---
title: Checklists & forms
id: checklist-and-forms
description: How SpinBook's checklist items are bound to real tasks, complete themselves automatically, and when to override them by hand.
category: Features
order: 10
tags: [checklist, planning, contracts, payments]
related: [per-event-view, print-share-document, event-status]
updated: 2026-08-03
---

Every event has a checklist the couple works through. In SpinBook the checklist isn't a
separate to-do list you have to keep in sync — most items are **bound to the real task**
and complete themselves when that task is actually done.

> The checklist only appears once you mark an event **Booked** — see
> [event status & the lifecycle](/event-status). New inquiries stay clean until you
> confirm them.

## Bound items complete automatically

Each default item carries a **binding** to a real fulfillment step:

| Item | Done when… |
|---|---|
| Complete booking details | the booking form is submitted |
| Sign your contract | the contract is e-signed |
| Make a Payment (couples see it as **Remaining Balance**) | the balance is paid in full ($0 remaining) |
| Complete planning form | the planning form is finished |
| Submit your timeline | the couple hits **Submit timeline** on the Timeline page |
| Add-Ons (Optional) | the couple confirms their selection (even with none chosen) |

When the couple signs the contract or pays their balance, the matching checklist item turns
**green** on its own — there's no separate box to remember to tick. The **Make a Payment**
item completes automatically once the amount paid reaches the quoted total (nothing left
owing); until then it stays open. It **can't be completed — automatically or by hand —
until you set a quoted total** on the payments page (you can enter **$0**, but you have to
enter it). Completed items show in green rather than gold.

The **timeline** item is deliberately a two-step: saving the reception timeline keeps a
work in progress, but only **Submit timeline** marks it done. The couple can keep editing
and re-submit, or un-submit to reopen the item — see the
[planning form & reception timeline](/planning-form).

## Manual override (with a note)

Sometimes a task happens outside SpinBook — a contract signed on paper, a deposit paid by
cash. From the DJ view you can **mark a bound item done by hand** and attach a short note
(e.g. "paper contract on file"). The note is visible on the item so everyone knows why it
was completed manually.

## Custom items

You can add your own checklist items to any event (or to your **default checklist** in
Settings, which seeds every new event). Custom items have no binding — they're simple
checkboxes that you or the couple tick off.

### Link a custom item somewhere

A custom item can carry a **link**, so tapping it takes the couple straight where they need
to go — your hair-and-makeup partner's booking page, a rentals catalogue, a Google Form.
Add it in the **Link** field when you create the item, or click the 🔗 icon on any custom
item to add or change one later. Links open in a **new tab**, so the couple never loses
their place in the portal.

Only full web addresses starting with `http://` or `https://` are accepted — anything else
is rejected when you save it.

Bound items (Contract, Payments, Planning form…) can't be re-pointed: they always go to the
task that completes them, so the link and the green check never disagree.

## Removing and restoring items

Nothing on a checklist is ever destroyed — **remove** is always reversible.

- **On one event** — click the trash icon on any item to remove it from that couple's
  checklist. It disappears for them immediately, and reappears under **Removed from this
  checklist** on your DJ view, where **Restore** puts it back exactly as it was (including
  anything already ticked off, and any note you left).
- **On your default checklist** (Settings → Default checklist) — **Remove** stops an item
  being added to **future** clients, and **Restore** brings it back. Clients who already
  have the item keep it, so removing a default never silently changes a checklist a couple
  is partway through. To take it off an existing event too, remove it there as well.

## Checklist

- [ ] Review the default checklist in Settings
- [ ] Add any custom items a specific event needs
- [ ] Let bound items complete themselves as tasks are done
- [ ] Use manual override + a note for anything completed outside SpinBook