Getting Started

Up and running in under 10 minutes

Set up your practice

1
Create your account at practiseboard.com.au/signup. Enter your practice name, your name, email, and a password. You'll get 14 days free — no credit card required.
2
Add your first client — go to Clients → New Client and fill in the name (required), ABN, entity type, and contact details. Or import a batch via CSV under Settings → Import Clients.
3
Create a job — from the Work Board, click New Job. Select the client, job type (BAS, Tax Return, Payroll…), period, and due date. A checklist is pre-populated based on the job type.
4
Invite your team — go to Settings → Team and click Invite User. Choose their role (Partner, Manager, or Staff) and enter their email. They'll receive a link to set their password.
5
Set up recurring jobs — on any client record, scroll to Recurring Jobs and add a rule (e.g. quarterly BAS). Jobs will be created automatically each cycle.

Use the Work Board as your home screen — it shows every open job across all clients in one place, filterable by status, assignee, and type.

Dashboard

Your daily practice health check

The dashboard gives you an instant view of what needs attention right now. It doesn't replace the Work Board — it surfaces the critical jobs only.

Overdue

Jobs past their due date that are not yet completed

Due this week

Jobs due within the next 7 days

Waiting on client

Jobs stuck in Waiting on Client status

Completed this month

Jobs marked Completed in the current calendar month

Ready to Lodge

Jobs prepared and awaiting ATO lodgement

Awaiting review

Jobs currently In Review waiting for partner sign-off

Unbilled completed

Completed jobs marked Ready to Invoice but not yet invoiced

Click any card in the Overdue or Waiting columns to go directly to that job.

Work Board

Every open job at a glance

The Work Board is a filterable table of all jobs across all clients. Use it as your primary view for daily workflow management.

Filters

  • Search — filters by client name, job type, or period
  • Assignee — show only jobs assigned to a specific team member
  • Type — filter by BAS, Tax Return, Payroll, etc.
  • Status — e.g. show only Waiting on Client
  • Priority — filter by Urgent, High, Normal, or Low
  • Quick presets — Overdue, Due this week, My jobs

Changing status inline

Click the status badge in any row to open a dropdown and change the status instantly. The row updates immediately — no need to open the job detail.

Job statuses

Not StartedOn HoldWaiting on ClientIn ProgressIn ReviewAwaiting Client ApprovalReady to LodgeCompleted

The Progress column shows checklist completion as a thin colour-coded bar. A full green bar means all checklist items are ticked.

Clients

Client records and history

Each client has a dedicated record page showing all their jobs, notes, contact details, and recurring job rules.

Client fields

Name

Required. Used throughout the app.

ABN / ACN

Validated format. Shown on client record.

Entity Type

Pty Ltd, Trust, Sole Trader, etc.

BAS Frequency

Monthly / Quarterly — used for recurring jobs.

Contact Name

Primary contact for email notifications.

Email

Used for client status notification emails.

Partner

The team member responsible for this client.

Practice Notes

Free-text internal notes — not visible to clients.

Search

The client list filters in real time as you type. Search matches client name, ABN, and contact name.

Only Partners and Managers can create, edit, or delete clients. Staff members cannot access the Clients section.

Jobs & Checklists

Track every step of every engagement

Creating a job

From the Work Board, click New Job. Select a client (required), job type, period (e.g. “Q1 2025”), optional due date, and assignee. A default checklist is generated based on the job type.

Default checklists by job type

BAS
  1. Collect bank statements
  2. Review sales and purchase invoices
  3. Reconcile GST collected and paid
  4. Prepare payroll summary
  5. Check ATO portal — integrated client account
  6. Prepare BAS return
  7. Partner review
  8. Obtain client approval
  9. Lodge with ATO
  10. Confirm lodgement and file
IAS
  1. Collect PAYG withholding records
  2. Confirm instalment amount
  3. Check ATO portal balance
  4. Prepare IAS
  5. Obtain client approval
  6. Lodge with ATO
  7. Confirm lodgement
Tax Return - Individual
  1. Request source documents (income, deductions)
  2. Pre-fill review via ATO portal
  3. Review rental income / schedule
  4. Enter income and deductions
  5. Capital gains check
  6. Private health insurance offset
  7. Medicare levy / surcharge check
  8. LMITO / LITO check
  9. Partner review
  10. Obtain client approval
  11. Lodge with ATO
  12. Confirm lodgement
Tax Return - Company
  1. Obtain signed financial statements
  2. Reconcile tax depreciation
  3. Division 7A review
  4. Franking account balance
  5. Tax losses review
  6. Related party transactions review
  7. Thin capitalisation check (if applicable)
  8. Partner review
  9. Director approval
  10. Lodge with ATO
  11. Confirm lodgement and update ASIC records
Tax Return - Trust
  1. Obtain signed financial statements
  2. Review trust deed distribution provisions
  3. Prepare trustee resolution / minutes
  4. Allocate income to beneficiaries
  5. TFN withholding check
  6. Partner review
  7. Trustee approval
  8. Lodge with ATO
  9. Confirm lodgement
Tax Return - Partnership
  1. Obtain signed financial statements
  2. Reconcile partner capital accounts
  3. Prepare partner income schedules
  4. Partner review
  5. All partners approval
  6. Lodge with ATO
  7. Confirm lodgement
FBT Return
  1. Identify all fringe benefits provided
  2. Car benefit — logbook or statutory method
  3. Entertainment expenses review
  4. Employee contributions confirmed
  5. Exempt benefits review
  6. Calculate FBT liability
  7. Partner review
  8. Obtain client approval
  9. Lodge with ATO
  10. Confirm lodgement
TPAR
  1. Identify all reportable contractors
  2. Collect contractor ABNs and total payments
  3. Reconcile to accounts payable
  4. Prepare TPAR report
  5. Client approval
  6. Lodge with ATO by 28 August
  7. Confirm lodgement
Payroll / STP
  1. Collect timesheets / pay data
  2. Process payroll run
  3. Check super obligations (11.5% SGC)
  4. STP finalisation submitted
  5. Payslips sent to employees
  6. File payroll records
Super Guarantee
  1. Calculate quarterly SGC liability (11.5%)
  2. Verify employee eligibility
  3. Prepare SuperStream payment
  4. Confirm payment received by super funds
  5. File SGC charge if late payment
  6. Record in accounts
ASIC Annual Review
  1. Review annual review notice from ASIC
  2. Confirm registered office address
  3. Confirm officeholder details
  4. Lodge changes if required (Form 484)
  5. Pay ASIC annual review fee
  6. File ASIC confirmation
Trust Distribution Minutes
  1. Review trust deed for distribution provisions
  2. Prepare trustee distribution resolution
  3. Identify all beneficiaries and amounts
  4. Execute resolution before 30 June
  5. File signed minutes
Bookkeeping
  1. Reconcile bank accounts
  2. Process outstanding invoices
  3. Process outstanding bills
  4. Payroll reconciliation
  5. GST reconciliation
  6. Provide reports to client
Financial Statements
  1. Obtain trial balance
  2. Reconcile all accounts
  3. Prepare profit & loss statement
  4. Prepare balance sheet
  5. Prepare notes to financial statements
  6. Partner review
  7. Client approval
  8. File signed statements
Other
  1. Review requirements
  2. Gather supporting documents
  3. Prepare workpapers
  4. Partner review
  5. Client approval
  6. File and confirm

Notes log

Each job has a notes thread — a chronological record of updates, decisions, and conversations. Notes are visible to all firm users. Use them instead of email chains.

ATO & billing fields

The job detail page includes fields for statutory due dates, lodgement dates, estimated fee, WIP, client approval tracking, and ATO integration checks. These are optional and only visible to Partners and Managers.

Add a note when changing status — it creates a clear audit trail of when and why the status changed.

Recurring Jobs

Automate job creation for regular engagements

Set up a recurring job rule on any client record and Practise Board will automatically create the job at the right time — no manual intervention required.

How it works

1
On a client record, scroll to Recurring Jobs and click Add Recurring Job.
2
Choose the job type, frequency (monthly / quarterly / annually), default assignee, and how many days before the due date to create the job.
3
Each night, Practise Board checks all recurring rules. If a job is due to be created today, it is created automatically with the default checklist and assignee.
4
The assigned team member receives an email notification with a direct link to the new job.

Set days before due to 21 as a starting point — it gives your team 3 weeks to complete the work before the statutory deadline.

Recurring jobs are not created if a matching job (same client, type, and period) already exists. Re-running the cron is safe.

Email Notifications

Keep your team and clients informed automatically

Team notifications (internal)

Job assignedSent to the assignee when a new job is created (manual or recurring)
Overdue alertSent daily to each assignee for jobs past their due date
Waiting escalationSent daily for jobs stuck in Waiting on Client for more than 7 days

Client notifications

When a job status changes to a client-relevant stage, an email is automatically sent to the client's email address. This keeps your clients informed without any manual follow-up.

Waiting on ClientWe're waiting on documents or information from you
Awaiting Client ApprovalYour return is ready — please review and approve
CompletedYour job is complete

Client emails are only sent if the client record has an email address. Internal-only status changes (In Progress, In Review) do not trigger client emails.

Team & Roles

Manage who can do what

FeaturePartnerManagerStaff
View Work BoardOwn jobs only
Create / edit jobs
Change job statusOwn jobs only
View Clients
Create / edit clients
Import clients
Invite team members
Change team roles
View billing
SettingsOwn profile only

Inviting a team member

1
Go to Settings → Team and click Invite User.
2
Enter their email address and select their role.
3
They receive an email with a link to set their password. The link expires after 48 hours.
4
Once accepted, they appear in the active users list and can be assigned to jobs.

Import Clients

Migrate from your existing system

1
Go to Settings → Import Clients and download the CSV template.
2
Fill in your client data. Only Name is required — all other columns are optional.
3
Upload the completed CSV and preview the first 10 rows. Rows with a missing name are shown as skipped.
4
Click Import. For large files (>50 rows), the import runs in the background — you can navigate away and the results will appear when complete.

Supported columns

name · contactName · email · phone · abn · acn · entityType · basFrequency · address · clientSince · riskLevel · gstRegistered · isActive

ABN and ACN are validated on import. Rows with invalid ABN/ACN format will be skipped. Imports are limited to 500 rows per batch.

AI Features

Smart assistance on the Job Detail page

Summarise job

Generates a 2-sentence summary of the job's current status, based on the checklist state and notes history. Useful for handing off a job to a colleague or quickly reviewing progress without reading all notes.

Always available on the job detail page.

Draft chase email

Drafts a professional follow-up email to send to the client when a job is stuck in Waiting on Client. The draft uses the client's name, job type, period, how long it's been waiting, and the most recent note.

Only shown when job status is Waiting on Client.

Suggest status change

After you add a note, AI reads the note text and suggests whether the job status should be updated. For example, if you write "received all documents from client", it may suggest moving from Waiting on Client to In Progress.

Appears as a dismissible banner after saving a note, only when a change is clearly indicated.

AI features require a valid OPENROUTER_API_KEY to be configured. If AI is unavailable, the buttons will show “AI features are not configured on this server.” Contact your administrator.

Billing & Plans

Trial, Pro, and everything in between

Free Trial

14 days

  • Up to 150 clients
  • Up to 300 jobs
  • Up to 5 users
  • All features included
  • No credit card required

Pro

Monthly / Annual

  • Up to 1,000 clients
  • Up to 10,000 jobs
  • Up to 25 users
  • Priority support
  • Full feature access

To upgrade, go to Billing in the sidebar (visible to Partners only) and click Upgrade to Pro. You'll be redirected to Stripe's secure checkout.

Annual plans receive a discount. Contact support for pricing details.

Security

How your data is protected

Multi-tenant isolation

Each practice's data is strictly isolated. No user from one firm can ever access another firm's clients, jobs, or settings.

Passwords

Passwords are hashed using bcrypt and never stored in plaintext. Practise Board staff cannot see your password.

Data in transit

All traffic is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS. The application is served exclusively over HTTPS.

Data at rest

Data is stored on Neon Postgres with encryption at rest enabled. Database backups are retained for 7 days.

Session security

Sessions use signed JWT tokens. Logging out invalidates the session immediately.

Access controls

Role-based access control is enforced at both the UI and API levels. Staff users cannot access client data or create jobs.

FAQ

Common questions

Contact Support

We're here to help

If you can't find an answer here, the Practise Board support team is available via email. We aim to respond within one business day (Australian Eastern Time).

Before you email, try:

  • Searching this help centre using the sidebar search
  • Checking the FAQ section above
  • Logging out and back in to refresh your session