Set up the firm's CP checklist export

Every finance or M&A team has its own way of laying out a conditions precedent checklist: which columns it has, how the conditions are numbered, who is shown as responsible. Lawyers can set this up board by board, but on every new deal someone has to do it again and the result drifts. A custom export template sets it up once for the whole firm. On any deal board, the lawyer opens the CP checklist export and the firm's format is already there.

Two questions decide the setup. What do the firm's deal boards call their columns? The template finds the board's columns by type and title, so it works best when boards use the same names. And does the checklist go out on a particular Word template?

Create the template

1. Click Admin panel at the bottom of the sidebar, then Board export under Templates.

2. Under Custom export templates, click New template.

   

3. Give it a name in Template name that tells lawyers what it is for, such as "Facility agreement CPs" or "SPA closing checklist".

4. Under Pinned Word template, choose the board Word template the checklist goes out on. Leave it on None (resolved automatically at export time) to let the export decide: with one board Word template in the firm it uses that one, and with several the lawyer chooses at export. Board Word templates are added on the same page; see make board Word exports use the firm's template.

Lay out the checklist

The editor has the same parts lawyers see when they export a CP checklist from a board, with one difference: instead of picking a board's columns, you describe them.

1. Under Fixed columns, set the numbering for Groups, Tasks and Subtasks. A new template numbers them 1, i, (a); for the usual 1, (a), (i), choose 1. 2., (a) (b) and i. ii. Set Row heights if the firm's format has them, and leave Repeat header on every page on for checklists that run over several pages.

2. Under Export columns, a new template starts with Item, which holds the task or subtask title, and a "Responsibility" column that already draws from a People column titled "Responsible". Click a column's name to rename it, and Add export column to add one, such as "Status" or "Comments".

3. For each column, add the board columns it draws from. Click Add source, choose the Column type and type the Column title exactly as the firm's boards name it, such as a Status column called "Status" or a People column called "Responsible", and click Add. Add more than one to stack their values in one cell. On Item, these are the Extra source columns shown below the title.

   

4. Set the Row scope of each column. All rows gives every subtask its own value; Task only merges the cell across the task's subtasks, which suits a responsible party who owns the whole condition. Set Width and Alignment if the format calls for it.

5. Check the Live preview on the right. It fills the columns with sample data, so you see the layout and numbering, not a real deal; the row colours come from the pinned Word template, or from the firm's only board Word template when none is pinned.

6. Click Create template.

Choose the default

Click the star on a template's row (Set as default) to make it the firm's default. The first time a lawyer opens the CP checklist export on a board that has not been set up yet, the default template is applied to it. Lawyers can switch to any other template with Apply template, under Organisation templates.

When a template is applied to a board, each column reference is matched to a board column of the same type and title. When a lawyer applies one with Apply template and a reference has no match, they are asked to map it to another column of that type or leave it unmapped. The default is applied without asking, so a reference with no match there is left without a source. After that, the lawyer's changes are saved with that board and do not change the template.

Fill in the deal details from the matter

The Word template can also carry the deal's details and parties, filled in when the checklist is exported. Open Template merge fields at the top of the page: under Custom export only are the tags for Deal details (such as {{cp.dealType}}, {{cp.signingDate}}, {{cp.expectedClosing}} and {{cp.governingLaw}}) and Key parties (such as {{cp.company}}, {{cp.target}}, {{cp.lender}} and {{cp.agent}}). Put them in the board Word template where they belong, for example in a cover block above the checklist.

They are filled from Deal details & parties on the board's matter. If the board has no matter, or the matter has no deal details, they stay empty. See record the deal details and parties.

Tips from practice

• Agree the column names first. References match on the exact column title, so a board with "Responsible party" will not match a reference to "Responsible". A firm template for deal boards that already has the right columns makes every match automatic; see build the firm's deal checklist template.
• One template per kind of checklist. A facility agreement CP checklist and an SPA closing checklist rarely share columns. Make one for each and name them so lawyers can tell them apart.
• Deleting is safe for live deals. Boards that already use a template keep their setup when the template is deleted; it is only no longer offered.

For the lawyer's side of the export, see produce the CP checklist for the other side.