Creating and Managing Deliverables

Please note: This content is intended for Practifi System Administrators and is technical in nature. The steps described in this article may not be able to be completed without System Administrator permissions. Please discuss your integration installation plans with your Practifi Customer Support Team for their assistance.

Overview

Deliverables help track entitlements that your firm provides to clients across your book of business. This article outlines how to create and manage Deliverable Types in your Practifi organization. For information on the Deliverable functionality within your organization, please consult our Understanding Deliverables article. For information on setting up Deliverables in your Practifi instance, please see our Enabling Deliverables article.

Please note: This feature is not automatically enabled within your Practifi organization. To enable this functionality or answer any questions regarding this feature, please contact your CSM.

• Creating Deliverable Types
• Assigning a Deliverable Type to a Queue
• Managing Deliverable Exceptions
  • Deliverable Exceptions at the Client Level
• Deactivating Deliverables
  • Completing or Canceling Deliverables
  • Reactivating Deliverables
  • Canceling All Deliverables within a Service
  • Setting Deliverable Types as Inactive
• Creating Activation Rules
  • Execute Activation Rules Immediately
  • Understanding Activation Rules
• Understanding the Complete After X Fulfillments Setting

Creating Deliverable Types

Deliverable Types are created in the Settings app within Service Type records. To create a new Deliverable Type in your Practifi organization, do the following:

1. Select the App Launcher in the upper left-hand corner of Practifi. 
2. From the list of apps, select the Settings app. 
3. Within the Settings app, use the Navigation Menu to select Service Types.
   
   
   
   
4. On the Service Types page, click the hyperlinked name of the Service Type you want to create Deliverables for.
5. Scroll down to the Deliverable Types section and select the New button to add a new Deliverable Type. A new subtab opens.
   
   
   
   
   
6. On the New Deliverable Type page, enter the following details in the Basics section:
   • Deliverable Type Name - The name of the Deliverable you would like displayed in Practifi.
   • Status - This field is set to Draft by default. Deliverables will not be added to new Services if the status is Draft or Inactive. Set this field to Active if you want the Deliverable Type to be available upon saving.
   • Initial Calculation Basis - Set to either Based on Service Start Date or Based on Calendar Period.
   • Service Type - Leave this field to the default option to relate to the correct service.
     • Please note: If setting Service Type to the Service Review option, we recommend exporting a report of your current services and Next Review Date and Last Review Date information before creation. This ensures any data overwritten in these fields due to Deliverable deployment can be manually updated to the correct values.
   • Frequency - Select how often the Deliverable needs to be completed.
   • Type - Select the type of Deliverable from the drop-down options.
   • Description - Enter a detailed explanation of the Deliverable's purpose. End users can view this information in the Description field on the Deliverable record or by hovering over the info icon next to the Deliverable's name in the Task and Event records side panel.
   • Ongoing Calculation Basis - Set to either Based on Due Date or Based on Last Fulfillment Date. For in-depth descriptions of the functionality of these fields, please consult our Understanding Deliverables article.
     
     
     
     
7. The Assignment Type field is set to Service Owner by default in the Assignment Type section. This means the Deliverable will be assigned to the owner of the Service it is associated with. You can change this to Deliverable Type Owner, Entity Owner, Role or Business Role. If an Entity lacks a Servicing Team and the Assignment Type is set to Role or Business Role, the Deliverable will be assigned to the owner of the related Service.
   • Please note: To assign the Deliverable Type to a queue, see Assigning a Deliverable Type to a Queue below.
8. In the Fulfillment Settings section, you can enter the following details:
   • Auto Create Fulfillment Activities - Check this box to create a dedicated Task that will be completed to fulfill the Deliverable. When this checkbox is selected, the Fulfillment Activity Type and Days Before Due Date fields are enabled.
   • Fulfillment Activity Type - This picklist is enabled when the above box is checked. Choose from the following options:
     • Process Task - In the Task field that appears, search for and select the Process Task you want to fulfill the Deliverable. If you select this option, the parent Process will be created automatically. The completion of the selected Task within the Process is what fulfills the Deliverable.
     • Task Template - In the Task field that appears, search for and select the Task Template you want to create to fulfill the Deliverable.
     • Reminder Task - This option assigns a task to the owner of the Deliverable Type at the interval specified in the Days Before Due Date field. It replaces the previous Set Reminder capability.
   • Days Before Due Date (required) - Enter a whole number for the number of days before the Deliverable's due date you want the fulfillment Task to be created.
   • Allow Fulfillment Date to be Modified - Enabling this setting means users can edit Fulfillment Dates for Deliverables in the sidebar of the Task or Event record that fulfills them. Choose from the following options:
     • Until the work item is completed (default) - This means the Fulfillment Date field can be modified as long as the Deliverable has an open status. The Update Fulfillment Date icon will appear in the Marked for Fulfillment area of the sidebar of a Task or Event record.
     • No - Selecting this option means the Fulfillment Date field will not be editable. The Update Fulfillment Date icon will not be displayed in the sidebar for this Deliverable.
     • At all times - This means the Fulfillment Date can be edited for Deliverables that are marked for fulfillment and Deliverables that have already been fulfilled by a Task being marked as complete or an Event taking place.
   • If It Isn't Fulfilled By Its Due Date - This setting controls whether Deliverables can become overdue. Choose from the following options:
     • Treat it as missed and recalculate due date (default) - Deliverables not fulfilled by the due date will be given a status of Missed and the next due date will be calculated.
     • Treat it as overdue - Deliverables not fulfilled by the due date can still be fulfilled. Deliverables fulfilled past the due date are given an outcome of Fulfilled Late.
       • Please note: If you checked the Auto Create Fulfillment Activities box, this means the resulting Deliverables will have their activities automatically marked for fulfillment. This implies that they should be viewed as overdue rather than as missed. A validation error will be triggered if you attempt to save a Deliverable Type with the Auto Create Fulfillment Activities option enabled and the If It Isn't Fulfilled By Its Due Date field set to "Treat it as missed and recalculate due date".
         
         
         
         
   • Complete after X fulfillments - If you want the Deliverable to be automatically marked as complete after it is fulfilled a set number of times, enter a whole number in this field. This setting is intended for Deliverables that are used to complete work for transactional services such as tax preparation. For more information on how this setting works, see Understanding the Complete After X Fulfillments Setting.
9. Click Save to finalize the Deliverable Type's creation, or click Save & New and repeat steps 6-9 to add another Deliverable Type to the Service if needed.
10. Once all Deliverables have been created for a Service, click the Sync with Services button in the upper right-hand corner. 
    
    
    
    
11. The Sync with Services window appears, warning that the action might create new Deliverables or modify the settings of existing ones. In the What Deliverables do you want to update? picklist, select Only update Deliverables that haven't been customized or Update all of them, even if they've been customized.
    
    
    
    Please note: You can use the Sync with Services button on an ongoing basis after making changes to Deliverable Types.
12. Click Next to finalize adding the Deliverable to Services with that Service Type.

Deliverables will be added to Client records with the associated Service upon saving and syncing. To learn more about how Deliverables are fulfilled and adjusted at the client level, please consult our Understanding and Using Deliverables article. 

Assigning a Deliverable Type to a Queue

If you want all Deliverables of a certain type to be assigned to a queue rather than a single user, you can accomplish this at the Deliverable Type level by changing its Assignment Settings and Owner. Do the following:

1. In the Settings app, use the Navigation Menu to select Service Types.
2. On the Service Types page, click the hyperlinked name of the Service with the Deliverable Type you want to reassign.
3. On the Service Type record, scroll down to the Deliverable Types section and click the name of the Deliverable Type you want to edit. The Deliverable Type record opens in a new subtab.
   
   
   
   
4. On the Deliverable Type record, click the pencil icon in the Assignment Type field.
5. On the edit screen, scroll down to the Assignment Type picklist and select Deliverable Type Owner.
   
   
   
   
6. At the bottom of the screen, click Save.
7. In the System section, click the Change Owner icon in the Owner field.
   
   
   
   
8. In the Change Owner window, click the drop-down menu and select Queues.
9. Search for and select the name of the queue you want the Deliverable Type to be assigned to.
   • Please note: If you do not see queues as an option in the Change Owner workflow, you might need to enable Deliverable and Deliverable Type as available objects in the queue's settings. For more information, please see Creating and Managing Queues.
     
     
     
     
10. Optionally, uncheck the Send notification email box if you do not want to notify queue members of the change via email.
11. Click the Change Owner button to finalize the change.

Managing Deliverable Exceptions

There are cases when a Deliverable is not fulfilled due to extenuating circumstances, such as a client being unavailable to meet. In such instances, you can mark Deliverables as exceptions. The Deliverable's outcome will be updated to Excepted rather than Missed. This also shows up in reporting. Deliverables can be marked as exceptions on the Deliverable Fulfillments tab on a Client record or in the Data Management app.

Please note: To access the Mark As Exception action for Deliverables, users must be assigned the Manage Exceptions permission set. For more information, please see our Enabling Deliverables article.

Deliverable Exceptions at the Client Level

To mark one or more Deliverables as exceptions at the Client record level, do the following:

1. Open the Entity record with the Deliverable(s) you want to mark as exceptions.
2. In the record side panel, click the Services & Pipeline navigation icon.
3. On the Services & Pipeline page, click the Deliverable Fulfillment tab.
4. In the record list, click the caret on the row of the desired Deliverable, then select Mark as Exception.
   • Please note: This option will not appear for users who do not have the Manage Exceptions permission set.
     
     
     
     
5. In the Mark as Exception window, enter a reason in the text field.
6. Click the Excepted By field and search for and select the user making the exception.
   
   
   
   
7. Click Save.

Deliverable Exceptions in the Data Management App

Users with access to the Data Management app can mark Deliverables as exceptions in bulk on the Deliverable Fulfillments page.

Please note: The Deliverable Fulfillments page is not enabled in the Data Management app by default. To add it, please see the instructions in our Enabling Deliverables article.

To mark multiple Deliverables as exceptions:

1. Click the App Launcher in the upper left-hand corner of the screen and select Data Management.
   
   
   
   
2. In the Data Management app, click the Deliverable Fulfillments tab.
   • Please note: You might have to click the More drop-down at the right-hand side of the header to see the Deliverable Fulfillments option.
     
     
     
3. On the Deliverable Fulfillments page, check the boxes next to the Deliverables you want to mark as exceptions.
4. At the top of the record list, click the Mark as Exception button.
   
   
   
   
5. In the Mark as Exception window, enter a reason in the text field.
6. Click the Excepted By field and search for and select the user making the exception.
7. Click Save.

Deactivating Deliverables

When Deliverables are not needed, you can handle this in a few ways:

• Complete or cancel individual Deliverables within a Service
• Cancel all Deliverables within a Service
• Deactivate the Deliverable Type so new Deliverables will no longer be copied over to new Services

Please note: When clients are marked as lost using the Mark As Lost Client action, their Deliverables are automatically deactivated.

Completing or Canceling Deliverables

Deliverables can be completed or canceled if they are no longer needed. The difference between these two actions is the status applied to the Deliverable. As you might expect, completing a Deliverable gives it a status of Completed, while canceling it changes the status to Canceled. When a Deliverable’s status is set to Completed or Canceled, the following things happen:

• The Deliverable no longer appears in the sidebar on Task and Event records.
• The Next Due Date field’s current value is deleted and stops recalculating.
• Fulfillment activities are not created.

You can include the Status field when reporting on Deliverable fulfillment.

Please note: Tasks with a status of Canceled will display Deliverables in their sidebar, but they will not have plus icons next to them because canceled Tasks cannot be used to fulfill Deliverables. If a Task that was automatically created as a fulfillment activity for a Deliverable is canceled, the Deliverable will appear in the Available for Fulfillment area of the sidebar and can be fulfilled by another Task or Event.

To complete or cancel an individual Deliverable:

1. Open the Entity record with the Deliverable you want to complete or cancel.
2. In the record side panel, click the Services & Pipeline navigation icon.
3. On the Services & Pipeline page, click the Deliverables tab.
4. In the record list, click the caret on the right-hand side of the row for the desired Deliverable, then select Complete Deliverable or Cancel Deliverable.
   
   
   
   
5. In the popup window, click to confirm that you want to complete or cancel the Deliverable.
   
   
   

To complete or cancel multiple Deliverables in a list view:

1. Check the boxes next to the Deliverables you want to complete or cancel.
2. At the top of the list view, click the Complete Deliverables or Cancel Deliverables button.
   
   
   
   
3. In the popup window, click to confirm that you want to complete or cancel the Deliverables.
   
   
   
   

Reactivating Deliverables

If you want to restore one or more Deliverables that have been completed or canceled, you can reactivate them. The Reactivate Deliverable action is available on Deliverable records and as a row action or mass action for Deliverables with a status of Completed or Canceled.

The Reactivate Deliverable action changes the Deliverable's status from Completed or Canceled to Active. Attempting to reactivate a Deliverable that already has a status of Active will result in an error.

Please note: Reactivating a Deliverable means it will become available for fulfillment on Task and Events, will start generating fulfillment activities (if enabled), and its Next Due Date field will be recalculated based on the calculation method used when it was first created. If the calculation basis is the Service’s start date, then the current date (today’s date) will be used instead.

Canceling All Deliverables within a Service

If you want to deactivate all Deliverables within a Service for a given Entity, you can use the Cancel Services action. Do the following:

1. Open the Entity record whose Service you want to cancel.
2. In the record side panel, click the Services & Pipeline navigation icon.
3. On the Services tab, click the caret on the right-hand side of the row for the Service you want to cancel, then select Cancel Service.
   
   
   
   
4. A prompt asks you to confirm you want to cancel all related Deliverables. Click Cancel.
   
   
   
   

Setting Deliverable Types as Inactive

If you no longer want Deliverables of a certain type to be copied over into new Services, you can deactivate the Deliverable Type record in the Settings app. To set a Deliverable Type as inactive, do the following:

1. In the Settings app, use the Navigation Menu to select Service Types.
2. On the Service Types page, click the hyperlinked name of the Service with the Deliverable Type you want to deactivate.
3. On the Service Type record, scroll down to the Deliverable Types section and click the name of the Deliverable Type you want to edit. The Deliverable Type record opens in a new subtab.
   
   
   
   
4. On the Deliverable Type record, click the pencil icon in the Status field to enter edit mode.
5. From the Status picklist, select Inactive.
6. Click Save to finalize the change.
   
   
   
   
7. In the upper right-hand corner of the Service Type record, click the Sync with Services button. 
   
   
   
   

Creating Activation Rules

Because not all clients need the same level of service, your firm might want to tailor Deliverables to fit different client types. As of the Pinot Blanc release, Practifi organizations can activate Deliverables automatically when specific criteria are met. For example:

• If Client Segment = Platinum, activate the Quarterly Review Deliverable
• If Client Segment = Gold, activate the Semi-Annual Review Deliverable
• If Client Segment = Silver or Bronze, activate the Annual Review Deliverable

Practifi Administrators can create one or more rules using the Activation Rules tab on Deliverable Type records. The Activation Rules tab works the same way as the Rule Builder components found within Active Forms and the Rulebook in Practifi. To learn more about how to build rules, please see our Understanding the Rule Builder article.

To add activation rules to a Deliverable Type record:

1. In the Settings app, use the Navigation Menu to select Service Types.
2. On the Service Types page, click the hyperlinked name of the Service with the Deliverable Type you want to edit.
3. On the Service Type record, scroll down to the Deliverable Types section and click the name of the Deliverable Type. The Deliverable Type record opens in a new subtab.
   
   
4. On the Deliverable Type record, click the Activation Rules tab.
   
   
   
   
5. On the Activation Rules tab, define the rule(s) you want to apply, then click Save.
   
   
   
   
6. When you're done, click back to the Service Type subtab.
   
   
   
   
7. On the Service Type record, click the Sync with Services button. You will be asked if you want to update only those Deliverables that have not been customized at the client level or all Deliverables of that type.
   
   

Execute Activation Rules Immediately

If you don't want to wait for the system to run its nightly job to evaluate activation rules, you can run activation rules on demand at the individual Deliverable level. Do the following:

1. Open the desired Entity record.
2. In the record side panel, click the Services & Pipeline navigation icon.
3. On the Services & Pipeline page, click the Deliverables tab.
4. Click the name of the desired Deliverable.
5. On the Deliverable record, click the caret and select Execute Activation Rule.
   
   
   
   

Understanding Activation Rules

Activation rules cause Deliverable statuses to change based on whether the rule criteria are met. Please note the following about activation rule logic:

When activation rules are added to Deliverables, the system checks them with a nightly scheduled job.

• If the rule conditions are true, the Deliverable’s status is set to Active and it behaves like normal.
• If the rule conditions are false, the Deliverable's status is set to Inactive.

Inactive Deliverables behave the same way as Deliverables with a status of Completed or Canceled:

• They don’t appear in the sidebar assistant on Tasks and Events.
• Their Next Due Date field is blank.
• Their fulfillment activities aren’t created.

Like other Deliverable settings, a local copy of the Deliverable Type’s activation rules are stored on the Deliverable record itself, so that bespoke changes can be made if necessary.

Every night, a job runs that evaluates all active and inactive Deliverables against their activation rules.

• If the Deliverable is active and its activation rules are true, nothing happens.
• If the Deliverable is active and its activation rules are false, its status is set to Inactive.
• If the Deliverable is inactive and its activation rules are true, its status is set to Active.
• If the Deliverable is inactive and its activation rules are false, nothing happens.
• If the Deliverable is Marked for Fulfillment and its activation rules are false, its status is set to Inactive.

When the activation rule is evaluated and passed, resulting in the deliverable’s status being set to Active, the following happens:

• The Deliverable starts appearing in the sidebar assistant on Tasks and Events again.

• The Next Due Date field is calculated. This calculation follows the same logic as when the Deliverable was initially created, using the Initial Calculation Basis on the Deliverable Type. However, if the Basis is Service Start Date, the reactivation date (today's date) is used instead.

• Fulfillment Activity Creation: Once the due date is calculated, fulfillment activities should be created according to the configured criteria.

  • Immediate Fulfillment Activity Creation: If the Deliverable’s status is set to Active today and the time between today and the Deliverable’s due date is less than the interval specified for the fulfillment activity (i.e., Days Before Due Date on the Deliverable Type record), then the respective fulfillment activity is created immediately after the Deliverable becomes active.

  • Scheduled Fulfillment Activity Creation: If the time between today and the Deliverable’s due date is greater than or equal to the interval specified for the fulfillment activity, the respective fulfillment activity will be created by the DeliverableFulfillmentActivityService scheduled job, which runs nightly.

• Status Update: The Deliverable's status will be changed from Active to Marked for Fulfillment if the scheduled job causes the creation of a fulfillment activity.

• Manual Fulfillment: If an active Deliverable is manually marked for fulfillment by the user clicking the plus icon next to it on the sidebar of a Task/Event record, its status is updated from Active to Marked for Fulfillment.

When the activation rule is evaluated, resulting in the Deliverable’s status being set from Active to Inactive, the following happens:

• The Deliverable doesn’t appear in the sidebar assistant on Tasks and Events.

• Its Next Due Date field is blank.

• Its fulfillment activities aren’t created.

When the activation rule is evaluated, resulting in the deliverable’s Status being set from Marked for Fulfillment to Inactive, the following happens:

• The Deliverable doesn’t appear in the sidebar assistant on Tasks and Events.

• Its Next Due Date field is blank.

• Its fulfillment activities aren’t created.

Understanding the Complete After X Fulfillments Setting

Complete after X fulfillments is an optional setting that allows an administrator to specify a set number of times that a Deliverable is fulfilled successfully before it’s considered complete.

• This setting’s initial value is specified by the administrator on the Deliverable Type record and copied across to the Deliverable upon initial creation.
• Whenever a Deliverable Fulfillment record is created or edited, the value in the parent Deliverable’s Complete after X fulfillments setting is compared to the number of Deliverable Fulfillment records where the Outcome is either Fulfilled On Time or Fulfilled Late.
• If the setting’s value is either less than or equal to the count of eligible records and the Deliverable’s Status is Marked for Fulfillment, then it’s set to Completed.
  • Please note: Whenever a Deliverable is marked for fulfillment, its status changes from Active to Marked for Fulfillment. When the setting’s value is evaluated against the fulfillment records, the system checks to see if the Deliverable’s status is Marked for Fulfillment and then it’s set to Completed.
• If the setting’s value is greater than the count of eligible records and the Deliverable’s status is Completed, then it’s set to Active.