Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.affinity.co/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This tutorial covers the standard Lists experience. If you’ve opted into “Try improved Lists” (Sheets 3 Beta), some buttons may be in different locations — but all concepts and outcomes are the same.

​
Immediate Value

After this tutorial, you’ll add a Status field to track deal stages, configure stage options, use Board view, and track time spent in each pipeline stage.

​
Prerequisites

  • Tutorial 1: Your First List
  • Tutorial 5: Pipeline Basics

​
Quick-Start Roadmap

  1. Add a Status field to your list
  2. Configure pipeline stages
  3. Use Board view with your custom stages
  4. Track time in each stage

​
Why Pipeline Structure Matters

Stages give your team a shared language for deal progress, enable Board view visualization, and unlock pipeline analytics. Board view requires a Status field with defined stages — without one, you can only use Sheet view.
Affinity guide: Elevate Your Pipeline: 5 Best Practices

​
Task 1: Add a Status Field

​
Context

The Status field is a special dropdown that drives Board view and pipeline reports. If your list doesn’t have one, add it now.

​
Action

  1. Open your deal list
  2. Scroll right to ”+ New Column” at the end of the column headers
  3. Select “Status” as the field type (or choose “Add an existing field” to reuse one)
  4. Name it (default “Status” works fine)
  5. Click “Create”
Only one Status field per list. If your list already has a Status column, you don’t need to add another. Check existing columns first.

​
Expected Outcome

A new Status column appears in your list, ready for stage configuration.

​
Task 2: Configure Pipeline Stages

​
Context

Stages should mirror your actual deal process. Common VC stages differ from PE stages — configure what matches your workflow.

​
Action

  1. Click the dropdown arrow on the Status column header.
  2. Select “Edit status” to open the stage editor.
  3. Add your stages: Example VC Pipeline:
  • Sourced → Initial Review → Partner Meeting → Due Diligence → Term Sheet → Closed Won → Passed Example PE Pipeline:
  • Identified → Initial Screen → Management Meeting → Diligence → IC Approval → Closed → Declined
  1. Drag stages to reorder them (order determines Board view column order)
  2. Save
You can add or rename stages later. Reordering only changes Board view column position — existing deals stay in their current stage.

​
Expected Outcome

Your Status field now has configured stages, and Board view shows them as columns.

​
📚 Help Center

​
Task 3: Board View with Custom Stages

​
Context

Once stages are configured, Board view shows them as columns with deal cards you can drag between them.

​
🎬 Watch

​
Action

  1. Switch to Board view — in the Views header row above the column headers, click an existing Board view, or click the ”+” icon at the right end of the Views row and select “New Board View”.
  2. See your stages as columns with deal cards
  3. Practice:
    • Drag a card between columns (updates Status automatically)
    • Click a card to open the full entry
    • Look at column counts to see deals per stage Pipeline meeting workflow:
  4. Share screen in Board view
  5. Start from the left column (earliest stage)
  6. Discuss each deal, drag cards as decisions are made
  7. Updates are visible to everyone in real-time
If Board view is grayed out, your list doesn’t have a Status field yet — return to Task 1 to add one.

​
Expected Outcome

You can navigate Board view, drag cards between stages, and use it for pipeline reviews.

​
Task 4: Track Time in Each Stage

​
Context

Knowing how long deals sit in each stage reveals bottlenecks. If deals consistently stall in “Due Diligence”, that’s a process signal worth investigating. Affinity doesn’t show a “days in stage” column on lists by default — the supported way to track this is through Affinity Analytics.

​
Action

  1. See How to track average days spent in each status using Affinity Analytics for the dashboard configuration.
  2. Once configured, review which stages your deals dwell in longest.
  3. Take action on stale deals:
    • Move forward (schedule next step)
    • Pass (move to Declined/Passed)
    • Re-engage (set a reminder)
The AI Chat (Beta) assistant can also help summarize pipeline state and surface stale deals if your workspace has it enabled.

​
Expected Outcome

You have an Analytics report that surfaces stage dwell time, and a habit of acting on stale deals.

​
Common Questions

Yes. Each list has its own Status field with its own stages. Your Deal Pipeline can have different stages than your Fundraising list.
Board view columns reorder to match. Cards stay in their current stage — only the column position changes.
No. Board view requires a Status field with defined stages on the list. Add one via Task 1.

​
See It In Action

​
Where to Go Next