OfficeTools by CARET Checklists - When and How to use them?

Checklists are a basic list of items that have a description and fields to record when they were completed as well as which staff member checked it off. When a staff member checks an item off, the date and their initials are recorded automatically.

While most of the activities in OfficeTools by CARET which can be assigned can have a checklist, only projects and project assignments can have a predefined checklist. If you have created a project for a client and then modify the checklist, the checklist will roll forward to the next period with the custom items. An example of this feature in practice would be a list of accounts that need to be reconciled in a bookkeeping project. Once the accounts are added as checklist items on the project, they will remain on that client’s project as it continues to roll forward after completion.

The best practice for the implementation of checklists largely depends on what is important to your firm. Some firms will use checklists and project assignments to replace their routing sheets and turn on a global option to enforce the completion of the checklist before they can complete their assignment. Others will use checklists as a “cheat sheet” for their staff. This allows the staff to complete their assignment without completing the checklist, but still having the checklist available for reference.

IMPORTANT: Checklists items cannot be assigned to a staff member. This means that checklist items should never represent tasks that have a deadline or are to be completed by multiple staff members. Instead, create and assign the assignment or other activity, then add additional detail to the checklist if there are important steps that you need to track.