> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rubica.au/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rubica.au/workflow/stages-and-outcomes.md).

# Stages & Outcomes

Stages are the steps of your workflow. Outcomes are the buttons that move a job between them.

Every workflow is a series of **stages** — the steps your process moves through, like *Contact Client → Prepare → Meet → Follow Up*. A job always sits in exactly **one stage at a time**, and it moves forward when someone (or something) picks an **outcome**.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A["1️⃣ Contact Client"] -->|"Meeting booked"| B["2️⃣ Prepare for Review"]
    B -->|"Ready"| C["3️⃣ Conduct Review"]
    C -->|"Proceed with advice"| D["4️⃣ Prepare Advice"]
    C -->|"Not proceeding"| E["🏁 Close Job"]
```

The labels on the arrows are **outcomes** — notice stage 3 has two of them. That's how workflows branch: outcomes don't have to move in a straight line.

## Stages

**Where:** Home → Settings → Workflow Templates → open a template → **Stages** tab → **+ Add Stage** (or the pencil icon on an existing stage).

| Field                       | What it does                                                                      |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Stage Name** *(required)* | What shows on the job's progress path. Keep it short and action-oriented.         |
| **Order** *(required)*      | Position in the sequence (1, 2, 3…).                                              |
| **Description**             | Internal notes for your team — clients never see this.                            |
| **Days to Complete**        | Expected turnaround — drives the due-date colouring and warnings on the job.      |
| **Icon**                    | Optional icon shown on the job's stage progress indicator (e.g. `standard:task`). |

### Who owns the stage?

Each stage picks who's responsible while the job sits there:

* **Account Team Role** — whoever holds that role on the client's account (e.g. *Primary Adviser*, *Para-planner*) automatically becomes the assignee. This is the usual choice — the same template works for every client, and the right person picks it up each time.
* **Specific User** — always the same named person, no matter whose job it is.

{% hint style="success" %}
**Never leave a job unassigned:** tick **Has a backup account team role** and pick a fallback role. If a client's account doesn't have the primary role filled, the backup steps in automatically.
{% endhint %}

## Outcomes

An **outcome** is a named way a stage can end — *"Client Approved"*, *"Not Proceeding"*, *"Meeting Booked"*. Outcomes appear as **buttons on the job** when the adviser is ready to move it forward. Each stage can have as many as make sense.

**Where:** open a stage from the **Stages** tab → **Outcomes** section → **+ Add Outcome**.

| Field                          | What it does                                          |
| ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| **Outcome Label** *(required)* | The button text the adviser clicks, e.g. "Approved".  |
| **Display Order**              | Left-to-right button order.                           |
| **Next Stage**                 | Where picking this outcome sends the job — see below. |
| **Icon**                       | Icon on the outcome button.                           |
| **Description**                | Internal notes.                                       |

### Move to a stage — or close the job

The **Next Stage** picker offers every other stage in the template, **plus a Close Job option**. Picking a real stage moves the job there; picking **Close Job** marks the job Completed instead — no need to invent a dummy "Closed" stage just to end a workflow.

### Outcomes can do things too

Any [action type](/workflow/stage-actions-and-action-types.md) can be attached directly to a specific outcome — *"when **this** outcome is picked, also send this email / create this task / kick off this job"*. Outcome-attached actions fire **immediately** when the button is clicked.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Naming tip:** name outcomes after the decision that was made (*"Client approved"*, *"No response after 3 attempts"*), not the direction (*"Next"*, *"Continue"*). The buttons become a plain-English record of what actually happened on the job.
{% endhint %}

### Advanced: automatic outcomes

Outcomes are usually clicked by a person, but the **Evaluation Mode** field (`Result(s) Exists` / `Result Empty`) lets an outcome decide itself — e.g. *"did a Fact Find record get created during this stage?"*. Leave it blank for a normal manual outcome. Advanced setups also have **On Entry / On Exit Flow** hooks on the stage itself for anything too custom for the builder.

## See also

* [Stage Actions & Action Types](/workflow/stage-actions-and-action-types.md) — what the engine can do automatically at each stage
* [Workflow Triggers](/workflow/workflow-triggers.md) — starting a workflow automatically
* Deep dive: [Building Job Stages](/workflow-automation/building-job-stages.md) and [Stage Outcomes](/workflow-automation/stage-outcomes.md) in the Workflow Automation reference