This article walks you through how to send tasks, review work, monitor progress, and manage your workflow from start to finish.

Monitor your workflows

Open My workflows to see every workflow with its latest cycle, start date, type, and a progress bar showing the percentage of tasks completed. A cycle is one run of a workflow, for example April's close. Click a workflow to open it.

On the workflow screen, each step is a box showing its dates and how many of its tasks are complete (for example 2/3). Select a step to see its tasks in the table below. Earlier cycles stay available from the cycle picker at the top of the screen.

Send tasks

Once a workflow is active, you can send tasks to the people assigned to them.

1. Select the step, then click Send task next to the task. A task shows Not started until you send it.
2. Datarails asks you to confirm: "You're about to send [task] as a task to [name]." Select Don't ask me again before sending tasks if you would rather skip this screen in future.
3. Click Send. The status changes to Pending, and the preparer is notified.

Send several tasks at once

1. Select the step, then tick the checkboxes next to the tasks you want to send. A bar appears showing how many tasks are selected.
2. Click Send task in the bar. Datarails lists who will receive which tasks and asks you to confirm.
3. Click Send. Every selected task changes to Pending.

The same bar also lets you change the preparers or reviewers of the selected tasks.

If automation rules are set up in the workflow settings, tasks are sent automatically according to the configured logic. You can still send any task manually, or override automation, at any time.

Task actions

Use the three-dot menu next to a task. The options depend on the type of task:

• Checklist task: Edit, Mark complete.
• File task: Download, Upload, Edit online, Re-send, Go to filebox, Approve, Reject, Delete. Approve and Reject apply to tasks that are In review.

Review a task

When a step requires review, a submitted task waits In review. The reviewer approves it with the green check, or rejects it with the red cross.

Reopen a task with Mark incomplete

To send finished work back, open the task drawer and click Mark incomplete. Datarails drafts an email to the preparer. You can edit the To, Subject, and Mail Content fields, then choose:

• Incomplete to reopen the task.
• Incomplete & Resend task to reopen the task and send the email to the preparer right away.

The task is reopened for the preparer, and the Activity log records who reopened it.

The Tasks page

The Tasks page gives you one view of work across your workflows.

• Group by Status, Member, or Workflow.
• Filter by member, status, or workflow.
• Select Only latest workflow instance to hide earlier cycles, Assigned to me to see only your own tasks, or Task overdue to find late work.
• Use the search box to find a task by name.
• The row menu on this page holds Go to workflow, which opens the task's workflow. To complete or reopen a task, use the task drawer or the workflow screen.

Workflow owners can see all open tasks across their workflows. When you open the page from a specific workflow, only that workflow's tasks appear. Use the member filter to see who is working on what.

Items that need attention, such as unmapped items in your chart of accounts, appear here for quick action.

The task drawer and Activity log

Click any task to open its drawer. It has three tabs:

• Info shows the description, timeline, workflow, step, and filebox details.
• Activity log shows everything that has happened to the task, newest first. Each entry shows the person, what they did, and the date and time.
• Comments holds the conversation about the task (see Comments in workflows below).

The Activity log records:

• Created: "Marcus Webb created the task"
• Assigned or removed: "Marcus Webb assigned Priya Raman as Preparer", or "removed Priya Raman as Reviewer"
• Sent: "Elena Torres sent the task to Priya Raman"
• Completed: "Priya Raman completed the task"
• Approved or rejected: "Elena Torres approved the task"
• Marked incomplete: "Elena Torres marked the task as incomplete"

In a regular workflow the task field is labeled Assignee, but the Activity log refers to that person as the Preparer.

Export tasks to CSV

On the Tasks page, click the export icon next to the search box (tooltip: Export to Excel (CSV)). Datarails downloads a CSV file of the tasks you are looking at, so the filters you have set apply. A progress chip shows Exporting Tasks and then Tasks exported successfully.

Clone and manage workflow cycles

Open the settings (gear) icon on the workflow screen, or the three-dot menu on a row in My workflows, to:

• Edit workflow settings
• Clone latest instance, which starts the next cycle from the latest one. Choose the start date and time, then click Clone. For example, clone an April cycle to create May's.
• Manage members

The workflow screen always opens the latest cycle. Earlier cycles remain accessible at any time from the cycle picker.

Manage members and permissions

Choose Manage members to see who has access to the workflow. Click Invite to add people by email, or add a whole group at once. Anyone added to a workflow receives an email notification confirming their access. The dialog reminds you that an owner has the same permissions you do, and can view, modify, and manage all cycles, including input files and settings.

Users with the Admin and Contributor roles can receive either of the Workflow Permissions:

• Workflow Editor can edit the workflow, clone an instance, assign members, and lock or mark tasks as complete.
• Workflow Owner has full access, including all Editor capabilities, plus the ability to adjust settings, manage members, and activate, deactivate, archive, or delete the workflow. Super-Admins get Owner access automatically.

For simpler user management, assign people through Groups.

Archive and restore workflows

To keep your workflow list clean without losing data, open the three-dot menu on a workflow in My workflows, choose Archive workflow, and confirm. The workflow leaves the list. Click the archive icon at the top right to see Archived workflows, where you can restore any of them at any time.

Comments in workflows

Tasks support in-context collaboration through comments. Comments help teams communicate on progress, issues, and approvals directly where the work happens.

Task level comments

Task level comments are visible only to workflow owners, the task assignee, and the task reviewer. Only these users can see comments, create comments, and be tagged.

Resolving comments

All task comments can be resolved. Resolved comments remain available for reference through the comments status or filters.

Summary

This guide covers how to:

• Send tasks and use the task actions menu
• Review, approve, reject, and reopen tasks
• Follow progress on My workflows, the workflow screen, and the Tasks page
• See what happened to a task in the Activity log
• Export tasks to CSV
• Clone cycles, manage members, and archive workflows

Use this article as a reference to help streamline your task management and workflow operations.

Updated October 04, 2026 14:24