This article builds on the Collaborative Scheduling Overview and covers how to send a reservation request to a client, which the client can accept or propose alternative fieldwork dates.
1. Review and Confirm Fieldwork Dates
Before sending your client a reservation request, ensure the Fieldwork Start, Fieldwork End, and Deliverable Due Dates are accurate.
Open Scheduling, in the left-hand nav menu, click the engagement to center it on the timeline and automatically open the right-hand details pane.
By default, an engagement's Scheduling Status is set to Reserved when it is created, and firm users can either update the Scheduling Status to Queued by unpinning the engagement timeline to edit the dates or, when everything looks correct, send a reservation request to the main client contact.
When an engagement's Scheduling Status is Queued, its Fieldwork Start, Fieldwork End, and Deliverable Due dates can each be edited by stretching, shrinking or drag-and-dropping the timeline bar.
NOTE: Multiple Fieldwork Start, Fieldwork End and Deliverable Due Dates can be edited using the bulk create and/or modify engagements functionality.
2. Send the Reservation Request
When everything looks correct, click Send Reservation next to your main client contact, who has the authority to review and accept the reservation request. The Preview Reservation Email confirmation prompt will appear, so you can see exactly what your main point of contact will receive before it's sent.
The Send Reservation button is located on the Client Users tab in the right-hand details pane.
3. Wait for Your Client's Response
When the Reservation Request email notification arrives, the main client contract can:
- Accept the Reservation; or
- Propose Alternative Dates
When the client accepts the dates by clicking Accept Reservation, the Schedule Status automatically updates from Pending Confirmation to Scheduled, and no further action is needed.
If the client clicks Propose Alternative Dates, they are prompted to suggest an alternative start date and required to add a comment so the firm understands the constraints driving the change (for example, vacation among key accounting personnel). The Schedule Status changes automatically from Pending Confirmation to Alternative Proposed, and the firm user receives an email notification.