Project & Task Automations

This is the richest area of automation: keep clients informed as projects progress, bill

automatically at the right moments, and keep tasks moving — including chasing overdue work.

Project tasks live inside projects, so their triggers and actions are covered here too.

## Triggers

| Trigger | Type | Fires when |

|---|---|---|

| **Project Created** | Event | A project is created — directly, or auto-created when a quote is accepted. |

| **Project Status Updated** | Event | A project's status changes (including completion). |

| **Task Created** | Event | A project task is created. |

| **Task Status Updated** | Event | A project task's status changes. |

| **Task Assigned** | Event | A task is assigned to a user or team. |

| **Project Timer** | Timer (daily) | Runs daily over **open** projects (not completed/cancelled). |

| **Task Timer** | Timer (daily) | Runs daily over **open** tasks. Used for overdue chase-ups. |

## Conditions you can use

- **Project Status** — the most common: act only when a project reaches a status you choose

  (e.g. "Completed", "On Hold", "Installed"). Because every account names its statuses

  differently, most project templates leave this **for you to fill in**.

- **Task name / status** — target a specific task.

- **Task due date (End date)** — for overdue nudges (e.g. 1, 3 and 7 days overdue).

## Actions

### Communication

- **Send Project Email** — emails the project's client, manager, contact or billing

  contact. *To*, *Subject* and *Message* required; optional document template and product

  file attachments. Supports project placeholders.

- **Send Project Chat Message** — posts a message into the project's chat channel as

  GuruBot. Just a *Message* (supports project placeholders).

- **Notify the Project Manager** (in-app notification) — sends an in-app notification to the

  project manager, a chosen user, or all users. *Message* required; optional severity.

### Tasks & status

- **Update Task Status by Name** — moves a named task to a status you set (e.g. complete

  "Design" → move "Build" to In Progress). *Task name* and *Status* required.

- **Update Project Start / Due Date** — recalculates a project date by adding or

  subtracting days/weeks/months from a chosen source date, with optional month-end

  adjustments.

- **Update Task Start / End Date** — same date maths applied to matching task lines (filter

  by task name/status).

- **Complete Project** — marks the project complete.

- **Create To-Do** — adds a to-do linked to the project (see

  [To-Dos](09-todo-automations.md)).

### Billing (see also [Invoices](07-invoice-automations.md))

These run against the project and respect your markup, tax and credit-term settings.

Production jobs are skipped automatically.

- **Raise a percentage (deposit/progress) invoice** — bills a percentage of the project.

  *Percentage* required (pre-filled on templates).

- **Raise the final invoice** — bills the remaining balance against the quote plus any

  un-invoiced billable purchases.

- **Invoice actual usage** — bills logged time, stock used and billable purchases not yet

  billed.

- **…and email it** — each of the above also comes in a "create *and send*" version that

  emails the invoice to the client. These let you choose **Draft** (default) or

  **Approved** (gets a real invoice number) before sending.

> **Draft vs Approved:** "create-only" billing actions always leave a **draft** invoice for

> you to review. "Create and send" actions default to draft but can be set to approve

> automatically — only switch that on once you trust the automation.

## Ready-made templates

**Communication & status**

| Template | Trigger | Setup |

|---|---|---|

| Send a kickoff email when a project is created ⭐ | Project Created | Ready |

| Notify the client when a project reaches a chosen status | Project Status Updated | Choose status; set message |

| Let the client know when a project goes on hold | Project Status Updated | Choose status |

| Notify the project manager when a project reaches a status | Project Status Updated | Choose status; set message |

| Post a chat update when a project reaches a status | Project Status Updated | Choose status; write message |

| Send completion documents when a project is finished | Project Status Updated | Choose status & document template |

| Post a chat brief when a task is assigned | Task Assigned | Write message |

| Start the next task when one is completed | Task Status Updated | Name the completed task & the next task |

| Create a kickoff to-do when a project starts ⭐ | Project Created | Ready |

| Create a review to-do when a project is completed | Project Status Updated | Choose status |

**Billing**

| Template | Trigger | Setup |

|---|---|---|

| Raise a deposit invoice when a project is created ⭐ | Project Created | Ready (deposit % pre-filled) |

| Raise and email the deposit invoice when a project is created | Project Created | Choose draft/approved; set email |

| Raise a progress invoice at a milestone status | Project Status Updated | Choose status |

| Raise and email a progress invoice at a milestone | Project Status Updated | Choose status; set email |

| Raise the final invoice when a project is completed | Project Status Updated | Choose status |

| Raise and email the final invoice when a project is completed | Project Status Updated | Choose status; set email |

| Raise, approve and email the final invoice when a project completes | Project Status Updated | Choose status; set email |

| Invoice actual usage when a project is completed | Project Status Updated | Choose status |

| Invoice actual usage and email it when a project completes | Project Status Updated | Choose status; set email |

⭐ = Starter Pack / popular. These feature in the **Operations Efficiency Pack** and the

**Cashflow Accelerator Pack**.

## Tips

- Almost every project template asks you to pick **which status** triggers it — that's

  because your status names are unique to your account. This is the field that blocks

  activation until set.

- Overdue task chase-ups (chat nudge or PM notification) fire at 1, 3 and 7 days overdue by

  default — each once, not every day.

- Be deliberate with **approve-and-send** billing automations: test with **Draft** first so

  you can eyeball the invoices before letting WorkGuru approve them.