---
title: "Task Items"
description: "Organizing work into different types"
---

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# Task Items

Items are the building blocks that make up your Statements of Work. They let you organize work in different ways - as requirements, tasks, milestones, dependencies, or deliverables. Items can be nested to create detailed work breakdown structures.

## What are Items?

Items help you:

- **Break Down Work**: Decompose large projects into smaller, manageable pieces
- **Choose Your View**: Look at work as requirements, tasks, or deliverables depending on what you need
- **Create Structure**: Nest items under each other to show relationships
- **Track Dependencies**: Identify work that's blocked by external factors
- **Mark Milestones**: Highlight important dates and checkpoints

## The Five Item Types

### Requirements

**What they are**: High-level business or functional requirements that describe what the system needs to do.

**Use requirements for**:
- User stories ("As a user, I want to...")
- Feature specifications
- Business rules
- Functional requirements

**Can contain**: Other requirements, tasks, milestones, or deliverables
**Cannot contain**: Dependencies

**Example**: "User Authentication System - The system must provide secure login with email/password and social media options"

### Tasks

**What they are**: Specific, actionable work items that someone needs to complete.

**Use tasks for**:
- Implementation work
- Bug fixes
- Code reviews
- Technical tasks
- Research spikes

**Can contain**: Other tasks (sub-tasks)
**Cannot contain**: Requirements, milestones, dependencies, or deliverables

**Example**: "Implement login form component with email and password fields"

### Milestones

**What they are**: Important dates, checkpoints, or phase completions in your project.

**Use milestones for**:
- Release dates
- Phase completions
- Client review meetings
- Demo dates
- Key deadlines

**Can contain**: Requirements, tasks, dependencies, and deliverables
**Cannot contain**: Other milestones (no nesting)

**Special properties**:
- **Target Date**: When this milestone is due
- **Stakeholders**: People who care about this milestone
- **Critical Path**: Whether this is on the critical path
- **Risk Level**: Low, medium, or high

**Example**: "Phase 1 Complete - All core features implemented and tested by Dec 31"

### Dependencies

**What they are**: External blockers or things you're waiting for from third parties.

**Use dependencies for**:
- Third-party API access
- Vendor deliverables
- External approvals
- Infrastructure setup
- License acquisitions

**Can contain**: Tasks (to help resolve the dependency)
**Cannot contain**: Requirements, milestones, other dependencies, or deliverables

**Special properties**:
- **External Owner**: Who is responsible (e.g., "Stripe", "AWS")
- **Contact Email**: How to reach them
- **SLA Date**: When they promised delivery
- **Escalation Date**: When to escalate if not resolved
- **Risk Level**: How critical this dependency is

**Example**: "Stripe API Credentials - Waiting for API keys from Stripe support team"

### Deliverables

**What they are**: Client-facing outputs or artifacts that will be delivered.

**Use deliverables for**:
- Documentation
- Reports
- Deployed features
- Training materials
- Design assets

**Can contain**: Requirements and tasks
**Cannot contain**: Milestones, other deliverables, or dependencies

**Special properties**:
- **Client Visible**: Whether the client can see this
- **Delivery Date**: When it will be delivered
- **Approvers**: Who needs to approve it
- **Delivery Method**: How it will be delivered (email, portal, etc.)

**Example**: "User Documentation PDF - Complete user guide with screenshots"

## Item Properties

Every item has:

### Basic Properties

- **Title**: A clear description of the work
- **Description**: Detailed explanation (optional)
- **Type**: Which of the five types it is
- **Parent**: Which item it belongs under (optional)
- **Sort Order**: Where it appears in lists
- **Level**: How deep it's nested (0 = top level)
- **Created/Updated**: Timestamps

### Enhanced Task Properties (Optional)

Projects can enable additional task management features through project settings. When enabled, task items gain powerful tracking capabilities:

#### Task Dates

When **Task Dates** are enabled for a project:
- **Start Date**: When work on this task begins
- **Due Date**: When this task must be completed
- Tasks with overdue dates are highlighted automatically
- Use dates to plan timelines and track deadlines

**Best for**: Projects with strict timelines, client deliverables, or milestone tracking

#### Task Assignees

When **Task Assignees** are enabled for a project:
- **Assigned To**: Which team member is responsible for this task
- Assignees are selected from your project team members
- Filter tasks by assignee to see workload distribution
- Track who is responsible for each piece of work

**Best for**: Team projects, distributed work, or accountability tracking

#### Task Costs

When **Task Costs** are enabled for a project:
- **Estimated Cost**: Expected cost to complete this task
- **Actual Cost**: Real cost incurred
- Currency is set at the project level (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.)
- Compare estimated vs. actual to track budget accuracy

**Best for**: Client billing, budget tracking, or financial reporting

#### Task Status

All tasks have a status (always visible):
- **Not Started**: Work hasn't begun yet
- **In Progress**: Currently being worked on
- **Completed**: Work is finished
- **Blocked**: Cannot proceed due to dependencies or issues

Use status to track progress and identify blockers quickly.

### Enabling Enhanced Properties

These features are controlled through **Project Settings**:

1. Open your project settings
2. Toggle the features you want to use:
   - Enable Task Dates
   - Enable Task Assignees
   - Enable Task Costs
3. Set your currency (if using costs)
4. Save settings

Once enabled, task forms will show the additional fields automatically. Existing tasks are unaffected - the new fields are optional.

**Tiered Approach**: Enable only what you need. Simple projects can use just basic task items, while complex projects can enable all features for full project management capabilities.

### Hierarchy Rules

Items have strict rules about what can contain what:

**✅ Allowed**:
- Requirement → Task
- Requirement → Sub-Requirement
- Milestone → Dependency
- Deliverable → Task
- Task → Sub-Task

**❌ Not Allowed**:
- Task → Requirement (tasks can't contain requirements)
- Milestone → Milestone (no nested milestones)
- Dependency → Requirement

The application will prevent you from creating invalid structures.

## Item Structure

Items form a tree inside your SOW:

<pre class="mermaid">{`
flowchart TB
  SOW[Statement of Work]
  SOW -->|contains| Req[Requirements]
  SOW -->|contains| Mile[Milestones]
  SOW -->|contains| Deliv[Deliverables]

  Req -->|breaks down into| Task1[Tasks]
  Req -->|can have| SubReq[Sub-Requirements]

  Mile -->|tracks| Task2[Tasks]
  Mile -->|identifies| Dep[Dependencies]

  Deliv -->|accomplished by| Task3[Tasks]

  Task1 -->|measured by| Crit[Acceptance Criteria]
  Crit -->|verified by| Test[Tests]

  style SOW fill:#e1f5ff
  style Req fill:#fff4e6
  style Mile fill:#f3e5f5
  style Dep fill:#ffebee
  style Deliv fill:#e8f5e9
`}</pre>

## Working with Items

### Creating Items

When you create a new item, you'll choose:

1. **Type**: Which kind of item (requirement, task, etc.)
2. **Title**: A clear, descriptive name
3. **Description**: Details about what needs to be done (optional)
4. **Parent**: Whether it belongs under another item (optional)

For milestones, dependencies, and deliverables, you'll also provide their special properties.

### Organizing Items

**Nesting**: You can nest items under each other to show relationships. For example:
- A requirement can have multiple tasks underneath it
- A task can have sub-tasks for more detail

**Reordering**: You can drag and drop items to change their order in the list.

**Moving**: You can move an item to a different parent, as long as the hierarchy rules allow it.

### Item Prefixes

Many teams use prefixes to quickly identify item types:

- `REQ-001: User authentication`
- `TASK-042: Create login API`
- `MILE-003: Phase 1 complete`
- `DEP-007: AWS account access`
- `DELIV-002: User documentation`

## Best Practices

### Choosing the Right Type

**Use Requirements when**: You're describing what needs to be built from a business perspective

**Use Tasks when**: You're describing specific work someone needs to do

**Use Milestones when**: You're marking an important date or checkpoint

**Use Dependencies when**: You're waiting on something external

**Use Deliverables when**: You're creating something for the client

### Structuring Work

**Keep it shallow**: Try not to nest more than 2-3 levels deep
```
✅ Good:
Requirement
  ├─ Task 1
  ├─ Task 2
  └─ Task 3

❌ Too deep:
Requirement
  └─ Sub-Requirement
      └─ Task
          └─ Sub-Task
              └─ Sub-Sub-Task
```

**Group related items**: Keep items for the same feature together

**One concern per item**: Don't mix multiple unrelated features in one item

### Naming Conventions

**✅ Good names**:
- "User can log in with email and password"
- "Create database schema for users table"
- "Phase 1 development complete"
- "Stripe API credentials received"
- "API documentation PDF"

**❌ Poor names**:
- "Login stuff"
- "Do the thing"
- "Milestone"
- "Waiting"
- "Docs"

## Adding Criteria and Tests

Once you have your items (especially tasks), you'll add:

1. **Acceptance Criteria**: Specific conditions that must be met for the item to be complete
2. **Tests**: Ways to verify the criteria are satisfied

For example, for a task "Implement password reset":

**Criteria might be**:
- User receives reset email within 1 minute
- Reset link expires after 24 hours
- User can set new password using the link

**Tests verify each criterion**:
- Test that email arrives quickly
- Test that old links don't work
- Test that password actually changes

## Tracking Progress

Items contribute to your SOW's overall completion:

- Each item can be marked complete or incomplete
- The SOW tracks what percentage of items are done
- This counts for 40% of the overall SOW completion

You can see at a glance:
- Total number of items
- How many are complete
- What still needs work

## Item Lifecycle

1. **Creation**: Add the item to your SOW
2. **Refinement**: Add description, nest under parents, add criteria
3. **Execution**: Mark as complete when work is done
4. **Verification**: Check that all criteria are met
5. **Archiving**: When the SOW is complete, items are archived with it

## Tips for Managing Items

### Keep Lists Manageable

- Break large items into smaller ones
- Aim for items that can be completed in a few days
- Use parent/child relationships instead of huge descriptions

### Use the Right View

- **Requirements view**: See the big picture of what you're building
- **Tasks view**: Focus on actionable work items
- **Milestones view**: Track important dates
- **Dependencies view**: See what's blocking you

### Maintain Structure

- Regularly review and reorganize items
- Remove or archive obsolete items
- Keep naming consistent
- Update descriptions as you learn more

## Common Patterns

### Feature Development

When implementing a new feature:

1. Create a **Requirement** for the overall feature
2. Break it down into **Tasks** for implementation
3. Add a **Milestone** for when it should be complete
4. Note any **Dependencies** blocking progress
5. Create a **Deliverable** for what gets shipped to the client

### External Dependencies

When waiting on external parties:

1. Create a **Dependency** item
2. Fill in external owner and contact
3. Set SLA and escalation dates
4. Add **Tasks** underneath for follow-up actions
5. Update risk level as needed

## Related Concepts

- **Statements of Work**
- **Acceptance Criteria**
- **Tests**
- **Projects**

Source: https://docs.testandaccept.com/concepts/task-items/index.mdx