In Dates and Out Dates are a great way to help your team prioritize work, see what work is actually 'in' and even can help you work on a first in first out (FIFO) basis. Here's information on how they work.
You can enter an “In Date” which could either be the date when the client dropped off the job for you and your team to do or the date the firm began work on the job. Just make sure you're aligned with your team on how you want to define the in date.
How to sort by In Date on your jobs tab
If you enter an “In Date” for different jobs, you will now be able to use the multi-sort feature in the Jobs tab, which works like the multi-sort in excel
Begin by sorting by “Due Date,” and now that you have “in dates” set up for your jobs, click on the In Date column to also sort by that column as well
The result is now you can see when you and your team first started working on the job and when the job absolutely needs to get done by
Out Dates and their behaviors
The “Out Date” is your internal due date which is the date you want to have the job completed ahead of the official “Due Date” (possibly as a reminder to avoid penalties) You can use “Out Dates” to set priority based upon when a job is supposed to be completed
First, enter the “Out Date” as a date ahead of the “Due Date”
Now once you have an out date entered on a job, you'll see the “Due Date” has visibly changed to the "Out Date” on the jobs tab, tasks list and dashboard
The system still keeps the original “Due Date," but you'll have to click on the job name to get into the job's profile to see the "Due Date". Out dates do not influence the repeat schedule- it is just a tool to prioritize this specific instance of the job
You can adjust the “Out Date” to push a job's deadline further out or make it more of a priority by moving up the “Out Date”
Note: Another way to think about "Out Date" and "Due Date" is the "Out Date" is your soft deadline. You won't be penalized if you missed it and you can push it back a little if you do miss the initial "Out Date" you set up. "Due Date" is your hard deadline and you'll probably be in big trouble if you miss it.
Turnaround Times
Turnaround time is a great tool that can be used to standardize internal deadlines and help your team work on a first in first out basis
If you click into the job's profile by clicking on the job name, then click on Edit in the job's profile, you will see Turnaround time which is the time when a job enters your firm's doors to the time when the job leaves your firm's doors
For example, you enter a Turnaround time of 7d or 7 days, then hit Save Job and go back to the Jobs tab
Now that the Turnaround time is saved, when you enter an "In Date," the system will automatically calculate the "Out Date" for 7 days from the "In Date" you entered
Mass apply turnaround time by selecting multiple jobs using the checkboxes on the right-hand side of the screen under the Jobs tab, click on the main drop- down menu, and select Advanced settings
Pro tip: if you change the in date, it will automatically update the out date based on your turnaround time criteria
Related Articles: Mass Edit Existing Jobs