Managing Custom Fields

The Practice Settings Custom Fields function allows an FYI Admin to add and change the Client Custom Field and Job Custom Field definitions within FYI.

For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, any changes made to the Client or Job Custom Field definitions in FYI will sync to Xero Practice Manager within 15 minutes.

These can only be maintained in FYI by an FYI Admin who can add, edit or remove Custom Fields.

Changes to Custom Fields in Xero Practice Manager
For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, any changes made in Xero Practice Manager to the Custom Fields values for a Client or Job, or to the definitions, will still sync to FYI overnight.

In the Client - Custom Fields and Job - Custom Fields, you can use the Sync from PM button at the bottom of the Custom fields to sync the values for Custom Fields selected for the specific Client or specific Job from Xero Practice Manager to FYI. Refer to Client Custom Fields and Job Custom Fields.

Note: The Sync from PM does not sync any changes to the Custom Field definitions and these are only synced automatically each evening from Xero Practice Manager.

Note: In the Xero Practice Manager Settings, the automatic sync of Custom Fields to FYI can be disabled by setting the Sync Custom Fields From XPM option to "Off". When this is disabled, the Sync from PM can still be used to sync the values for Custom Fields selected for the specific Client or specific Job from Xero Practice Manager to FYI. Refer to Resetting your connection between FYI and Xero Practice Manager.

GreatSoft and Third-Party apps

• Client and Job UDFs in GreatSoft are synced to FYI as a Custom Field definition. These are displayed in the Practice Settings Custom Fields and show the Source as "GreatSoft".
• Maintaining or adding Custom Fields in FYI does not work with GreatSoft.
• If you have any third-party apps updating Custom Fields within Xero Practice Manager, these are not synced to FYI automatically and they would need to be manually updated (refer to Sync from PM in Client Custom Fields and Job Custom Fields.

This article contains the following sections:

• Editing Custom Field Values or Selections (in Client or Job Workspace)
• Displaying the Custom Field Definitions
• Adding a new Custom Field Definition
• Changing a Custom Field Definition
• Deleting a Custom Field Definition
• Custom User Roles

Editing Custom Field Values or Selections (in Client or Job Workspace)

An FYI Admin, or a user in a User Group that has Permissions enabled for Edit Custom Fields, can edit the value or selection for a Client or Job Custom Field from the Client - Custom Fields tab or the Job - Custom Field tab.

For details refer to Editing Client Custom Fields in Client Custom Fields and to Editing Job Custom Fields in Job Custom Fields.

Any changes made in FYI to the Client or Job Custom Field values will sync to Xero Practice Manager within 15 minutes. 

If you prefer that changes to Client and Job Custom Fields are only made in Xero Practice Manager, ensure that no users are given the Edit Custom Fields permission.

Note: Client and Job Custom Fields are not linked. If you wish to filter on a custom field value in a Client List that field must be available in the Client List. This is the same for Job Lists where the column must be available as a Job Custom Field. 

Displaying the Custom Field Definitions

1. Log in to FYI as an FYI Admin.
2. From FYI, click Settings in the top right-hand corner.
3. Select Practice settings from the drop-down, then select Admin.
4. Go to the Custom Fields tab.

A list of the Custom Field definitions displays. Custom Fields display alphabetically.

You can use the Search field to search in the Custom Fields.

The Custom Fields list displays as follows.

Custom Fields that have been synced from UDFs in GreatSoft show the Source as "GreatSoft".

Adding a new Custom Field Definition

1. From the Custom Fields list, click Add.
   
   
2. Enter the Custom Field Name.
   
   
3. Checkmark whether the Custom Field is Applied to Clients and/or Jobs.
   
   
4. Select the Type. This determines how the value can be entered or selected when a user enters it for the Client or Job.
   
   
   When the Type is selected as "Drop-down", you also need to enter the options that will be available for that Custom Field as in the following example.
   
   
   
   
5. Click Save.
   

Changing a Custom Field Definition

Click on a Custom Field in the list. You can make changes to the Name or to what it Applies to.

You cannot change the Type. If a Custom Field has been set up with the incorrect Type it would need to be removed and added as a new Custom Field. You can include the Custom Field column in the Clients and Jobs list to check if it has already been used for a Client of Job.

You can add or delete Options for a Drop-down type Custom Field. If you delete an option in a Drop-down type Custom Field, this will not remove it from any Clients or Jobs it has already been selected in but it will not be available to be selected in any others.

Deleting a Custom Field Definition

Select the Custom Field in the list and click Delete and confirm.

• If the Custom Field has been used, it will be removed from any relevant Clients or Jobs. The deletion is synced to Xero Practice Manager.
• If the Custom Field is used in any Automation Processes, no notification is given that it is being used, but it will automatically be removed from the relevant Processes.

Adding FYI Custom Fields to Excel Spreadsheets as Merge Names

If you want to use Merge Names in Excel Spreadsheets for Custom Fields that you have added in FYI, to indicate it was added in FYI, in the Name, the "XPM" in the Merge Field needs to be changed to "fyi", for example as "FYI_fyi_custom_customname".

Refer also to Including Merge Names in Excel Templates.

Custom User Roles

As well as the Custom Field Types that are available in your practice management software, there is an additional Type of "User" which is used to add Custom Fields in FYI that are Custom User Roles for Clients and/or Jobs.

This allows a value for a Custom Field to be selected as one of the active users in FYI user so that customised user roles can be set up. A Custom User Role can be used to record the user who is assigned to additional categories such as Accountant, Bookkeeper, Team Coordinator, Supervisor, etc.

Custom User Roles can only be added and maintained in FYI.

When the Type is selected as "User", the Custom Field is as added in the same way as other types.


Note: When adding a Custom Field with the Type of "User" in FYI, this is synced to Xero Practice Manager with the Type set as "Text".

Custom User Roles can then be used in the same way as Partner and Manager in Client and Job lists to sort and filter. They can also be selected in Automations when creating a Task as the Assignee and in the Workflow as the Owner or Approver.

Refer to Custom User Roles.

Note: Unlike other Custom Fields, the Sync from PM function on the Client - Custom Fields or Job - Custom Fields tabs will not update any changes if these are made to a Custom User Role in Xero Practice Manager.