diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index fad35bb..eeefb59 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         version: ['3.7', '3.8', '3.9', '3.10']
     name: Build Python Docker images
-    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: build mpmq ${{ matrix.version }} image
         run:
           docker image build --build-arg PYTHON_VERSION=${{ matrix.version }} -t mpmq:${{ matrix.version }} .
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 41729be..d42e452 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # mpmq
 [![GitHub Workflow Status](https://github.com/soda480/mpmq/workflows/build/badge.svg)](https://github.com/soda480/mpmq/actions)
 [![vulnerabilities](https://img.shields.io/badge/vulnerabilities-None-brightgreen)](https://pypi.org/project/bandit/)
-[![coverage](https://img.shields.io/badge/coverage-100%25-brightgreen)](https://pybuilder.io/)
+[![coverage](https://img.shields.io/badge/coverage-99%25-brightgreen)](https://pybuilder.io/)
 [![complexity](https://img.shields.io/badge/complexity-A-brightgreen)](https://radon.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html#module-radon.complexity)
 [![PyPI version](https://badge.fury.io/py/mpmq.svg)](https://badge.fury.io/py/mpmq)
 [![python](https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.7%20%7C%203.8%20%7C%203.9%20%7C%203.10-teal)](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
diff --git a/build.py b/build.py
index 57314b1..b1e2df6 100644
--- a/build.py
+++ b/build.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 authors = [Author('Emilio Reyes', 'emilio.reyes@intel.com')]
 summary = 'Mpmq is an abstraction of the Python multiprocessing library providing execution pooling and message queuing capabilities.'
 url = 'https://github.com/soda480/mpmq'
-version = '0.3.2'
+version = '0.4.0'
 default_task = [
     'clean',
     'analyze',
diff --git a/src/main/python/mpmq/mpmq.py b/src/main/python/mpmq/mpmq.py
index dfa1949..eef03d1 100644
--- a/src/main/python/mpmq/mpmq.py
+++ b/src/main/python/mpmq/mpmq.py
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ def __init__(self, function, *, process_data=None, shared_data=None, processes_t
         self.process_queue = SimpleQueue()
         self.processes_to_start = processes_to_start if processes_to_start else len(self.process_data)
         self.timeout = timeout if timeout else TIMEOUT
+        self.active_processes = 0
+        self.completed_processes = 0
 
     def populate_process_queue(self):
         """ populate process queue from process data offset
@@ -82,8 +84,10 @@ def start_processes(self):
                 logger.debug('the process queue is empty - no more processes need to be started')
                 break
             self.start_next_process()
-        active_processes = sum(meta['active'] for _, meta in self.processes.items())
-        logger.info(f'started {active_processes} background processes')
+        logger.info(f'started {self.active_processes} background processes')
+
+    def on_start_process(self):
+        pass
 
     def start_next_process(self):
         """ start next process in the process queue
@@ -103,20 +107,21 @@ def start_next_process(self):
             'process': process,
             'start_time': datetime.datetime.now(),
             'stop_time': None,
-            'duration': None,
-            'active': True
+            'duration': None
         }
+        self.active_processes += 1
+        self.on_start_process()
 
     def terminate_processes(self):
         """ terminate all active processes
         """
         for offset, meta in self.processes.items():
             process = meta['process']
-            if not meta['active']:
+            if not meta['process'].is_alive():
                 continue
             logger.info(f"terminating process at offset:{offset} with id:{process.pid} name:{process.name}")
             process.terminate()
-            meta['active'] = False
+        self.active_processes = 0
 
     def purge_process_queue(self):
         """ purge process queue
@@ -134,6 +139,9 @@ def get_duration(start_time, stop_time):
         duration = str(datetime.datetime.strptime(stop, '%H:%M:%S') - datetime.datetime.strptime(start, '%H:%M:%S'))
         return duration
 
+    def on_complete_process(self):
+        pass
+
     def complete_process(self, offset):
         """ complete the process at offset
         """
@@ -144,7 +152,9 @@ def complete_process(self, offset):
         meta['duration'] = self.get_duration(meta['start_time'], meta['stop_time'])
         logger.info(f"joining process at offset:{offset} with id:{process.pid} name:{process.name}")
         process.join(self.timeout)
-        meta['active'] = False
+        self.active_processes -= 1
+        self.completed_processes += 1
+        self.on_complete_process()
 
     def get_results(self):
         """ return results of function execution from all processes
@@ -170,15 +180,14 @@ def get_message(self):
         """
         message = self.message_queue.get(False)
         match = re.match(r'^#(?P<offset>\d+)-(?P<control>DONE|ERROR)$', message)
+        offset = None
+        control = None
         if match:
-            return {
-                'offset': int(match.group('offset')),
-                'control': match.group('control'),
-                'message': message
-            }
+            offset = int(match.group('offset'))
+            control = match.group('control')
         return {
-            'offset': None,
-            'control': None,
+            'offset': offset,
+            'control': control,
             'message': message
         }
 
@@ -189,10 +198,9 @@ def process_control_message(self, offset, control):
             self.complete_process(offset)
             if self.process_queue.empty():
                 logger.info('the to process queue is empty')
-                active_processes = sum(meta['active'] for _, meta in self.processes.items())
-                if not active_processes:
+                if not self.active_processes:
                     raise NoActiveProcesses()
-                logger.debug(f'there are {active_processes} background processes still alive')
+                logger.debug(f'there are {self.active_processes} background processes still alive')
             else:
                 self.start_next_process()
         else:
diff --git a/src/unittest/python/test_mpmq.py b/src/unittest/python/test_mpmq.py
index 5fce721..3b4d2df 100644
--- a/src/unittest/python/test_mpmq.py
+++ b/src/unittest/python/test_mpmq.py
@@ -82,9 +82,10 @@ def test__start_processes_Should_CallStartNextProcess_When_ProcessesToStartGreat
         client.start_processes()
         self.assertEqual(len(start_next_process_patch.mock_calls), 0)
 
+    @patch('mpmq.MPmq.on_start_process')
     @patch('mpmq.mpmq.QueueHandlerDecorator')
     @patch('mpmq.mpmq.Process')
-    def test__start_next_process_Should_CallExpected_When_Called(self, process_patch, queue_handler_mock, *patches):
+    def test__start_next_process_Should_CallExpected_When_Called(self, process_patch, queue_handler_mock, on_start_process_patch, *patches):
         process_mock = Mock()
         process_patch.return_value = process_mock
 
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ def test__start_next_process_Should_CallExpected_When_Called(self, process_patch
                 'offset': 0,
                 'result_queue': client.result_queue
             })
+        on_start_process_patch.assert_called_once_with()
 
     def test__terminate_processes_Should_CallExpected_When_Called(self, *patches):
         function_mock = Mock(__name__='mockfunc')
@@ -122,17 +124,19 @@ def test__purge_process_queue_Should_PurgeProcessQueue_When_Called(self, *patche
         client.purge_process_queue()
         self.assertTrue(client.process_queue.empty())
 
+    @patch('mpmq.MPmq.on_complete_process')
     @patch('mpmq.mpmq.datetime')
     @patch('mpmq.MPmq.get_duration')
-    def test__complete_process_Should_CallExpected_When_Called(self, get_duration_patch, datetime_patch, *patches):
+    def test__complete_process_Should_CallExpected_When_Called(self, get_duration_patch, datetime_patch, on_complete_process_patch, *patches):
         function_mock = Mock(__name__='mockfunc')
         process_data = [{'range': '0-1'}, {'range': '2-3'}, {'range': '4-5'}]
         client = MPmq(function=function_mock, process_data=process_data)
         process_mock = Mock(pid=121372, name='Process-1')
         process_mock.name = 'Process-1'
-        client.processes['0'] = {'process': process_mock, 'start_time': '--time--', 'stop_time': None, 'duration': None, 'active': True}
+        client.processes['0'] = {'process': process_mock, 'start_time': '--time--', 'stop_time': None, 'duration': None}
         client.complete_process('0')
-        self.assertEqual(client.processes['0'], {'process': process_mock, 'start_time': '--time--', 'stop_time': datetime_patch.datetime.now.return_value, 'duration': get_duration_patch.return_value, 'active': False})
+        self.assertEqual(client.processes['0'], {'process': process_mock, 'start_time': '--time--', 'stop_time': datetime_patch.datetime.now.return_value, 'duration': get_duration_patch.return_value})
+        on_complete_process_patch.assert_called_once_with()
 
     def test__get_results_Should_CallExpected_When_Called(self, *patches):
         result_queue_mock = Mock()
@@ -236,7 +240,7 @@ def test__process_control_message_Should_PurgeProcessQueue_When_ControlError(sel
     def test__process_control_message_Should_DoNothing_When_ControlDoneAndProcessQueueEmptyAndActiveProcesses(self, *patches):
         process_data = [{'range': '0-1'}]
         client = MPmq(function=Mock(__name__='mockfunc'), process_data=process_data)
-
+        client.active_processes = 1
         process_queue_mock = Mock()
         process_queue_mock.empty.return_value = True
         client.process_queue = process_queue_mock