Set up the deal checklist board

A deal has started and the team needs one closing checklist: every workstream, every document, who owns it and when it is due. A board in the matter gives you that list in a form the whole team updates as the deal moves, instead of a Word table that is out of date by the second call.

Two questions shape the board. How is the work split up? Each workstream becomes a task group. And how will the checklist be referred to? If the SPA schedule or the other side's list numbers the items, number the board the same way.

If the firm already has a checklist for this kind of deal, or you ran a similar one last year, start from the firm's template or an earlier deal instead. A checklist that exists in Word can become a board directly.

Create the board in the matter

1. Open the matter. In the Project management box on the overview, click Create new.

   

2. Give the board a Name after the deal and what it tracks, such as "Project Alpha closing checklist", so it reads clearly in the matter and in everyone's task lists. Leave Template on Blank, add a Description if the team needs context, and click Save. The board opens.

A board started from the home page, before the matter existed, is kept as a draft. File it into the matter before you share it.

Add a task group per workstream

3. Click New task group in the toolbar, or Add task group under the last group. Give each group the name of a workstream: Due diligence, SPA, Conditions precedent, Signing, Closing.

   

4. To rename a group or give it a colour, open the menu beside the group's name and choose Rename group or Change group colour. A colour per workstream makes the board easier to scan on a call.

Add the tasks

5. In each group, click + Add item, type the task and press Enter. Write each task as something someone can finish: "Draft disclosure letter", "Obtain board minutes approving the SPA".

   

6. To break a task into steps, right-click it and choose Add subtask. A task that belongs under another one can be moved there with Convert to subtask from the same menu; a task that already has subtasks cannot become a subtask itself.

Number the checklist

7. Click Board in the toolbar and choose Board settings. The settings are for the firm's own team on the board; anyone who sees the board only through a permission set, such as a client, cannot open them.

8. Under Numbering style, choose how the numbers read:

   The checklist follows	Choose
   A schedule numbered 1.1, 1.2, 2.1	Decimal (1.1.1), or Decimal with dot (1.1.1.)
   Clauses numbered 1), a), i)	Legal (1, a, i): groups are numbered 1), tasks a), subtasks i)
   No numbers at all	None

   

9. Turn on Continuous task numbering if tasks should be numbered 1, 2, 3 through every group rather than starting again in each one. That suits a checklist the other side refers to by item number alone.

10. If the numbers have been agreed with the other side and must not move when tasks are added, turn on Manual indexation. Each task's number becomes a field you type yourself, and Numbering style is greyed out while it is on.

11. While you are in Board settings, choose the Row height (1 is compact, 5 is roomy) and whether dates counted from other dates skip non-working days: Include weekends, and Include holidays with the country whose public holidays apply.

Put the key facts above the board

12. In Board settings, turn on Show meta information. A strip opens above the board.

13. Click the plus button in the strip to add a card. Hover over the card, click the pencil and give the card a title such as "Deal".

14. Click Add for each fact. Each new line starts as "Label" and "Value"; type over them: Client: Beta Holding A/S, Target: Gamma ApS, Signing: 14 November 2026. Click Save when you are done.

    

Tips from practice

• Give every task an owner. Tasks assigned to a person in a People column appear in that person's My work across all their matters, so the checklist follows them out of the board. Next, choose what to track on each task.
• Keep the firm's notes internal. When you open a task, Updates is the conversation on the task; Internal updates is for the firm's own team, such as fee points or views on the other side. Anyone who sees the board only through a permission set, such as a client, cannot open that tab.
• One board per checklist. A long deal may need a separate board for the CP checklist or the post-closing actions. Click the plus button beside the board's name in the toolbar (New board) to add another board to the same matter, then click the new board's name to rename it.
• Rename the board at any time. Click its name at the top left of the board to change the name or description. As with Board settings, this is for the firm's own team on the board.

Before this: open a matter for new work. Next: choose what to track on each task and give each workstream its own view.