More about tasks

What are tasks in Tallyfy?

Tasks in Tallyfy represent individual pieces of work that need to be completed - they’re the building blocks of your Tallyfy workflows.

Tallyfy provides two main types of tasks to handle different workflow needs:

Why is understanding tasks important for workflow management?

Tasks are the fundamental units of work in Tallyfy that drive process completion and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Understanding how tasks function is essential because:

• Tasks are what team members interact with daily
• Clear, well-designed tasks ensure work gets done correctly, on time, and by the right people
• When everyone understands the different types of tasks and how they work, your processes run more smoothly and efficiently

This reduces bottlenecks, eliminates confusion, and keeps work flowing smoothly.

What timing concepts apply to tasks?

Tasks in Tallyfy can have two types of timing:

• Start time: When work should begin on the task (provides scheduling guidance but is not enforced)
• Deadline: When work should be complete on the task (determines if a task becomes overdue)

Both timing elements can be set for tasks within processes (when creating templates) and for one-off tasks (when creating them directly). Understanding this distinction helps teams plan effectively and meet deadlines consistently.

Here’s what each task type offers:

1. Process Tasks: These tasks are part of a workflow defined in a process template. Process tasks have context and often depend on other steps/tasks within the process. Most work in Tallyfy uses process tasks for repeatable, standardized workflows
2. One-off Tasks: These are standalone tasks, like simple to-dos, that are not part of a template. You can create one-off tasks for single actions or ad-hoc work that doesn’t fit into a standard process

What is the difference between tasks and steps?

You’ll often see the term ‘Step’ used when working with Tallyfy templates - here’s the key distinction:

‘Steps’ (in a template) become ‘Tasks’ (in a running process).

• When you build a template, you add ‘Steps’. Each step has a specific type (like a regular Task step, an Approval step, an Email step, and more)
• When you launch that template, those steps become ‘Tasks’ that people complete. The step type stays the same (e.g., a ‘Task’ step becomes a ‘Task’ task, an ‘Approve/Reject’ step becomes an ‘Approve/Reject’ task)

For details on the different types, see the Step/Task Types article.

• Advanced tab
• Complete guide to task assignment options
• Complete or reopen tasks
• Create a one-off task
• Create and use subtasks
• Edit tasks
• Escalating overdue tasks
• Manage comments
• Paste cells into a Tallyfy table
• Report blockers and improvement feedback
• Send email reminders
• Set default content for form fields
• Step types
• Types of form fields

What should I learn next?

Now that you understand the basics of tasks in Tallyfy, explore the different types of tasks you can create to optimize your workflows.

For quick, standalone work items, learn how to create a one-off task to get started immediately.

Related articles

Tasks > Create a one-off task

One-off tasks in Tallyfy are standalone action items that can be quickly created outside of templates by clicking the Create button, filling in task details like name, assignee, and deadline, then clicking Create Task to generate flexible workflow items for urgent or non-standardized work.

Tasks > Step types

Tallyfy offers five task types including standard tasks requiring completion, approve/reject tasks for decisions, expiring tasks that auto-complete at deadlines, email drafts for manual review and sending, and email auto-send tasks that automatically dispatch messages at scheduled times.

Tracking And Tasks > More about processes

A process in Tallyfy is a single execution instance of a template blueprint that represents actual work being done with its own unique identity activity log and ability to be tracked and modified independently from the original template.

Documenting > Templates

Tallyfy templates function as strategic reusable blueprints that standardize business processes by defining workflow steps structure and logic to ensure consistent quality execution across organizations while enabling customization for specific instances and providing comprehensive benefits including improved training efficiency reduced errors and scalable operations management.