Start from the firm's template or an earlier deal
Start a deal board from a firm template or copy an earlier board's setup, choosing whether to bring its tasks and values.
Screenshots are taken from the app on every release. Updated 2 November 2026.
A new share purchase has come in, and the firm already has a checklist for this kind of deal, or the team ran a near-identical one last year. Start from the template for a prepared checklist, or reuse the earlier board's setup and decide whether its tasks belong on this deal.
Two questions decide where you start. Is there a firm template for this deal type? If there is, use it. Do you need the earlier deal's tasks, or only the way its board is organised? Copying only the setup gives you the workstreams and columns without the old task data.
Create the board from a template
Open the new matter. In the Project management box, click Create new.
Give the board a Name, such as "Project Alpha closing checklist", and open Template. The list shows the task board templates kept in the matter's group and in the Firm-wide Library, sorted into their folders. Hover over the information icon beside a template to read its description.
Choose the template and click Save. The board opens with the template's task groups and tasks, its columns and labels, its views, its automations, its permission sets, the key facts strip and its board settings, such as numbering.
Read through the task names. Where the template uses the matter's details, such as the matter's title, its number or the client's name, they are filled in from this matter. A detail the matter does not have yet is left as its name, so "Obtain Client name board approval" tells you what to fill in.
Add a template to a board you have already started
On the board, click Board in the toolbar and choose Import. Open the Template tab.
Choose the template and click Import. Its task groups are added to the board. Where the board already has a column with the same name and type, the template's values go into it rather than into a second column, and a view with the same name is kept as it is.
The Template tab is there on boards in a matter. Templates themselves live in groups: see build the firm's deal checklist template.
Copy the board from an earlier deal
Open the earlier matter. In the Project management box, open More at the end of the board's row.
Choose Copy and move to, then the new matter under Matters, to open Duplicate board. To make a second version in the same matter, choose Duplicate instead.
Choose what the new board needs. Setup only is selected each time the dialog opens.
What this deal needs Choose What comes across The same workstreams and reporting, with fresh tasks Setup only Columns with their options, labels and formulas; views and filters; empty task groups; automations and integrations; the board's dashboards; permission sets and rules; checklist and Excel export layouts; board settings. No tasks, values, comments or files, and nobody on the permission sets The earlier checklist, to adapt task by task Setup and data Everything in the setup, plus every task and its values. People and teams on each permission set also get access to the new board Boards with more than 1,000 tasks can be copied with Setup only. Setup and data is limited to 1,000 tasks; if the copy is refused with the limit message, reopen the dialog and keep Setup only.
Click Duplicate to create the copy. The original stays where it is.
Open the copy in its destination matter and rename it by clicking its name at the top left of the board. A duplicate in the same matter has "(copy)" after its name.
Prepare it for the new deal. With Setup only, add the tasks and add the intended people to the permission sets. With Setup and data, check the copied permission-set members and replace old dates, people, files and other task values. In either case, check workstream titles, the key facts strip, automations and integrations for references to the earlier deal.
If the copy is marked completed, click Board and choose Mark incomplete before the team starts work.
Which starting point to use
| What you have | Start from | What to check afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| A firm template for the deal type | The template, when you create the board | Task names that show a detail's name instead of its value |
| A board you have started, and a template with a workstream you need | Import > Template | Columns that now hold values from both |
| Last year's board has the right organisation, but needs fresh tasks | Copy and move to, then Setup only | Workstream names, automations and integrations; add tasks and permission-set members for this deal |
| Last year's tasks are the right checklist | Copy and move to, then Setup and data | Old task values and the people and teams who get access through copied permission sets |
Tips from practice
- Automations come with the copy. Whether you start from a template or copy a board, its automations are copied too and point at the new board's own columns, groups and labels, so a rule such as "when the status changes to Signed, notify the partner by email" works on the new deal without setting it up again.
- Fill in the matter first. Template details come from the matter at the moment you create the board, and are not updated afterwards. Give the matter its number and details before you pick the template.
- Turn a good deal into the next template. A group Manager or organisation admin uses Save as template in the board row's More menu. Choose Setup and data to retain the checklist tasks, then clean the template of the client's details: see build the firm's deal checklist template.
Before this: set up the deal checklist board and choose what to track on each task. For checklists that exist only in Word or Excel: turn a Word checklist into a board or bring an Excel tracker into a board.