[dchannell1]

I just downloaded the OmniFocus app on my iPhone and was wondering about the best way to setup what I tend to do.

I am an accountant so I tend to have many deadlines and multiple clients having the same deadline. For instance, I have payroll tax returns due at the end of the month for 25 clients. I would like to be able to search on my phone at what clients have not been done. I have the Context as Office with a Project called Payroll Tax Returns. The issue I am running into is if I was to go to the Context then it only says Payroll Tax Returns and not a list of the clients I have listed under the Payroll Tax Returns.

What would be my best way to set this up?

Thanks
David

[DrJJWMac]

To better respond to this, I might first ask ... do you have the desktop version of OmniFocus? Setting up a workflow from scratch is easier to do from it than from the iPhone version. I think a trial version can be obtained at the Omni Web site.

--
JJW

[dchannell1]

I had already downloaded the free trial a couple of months ago. Not sure if they will reset or if I can delete and download again.

I figured $20 investment in my app was a safer bet than $80 on my mac which I only work a little with when dealing with my business.

[DrJJWMac]

Ah ... OK.

So, how do you have each client set up? Are they set up as separate action or action groups in the project "Payroll Tax Returns"? Completed clients should then drop from the view when you toggle the "eye" button at the bottom of the "Office" context view. Here is one possible example ...

Payroll Tax Returns (Project)
- B B Thorton (Action Group)
-- collect B B Thorton information
-- enter B B Thorton information
-- confirm B B Thorton information
-- get B B Thorton signature
-- submit B B Thorton form
- A Jolie (Action Group)
-- ...
- B Pitt (Action Group)
-- ...

My other thought is, you could make Payroll Tax Returns as a FOLDER (rather than a Project) and have each client as a Project. Then, your uncompleted clients (and their actions) should show up in your Forecast view.

--
JJW

[whpalmer4]

Yet another variation:

a folder per client, with projects such as Payroll Tax Returns

Acme Widgets (folder)
-2013 Payroll Tax Return for Acme Widgets (project)
--Collect 1Q13 payroll info from Acme Widgets (*)
--Enter 1Q13 payroll info from Acme Widgets
...

-2012 Corporate Tax Return for Acme Widgets (project)
--Collect 2012 income, expenses, deductions info from Acme Widgets
--Enter 2012 income, expenses, deductions info from Acme Widgets
...

Wiley T. Coyote (folder)
-2012 Federal Income Tax return for Wiley T. Coyote (project)
...

-2012 State Income Tax return for Wiley T. Coyote (project)
...

(*) You want to have distinguishing information in the names of the actions so that when you see them in a context view, you actually know which client the action is for, not just 379 actions all titled "Collect 2012 income, expenses, deductions info"

The beauty of this arrangement is that you look at all of your projects together in context view and get a nice list of everything that is the next thing to do for each client, and by ordering the projects/folders in your sidebar so that the most important clients come first in the sidebar list, their tasks will also come first in the list of actions. Furthermore, if you decide that today you only want to work on Wiley T. Coyote's affairs, you can select the Wiley T. Coyote folder in the sidebar, click the Focus button in the toolbar, and flip over to context mode, where you will only see actions relating to projects for Wiley T. Coyote.

The other thing that will make this even slicker is Omni wizard Curt Clifton's Populate Template Placeholders script. With this script, you build a set of project templates with placeholders for things like the client's name. When you get a new client project, you select the appropriate template project, invoke the script, it prompts you for the values of the placeholders, and creates a new, customized project. It even knows how to adjust dates! Curt's script can be found here. A nice writeup of its application by my pal MacSparky can be found here.

[whpalmer4]

Unfortunately, tapping the full power of the workflow I described requires the desktop version of OmniFocus. No scripts on the iOS versions, and no focus except via perspective, which you need the desktop version to create (or have the Omni support staff do it for you). I think it is still a reasonable approach for the iOS apps, but not quite as frictionless. On the other hand, I'd also say that the $80 investment will be easily recouped, even if it does nothing more for you than make it easier to type the names of your actions!

One more comment: DrJJWMac suggested that you might use folders to collect all of the projects of a given type (payroll tax returns, for example), and I suggested using them to collect all of the projects for a given client. Either approach is workable; if you decide you've made the wrong choice, it wouldn't be unduly onerous to go to the other organization, especially with the desktop app. Consider whether you're more likely to want to look at all projects of a given type at once, or all projects for a given client at once. There are some somewhat clunky ways you can have both if you have the desktop app and are consistent about your naming scheme, but you should assume that the organization scheme done with folders is going to be the more convenient one, especially if your client/project list is not particularly static.

[dchannell1]

Thanks for everyone's help, I greatly appreciate it. I tried to delete the files from my computer and reinstall the program to give it another try but failed. I think I will just buy the desktop version. I think I would like for things to be grouped by "Payroll Tax Returns" "Sales Tax Returns" etc because I am so deadline oriented. For instance, right now I am working on Payroll Tax Returns and W-2s and would like to know exactly who I have not finished or waiting on info for.

What's a good way to see or record things that I have to do every week or some variation? For instance some clients have weekly payrolls and other have payroll every other week. I would like to be able to view everything that needs to be done for the week.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

David

[dchannell1]

Ok I have found where OmniGroup has given an 'extension" for the trial for the people that would like to buy OF2 so I will give the desktop version another shot.
Thanks
David

[DrJJWMac]

The forecast view on the iPhone version is quite useful to see day-to-day over the week. The forecast view is not in the desktop version until version 2. You can design perspectives that give you a simulation.

The only caution about setting a Folder called Payroll Tax Returns is, you cannot set a global due date on it. The recommendation by whpalmer that each client have a folder, with Payroll Tax Returns Client X as a project, would allow you to set each client's project to have a global due date. Another alternative is to have one "master" project called Payroll Tax Returns with the required deadline. The structure would be ...

Payroll Tax Returns (project)
- complete PTR A Jolie
- complete PTR B B Thorton
- complete PTR B Pitt
- ...

In other words, the ONLY action statments in that project are the simple statements ... "complete PTR xxx". As you complete the payroll tax returns, you check off the client's name as done. The disadvantage is, you may have to set up inside these actions or elsewhere if you want the sub-actions, which brings you back to the Action Groups suggestion that I had previously.

Glad to hear about the extended trial ... you won't regret getting to work with the desktop app to set up what you need. You might even find it ultimately is worth the purchase, especially when v2 comes out.

--
JJW

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by DrJJWMac

The only caution about setting a Folder called Payroll Tax Returns is, you cannot set a global due date on it. The recommendation by whpalmer that each client have a folder, with Payroll Tax Returns Client X as a project, would allow you to set each client's project to have a global due date.

JJW, you lost me here. It seems to me that he has to individually set due dates on each project regardless of which folder scheme he uses.

Another alternative is to have one "master" project called Payroll Tax Returns with the required deadline. The structure would be ...

Payroll Tax Returns (project)
- complete PTR A Jolie
- complete PTR B B Thorton
- complete PTR B Pitt
- ...

In other words, the ONLY action statments in that project are the simple statements ... "complete PTR xxx". As you complete the payroll tax returns, you check off the client's name as done.

Here you'd want to be careful to set that up as a parallel project — you can work on those tax returns in arbitrary order, and so they should all be shown as available in a suitable view, not just the first one.

As for action groups, the caution I would make here is that you lose the ability to use all of OmniFocus' power — you won't be able to review each action group separately, or drop them or put them on hold except by fooling around with their dates. And again, you'd want to make sure you had parallel project containing those action groups.