Status Indicator: The Next Steps Checklist on Records (CRM-3851)

Status Indicator adds a Next Steps checklist to the top of a record, so anyone opening it can see at a glance what is still outstanding. Instead of clicking through each related tab to find out whether a Verification of Benefits, a Pre-Assessment, or an authorization exists, the record tells you directly — a green tick for done, an amber cross for not yet. You decide what the steps are, per module, and the checklist updates itself from the live data.
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You'll need:

Access requirements: Configuring Status Indicators is an administrator task, done from the module's settings. Reading the checklist on a record needs no special permission — but see the note on restricted modules in the FAQ, because the checklist adjusts itself to what each person is allowed to see.
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⚠️ If you open a module's settings and there is no Status Indicator tab, the feature has not been switched on for your instance yet. Contact Dazos support and they will enable it.
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From the CRM, navigate to Settings → CRM Settings → Module Layouts & Fields.

Pick the module you want from the Select Module dropdown at the top of the page — for example Intake Opportunities.
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Then open the Status Indicator tab. Every module is configured separately, so changing the module at the top changes the list of steps below it.
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💡 Tip: The counter next to Add step — for example "19 of 20 steps" — shows how many steps this module is using out of the maximum of 20.
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A step is one line on the checklist. It has a label people will read, and one or more rules that decide whether it is complete.

Open a step and you will see "This step is complete when," followed by its rules.
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If a step needs several things to be true at once, click Add rule to add more, then use the "This step is complete when" dropdown to say whether all rules below pass or any rule below passes.
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💡 Tip: A rule with no conditions is the simplest and most common kind — it just asks "does one of these exist at all?" That is all you need for a step like "Has a Verification of Benefits."
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Conditions narrow a rule down. Use them when the record merely existing is not enough — for example, when the Verification of Benefits must also be approved.

Click Add conditions on the rule. A window opens where you build the test.
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The window has two groups, and they work exactly like the condition builder you already use elsewhere in the CRM:

💡 Tip: The first time you open this window for a module it takes a few seconds to build, because it is loading that module's full field list. Every time after that, for the rest of your session, it opens instantly.
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⚠️ Important: Rows you leave blank are discarded when you save. If you open Add conditions and change nothing, the rule stays a simple "does one exist?" check.
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Drag the steps by the dotted handle on the left into the order you want people to read them. The checklist on the record follows this order exactly and never rearranges itself, so put the earliest stage of your process at the top.
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When you are happy, click Save.
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⚠️ Important: Nothing you change here takes effect until you click Save.
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Open any record of that module. The Next Steps panel sits near the top, just below the row of related-record icons.
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Collapsed, it is a single quiet line — the number complete and a progress bar: "7 of 19 complete."
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Click it to open the full checklist.
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The progress bar in the collapsed header adapts to the size of your checklist: with eight steps or fewer it shows one segment per step, and above that it becomes a single bar showing overall progress.
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Use the arrow on the right to collapse the panel. It stays that way for you, on every record, until you open it again — your choice does not affect anyone else.
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⚠️ Important: The panel is read-only. It reports status; it does not edit the record. To change something, use the record's own fields and related tabs as you always have.
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When it is calculated: Every time someone opens a record. The checklist always reflects the data as it is right now — there is nothing to refresh and nothing to rebuild on a schedule. It also loads just after the rest of the record has appeared, so it can never slow the page down.
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What "complete" means for a related module: A rule pointing at a related module passes as soon as one linked record matches. It does not require all of them. So "Has a Verification of Benefits" is satisfied by the first one attached, which is almost always what you want.
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What each person sees: The checklist respects each person's permissions. If someone's role does not let them open a module that one of your steps checks, that step is hidden from them completely — it does not appear as complete, and it does not appear as outstanding. This is deliberate: showing the step either way would reveal something about a record they are not allowed to see. Two people can therefore see a different number of steps on the same record, and that is correct.
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Modules with nothing configured: A module with no steps shows no panel at all — not an empty one. Every module you have not set up behaves exactly as it did before.
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Q: How do I turn off one step without losing how I set it up? A: Untick its checkbox in the settings and click Save. The step disappears from every record but keeps its rules, so you can switch it back on later.
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Q: How do I remove the checklist from a module entirely? A: Delete all of its steps with the bin icon and click Save. With no steps left, the panel stops appearing on that module's records.
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Q: Is there a limit to how many steps I can add? A: Yes — 20 per module. In practice a checklist people actually read is much shorter; the panel is at its clearest in single figures.
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Q: I renamed a step. What happens to the records? A: Nothing to worry about. The new label appears immediately on every record; nothing is recalculated or lost.
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Q: Why does a step show as outstanding when I can see the related record on the tab? A: Check the rule's conditions. A rule with conditions only passes when a related record matches all of them. If the step should pass on existence alone, open Add conditions and clear the rows.
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Q: Does this replace the progress bar already on Intake Opportunities? A: No. The existing stage bar is untouched and works exactly as before. Next Steps is a separate checklist that sits alongside it.
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Q: Can I use this on modules other than Intake Opportunities? A: Yes. Any module can have its own Status Indicator steps — pick it from the Select Module dropdown and set it up the same way. Configuration is per module and they do not affect each other.
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Q: Can people edit the record from the checklist? A: No, by design. It is a read-only summary so it can be trusted to reflect the data rather than change it.
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If you run into issues: