Sending an Income Tax Return Checklist to a Client

This example details how to set up a Custom Process to create an Income Tax Return Checklist and send it to a client. The process is run as "Manual" for a specific client as and when needed.

This example shows how to create the checklist as a spreadsheet and send it to the client as Co-edit.

Note: To send a document as Co-edit, you must have the Collaborate functionality configured (refer to the section Setting up Collaborate and to Co-editing an External Document). We recommend you have also first introduced your clients to Collaborate and how they will access a document sent as Co-edit (refer to Introducing Collaborate to your Clients and Sample Email for Practices).

If you want to send it as an attachment, there are a few different settings. Refer below to Sending the Checklist as an Attachment.

Example of the Email the Client Receives

The following is an example of the email that the client receives with a link to the checklist in Co-edit.

Setup the Templates used in the Process

This example Custom Process uses two Templates:

A Document template to create the Individual Tax Return Checklist (which can be a Word or Excel template).
A sample template for the Income Tax Return Checklist can be downloaded from this link.
Click here(or download the file from the bottom of this article).
An Email template to send out the Checklist.

The following is an example of the Excel spreadsheet Individual Tax Return Checklist that is used as the template to create the Checklist. This can include Merge Names for the Merge Fields to include the client details, such as the client's Name and address. Refer to Including Merge Names in Excel Templates.

The following is an example of the Email template Individual Tax Return Checklist - Co-edit used in the Custom Process to send the checklist as Co-edit. Ensure the template includes the {{ AttachmentLinks }} Merge Field where you want the link to appear.

Ensure the template includes the {{ AttachmentLinks }} Merge Field.

Note: Do not use the {{ ShareFolderLink | web_link }} and {{ UploadFolderLink | web_link }} as these are used when sharing folders via Collaborate. The Share Folder Link and Upload Folder Link Merge Fields are not designed to work in an Automation or if the Template is selected when an email is created directly.

If, for example, you want to let clients know to upload any supporting documents, you can add the link manually. Refer to the FAQ Can we include a link to the client's Share Folder or to the Upload folder in an Automation or in a Template?

Add the Custom Process

Go to Automation - Processes.
Click Add Custom Process.
Add the Name as something that makes it easy to identify in Automation - Processes.
In this example, the Name is set as "Individual Tax Return Checklist - Co-edit".
If required, add any additional description of the Process in the Description.
For this example process, the Trigger is set to “Manual”.
The Filter determines which Clients the Process will run for. In the example, this has been set to filter the clients that have Structure in the client details set as "Individual".
Set an appropriate team member as the Owner. This user will be notified if anything goes wrong with the automation process.

Add Step 1 to Create the Checklist

Click Add Step.
Select FYI Actions.
Select Create Spreadsheet.
Expand each section in the Step in turn.

In the Action section, select the Template you want to use to create the document. In the example, this is selected as the Excel spreadsheet Template "Individual Tax Return Checklist".

In the Filing section:

Select the Name. You can choose "Default from template" to use the same name as the Template Name or enter something manually.
Select the Cabinet and any Categories where you want the document to be filed.

In the Workflow section, ensure the Workflow status is set to “In Progress” to avoid it being locked as ‘read-only’. You can select the Owner, for example, as the relative Manager for the client.

You can optionally assign a Task linked to the document, (for example “Review and populate this ITR checklist based on prior year information”) and assign it to a user.

You can optionally create a Comment to notify a team member when the document has been generated (for example, "[Roger Taylor] This ITR checklist has now been generated")

Add Step 2 to Create and File the Email, Attach the Document and Send

Click Add Step.
Select FYI Actions.
Select Create Email.
Expand each section in the Step in turn.

In the Action section:

Select the Template you want to use to create the email.
For Attachments, choose the document you created in Step 1.
Note: Attachments is only available here if they have been generated in a previous Step in this process.
Set Send Attachment(s) as "OneDrive".
Set Co-edit with client to ‘YES’. This will send a link to a document that can be Co-edited with your client and allow your client to work with you on the document.
Set Attachments as PDFs to ‘NO’. For this example, the document needs to be editable, so do not convert to PDF.
Select if you want to Save or Send. This example is set as "Draft in FYI".
If you are comfortable with the process and your templates, you can change this to “Send Immediately”.
Note: If you choose to “Send Immediately” make sure you test the process to ensure it all appears correctly. If you are sending the email immediately, you need to select a Sender for the email.

In the Filing section

Select the Name of the email. This also displays as the Subject in the email the client received.
You can choose "Default from template" to use the same name as the Template Name, or enter this as something else as in the example below.
Select the Cabinet and any Categories where you want the email to be filed.

In the Workflow section

Ensure the Workflow status is set to “In Progress” to avoid it being locked as ‘read-only’. You can select the Owner, for example as the relative Manager for the client.
If you are drafting the email, you can mark the Workflow as “Pending Approval” and set an Approver.

You can optionally assign a Task linked to the document, (for example “Follow-up Client if no activity on ITR checklist after 7 days.”).

You can optionally create a Comment to notify a team member when the document has been generated (for example, "[Roger Taylor] The ITR Checklist email has now been sent").

Set the Status of the Process to "Active"

When you are ready, set the Status of the process to "Active".

Important Note: Be careful when setting an automation to "Active". Ensure you have tested it first. Refer to Testing Custom Processes.

The following shows how the process displays for this example.

Testing and Running the Process

When setting up a Custom Process, it is very important to test it to ensure it is working as expected. Refer to Testing Custom Processes.

For details of the different ways to run a Custom Process, refer to Running Custom Processes.

Sending the Checklist as an Attachment

The following shows what would be set up differently in the Email template and in the Custom Process if you want to send the checklist as an attachment, not as Co-edit.

The following is an example of the email that the client receives when the checklist is sent as an attachment.

Checklist Template
The Checklist spreadsheet is the same and the step is added to the process in the same way as above.

Email Template
It is likely you would want different text in the email template when sending the checklist as an attachment and the {{ AttachmentLinks }} is not required.

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