Matter Lifecycle

Every project or matter in HeyKazi follows a lifecycle from creation through completion, closure, and archiving. The lifecycle actions available depend on whether your organisation uses generic project terminology or legal matter terminology — but the underlying workflow is the same.

For generic organisations, the flow is Active to Completed to Archived. For legal firms with the matter closure module enabled, an additional Closed status provides a formal closure workflow with compliance gate checks. Both paths support reopening when work needs to resume.

Key Concepts

Lifecycle Statuses

Status	Available for	Description
Active	All organisations	The project or matter is in progress. Tasks are being worked on, time is being logged, and documents are being produced.
Completed	All organisations	The work is finished. The project is marked as done but remains accessible for review. No further time entries are expected.
Closed	Legal firms (matter closure module)	The matter has been formally closed following a compliance-gated workflow. All closure prerequisites have been satisfied or explicitly overridden.
Archived	All organisations	The project or matter has been archived for long-term storage. It no longer appears in active lists but remains searchable.

Terminology Adapts to Your Organisation

HeyKazi adapts its terminology based on your organisation’s vertical profile:

Generic term	Legal term
Project	Matter
Complete Project	Close Matter
Completed	Closed

Throughout the application — in buttons, headings, and notifications — the terminology matches your organisation type. This documentation uses both terms interchangeably.

Standard Project Lifecycle (All Organisations)

Completing a Project

When a project’s work is finished, mark it as complete.

Step 1 — Open the project detail page

Navigate to the project you want to complete.

Step 2 — Click Complete Project

Click the Complete Project button (or Close Matter for legal firms without the closure module). A confirmation dialog appears.

Step 3 — Confirm

Confirm the completion. The project status changes to Completed.

Archiving a Project

Completed projects can be archived to move them out of active views.

From an Active project: archive is available in the overflow menu (three-dot icon)
From a Completed project: the Archive button appears directly

Archived projects no longer appear in the default project list but remain accessible through filters or search.

Reopening a Project

If you need to resume work on a completed or archived project:

From a Completed project: reopen is available in the overflow menu
From an Archived project: click the Restore button

Reopening moves the project back to Active status.

Matter Closure (Legal Firms)

Legal firms with the matter_closure module enabled get a formal closure workflow that enforces compliance checks before a matter can be closed. This ensures all regulatory and operational prerequisites are met.

Closure Gates

Before a matter can be closed, the system evaluates a series of closure gates. Each gate checks a specific prerequisite:

Gate	What it checks
All Tasks Resolved	Every task on the matter is either completed or cancelled — no open work items remain.
All Information Requests Closed	All information requests linked to the matter have reached a final state.
All Acceptance Requests Final	Client acceptance requests (if any) have been accepted, declined, or withdrawn.
Final Bill Issued	At least one invoice has been issued for this matter, ensuring the client has been billed.
Trust Balance Zero	The client’s trust balance for this matter is zero — all trust funds have been disbursed or refunded.
All Disbursements Approved	All trust disbursements on the matter have been approved.
All Disbursements Settled	All approved disbursements have been settled (paid out).
No Open Court Dates	There are no upcoming court dates scheduled for this matter.
No Open Prescriptions	There are no prescription dates that have not been addressed.

Gate results are evaluated in real time when the closure dialog opens. If any gate fails, you will see a clear indication of what needs to be resolved before the matter can be closed.

Closing a Matter

Step 1 — Open the matter detail page

Navigate to the matter you want to close.

Step 2 — Click Close Matter

Click the Close Matter button. This opens the closure dialog, which runs all closure gates and displays their results.

Step 3 — Review gate results

Each gate shows as passed or failed. If all gates pass, you can proceed directly. If any gates have failed, you must either resolve the outstanding items or use the override option.

Step 4 — Select a closure reason

Choose the reason for closing:

Reason	Description
Concluded	The matter has reached its natural conclusion — work is complete.
Client Terminated	The client has terminated the engagement.
Referred Out	The matter has been referred to another firm or practitioner.
Other	Any other reason (provide notes for context).

Step 5 — Optional: generate closure documents

You can optionally generate:

Closure Letter — a formal letter to the client confirming the matter has been closed
Statement of Account — a final statement covering the matter’s open date through today

Step 6 — Close the matter

Click Close to finalise. The matter status changes to Closed and a closure log entry is created.

Overriding Failed Gates

In some situations, a gate may fail but the closure should still proceed — for example, when a client has been unreachable and acceptance requests cannot be obtained. The closure dialog provides an Override option.

When overriding:

You must provide a written justification (minimum 20 characters)
The override, the justification, and the identity of the person who authorised it are all recorded in the audit trail
An Override used badge appears on the closure history entry

Overrides are intended for exceptional circumstances. The audit trail ensures full accountability — every override is traceable to a specific user and reason.

Closure History

Closed matters display a Closure History section on the detail page. Each entry shows:

Date closed — when the matter was closed
Reason — the selected closure reason
Closed by — the team member who performed the closure
Override used — whether any gates were overridden, with the justification
Reopened — if the matter was later reopened, the reopen date is shown

Each closure entry has an expandable audit timeline that surfaces detailed events, particularly useful for matters where overrides were used.

Reopening a Closed Matter

A closed matter can be reopened if work needs to resume. Click Reopen Matter on a closed matter’s detail page. Reopening:

Moves the matter back to Active status
Records the reopen event in the closure history
Does not erase the original closure log — the full history is preserved

Only users with the Close Matter capability can close or reopen matters. This is typically restricted to Admins and Owners.

Permissions

Capability	What it allows
Complete Project	Mark a project as completed (standard workflow, all organisations). Available to Admins and Owners.
Close Matter	Close a matter using the formal closure workflow with gate checks. Also required to reopen a closed matter.

Tips and Best Practices

Resolve gate failures before closing — while overrides are available, it is best practice to address each gate failure at its source rather than routinely overriding
Generate closure letters — sending a formal closure letter to the client sets clear expectations and provides a paper trail
Archive after a cooling period — keep completed or closed matters in their post-completion state for a few months before archiving, in case work needs to resume
Review closure history during audits — the audit timeline on each closure entry provides a complete record of decisions, overrides, and the people involved

Projects — the core project and matter management module
Tasks — open tasks must be resolved before closure gates pass
Trust Accounting — trust balance must be zero for the closure gate to pass
Invoicing — a final bill must be issued before closure
Documents and Templates — closure letters and statements of account are generated as documents