As well as the Sample Processes that are shipped with FYI, you can set up Custom Processes specifically for the needs of your practice. Every practice has repetitive processes that can be automated with FYI's custom processes.
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).
Note: Any 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 for a process with steps but has some 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, and when needed.
- The Filter determines what information is or is not included in 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.
Name
Enter the name of the process, for example, "Quarterly BAS Checklist", or "Onboarding New Employee".
Description
A description of the Process can be added to the Description. This can be 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.
- In the Description field, click on Click to add description.
A pane opens for the text to be entered.
- Add the description.
Formatting such as bold, italic and colours can be added by first selecting text and setting the formatting from the pop-up.
Formatting only shows when editing the Process, not on the Automation Dashboard or Client - Processes tab. Additional formatting can be applied to the text by clicking the + button on the left-hand side of the pane.
- Click outside the pane to close it.
- To edit the description again, click over the text that has been entered.
Note: The Description field is not available in the Sample Processes that are shipped with FYI as they are pre-configured.
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.
-
Schedule
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.
Start and End
Set the Start date and optionally the End date. These dates determine when the process is going to start and end running.
Frequency
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. -
Manual
When set as Manual, the process is run manually as and when required. It is run from the Automation Dashboard by opening the Custom Process and clicking Run.
Manual processes that relate to a specific client can be run from the Clients - Processes tab for the selected client. Refer to Displaying Information for a Client.
Filter
A filter determines what information is monitored or included in the process.
Click the edit icon next to Filter.
The Filter Items window is displayed.
Filter Type can be selected as:
- Client - Select Filters
- Document - View Filters
- Job - View Filters
- Client - View Filters
- Task- View Filters
- Practice Activity - View Filters
- Invoice - View Filters
- Time Entry - View Filters
- Employee - View Filters
Filter Type set as View Filter
Using a Filter Type of "View Filters" allows you to select a Documents, Job, Client, Tasks or Practice Activity view 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.
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".
For information on using a view as the filter, refer to Custom Processes using Views and Summary Notifications.
Filter Type "Client - Select Filters"
When the Filter Type is set as "Client - Select Filters", this shows the standard filters and also all of the Custom Fields set up.
- 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 a specific client structure such as "Individual", "Company", "Sole Trader", "Trust", etc.
- 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.
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.
- 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.
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.
Add the 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.
- Save the Custom Process by moving out of the screen. For example, by clicking Back to redisplay the Process Dashboard. A Process is saved automatically.
Once added, the Custom Process displays in the Automation Dashboard along with the Sample Processes.
Scheduled Custom Process
The following example shows the steps for a scheduled Custom Process that will send out a checklist to the 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.
Manual Custom Process
The following example is of a manual Custom Process used to onboard a new employee.
This Custom Process will be run manually as and when needed. In the example, it 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.
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 who 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.