Automation Process Steps

The following describes how steps are set up for processes.

Application and Action

Each step is set up for the Application that it accesses (for example, to access Xero Ledger or within FYI itself).

Steps are set to run an Action which is one of the pre-set actions (or function) for the relevant Application. For example,

When FYI is selected as the application, the action can be set to:

• Alter Document for relevant process, (to change some filing details, for example, Workflow, or create a comment with notification). This is useful when creating Custom Processes using a view. Refer to Custom Processes using Views and Summary Notifications.
• Create Email, Create Word, Create Presentation, Create Spreadsheet to create an Office email, Word, PowerPoint or Excel document in FYI.
• Create PDF to create a PDF document using a PDF template.
• Create Job can be used with a Client View process to create a Job in Xero Practice Manager,
• Create Task to create an FYI Task.
• Create Meeting to create an FYI Meeting.
• Delay can be used to set a delay in the process. This can be set to a number of hours, days or weeks so that the  next step in the process is not run until that delay is over.
• Execute Process to execute any other process that has been set up in FYI Automation.
• Summary Notification to send out a summary of more than one notification. This step is only available for a custom process and when a view has been selected as a filter. Refer to Custom Processes using Views and Summary Notifications.
• Update Client can be used to update Custom Fields that are dates. This will sync the change to Xero Practice Manager. Refer to Custom Fields in Client Details.
• Update Job to update the Job State, Partner of Manger on jobs. This will sync the change to Xero Practice Manager. This step is only available for a custom process and when a Job view has been selected as a filter, or if a Document view is selected and in this case, a Job will only be updated only if the document is assigned to a job. Refer to Job States.
  
  

When Ledger is selected as the application, the action can be selected to:

• Import a report (Balance Sheet, Bank Summary, Budget Summary, Profit & Loss, Trial Balance) to import the relevant report from Xero Ledger.
  
  

For the function that is selected, the details of what each step does within FYI is then controlled by the settings in the Drawer. These control any actions, such as how the document is filed, and settings for the workflow and whether a task is created as part of the step.

The settings available will depend on what type of function the step is doing. These following the same options that are available when creating the same type of document directly in FYI.

• Action. (for example, selection of a template, how to handle attachments).
• Filing (for example, the name of a document).
• Workflow (for example, the Owner of the document, an Approver and a workflow status such as "Approved", "Pending Client Signature" or "Client Signed").
• Task (determines if a Task is created as part of the step).
• Comment (determines if a Comment is added to a document which can also send a notification).

Examples of Actions

The following are examples of the Actions that are available in steps.

Create Email

The following is an example of a Create Email step.

Template - this selects the Email Template that will be used. The template can include merge fields to create the email text

Attachments - if there is an attachment, this suelects the step within the process that generated the document.

Attachments as PDFs - set the Attachments as PDFs switch to "On" to send the attachments as PDF files, or "Off" to send in their original file format.

Sender - This can be set to a specific person in your user list. Or it can be set as "Manager" to set the owner as the relative client's manager, or as "Partner" to set the owner as the relative client or job's partner (as held in Xero Practice Manager).

• For a process that is run for a Client, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Client Details.
• For a process that is run in the context of a Job, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Job Details.

Send attachment(s) - determines how the attachment is sent, by email or sent to the client's OneDrive. When this is set as OneDrive, and Attachments as PDFs is set as "Off" you can select Co-edit with client (refer to Co-editing an External Document).

Save or Send - whether to save as "Draft in FYI", "Draft in Outlook" or Send Immediately".

Create Word, Spreadsheet and Presentation

The steps for Create Word, Spreadsheet or Presentation allow you to select settings for Filing, Workflow, Task and Comment.

You can select a Template that will be applied, and for Word, you can also select a Stationery. The Template and Stationery can include merge fields to create the text.

The following is an example of a Create Word step.

The following is an example of the Filing settings for Create Word. Refer below for details of setting up the Filing, Workflow, Task and Comments for the Word, Spreadsheet or Presentation document.

Update Job

In the Action for Update Job, you select the Job State, Partner or Manager to be set by the process.

The Partner and Manager can be set to a specific person in your user list. Any of these can be set as "‘Unchanged’ if the State, Partner or Manager are not going to be changed by the process.

Delay

A Delay step can added to an Automation Process to set a delay in the process. This delays the next step in the process from running until that delay is over. The Delay can be set to a number of hours, days or weeks. For example, this could be used so that on completion of a Task that is created in the process, there is then a delay of the selected hours, days or weeks and then an email is sent.

The Process History displays the date and time that each step completed.  Refer to

 

Create Job

When using a process with a Client View, the Create Job step can be used to create a Job. Refer to Custom Processes using Views and Summary Notifications. The Job is synced to Xero Practice Manager where the job number will be applied.

As Job Templates are not currently available in FYI, if any other changes are needed to the Job, you can update it in Xero Practice Manager. When it is next synced with FYI, the Job details are updated in FYI.

Update Client

The Update Client step can be used to update Client Custom Fields. This is currently available for Custom Fields that are dates. When the update is made by the automation process to the Client in FYI, the change is synced to Xero Practice Manager.

An example of this would be updating the Engagement Date on the client record as a result of a client signing an engagement letter. An automation can be set up using a view that detects that the engagement letter has been signed by the client and updates a "Last valid engagement date" Custom Field in the client record with the current date stamp.

Another example when this could be used is to record the last date that a partner made contact with a client. This can be triggered when a Phone Call or Meeting interaction was created in FYI.

This process step is used to update the record with the current date so this would not be used for a Custom Field date such as a date of birth.

Filing in Steps

The Filing settings control how the document is named and where it is filed. The following is an example of importing a file.

 

Name is the name of the file that will be created in FYI. In the example, this is for the Tax Assessment. This can contain be from the template or changed to any text as required.
and it can also use relative merge fields. In this example, the from and to tax periods can be included in the document name NOA Agree {{ TaxPeriodFrom }} - {{ TaxPeriodTo }}, or the Client Name can be included in the document name, NOA {{ ClientName }}.

To include Merge fields:

1. Click the ellipsis (…) next to the Name to display the pop-up with the relevant merge fields that can be used. Click the down arrow next to a category to expand it and display the merge fields in that group.
   
   
2. Position the cursor in the Name where you want to include the merge code.
3. Click one of the merge fields that is listed on the right-hand side (for example, you could add NOA Amount, or from the FYI group, Client Name)
4. The correct code for the merge field is added for you in the Name.

When AutoFile is disabled, the document will be filed using the settings in the process step. When AutoFile is enabled, the default settings for the client are used if available.

Cabinet and Categories are set as relevant for the type of document being processed.

For Year, this can include merge fields by selecting "Merge Field" from the drop down which then displays the  merge field pop-up selections in the same way as for the Name. If this is set, for example, with "TaxYear" as the merge field, the document will be automatically filed in the relevant tax year as the Year category.

Filing defaults to "Filed". If this is set as "Unfiled" it will appear in the owner's In Tray ready for filing. Owner can be set in the Workflow section or as the Process Owner.

Workflow in Steps

You can use the Workflow section in the step  for information purposes, to set the approval of an email or document, or to set it as read-only. This is the same as the Workflow section when creating emails and documents. Refer to the section Workflows.

Owner can be used to select the owner of the document/email.

This can be set to a specific person in your user list. Or it can be set as "Manager" to set the owner as the relative client or job's manager, or as "Partner" to set the owner as the relative client or job's partner (as held in Xero Practice Manager).

• For a process that is run for a Client, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Client Details.
• For a process that is run in the context of a Job, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Job Details.

If there is no Partner/Manager assigned to the client and the process is creating an email, it will add the Process Owner as the Owner of the email created in the step. When a Word document or Meeting is created by the process step, it adds the user running the process as Owner of the document created.

Approver can be used to set the Approver of the document/email. This can be set to a specific person or it can be set as "Manager" to set the owner as the relative client or job's manager, or as "Partner" to set the owner as the relative client or job's partner.

• For a process that is run for a Client, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Client Details.
• For a process that is run in the context of a Job, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Job Details.

Workflow Status can be set for information purposes, to set the approval of an email or document, or to set it as read-only.

Task in Steps

Task is used to create a task for the document/email when the process runs. In the following example, the task is created for an email.

Create a Task - click to set this as "Yes" to create a task.

Subject - enter a brief subject for the task. This displays in the lists in FYI.

Assignee - can be set as a specific person in your user list. Or this can be set as "Manager" to assign the task to the relative client or job's manager, or as "Partner" to assign it to the relative client' or job's partner (as held in Xero Practice Manager).

• For a process that is run for a Client, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Client Details.
• For a process that is run in the context of a Job, the Partner or Manager is taken from the Job Details.

Due Date - select when the task needs to be completed as the number of days. You can also set this as 0 (zero) days to make the task immediate.

Status - this defaults to "Not started". The Status can be changed to "In Progress", so when the task is created, nothing needs to be actioned on it.

Cabinet - if Task Security is set in your Practice Settings, a Cabinet can be selected to add the Cabinet security to the task. This ensures that only users with access to that Cabinet can see the task, for example, for sensitive areas such as HR or performance management. When creating a task, you can select the cabinet. Where a task is automatically created as linked to a document, the task cabinet is inherited from the document created and displays in the task details. Refer to Practice Settings.

Blocking - when creating a task, you can set Blocking as "On" so that the task in the automation is only created if an email, word or any other document has been successfully created in the previous step(s).
Note: If the process only holds one step, ensure you do not set a task that is created with Blocking as "On" as the process will show as outstanding until the status of the task is set as "Complete".

Details - type the brief details of the task. The assignee can easily display the email to see what the task relates to.

Comment in Steps

Refer to Automation Notifications.