# Building custom forms (Task Types)

Build your own task forms, like a cash count, a temperature log or a waste log, under Tasks → Types. Staff fill them in the app, and every answer lands in Task Data, ready to export.

For: Admins, Managers · On: Web, iOS, Android · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Tasks & checklists](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists) · Last updated October 8, 2026 · Mays Team

Build your own task forms, like a cash count, a temperature log or a waste log, under **Tasks → Types**. Staff fill them in on the app, and every answer lands in **Task Data**, ready to export.

Custom forms are part of every plan. With the built-in roles, **admins** build forms and add them to tasks; **managers** can see the answers for their locations under **Tasks → Data**.

## Build a form

1. Go to **Tasks → Types** (the page is called **Task Types**) and click **New task type**.
2. Enter a **Task type name** and, if you like, a **Description**.
3. To save time, pick one of the presets under **Start from a preset**:
   - **Register / Cash count**: count coins and bills, add paid-outs, and get the total.
   - **Waste log**: rows of wasted items with a quantity and a reason.
   - **Temperature log**: a walk-in cooler, freezer and hot-holding reading, with safe ranges.
   - **Delivery checklist**: check a delivery against the invoice, with a photo.
4. Click **Add field** to add more fields, and click a field to open its settings: **Label**, **Type**, **Required** and **Help text (optional)**, plus settings for its type. Use the arrows to move a field and the bin to remove it.
5. Check the **Live preview** on the right.
6. Click **Create**.

![The task type builder with the Temperature log preset: the Walk-in Cooler field opened with its Label, ID, Type Temperature, Required, Help text, Unit °F and a pass range of 33 to 40, the other fields listed below, and the Live preview of the form on the right](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__custom-form-task-types__01-builder.54b2d4f150.png)

## Field types

| Group | Types | Settings |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Basic** | **Number**, **Money amount ($)**, **Text**, **Checkbox**, **Yes / No**, **Single choice**, **Multiple choice** | **Min** and **Max**; **Multiline** and **Max length** for text; **Options** for choices |
| **Calculated** | **Cash count (coins/bills)**, **Computed (formula)**, **Repeatable rows** | **Denominations**; the **Formula**; the fields in each row |
| **Capture** | **Photo**, **Signature**, **Location**, **Temperature**, **Rating**, **Date / time**, **Counter**, **Duration**, **Barcode** | **Unit** and a pass range for temperatures (*In range* / *Out of range*); **Number of stars**; **Date only**, **Time only** or **Date & time** |
| **Reference** | **Employee**, **Branch / area** (a location), **Inventory item**, **Vendor** | — |
| **Layout** | **Section header**, **Instructions**, **Divider** | — |

**Formulas** add up or compare other fields. Refer to a field by its **ID**, and use `+ - * /`, brackets and **sum**, **min**, **max**, **round**, **abs** and **if**. For example, *coins + bills*. Fields inside repeatable rows can't be used, and results are rounded to whole numbers.

**Repeatable rows** let staff add as many rows as they need (**Add row**), for example one row per wasted item.

## Use it in a task

- **In a checklist template:** set the task's answer type to **Custom form**. In **Edit Task**, pick the form under **Task Type** and save. See [Creating a checklist template](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/create-a-checklist-template).
- **In a one-off task on the web:** **Tasks → Tasks → Create Task → Custom Task**, set **Response Type** to **Custom form** and pick the **Task Type**.

![The Create Task window on the web: Custom Task, the title Log fridge and hot-hold temperatures, Response Type Custom form, Task Type Temperature log · v1, Location South and Assign To Sam South](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__custom-form-task-types__02-create-task.e8e5de0bf7.png)

Only people who can see **Tasks → Types** (admins, by default) can pick a form. One-off tasks made in the apps can't use a form.

## Fill it in

Staff open the task in the iPhone or Android app and tap **Fill out form**. **Submit** turns on once every required field is filled in and nothing is out of bounds.

![A custom form in the iPhone app: the task Log fridge and hot-hold temperatures with Walk-in Cooler 38 °F marked In range, Freezer -2 °F, Hot Holding 141 °F, the Reading time, a note, and the Submit button](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__custom-form-task-types__03-fill-in-app.1c86ecc15c.png)

Photos in a form are taken with the camera. A new form can't be filled in on the web; there, someone who can manage tasks can open a submitted form under **Tasks → Tasks** and click **Edit** to correct it.

## See and export the answers

- **One task:** under **Tasks → Tasks**, click the task. **Submitted Response** shows the whole form. In the app, open the completed task.
- **All answers:** go to **Tasks → Data** (**Task Data**). Pick the form on the left and the dates at the top (the last 14 days to start with). The location is the one picked at the bottom of the sidebar.

![The Task Data page for the Temperature log at South: one row from Thu, Sep 24 submitted by Sam South with Walk-in Cooler 38, Freezer -2 and Hot Holding 141, the Notes column, a Total row, and the Export CSV button](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__custom-form-task-types__04-task-data.7fb07d006d.png)

Task Data lists completed tasks and tasks waiting for review, not rejected ones. Each field has a column, except photos, signatures and locations, and a **Total** row adds up every number column. **Export CSV** downloads the table. See [Task Data: viewing and exporting form answers](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/task-data-export).

## Change or delete a form

- **Change:** click the form on **Task Types**, edit it and click **Publish new version**. Tasks already created keep the version they were given. **Templates keep the old version too**: open the task in each template and pick the form again under **Task Type** to move it to the new one. Task Data always shows the columns of the newest version.
- **Delete:** **⋮ → Delete** on **Task Types**. Tasks already using it still work. A template that uses it keeps making tasks, but can't be saved until you pick another form for that task. The form's answers no longer appear in **Task Data**.

## Good to know

- **Reference fields in the apps.** On iPhone and Android, **Employee** lists the people at the task's location, **Branch / area** lists your company's locations and **Vendor** lists the vendors that deliver to the task's location (or to every location). Staff on an older app version see *This field isn't supported on mobile yet* and can't submit a form where one is required until they update the app — the form builder reminds you when you tick **Required** on one.
- **On iPhone**, a **Date / time** field shows the current date and time but saves nothing until you change it, and the *In range* label only appears when both ends of the pass range are set. **Barcode** can be scanned on Android (the web form says *Scan available in the Android app*); on iPhone, type the code.
- **Money:** negative amounts show as *$-4.40*. A **Computed** field you add yourself shows cents with no $ sign, and **Min** and **Max** on a **Money amount** field don't work as dollars yet, so leave them empty.
- **Photos in a form aren't checked by AI photo verification.** Only tasks whose answer type is **Photo** are.
- **Waste log** answers also take the wasted items out of your inventory stock and appear on the Waste Log. See [Logging waste](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/waste-log).
- You can also set an alert when a number on a form goes over or under a limit, under **Insights → Alerts & Reports**. See [Alerts and scheduled reports](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/alerts-and-scheduled-reports).
- **Fridges and freezers** can log themselves: wireless sensors record a temperature every five minutes and alert your team. See [Setting up Govee thermometers](https://www.mays.app/help/food-safety-devices/connect-govee-thermometers).

## Related articles

- Tasks & checklists: [Task Data: viewing and exporting form answers](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/task-data-export) — Tasks → Data lists every answer submitted on a custom form, like a cash count or temperature log, one row per submission, and downloads them as a CSV file.
- Reports & insights: [Alerts and scheduled reports](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/alerts-and-scheduled-reports) — Get a notification when labor runs hot, a vendor raises a price or a form reading is out of range, and have a labor, prime cost or vendor spend summary emailed every week or month.
- Tasks & checklists: [Task answer types](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/task-response-types) — Every task has an answer type that decides how staff complete it. Tick a box, take a photo, enter a number or text, pick an option, record a location, count stock or fill in a form.
- Tasks & checklists: [Creating a checklist template](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/create-a-checklist-template) — Build an opening, closing or cleaning checklist once as a template — groups, tasks and answer types — and Mays turns it into your team's task list in the app.
- Tasks & checklists: [Creating one-off tasks](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/one-off-tasks) — Need something done today that isn't on a checklist? Create a one-off task for one person or the whole location, on the web or in the app, or straight from a chat message.
- Tasks & checklists: [Completing your tasks in the app](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/complete-tasks-on-mobile) — Your checklist lives in the Tasks tab of the Mays app. Tick checkboxes with one tap, take photos, enter numbers, add a note — and fix and resend a task your manager sent back.
- Tasks & checklists: [Reviewing and rejecting completed tasks](https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/review-and-reject-tasks) — Check what your team completed — photos, numbers, notes — on the web Tasks page or in the app, and send a task back with a reason when it isn't done right.
- Team & roles: [Roles and permissions](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/roles-and-permissions) — What the built-in Admin, Manager and Employee roles can do, how location access works, and how to build a custom role from individual permissions.
- Inventory: [Logging waste](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/waste-log) — Log what you throw away and why. Each entry takes the item out of stock and adds its cost to your waste total, so shrink has an explanation.
- Food safety & signage: [Setting up Govee thermometers](https://www.mays.app/help/food-safety-devices/connect-govee-thermometers) — Connect your Govee Wi-Fi thermometers with an API key, then give each one a location. Mays records every sensor's temperature every five minutes and watches it around the clock.

## Still need help?

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[Contact support](https://www.mays.app/contact?topic=support) · [Call +1 (561) 286-3939](tel:+15612863939)

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/help/tasks-checklists/custom-form-task-types