column to change its order in the Task Details app.

Sorting Columns

Click a column header at any time to sort the column in ascending or descending alphabetic or numeric order.

Hiding columns

If a particular column in the Task Details app is not relevant to you or your organization, you can hide it.

To hide a column

1. right-click the header for the column that you want to hide
2. select Hide on the pop-up menu.

To unhide all columns

1. right-click any header
2. select Unhide all on the pop-up menu.

Saving your view

If you have made layout changes to your view, such as hiding columns, changing column order, width, or sorting, grouping tasks, or filtering, they are saved when you exit the Task Details app.

Note: The layout for the Task Details app is always saved when you exit the app. If you have made changes to your preferred layout, but don’t want to save them, reload your saved layout before you exit.

Reloading your saved layout

You can reload your saved layout the next time you work in the Task Details app.

To reload your saved layout:

1. In the Task Details app, click Layout.
2. On the pop-up menu, click Reload. The layout returns to the last saved layout. 

Resetting the layout

You can reset the Task Details app to the default layout provided by Longview. The default layout sorts by ID, with no grouping or filtering.

To reset the layout for the Task Details app:

1. In the Task Details app, click Layout.
2. On the pop-up menu, click Reset. The layout returns to the default layout provided by Longview.

Deleting tasks

To delete a task,

1. click the row selector to the left of the row for the task that you want to delete,
2. click Delete on the toolbar.

Archiving tasks

If you no longer want a task to appear to end users in the Tasks app, you can archive the task.

To archive a task:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. Select Archive for the row to archive.

Exporting tasks to Microsoft Excel

You can export task information for all tasks in the task list to Microsoft Excel.

Note: Only the current view is exported. Data that is included in a filter, or in columns that are hidden, is not exported. New tasks that have not yet been submitted to the database will be exported.

To export the current task view to Microsoft Excel:

1. On the Task Details toolbar, click Export to Excel. The Save As dialog opens.
2. Navigate to the location where you want the file to be saved.
3. Type the name of the file you want the tasks to be exported to.
4. Click Save. The file opens in Excel.

Exporting tasks to a .csv file

If you want to create a backup of the tasks in the system, you can export the tasks list to a .csv file.

Note that, during export, the following behavior applies:

• values for string fields are enclosed in double quotation marks.
• symbol names are wrapped in square brackets [ ].
• date formats are converted using the short date specified for the client machine’s regional settings.
• the file delimiter is converted to the list delimiter specified by the client machine’s regional settings.

To export tasks to a .csv file:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. On the app toolbar, click Export. An export dialog opens.
4. Modify the location and file name of the export as needed.
   The default location and file name is My Documents\Longview\<LID>\data\TaskDetails.csv.
5. If you want to include archived tasks in the export file, select Include Archived Tasks.
6. Click OK. The file is exported.

Importing tasks from a .csv file

The Task Details app includes import functionality that allows you to import tasks from a .csv file.

Note that, during import, the following behavior applies:

• double quotation marks are removed from string fields. 
• square brackets [ ] are removed from symbol names. 

To import tasks from a .csv file:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Details.lvapp. The Task Details app opens in the workspace.
3. On the app toolbar, click Import. A browse dialog opens.
4. Type the name of the file to import, or use the browse button to browse to the appropriate .csv file.
5. If you want to replace unarchived tasks, select Replace unarchived tasks. If you do not select this option, new tasks will be appended to the task list.
6. Click OK. The tasks are