Administering task templates

Task Management includes the Task Templates app, which allows the system administrator to create and maintain tasks to be used over time for tasks generated through the Task Generation app.

Adding task templates

To add a task template:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency using one of the tabs: Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly.
4. Click Add. A new row appears in the list.
5. Complete the following information: 

   Field	Notes
   Template Group	Select the template group for this task template. For information on adding the Template Goups to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings
   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 Categories to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   Description	Type a description for this task template, up to a maximum of 4000 characters.
   Frequency	This field represents the frequency of this task template and is defined by the frequency tab you chose prior to adding this task template.
   Due Date	Select the due date for this task. For information on adding Due Dates to this drop-down list, see Adding due dates.
   Start Date - # of days before due date	Enter the number for day prior to the due date, when the task should start. For example, if the due date is set for September 15 and you entered a Start Date of 30, the task would start on August 16.
   Entity	Select the entity associated with the task. For information on adding Entities to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   Entity Level	Select the level of Entities this template will create tasks for. All - All entities for the entity defined. Parent - only parent entities of the entity defined. Leaf Only - only leaf entities of the entity defined. Current Selection - only the currently selected entity.
   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.
   Tax Type	Select the tax type associated with the task, if applicable. For example, Income Tax. For information on adding Tax Types, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   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.
   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.
   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.
   Use Workflow	Choose this option if you want to use Workflow Profiles for this task template.
   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. For information on adding reminder categories to this drop-down list, see Configuring Task Management settings.
   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.
   Workflow Profile	Select the Workflow Profile to apply to this task template. For information on adding workflow profiles to this drop-down list, see Adding workflow profiles.
   Preparer	The preparer is defined by the Workflow Profile selected. This option is disabled for manual changes.
   Reviewer	The reviewer is defined by the Workflow Profile selected. This option is disabled for manual changes.
   Approver	The approver is defined by the Workflow Profile selected. This option is disabled for manual changes.
   Assigned	If you selected a Workflow Profile, this option is disabled. The Assigned user is defined by the Workflow Profile selected. If you did not select a Workflow Profile, 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.

   Note: You can double-click the row selector to view the row contents vertically where the columns are listed down the window rather than across.

6. When you are finished, click Submit.

Updating task templates

To update tasks templates:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency using one of the tabs: Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly.
4. You can update the fields that you completed when you created the task template. For more information, see Adding task templates.
5. Click the field to edit the contents.
6. When you have completed your edits, click Submit in the toolbar.

Duplicating task templates

If you want to create a new task template similar to an existing one, you can create a duplication.

To duplicate a task template:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency using one of the tabs: Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly.
4. Select the row for the template you want to duplicate, and click Duplicate. A new row appears with the duplicated template.
5. Modify the information as required.
   For more information, see Adding task templates and Updating task templates.
6. When you are finished, click Submit.

Displaying task template

The Task Templates app has some display features that allow you to customize the view for your list, including filtering and grouping, and sorting, reordering, and hiding columns.

Filtering task template

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

To filter task template:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly) of the task generation you wish to view.
4. Click Filter. The Filter arrow becomes available in each column header.
5. Hover over the relevant column header, and click the Filter arrow.
6. 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 task template

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

To group task template:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly) of the task generation you wish to view.
4. In the Group by list, select the column to group the list by. The list is grouped by the selected column. Any task templates that do not include a value for that column are grouped in the Unspecified category. 

To ungroup task templates:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly) of the task generation you wish to view.
4. In the Group by list, select the blank entry. The list is ungrouped.

Changing column order

If you want to view tax task generation 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 Templates app.

Sorting Columns

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

Hiding columns

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

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 Templates app.

Note: The layout for the Task Templates 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 Templates app.

To reload your saved layout:

1. In the Task Templates 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 Templates 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 generation app:

1. In the Task Templates app, click Layout.
2. On the pop-up menu, click Reset. The layout returns to the default layout provided by Longview for the current frequency in view (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly).

Deleting task templates

To delete a task template, click the row selector to the left of the row that you want to delete, and then click Delete on the toolbar.

Exporting task templates to Microsoft Excel

You can export task template information for all task templates in the 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 view to Microsoft Excel:

1. On the Task Templates 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 task templates to a .csv file

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

Note that, during export, the following behavior applies:

• descriptions are enclosed in double quotation marks.
• 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 task templates to a .csv file:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration.
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly) of the task generation you wish to export.
4. On the app toolbar, click Export. An export dialog opens.
5. Modify the location and file name of the export as needed. The default location and file name is My Documents\Longview\<LID>\data\TaskTemplate.csv
6. Click OK. The file is exported.

Importing task templates from a .csv file

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

Note: During import, double quotation marks are removed from the description. 

To import task templates from a .csv file:

1. In the Task Management navigation pane, click Administration. 
2. Expand Tasks, and then click Task Templates.lvapp. The Task Templates app opens in the workspace.
3. Select the frequency (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly or Weekly) of the task generation you wish to import.
4. On the app toolbar, click Import. A browse dialog opens. 
5. Type the name of the file to import or use the browse button to browse to the appropriate .csv file.
6. If you want to replace the existing rows in the list, select Replace Existing Rows. If you do not select this option, new task generation will be appended to the list.
7. Click OK. The task generation are imported from the selected .csv file.