How do I use the Drake Scheduler?

The Drake Scheduler is a program that is fully integrated into the Drake Tax software to assist in setting daily schedules for one or more preparers in the office, generate single or batch appointments, organizers or proformas as well as sending email reminders to customers. The Drake Scheduler features are summarized below.

See the Drake Scheduler video for a demonstration of some of the changes.

Desktop Scheduler Icon

A desktop icon allows you to access the Scheduler from outside the tax software. Access is secured using the same preparer login and password information used to access the tax software.

Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Views

You can view the appointments of a selected preparer in a daily, weekly or monthly format by selecting the format and selecting the preparer. Examples are shown below.

The fourth View Options icon, Preparer View, provides a daily view that displays multiple preparers. Some or all preparers can be selected to display their appointments for the day.

Move appointments using drag-and-drop.

You can drag and drop an appointment from one time slot to another. Appointments can be moved only within a preparer's display area, and at the new time slot they start on the hour. To move an appointment between preparers, open the appointment, clear the existing selection and select another preparer.

Change the appointment duration by dragging and dropping the upper or lower boundary.

Position your cursor over the top or bottom boundary of an appointment to display a double arrow. Drag and drop the boundary to change the appointment duration in hour increments.

How can I show that a preparer is not available for a single day in the scheduler?

Schedule an “out of office” appointment for a preparer to block out that time. If you want to show “out of office” for more than a day, add additional appointments for each day, or set up a recurring appointment.

Open the Scheduler (click the Scheduler button at the top of the Home window). Double click the start time on the date intended to open the Appointment Detail screen.
Select the preparer in the left panel.
Enter “Out of office” (or something like that) in either name field.
Enter the Start time and the End time.
To schedule a recurring appointment, click the Recurrence button and complete the Appointment Recurrence dialog box.
Click Save and click Yes at the prompt to exit the Appointment Detail screen.

For information on setting up and using the Drake Scheduler, see the Drake Software User's Manual or Related Links below.