Sorting and Filtering Lists

Sorting and filtering in FYI Lists make it easy to organise and narrow down information, with icons displayed to indicate when these options are active. Columns can be filtered directly from their headings or by using the Filter tab on the left, giving users flexible ways to customise views.

Lists that have sorting or filtering applied can be saved as a view from the View Tools drop-down. Refer to Using Lists and Saving Changes to the View Layout, Modifying and Deleting Views.

Sorting Lists

Sorting is available where the column heading can be clicked.

Click the column heading to sort the column. This initially sorts that column in ascending order, indicated by the Up arrow.

Click the column heading again to sort the column in descending order, indicated by the Down arrow.

To restore the original sort order, click the column heading until the arrow has been removed.

Sorting on columns only sorts on a single column at a time, the last one that was clicked. If you have sorted a column (ascending or descending) and then click to sort on a different column, the previous sorting will no longer apply.

Using Filters

Filters can be applied:

• From the Filters tab on the left-hand side.
• From the Filters option in the Column Heading for the relevant column.

The list will be automatically updated as filters are applied. 

Please note:

• Filters are not relevant for certain columns. If the Filter icon is not displayed, filtering is not available for that column. If the column is not available the List cannot be filtered by that data.
• 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.
• You can filter on columns even if they're not currently displayed in the list by using the Filters tab.
• Filters can be applied to a Custom Field, depending on the type of data in the field. For example, filtering jobs based on the Custom User Roles will display a User filter.

When a column has been filtered, the Filter icon will be displayed in green.

Filters Tab

The Filters tab displays a list of all the available filters, allowing users to filter by a column even if that column has not been added to the list.

1. Click the Filters tab on the left-hand side of the list. A list of the available filters will be displayed in alphabetical order, including Job Custom Fields. If a Filter is currently active, the Filter icon will be displayed next to the field name.
   
   To change the width of the tab, hover the mouse over the right border until the icon changes to horizontal arrows, and click and drag to your desired width.
    
2. At the top of the Filters tab, use the Search to find a column. In the following example, the search has been entered to find all columns that start with "mod".
   
3. Click to expand the column that you want to apply a filter to.
   
4. From the expanded column, click to select or deselect any of the values as required, or enter the relative filters if available.
   Deselecting the (Select All) in a Filter will uncheck all items in the list.
   
5. Where the filter contains a Search box, search for values in the Filters by entering the search text at the top of the expanded Filter.
   Enter the search text and press the Enter key.
   
6. Click Reset in the expanded Filter to reselect all the values, or click Select All.

Column Headings

1. Make sure the relevant column has been added to the list.
    
2. Click the Filter icon in the column heading. If the icon isn't displayed, filtering is not available for that column.
   
3. The filter settings are displayed, including the values that can be filtered.
   
4. Click to select or deselect any of the values as required.
   
5. You can use the Search at the top of the Filters to search for values within the filter. Enter the search text and press the Enter key.
   

To remove a filter, click Reset in the expanded Filter to select all the values, or click Select All.

Filter Types

Filters can be used in different ways, depending on the data within the column. For example, text fields will let you search within the text, while numbers can be searched using ranges. 

Name

When filtering on a Name column, depending on the list, you can apply a filter as Equals (case-sensitive) or as Contains. The same options are available when filtering from the Filters sidebar.

Consider the following information when filtering columns, dependent on the list you are filtering:

• Documents: When applying a Filter to the document Name column in the Documents list, the Filter is always added with the qualifier "Contains". The filter will find results that include any part of the phrase, regardless of the order of the words. For example, "Tax Return" will return results with "Income Tax Return", or "Tax Returns".
   
• Tasks: When applying a Filter to the Subject column in the Tasks List, the Filter is always added with the qualifier "Contains".
• Clients: In the Clients list, applying a Filter to the Name column will also find the text if it is all or part of the Email address, Client Code or Export Code.
• Jobs: When filtering on Job Names and selecting "Equals", the filter will match the full job name. The following is an example of filtering where the Job Name filter has been set to "Equals" - Quarterly Return Job Q2.
  
  When filtering Job Names, the Contains filter will match the exact phrase entered. For example, searching using Contains, and entering "Quarterly Tax Return 2025" will not look for "quarterly", "tax", "return", and "2025" separately. The following is an example of filtering where the Job Name contains the phrase "quarterly".
  
  When filtering by the Job column in the Documents List within the Client, Client Group, and Employee Workspaces, the only available filter option is Contains. Filtering by the Job column is not available in the main Documents List.
  

Name (Multi) - Job List only

The Name (Multi) column filter allows users to apply multiple filters to job names to further refine the results. For example, the user can search first for "Tax" and select the matching results, and then filter by "Quarterly", with any jobs matching Tax or Quarterly displayed in the list.

When filtering by the Name (multi) column, the filter is case-sensitive and must match exactly, e.g. searching for "billing" will not return results with "Billing".

The following is an example where the Name (Multi) column has been filtered by "Tax", and then "Quarterly". 

Checkboxes

For columns that contain various options, you will be able to use the checkboxes to select all that apply.

When a Document List Filing Status column is filtered to include "Draft" and the view is saved, a warning will appear to inform users that only FYI Admins can view the Draft documents directly, or users with access to drafts via their In Tray.

The following is an example of filtering the Documents List by the Filing Status.

Dates

For date columns, you can enter the filter as Fixed, and enter a fixed start and end date, or as Relative and select an operator to set the Date Range that is Relative to today. 

Click the Filter option on a date column.

Click on the section below for more information on using each filter.

Note: Filtering Jobs by Modified On may result in inaccurate results, as minor updates to job-related data in Xero Practice Manager can change the Modified On timestamp without modifying the job itself. For accurate results, it is recommended to filter by a Job State or Custom Field, such as "Last Contact date".

Numbers and Decimals

For specific columns containing Numbers and Decimals, Relative Filters can be used to filter values to a specific range. This includes Custom Fields with a Type of "Numbers" or "Decimals".

The selection can be set to:

• Less than
• Less than or equal to
• Greater than
• Greater than or equal to
• Between
• Equals
• Does Not Equal

Click the drop-down to select the required option.

For example, the WIP column, available to Elite practices, can be filtered by "Greater than" 0 to show outstanding WIP.

The following is an example in the Jobs List of a Custom Number field, "Job Estimated Hours", using the "Between" filter to display values between 10-20 hours.

Emails

The Clients List and Employees List (Elite plan only) can be filtered by the client and employee email addresses.

The filters can be set to:

• Contains
• Does not contain
• Equals
• Does not equal
• Starts with
• Ends with
• Is empty
• Is not empty

The search is not case sensitive. 

When filtering by Does not contain, or Does not equal, blank values will be included, for example, where the client does not have an email address.

For practices where FYI as Primary for Client Maintenance is enabled, the filters will include the Primary Contact email where an email address has not been entered for the client on the Client - Summary tab. 

For example, the Is empty filter will display clients where an email address has not been entered for either the client or the Primary Contact. The client will not be included in the results when an email address has been entered for the Primary Contact, and the client displays the Primary Contact email.

To clear the search filters, click Reset.

Blank Values

The "(Blank)" option allows users to filter on empty values, for example, filtering a Clients List by Client Group to show clients that don't belong to a Client Group.

The following is an example of the Assignee column on a Tasks List, used to show where tasks have not yet been assigned to a user.

Please note:

• The Assignee column in the Jobs list cannot be set to "Blank".
• The Category column on the Task List is not available. When selecting a specific category, all tasks with a blank category will be filtered out.

Users

In addition to users in the practice, you can also select "(System)" to filter on anything that has been created or modified by FYI. For example, jobs created or modified by an Automation Process or app, rather than an individual user.

Saving the List

Lists that have sorting or filtering applied can be saved as a view from the View Tools drop-down. Refer to Using Lists and Saving Changes to the View Layout, Modifying and Deleting Views.

Resetting the List

You can clear any of the column filters or sorts you have applied, and reset it to the filters and sort order in the selected view.

Click the View Tools button at the end of the column headings on the right-hand side of a list, and click Reset View.