Pencel

Appearance

Review and approve work ​

Pencel does the groundwork and brings you the calls that need a person. This guide shows where those calls show up and how to handle each kind quickly.

Where to look ​

Everything waiting on you shows up in three places:

  • Home. Decisions from every room, most important first. Click Needs action to see only those. See Home.
  • The room. The request appears in the conversation, and the room header shows a Needs you pill.
  • The sidebar. An amber dot on Programs, and a badge on the room that's waiting.

A quick habit that works: open Home once in the morning and once after lunch, filter to Needs action, and clear the list.

Approve an action ​

Before a room sends, posts, changes a record or moves money, it shows you exactly what it's about to do and waits.

  1. Read the card. It names the action, the account it will use and the details, such as the recipient and message, or the amount and vendor.
  2. Choose:
    • The action button (for example Approve request, Approve & submit or Create vendor) to let it go ahead exactly as shown.
    • Edit fields to change a detail first, then approve.
    • Reject to stop it. Nothing is sent or changed.

If a room asks about the same routine action again and again, Always Allow lets it do that action in that room without asking in future. This is a standing approval. It covers only that room, that tool and that account. Anything that moves money or deletes something always asks, whatever you choose.

When one piece of work needs several approvals in a row, Approve All (or Trust tools for this run) approves the rest of that piece of work only.

Send a drafted email ​

In the inbox room, a message that needs a reply comes with a Prepared reply.

  1. Read the draft and edit it right in the card if you want to change anything.
  2. Click Send email.
  3. Pencel asks Send this exact reply? Confirm to send it from your Gmail.

Pencel re-reads the thread just before sending, in case someone replied in the meantime. Not ready to reply? Use Later, Remind me tomorrow or Add to To-Do. See Email Chief of Staff.

Pursue or pass on a bid ​

RFP Operations brings you opportunities that fit your business, each with a score and the reasons behind it.

  • Click Pursue to move it into your pipeline. Pencel can then draft a proposal.
  • Click Pass if it's not for you. On the opportunity's own page, No-bid also lets you note why.

See RFP Operations.

Approve an expense for QuickBooks ​

When a room drafts an expense, the card says Internal candidate only · nothing has been imported to QuickBooks. Check the amount, vendor and account, then click Import to QuickBooks and Approve & import. That single confirmation is the only step. If the card later says the outcome is unknown, click Check status rather than importing again. See QuickBooks Accountant.

Accept or reject AI edits to a document ​

When you ask Pencel to change a document, each change appears in place with Accept and Reject, showing the before and after. Nothing changes in your document until you accept. See Documents.

Confirm what Pencel learned about your business ​

Pencel suggests facts it found in your documents, research and conversations, but no room uses them until you confirm.

  1. Go to Knowledge ▸ Facts.
  2. Work through Review N new facts. Click Confirm for each fact that's right and Not right for each one that isn't.
  3. If a suggestion conflicts with something you already confirmed, choose Use this or Keep mine.

See Teach Pencel about your business.

Answer a question ​

Sometimes a room needs information rather than permission, like which of two accounts to use or what counts as urgent. Answer in the card, or pick one of the suggested answers.

If you don't answer a simple question within a few minutes, the room goes ahead with the option it recommended and tells you what it picked, so work doesn't stall while you're away. Approvals are different: they always wait for you.

Take back an Always Allow ​

  1. Open the room and click its name to open its settings.
  2. Go to Advanced ▸ Tools & accounts.
  3. Find the action marked Always allowed and click Revoke.

The room asks you again next time. See Approvals and permissions for every place standing approvals live.