Checklists

Checklists define the reusable workflow for a transaction type. A checklist can include Key Dates, Tasks, and Automations so a new transaction starts with the right deadlines, task list, and prepared emails.

The key idea:

• Key Date Library defines reusable date rules
• Checklists bundle those key dates with tasks and automations
• Transactions apply a checklist to create real key dates and real tasks

This is the same product category as a reusable date-template workflow: set the date logic once, then apply it to future transactions. In DocJacket, that logic lives in the Key Date Library, and the checklist adds the work that depends on those dates.

Checklist list page

Go to Templates > Checklists to manage checklist templates.

The page has two tabs:

• My Checklists — checklists your organization owns and can edit
• DocJacket Checklists — ready-made checklists DocJacket provides, available to every organization

DocJacket checklists are read-only. Use Copy to My Checklists or Duplicate before customizing key dates, tasks, or automations. Your copy shows a Copied from line so you can always tell where it started.

Use the filters to narrow the list by:

• Transaction Type — Sale, Listing, or both
• Property Category — Residential, Commercial, Land, Lease, New Build, and other categories
• Status — Active or Inactive
• Complexity — Lite or Standard
• Search — checklist name or description

On My Checklists, you can mark an active checklist as the default. Default checklists can auto-apply when creating transactions for the matching state and type.

Creating a checklist template

1. Go to Templates > Checklists
2. Click New Checklist
3. Add a name, transaction type, property category, state, side, and description
4. Save the template to open the checklist builder
5. Add key dates from the Key Date Library, or create new key dates while building
6. Add tasks and tie them to the key dates they belong to
7. Add task timing rules, priorities, phases, and sections
8. Add automations, such as scheduled emails or completion rules
9. Use Test template to preview the checklist against a sample effective date
10. Save the template

The builder title may say New Checklist Template or Edit Checklist Template. The Templates hub and list page label this area Checklists.

Template settings

The builder shows a Template Summary card with the checklist name, category, state, side, key-date count, task count, and automation count.

Use Edit template settings to change:

• Name
• Transaction Type
• Property Category
• State
• Side
• Description

DocJacket checklists are read-only. Copy one into My Checklists before editing settings, key dates, tasks, or automations.

Adding key dates

Key dates organize the checklist. For each key date you can define:

• Name
• Description
• Key Date Type
• Side
• Category
• Priority
• Date rule type
• Anchor date field
• Offset direction
• Offset days
• Calendar-day or business-day calculation
• Whether the date is required

Use Add Key Date in the builder. The drawer has two modes:

• Create New — define a new key date rule directly inside the checklist
• From Library — pick an existing reusable key date from the Key Date Library

If a shared key date needs customization, duplicate it first and use the copy in your checklist.

Adding tasks

Checklist tasks are the work your team completes during the transaction. Tasks can include:

• Name and description
• Phase and section
• Priority
• Assigned owner
• Due-date anchor
• Offset days and direction
• Calendar-day or business-day calculation
• Linked key dates
• Document category
• Subtasks
• Scheduled emails
• On-completion email actions
• Conditional Task — only create this task when the deal matches a condition (see Conditional tasks)

Tasks should reference the key date they depend on. For example, a task can be due 3 days before Final Walkthrough instead of hardcoding the same rule from Closing Date.

Conditional tasks

Some tasks only apply to certain deals — a septic inspection, an HOA document review, a task that only matters on a cash deal. You do not need a separate checklist for each combination. Build one checklist with every task in it, and mark the situational ones conditional. A conditional task whose condition isn't met is simply not created when you apply the checklist, so the deal only gets the work that actually applies.

To make a task conditional, open the task in the checklist builder and, under Options, tick Conditional Task. A Transaction field dropdown appears — pick the field that decides whether the task applies.

Which fields you can gate on

The Transaction field dropdown is a fixed list. It contains:

Field	Behaves as
Cash deal	Yes/no flag
Sellers only	Yes/no flag
HOA contingency	Contingency
Radon contingency	Contingency
Septic contingency	Contingency
Well contingency	Contingency
Pool contingency	Contingency
Solar contingency	Contingency
Lead paint contingency	Contingency
Inspection contingency	Contingency
Smart-home contingency	Contingency
Home-warranty contingency	Contingency

The two kinds behave differently, and the difference matters:

• Yes/no flags (Cash deal, Sellers only) — the task is created only when the flag is on. If the flag is off, or nothing has been filled in yet, the task is skipped.
• Contingencies — the task is created unless the contingency is explicitly set to N/A on the deal. If it's Active, or nobody has set it yet, you still get the task. This is deliberate: an unanswered contingency shouldn't quietly drop work.

Gating on financed vs. cash deals

There is a Cash deal field, but there is no "financed" field. Because a yes/no flag only creates the task when the flag is on, gating a financing task on Cash deal would attach it to cash deals only — the opposite of what you want.

The way to handle financing work is to put it in the checklist normally, with no condition, and instead mark the cash-specific tasks conditional on Cash deal. Financed deals are the common case, so let them be the default and gate the exception.

The "If label" box is cosmetic

Under the field dropdown there's an If label box (for example, If HOA). This is text only — it does not gate anything. It just prints on the task row so your team can see at a glance when a task applies. If you type a label but don't pick a Transaction field, the task is created on every deal.

Conditions that aren't available yet

The dropdown above is the complete list. Common conditions that are not currently supported include a buyer's home sale contingency, a suitable housing contingency, and financing type beyond the cash flag. For those, either leave the task unconditional and delete it on deals where it doesn't apply, or remove whole task groups during apply — the apply dialog lets you deselect individual tasks and skip entire groups before anything is created.

Conditional in the checklist builder vs. on a task

The Conditional Task checkbox in the checklist builder controls whether a task gets created at all. There is also a conditional marker on an individual task inside a transaction (Task Options) — that one is a label on work that already exists, and it doesn't create or remove anything.

Automations

Automations can be attached to key dates or tasks. In practice, most automations live on tasks.

Common automation uses include:

• Prepare an email when a task is due
• Send a linked email template
• Include selected document categories
• Trigger follow-up work when a task is completed

Use Review automations to see every automation rule in the checklist, grouped by key date and task. From there, use Edit to jump back to the rule in the builder. Bulk editing across automation rules is not currently part of this drawer.

AI and bulk tools

The checklist builder includes tools for faster setup:

• AI Key Date Generator — Describe the transaction workflow and review proposed key dates before applying them.
• AI Task Generator — Generate proposed tasks linked to the key dates in the checklist.
• Import Tasks from CSV — Bulk-import tasks from a spreadsheet.
• CSV export — Download the checklist structure for review or offline editing.
• Suggested tasks — Add common tasks for known key date types.

Review AI and imported items

Generated and CSV-imported key dates and tasks are a starting point, not a finished checklist — review them before relying on the checklist with clients.

Testing a checklist

Use Test template to preview the checklist against a sample effective date. The preview shows key dates, linked tasks, computed sample dates when available, and tasks not linked to any key date.

The preview is for template review. It is computed client-side and does not include configured holidays. Real transactions also use the transaction's actual contract dates, holidays, and any dates already extracted or entered.

Applying a checklist to a transaction

From the transaction Overview's closing timeline, click Generate Timeline and pick a checklist.

DocJacket can:

• Scope available checklists by the transaction's state, side, and type
• Show existing applied checklists so users do not accidentally stack duplicates
• Preview how many key dates and tasks will be created
• Show anchor dates used for calculation
• Assign tasks by owner or label
• Apply only selected phases
• Replace previously-applied template items when needed
• Preserve manually added items and contract-extracted dates when replacing template-generated items

After applying, the transaction has real key dates and real tasks. Moving key dates can update linked task due dates according to their rules.

Applying a second checklist to the same transaction

You can apply more than one checklist to the same deal, and by default the second one adds to what's already there — it does not wipe the first. This is what makes the listing-then-contract workflow work on a single record:

1. Create the deal as a listing and apply your listing checklist — order photos, sign the listing agreement, get it on the MLS.
2. Work the listing. When it goes under contract, don't start a new deal — change the existing one's status (and type, if you use Listing/Purchase/Sale). See Turning a listing into a sale or purchase.
3. Apply your contract-to-close checklist to that same transaction.

Both sets of tasks and key dates now live on one file, with one address, one contact list, and one document set — and the listing history stays attached.

The apply dialog shows any checklists already applied, so you can see what's there before adding another. If you do want the new checklist to take over, tick Replace existing key dates and tasks — that removes the previously applied template-generated items on both the key-date and task side. Items you added by hand, and dates extracted from the contract, are preserved either way.

tip

Leave Replace unticked when you're layering a second workflow onto a deal. Tick it only when you're correcting a checklist you applied by mistake.

Saving a transaction as a checklist

If you customize a transaction's key dates, tasks, and automations, you can save that work as a new checklist template. This is useful when a live deal becomes the model for a better workflow.

After saving, open the new checklist in the builder to clean up names, sections, assignments, and automations.

Checklists vs. key date rules

The Key Date Library stores individual reusable date rules. A checklist bundles those rules with tasks and automations.

Example:

• Key Date rule: Final Walkthrough = Closing Date - 1 business day
• Checklist task: Schedule walkthrough = Final Walkthrough - 3 days
• Automation: Prepare walkthrough reminder email when the task is due

Tips

• Start with the built-in templates and customize them for your specific workflow
• Create state-specific variations — a Texas residential close has different deadlines than a Florida one
• Include the most common tasks in your template so they are created when the checklist is applied
• Keep date calculation logic in the Key Date Library when the same rule will be reused
• Use task phases so users can apply only the work they need
• Test the checklist before applying it to a live transaction
• Review and update templates periodically as regulations or your workflow change