Year End Compliance Job Kick Off

The following is an example of a Custom Process designed to automatically kick off jobs by creating documents required to complete annual compliance jobs.

This automation is based on the Job State of "Planned", therefore it is important to keep Job States up to date to ensure all relevant clients are included in the automation.

This custom automation has been created by the FYI team, ready to be imported to use in your practice. To download our quick reference guide, click here (or download the file from the bottom of this article).

Importing this Custom Automation

Click here to download the file used to import this example Custom Process, ready for you to test and activate or customise to suit your practice (or download the file from the bottom of this article).

Note: If you are using Chrome as your browser, the link may not automatically download the zip file. You need to right-click on the download link above, select Copy link address and paste it into a new browser tab in the browser's URL field.

Refer also to Importing Custom Processes.

Creating the Custom Process

The following section detail how to create this Custom Process directly, without using the Import feature.

• Setup the Templates used in the Process
• Create a View or Determine the View to use
• Add the Custom Process
• Add Step 1 - Create an Engagement Letter from a Template
• Add Step 2 - Create a Task to Send the Engagement Letter for Signing via Signature Service
• Add Step 3 - Update the Job State to "In Progress"
• Add Step 4 - Create EOY Workpapers from a Template
• Add Step 5 - Create Tax Letter from a template
• Testing a Scheduled Custom Process
• Reviewing the Process History
• Set the Status of the Process to "Active"
• Scheduled Process runs Automatically
• Download Files

Watch the video walkthrough to learn how to customise this Custom Process.

Setup the Templates used in the Process

This example Process creates two Word documents and a Spreadsheet for the workpaper.

This example Custom Process uses the following templates:

• Word Template "Engagement Letter"
• Spreadsheet Template "EOY Workpapers"
• Word Template "Tax Planning Cover Letter"

Create a View or Determine the View to use

To run the Process for Annual Compliance Job Kick Off, this example needs a view to be created that will be used to trigger the Custom Process. Refer to Saving Changes to the View Layout, Modifying and Deleting Views.

In the Jobs list:

1. Include the State column in the view.
2. Filter the State column to include "Planned" Jobs only.
3. Type Annual Compliance in the Search jobs This will search the Job Name and only include jobs that match.
4. Save the view, in this example as “Planned Annual Compliance Jobs". If required, this view can be saved as "Automations only" so it is not included in the available views for standard users.
   
   

Add the Custom Process

1. In Automation - Processes, click Add Custom Process.
2. Add the Name of the Process, in this example this is "Year End Compliance Job Kick Off".
3. If required, add any additional description of the Process in the Description.
4. In this example, the process will run regularly therefore the custom process has the Trigger set to "Schedule".
   Define the schedule according to how often the Process should run.
   In this example, this is set to run every 4 hours, starting from a specific date.
5. The Filter Type is set as "Job - View Filters" to filter jobs based on the pre-defined, saved Job view.
   This is selected as the "Planned Annual Compliance Jobs" view.
6. Ensure Run Only Once Per Job is selected for the automation to run once per job.
   
   
   The following is an example of the Custom Process.
   
   
   

Add Step 1 - Create an Engagement Letter from a Template

This step creates a client engagement letter and assigns a task to format the letter and send it to the Client Manager using the workflow.

1. Click Add Step and select Create Word to create a letter.
2. Select the Template as "Engagement Letter".
3. Review the Filing details as required.
4. In the Workflow section, select the Approver as the person who will approve the Engagement Letter , in this example, the client's "Manager".
5. Select the Workflow Status as "In Progress".
6. In the Task section, create and assign a task to "Format engagement letter".
7. Set a Due date for completion of the task.
8. Ensure Blocking is selected as “Yes”. This ensures that this step is completed before the process continues.
9. If relevant, you could set the Task as Autocomplete (for example, when the Workflow Status of the Word document was set to "Pending Approval"). Refer to AutoComplete Tasks.
10. Update the Task Details and provide further instructions to the relevant user on what is required to complete the task, such as information on sending the Engagement Letter to the Manager to review it using Workflow.
    
    
11. Click Save.

Add Step 2 - Create a Task to Send the Engagement Letter for Signing via Signature Service

This step creates a Task assigned to the user who will send the engagement agreement to your client using your preferred signature service.

1. Click Add Step and select Create Task to create a task with the Subject “Send Engagement Letter to Client”.
2. Select the Assignee as the person responsible for sending the letter to the client.
3. Set a Due date for completion of the task.
4. Ensure Blocking is selected as “Yes”. This ensures that this step is completed before the process continues.
   
5. Click Save.

Add Step 3 - Update the Job State to "In Progress"

Once the Task in the step above has been set as "Complete", this step automatically updates the Job Status to "In Progress".

1. Click Add Step and select Update Job.
2. Select the Job State as “In Progress”.
   

   For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, the Update Job Step can also be used to update the Name, Budget, Manager, Partner, Start Date, Due Date and Job Custom Fields.

   If Job Cabinet Security is enabled in your Practice Settings, you can update the Cabinet.
   
   
3. Click Save.

Add Step 4 - Create EOY Workpapers from a Template

This step creates an EOY workpapers Spreadsheet using the Template “EOY Workpapers”.

1. Click Add Step and select Create Spreadsheet.
2. Select the Template as “EOY Workpapers” template.
3. Review the Filing details as required.
   
   
4. In the Comments section, add a comment to notify the relevant team member(s) that the EOY workpapers have been created.
   
   Note: To send a notification when using a Merge Field such as Manager, the Merge Field needs to be enclosed in an open and closed square brackets [ ], for example, [{{ Manager }}].
   The square brackets need to be added from the Merge Fields screen. Refer to To Send a Notification using the Merge Fields in Automation Notifications.
   
   
5. Click Save.

Add Step 5 - Create Tax Letter from a template

This step creates a Word document for the client Tax Letter based on a template.

1. Click Add Step and select Create Word.
2. Select the Template as "Tax Planning Cover Letter".
3. Select the practice Stationery.
4. Review the Filing details as required.
   
   
5. Click Save.

Testing a Scheduled Custom Process

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

You can test a Scheduled Custom Process directly from the Process itself and this can be done while the Process is still "Draft".

1. Click Test.
2. The Select Test pop-up displays a list of the Jobs and the associated Clients based on the Filter that has been set up in the process.
   Note: A Test Client is handy for testing scheduled automations.
3. From the Select Test, search and select a specific Job to run the test for and click Run Test.

Refer to Testing Custom Processes.

Reviewing the Process History

When a Process has run (from a Test run or at any other time) you can review the status and check what was processed. The Process can be reviewed from the Process itself, or from the Client workspace for the relevant client.

Refer to Automation History, Client Processes and Process History and Client Process History Checklist.

Set the Status of the Process to "Active"

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

Scheduled Process runs Automatically

This example is a Scheduled Process. Once the Status is set as "Active", the Process will run automatically according to the schedule that was set. In this example the process has been scheduled to run every 4 hours.

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

Download Files