The four kinds of work

Almost everything that happens in Journey is one of four kinds of work. They can look similar on the surface (they all show up as items with a status, an owner, and a due date), but they answer different questions: who raised this, who has to act on it, and who is waiting on whom. Knowing which kind of work you're looking at tells you immediately whose court the ball is in.

The four kinds are returns, requests, tasks, and client tasks. The quickest way to tell them apart is by direction: who the work is from and who it's for.

Returns: the tax work itself

A return is the preparation of a tax filing for a client: a 1040, an 1120-S, a 1065, and so on. It's the core of what a tax firm does, and it's the one kind of work with its own multi-stage pipeline, from collecting documents through review, signature, and filing.

Your firm owns a return from start to finish. The client's part is to supply documents and, near the end, to sign. But the preparation, review, and filing are all your team's work. (A client can also start a return themselves from their portal, which is mainly useful for adding a prior-year or historic return to their record; your firm still does the actual preparation.) Because returns are so central, they get the most automation: they're routed to a department, assigned to a preparer, and given a document checklist automatically the moment they're created. Returns live under Returns. See Returns.

Requests: the client asking your firm for something

A request is the opposite direction: it starts with the client. A client uses their portal to ask a question, send in documents, ask for a signature, or raise anything else that isn't a full tax return. It becomes a ticket your team picks up, works, and resolves.

The key thing about a request is that the client is waiting on you. They've done their part by asking; now it's your team's move. Requests are sorted by category and routed to the right department automatically, and the client can follow the status and message you from their portal the whole time. Requests live under Requests. See Requests.

Tasks: one team member handing work to another

A task is internal. It's a piece of work between members of your firm, with no client on the other end: a bookkeeping close, a payroll run, a "please review this before it goes out." One person creates it (or a recurring template creates it on a schedule), it's assigned to a teammate, and it's tracked to completion just like anything else.

Tasks are how the back-office work of the firm gets organized and doesn't fall through the cracks. Because there's no client involved, task comments and details are always staff-only. Tasks live under Tasks. See Tasks & jobs.

Client tasks: your firm handing a small action to a client

A client task (sometimes called a to-do) is the mirror image of a task: instead of one teammate assigning work to another, your firm assigns a small, specific action to a client. These are the kinds of quick things you'd otherwise chase over email: "Upload a photo of your ID," "confirm your mailing address," "review and approve this draft."

The client sees a client task in their portal as something they need to do, and it can be tied to the return or request it belongs to so the context travels with it. Client tasks are what keep the ball moving without a phone call: instead of wondering whether a client knows what you need, you hand them a clear, trackable item and can see when it's done.

Telling them apart at a glance

When you're looking at an item and aren't sure which kind of work it is, ask two questions:

• Is a client involved at all? If no, it's a task (staff to staff). If yes, keep going.
• Who raised it, and who's waiting? If the client raised it and is waiting on you, it's a request. If your firm raised it and is waiting on the client, it's a client task. And if it's a tax filing your firm is preparing, it's a return.

That single distinction (who's waiting on whom) is usually all you need to know what to do next.