This masterclass focuses on one of FYI’s most powerful features - Email AutoFile - and how you can get FYI doing more of the heavy lifting around email filing for your team.
We provide an update on some our newest features and enhancements and recommendations on how to ensure client emails are auto-filed accurately.
The 60-minute masterclass covers:
- Email AutoFile Fundamentals
- New and enhanced features
- Our recommended Email AutoFile Settings and Defaults
- How to maintain great quality data in your practice management software
- How to adapt your work practices to get the most out of FYI
- What’s on the road(map)
- Live Q&A
Masterclass Handouts
These handouts provide quick access to key information covered in the webinar, including tips and links to relevant help articles.
Click here to download the slides as a PDF (or download the file from the bottom of this article).
Useful Links and Resources
Introduction to Email AutoFile
Using the Email Drawer to view Activity on an Email
Email AutoFile Settings, Exclusions and Practice Filing Defaults
Email AutoFile Exclusion CSV Import
Formatting and Fonts in Email Templates and Signatures
Adding and Changing Recipients when Creating an Email
Adding Comments and Notifying Team Members
Adding a Task to an Email or Document
Masterclass Q&A's
Q: How do I navigate to the Email AutoFile settings?
A:Email AutoFile settings are found under Automations - Apps - Email Autofile.
Refer to Email AutoFile Settings, Exclusions and Practice Filing Defaults
Q: Is there a way to change the year to default to financial year rather than calendar year?
A: 'Year' is completely up to your firm's interpretation. The vast majority of practices consider 'year' to be the 'financial year'. If you wish to rename the category from 'Year' to 'Financial Year' you can do so in your category settings here: https://app.fyidocs.com/categories
Q: The naming of auto-filed emails makes it difficult to find an email especially in a long thread of emails. And when a client uses an old thread for a new matter, it gets auto-filed in a place that then exacerbates the issue. Do you have a work around for this?
A: Simply rename the email from the FYI drawer inside of Outlook. That way, you can still benefit from email AutoFile (which takes the effort out of filing), and all you need to do is review and re-name the email as required.
Q: When we receive an email from a domain we would like to exclude, for example the CAANZ domain, can email exclusions be set from a user’s Outlook FYI Drawer or do they need to be set from the exclusions settings?
A: Email exclusions need to be set from the email exclusion settings and either entered on a one-by-one basis or imported using the email exclusions spreadsheet. Adding an exclusion from the FYI drawer in Outlook is not currently available but has been added to our enhancements list.
Refer to Email AutoFile Exclusion CSV Import
Q: If you change the name of an email subject that is part of an email thread, won’t that change the name for the entire thread? Therefore, if a client uses an old email thread and re-names the subject before sending to us, won’t the whole thread name change?
A: If you send an email, receive a response and then change the name of the sent email, this will lose the thread name and be filed separately in FYI. To maintain emails in a thread, make sure to set the Name in the FYI Filing Details before any replies to the email have come in. In this way, the FYI AutoFile function will be able to pick it up.
When an email is part of a thread, you cannot change its name or filing details if it is one of the underlying conversations. If the email is not the most recent in the thread, the Filing section in the Drawer is hidden. If you need to change the filing details (such as Cabinet, Category, Jobs, Tags, Keywords) you need to first unlink it from the thread.
Q: Is there a way for two email threads within FYI to be merged if the email subject has been changed partway through the conversation?
A: Currently there is no way to link emails into one thread. However, you can connect these in FYI using staples.
Refer to Stapled Documents.
Q: If we update the clients or contacts in our practice management software will these automatically sync through to FYI or do we have to re import?
A: Your Clients and Contacts in your practice management software are continuously synchronised with FYI. Any change in your practice management software is reflected in FYI. A manual sync from your practice management software to FYI can also be run by an FYI Admin, as needed. This ensures that your practice management software continues to be your single source of truth for client information.
Refer to Synchronising Clients, Staff, Jobs, Time, Tax Returns with Xero Practice Manager, Synchronising Clients, Users, Jobs and Tax Returns with GreatSoft,
Synchronising Clients and Users with MYOB AE.
Q: Is there a quick way to identify which are the main clients when auto-filing when more than one client shares the same email address?
A: You can add the 'Include in AutoFile' column to your client list to see which clients have Include in AutoFile enabled.
Refer to Adding, Removing, Moving Columns in a List.
Q: Can a user move documents from their In Tray to another user’s In Tray for them to action or file? If so, how?
A: You can move one or more emails and documents from your In Tray to another user's In Tray. The new user will then be able to file the emails or documents from their In Tray. The move button is displayed in the original receivers In Tray action toolbar and is displayed when a document is selected.
Refer to Managing your In Tray.
Q: Can you exclude a particular staff member from email auto-filing? For example, we have a temporary staff member who does not need any emails filed in FYI. Can this user be excluded?
A: Individual users can disable email AutoFile via the profile section in My Settings.
Q: We are still experiencing formatting issues with tables, font size etc that don’t match Outlook. How can we fix these?
A: We have fixed several formatting issues including extra blank lines. We would recommend that you review the styling in your email signatures and templates, and where necessary copy a ‘clean’ version back into FYI. If the issue continues, it is always beneficial to send through any specific examples to our support team: support@fyidocs.com so that they can work to assist. If it is a bug, then our team can work to resolve for you.
Q: Is it possible to continue to edit a draft email within FYI once we have sent the email to Outlook from the FYI email editor?
A: We recommend finalising the content of the email in FYI before you select 'Draft in Outlook'. There is no way to bring the email back to FYI once drafted in Outlook.
Q: How is the content for a merge field for an author’s direct phone number generated in an email signature? Is this from our practice management software or FYI?
A: The author’s direct and mobile phone number is set from their staff profile settings from within your practice management software and merged when an email is sent either directly to the client or to Outlook. You can use the new preview feature to view the signature and other merge field content before sending.
Refer to Sending Immediately or Saving a Draft.
Q: Are there any plans to implement the ability to select from multiple different signatures when creating emails?
A: This feature is currently on our product enhancements list.
Q: Will there be a way to file to an archived client without having to find the archived client in FYI and drag and drop the document? Currently I can't file direct from my In Tray.
A: Currently you are unable to file to an archived client directly from a user’s In Tray. To file against a client using your In Tray you would need to un-archive the client within your practice management software, sync, file from the In Tray and re-archive in your practice management software.
Q: Is it possible to set email defaults for font and size firm wide?
A: This function is currently not available within FYI. A workaround would be to use email templates. For example, a basic email template with only a salutation that has been formatted according to your firm's style guide.
Q: Can more than 100 items be deleted at a time from your In Tray? Currently you can only display 100 documents per page.
A: Yes, you can delete more than 100 documents. To delete more documents than what is displayed on the current page, you can click next and select additional documents. FYI will remember the selections made on the previous page and display the number at the top left of the action toolbar. You can then delete the selected items using the delete function.
Bulk update can be used to delete your whole In Tray’s filtered view if required by selecting apply to filtered documents. Please note this will delete all the documents on that filtered view and these cannot be retrieved.
Q: Can you send the email from a shared mailbox in FYI?
A: The shared mailbox or practice-wide email address (for example, reception@example.com.au) must have an active user account in Microsoft 365 and FYI. This user is then used to send emails to clients.
Refer to Practice-wide Shared Email Account.
Q: In the collaboration example used, there was an option to upload documents via the email. How do you create this?
A: Once Collaborate has been enabled and set up it is possible to include an 'upload folder link' to an email.
Refer to Sharing the Upload Folder with the Client.
Q: Is there a way to see another user’s FYI notifications? I am an EA wishing to view my director's notifications to monitor these, is there a way around this?
A: Currently there is no way to view another users' notifications within your profile.
Q: Can you hide sensitive clients from the view of all staff in FYI?
A: There are two ways to protect documents from being able to be viewed by internal FYI users.
- Cabinet level security
Cabinets control the security (via User Groups) that determine which users can access which documents. Refer to Managing Cabinets. - Client level security
The Client - Security tab allows you to limit complete access to that client to one or more specific users. Refer to Client Security.
Q: If we save a client email today, will it pick up the previous, say 6 exchanges in the email chain?
A: When emails are auto-filed, once one email in a thread is filed, all other emails in that thread are automatically filed with the same filing details. If an email in a thread is filed manually by a user, this will automatically file any emails in the thread that were received/sent before or after the email being filed.
Q: I have a number of Draft Emails in the document view but nothing in my In Tray for filing. Why is that?
A: When creating an email in FYI, the filing details are added at the time of email creation and the email is filed to the client at that point. The In Tray contains emails and documents not yet filed. The draft emails have already been filed and therefore will not appear in your In Tray.
Q: Is there a way to have Xero Payroll merge fields in emails?
A: Currently Xero Payroll is not a merge field that is available within FYI.
Q: Can you select more than one email when creating an email to a client from FYI?
A: When creating an email in FYI, you can add additional To, CC or BCC recipients. You can include recipients in the following ways:
- Search for any client email
- Search for internal user
- Enter a new email
- Select a contact of the client
Click the drop-down under the exiting Recipient(s) and select which of these you want to do.
Refer to Adding and Changing Recipients when Creating and Email.