Creating Stationery and Templates for Word with Merge Fields

You can include Merge Fields in a Stationery or Template for Word to bring in content from Xero Practice Manager and from FYI. These are added to the Word document that will be used as the stationery or template, for example, «FirstName», «LastName», «PostalAddress» for the address. 

You can include the Office function to automatically insert "today's date". You can also use the FYI Merge Field «CreatedDate» to include the date the document was included in FYI which does not update itself.

There is a collection of Merge Fields available in FYI. You can download the FYI Merge Fields.docx document with a list of these codes at the bottom of this help article. FYI also installs some sample documents that you can use as a basis for setting up your own Templates. 

As well as the standard fields, if you are using Custom Fields in Xero Practice Manager, Merge Fields for these can also be included in Stationery and Templates and these need to be added to a Template in a specific format (see below).

For general information on creating and updating Stationery and Templates in FYI, refer to Creating Stationery for Word and Creating Templates for Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

An example of a Word document with Merge Fields is shown below.

Downloading the Merge Fields Document

At the bottom of this help article is an attachment FYI Merge Fields.docx which lists all the fields that you can use as Merge Fields in FYI Templates. From this document, you can simply copy fields directly into the Word document you want to use as the template.

Downloading an FYI Sample Template

FYI also installs some sample documents which include Merge Fields. You can use these as a basis for setting up the Word documents for your own Templates.

To download any of these samples:

1. From FYI, click Settings in the top right-hand corner.
2. Select Practice settings from the drop-down, then select Documents.
   Or,
   If you are not an FYI administrator but have access to administer templates,
   from Settings select Documents.
3. Go to the Templates tab.
4. Select one of the sample templates that are installed with FYI.
5. On the Drawer, click Download existing template.
6. Open the downloaded file (from the bar at the bottom of your browser).
7. If you make any changes, save the edited file. This can then be uploaded as a new or updated Template (refer to Creating Templates for Word, Excel or PowerPoint).
   

Adding FYI Merge Fields to Stationery and Template Word Documents

You can add any of the FYI Merge Fields to Word documents in the following ways:

• Copy a field from the attached FYI Merge Fields.docx document.
• Add the Merge Field using the Insert Field function in Word.

Copy a Field from the Merge Fields Document

1. Download the document FYI Merge Fields.docx at the bottom of this help article.
2. Find the field you want and copy this from the right-hand column.
   In the following example, this is copying the Merge Field for "Addressee".
   
   
   
3. Paste the field into the Word document in the location that you want to show the contents of the field.

Using the Word Insert Field Function

1. Open the Word document you will be using in the FYI Template.
2. Go to the location in the Word document that you want to show the contents of the field.
3. From the Word ribbon menu, select Insert > Quick Parts > Field.
   
   
4. Select the Field named MergeField.
5. Enter the name of the field exactly as shown in the FYI Merge Fields.docx downloaded from the bottom of this help article.
6. Click OK to add it to the Word document.

The following example shows the Merge Field "Addressee" from Xero Practice Manager being added.

Additional Merge Fields

As well as the information from Xero Practice Manager, there are some additional Merge Fields that you can include from the FYI Data. You can copy these from the FYI Merge Fields.docx or enter them using the Word function Insert > Quick Parts > Fields.

Reference Number
The «ReferenceNumber» Merge Field can be used in Word templates to include the unique FYI reference number. Refer to Unique Document Reference Number.

Roles
If you have added Roles to your users (for example Director, Partner, Accountant) this can be included, for example, in the sign off by including the Merge Field «AuthorRole» in templates. Refer to Users.

Merge Fields for Custom Fields

If you have set up Custom Fields in your Xero Practice Manager (for example, to distinguish the client type (such as A, B or C grade clients, to record additional address or contact information, or for other indicators) you can include Merge Fields for these Custom Fields in Stationery and Templates. Custom Fields display on the Clients - Detail tab in FYI.

You need to add these as Merge Fields from the Word Field function.

The Field name of Merge Field in Word must be entered as follows:

• The Field name must exactly match the Custom Field name in Xero Practice Manager.
• Prefix the Field name with XPM_custom_
• For Custom Field names with spaces, replace the space with an underscore (_).

For example:
  Custom Field Types is entered as XPM_custom_Types
  Custom Field Skype Call is entered as XPM_custom_Skype_Call

Adding Merge Fields for Custom Fields

1. From the Word ribbon menu, select Insert > Quick Parts > Field.
2. Select the Field name MergeField.
3. Enter the Field name as XPM_custom_fieldname (where fieldname is the Custom Field with any spaces replaced by an underscore).
4. Click OK.

Refer also to Including Advanced Tax-Related Merge Fields in Word Templates.

Updating Merge Fields

You can make any changes to Templates that include Merge Fields by downloading the Word document in the template, updating it, saving it and then re-uploading the changed file to the FYI Template. Refer to Creating Templates for Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

To change a Merge Field in a Word document:

1. Right-click on the Merge Field and select Edit Field.
   
   
2. The Field pop-up displays. Make any changes as needed and click OK.
3. Right-click again on the Merge Field and select Update Field.

Conditional Merge Fields

Word supports conditional merge fields.

For example, if you wanted to use a Custom Merge Field "Preferred_Name" is this was available, otherwise use the Merge Field "Salutation"). For this example (of the Custom Field "Preferred_Name" and the merge field "Salutation), you would type this in the Word document as in the following example.

{% if XPM_Preferred_Name <> '' %} {{ XPM_Preferred_Name }} {% else %} {{ Salutation }} {% endif %}

Replace "Preferred_Name" or "Salutation" in the example above as relevant to use different Custom Fields or Merge Fields.

Today's Date

There are two ways to add 'today's date' to a document via an FYI template or stationery. Use whichever is appropriate for if you want the date updated when a document is reopened, or if you want to retain the original creation date.

• Office Date field.
  Using the Date field will add 'today's date' when the document is created from the template/stationery, but it will reset the date to the current date whenever the document is opened or downloaded.
• FYI CreatedDate Merge Field.
  Using the FYI CreatedDate Merge Field, adds the current 'today's date' when  a document created from the template/stationery and this original creation date is retained whenever the document is opened or downloaded.

Office Date Field
To include the Office "Date" Field:

1. From the Word ribbon menu select Insert > Quick Parts > Field
2. In the list of Field names, select the field "Date".
3. Select the format required.
4. Click OK to add the field.

FYI CreatedDate Merge Field
To include the FYI "CreatedDate" Merge Field:

1. From the Word ribbon menu select Insert > Quick Parts > Fields
2. In the list of Field names, Select the field "MergeField".
3. Enter the Field name as CreatedDate.
4. Click OK to add the field.