Plan: Available: All plans
Users: Not Available: All users Available: FYI Admins or User Group permissions
Practice Management Source: Available: All sources
As well as the Sample Processes that are shipped with FYI, you can create Custom Processes specifically for the needs of your practice.
Custom Processes can be used to automate repetitive processes within the practice. For example, you may have clients that you service with regular frequency, such as monthly or quarterly management reporting. You may also have internal processes that repeat with consistency, with respect to HR, IT, administration, and marketing (that is, a new team member onboarding).
Custom Processes that are still in Draft will show in the Automation Dashboard with a grey background and in the Automation - Processes List View with the Status "Draft".
Custom Processes can only be set up or edited by an FYI Admin, or a user in a User Group that has Permissions enabled for Automations (refer to Managing User Groups).
Adding a Custom Process
Adding a Custom Process is similar to setting up or modifying a Sample Process, but with different settings.
When adding a Custom Process, you add a trigger and a filter, and include one or more steps.
- The Trigger controls whether the process runs on a Scheduled time or Manual when needed.
- The From options are used to control where manual Automations can be run from.
- The Filter determines what information is included or excluded from the process.
- The Steps control the actions done by the process, such as creating an email or Word document and filing it and then creating a task relating to it.
To find custom processes in FYI, click the Automation menu; the Processes tab will be selected automatically. To add a Custom Process, click the Add Custom Process button.
Refer also to Setting up Automation Processes.
Process Details
| Field | Details |
| Name | Enter the name of the process, for example, "Quarterly BAS Checklist", or "Onboarding New Employee". |
| Description |
Used to add context to the process, and a description of what the Custom Process does. The first three lines of the description added in the Description are displayed in the Automation Dashboard under the Custom Process name and in the Processes List View. Add formatting to the description by clicking into the field and clicking the + sign, for example, adding a horizontal row or table. Text Formatting such as bold, italic and colours can be added by first selecting text and setting the formatting from the pop-up. Formatting will only be displayed when editing the process. |
| Trigger |
Controls the way that a process is triggered to be run. Can be set to one of the following:
|
| Run From | Available for Automation Processes triggered manually, and controls where the Automation Process can be triggered. For example, from a List, a Workspace, or by another automation process. |
| Filter |
Determines what information is monitored or included in the process, up to 5,000 records. Note: Filter settings do not apply when running a Process from a list, including the restriction to run an automation only once per client. The Filter Type that can be selected will depend on your FYI Plan: Pro and Elite Plans
Elite Plans only
|
| Status | The Status can be "Active" or "Draft". A process will only be run if the Status is "Active". It is best practice to test your automation before enabling the Status to Active. Refer to Testing Custom Processes. |
| Owner | The Owner is set by default as the user who created the custom process and this can be changed if required. An Owner must be selected for a process. If the Custom process fails, an email will be sent to this user as a notification. You can set this as "Me" to set yourself as the owner. |
| Start From | Start From is only relevant for processes that import documents. This allows you to enter the date from which you want to start retrieving the documents. If you enter a date in the past, this will import documents from that date. This will only import documents that have not already been imported. |
| Last From | Last Run shows the date the process was last run. It includes a green tick or a red X icon to indicate if the process ran as a success or with an error. The list of full results can be viewed on the Automation History tab. |
| Next Run | Next Run will display the date and time when the process is set to next execute based on the configured schedule. |
Working with Custom Processes
Configuring the Trigger
This controls the way in which a process can be triggered. This can be set as
-
Schedule
or - Manual.
On the Automation Process Grid View, an icon displays to indicate if the Trigger for the Custom Process is Schedule or Manual. The person icon is for when it is a Manual Trigger and the clock icon is Scheduled.
The process will run automatically according to the Schedule you set. When the Trigger is set to Schedule, click below this to define the Schedule.
The Select Date Range displays where you also set the frequency.
Set the Start date and optionally the End date. These dates determine when the process is going to start and end running.
Set the Frequency as either "On the" or "Every". These also work in combination with the Start date.
"On the" sets a specific day. For "Every" you enter the number and select hours, days, weeks, etc. Use the drop-downs to see the combinations that you can select for each.
For example, to set the frequency as every Monday, you would set the Start of the Schedule as a date that is a Monday and schedule it to run every 7 days.
To set this as the last Monday in a quarter, you would set the Schedule as follows.
To schedule the process to run every 12 hours, set it as follows. For every number of hours, this uses the time that you set up the process as the start of when the process triggers. For every number of days or weeks, you can use the Start date to set the start.
When set as Manual, the process is run manually as and when required, by selecting the process and clicking Run. This can be from the Automation Dashboard, a Workspace, or a List, depending on the options selected within the process. Refer to Configuring Run From below.
Configuring Run From
The Run From option allows practices to control where manual automations can be run from, depending on the Filter selected in the Automation process.
| Option | Filters |
| From Workspace |
|
| From List |
|
| From Process Step | Automation Processes using the Execute Process step. |
New Custom Processes will be enabled for "From Workspace" by default.
These options are not available for Scheduled processes.
To run Automations from a Workspace or List, the user must belong to a User Group with the relevant Permission enabled. Refer to Managing User Groups.
For details on how to run Automation Processes from Workspaces and Lists, refer to Running Custom Processes.
Automation Filters
Automation Filters are configured depending on the Type:
- View Filter - Requires a View to be selected, to manage what information is used by the Automation process.
- Client - Select Filters - Filter options are selected within the Automation filter, for example, Client details or Custom Fields.
- CSV Data Import - Used to bulk import data from CSV files into FYI.
Click on the headings below to view more information on each filter.
Using a Filter Type of "View Filters" allows you to select from the Documents, Job, Client, Tasks or Practice Activity views, on which to filter the Document, Jobs, Clients, Tasks or Practice Activity Events. Elite Plans can also select from an Invoice, Time Entry, or Employee.
A limit of 5,000 records applies.
If you want to make the process available for all Clients, Documents, Jobs, Tasks, Practice Activity Events, Invoice, Time Entry, or Employee, you would select a view that shows "All".
The Run Only Once per... option is available when using a "View Filters" Filter Type, for example, Run Only Once Per Job, or Run Only Once Per Client. This option is not available for "Client - Select Filters".
The Run Only Once per... option allows the process to run only once against the criteria, to avoid duplicates being created against the same client, job etc. For example, if you had a process you wanted to apply only once for a client, you would use the "Client - View Filters" option, select your View, and tick "Run Only Once Per Client".
Note: The Run Only Once Per option does not apply when running an automation from a list.
For information on using a view as the filter, refer to Custom Processes using Views and Summary Notifications.
When the Filter Type is set as "Client - Select Filters", this shows the standard filters and Custom Fields.
A limit of 5,000 records applies.
- Client - You can select a specific client. If a specific client is selected, other filters will not be applied. If you select a client, you can then additionally select the Client Group to apply if the client belongs to more than one group.
- Structure - This uses a setting in Xero Practice Manager to filter clients by standard structures such as "Individual", "Company", "Sole Trader", "Trust", etc. Note: Custom structures added in XPM are not available from the Client - Select Filter.
- Manager - this is used to filter clients assigned to a specific Manager within your practice.
- Partner - this is used to filter clients assigned to a specific Partner within your practice.
- Has Email - when Has Email is ticked, the process includes only those clients with a valid email address.
- Include Archived - archived clients are excluded by the filter by default.
- Date Fields - must be entered in the format of YYYY-MM-DD.
-
Custom Fields - A selection of any of the Custom Fields that have been set up can be used as a filter. When selecting a custom field filter, ensure that the associated custom fields contains data before testing and running the process.
Note: Only one option can be selected per field.
For example, if your practice performs a monthly or quarterly bookkeeping service for some clients, in a "Service" Custom Field, these clients would have either "Bookkeeping - Monthly" or "Bookkeeping - Quarterly". You can then set up a Custom Process that sends out a monthly or quarterly checklist to relevant clients by setting the relevant Custom Field in the FYI Custom Process.
Once a custom field has been selected in a process, the Custom Field definition cannot be deleted in Practice settings.
- The Run Only Once per... option is not available for the "Client - Select Filters" Filter Type, which means the process could apply multiple times for the same client.
Note: This feature is currently in Beta for the FYI Pro Plan. Click here to learn more about beta registrations.
The CSV Data Import filter is used to configure one or more CSV files ready to import the data into FYI. For example, practices can use the import to bulk create or update clients, disbursements, or jobs.
Please note that there is a limit of 5,000 files, and up to 10,000 rows across all CSV files in the Document View selected in the Automation Filter.
The Filter allows users to map the columns in the CSV Import file to Types. Columns are then available to select as Merge Fields when adding steps to the process. Refer to Process Filter Details - CSV Data Import.
Adding Steps to the Custom Process
You add the steps to a Custom Process in the same way that they are set up for a Sample Process. Refer to Automation Process Steps and to the articles in the section Process Step Details.
- Click Add Step.
- Choose the application for the step. For example, FYI Actions.
- Select the Action and Filing details for each step.
-
Processes are saved automatically. To exit the Automation Process, click Back to display the Process Dashboard.
Once added, the Custom Process displays in the Automation Dashboard along with the Sample Processes.
Testing and Running a Custom Process
When setting up a Custom Process, it's recommended to test the process before activating it. That will ensure the new process works as expected. Refer to Testing Custom Processes.
For details on the different ways to run a Custom Process, refer to Running Custom Processes.
Activating Custom Processes
To activate the Custom Process, click the Status toggle to change it to active.
To view details on when the process runs, refer to Process History and Activity.
Resetting a Process
In a Custom Process, clicking Reset clears everything except the Filter.
Custom Process Examples
The following example shows the steps for a scheduled Custom Process that will send out a checklist to your bookkeeping clients to remind them what they need to do and to send you for that quarter.
The clients this will be sent to will be determined by the Filter for the Custom Process. In the example, this will be all clients who have "Bookkeeping - Quarterly" set in the Custom Field "Service".
The Trigger selected is Schedule, defined to run on the Last Monday of each Quarter. The process will run automatically according to this Schedule when the process Status is "Active".
Step 1 is to create a Spreadsheet using a template, in this example, "Checklist for Quarterly Bookkeeping" is selected.
Step 2 creates the email and sends the checklist spreadsheet as an attachment from Step 1 via Email. The Sender uses a Merge Field to select the Client Manager. Refer to Including Merge Fields in Automations.
The following example is of a manual Custom Process used to onboard a new employee. This process can be manually run from the Employee Workspace when needed.
In the example below, the process contains the following steps.
- Create a Task to appoint the coordinator for an induction program for the new team member.
- Set up the checklist for the coordinator using a template that has been created as an Excel Spreadsheet.
- Send an email to the IT Manager that there is a new team member who needs to be set up.
- Create a New Team Member Details form for the new employee using a template that has been created as a Word document.
- Create a New Team Member Booklet for the new employee using a template that has been created as a Word document.