To ensure that emails are always presented with the format and layout required by your practice, you set up Templates and Signatures.
The way in which you set up your Templates and Signature depends on the requirements of your practice. It is important to understand the relationship between Templates, Signatures, and Merge Fields and how they are used in combination in FYI to be best utilised within your practice.
Using the Knowledge - Templates List
Templates, Word Stationery and Email Signatures are displayed, created and edited from the Knowledge - Templates view. Refer to Using Knowledge Cabinets.
They can only be set up and maintained by an FYI Admin, or a user in a User Group that has Permissions enabled for Templates. Refer to Managing User Groups.
Templates and Stationery hold Filing details to organise and categorise them in the Knowledge - Templates list. They are all held in a Templates Cabinet as the top-level of the filing.
Note: The Templates Cabinet cannot be removed.
An FYI Admin can add any Categories to the Templates Cabinet as relevant for your practice to further categorise the Templates and Signatures. For example, you could add a Category such as "Team" (to indicate who would use them) and the Category "Work Type" (to indicate when they would be used). Refer to Managing Cabinets. The Category is added to a Template or Signature in the Filing section.
Email Signature
The Email Signature holds the signature information that is common to all emails, added to the bottom of all emails. Typically, the signature will include your company logo and sign-off information such as the name, email, and phone numbers of the author of the email.
An Email Signature is automatically applied whenever you create an email in FYI. This holds the information that is added as default to emails created in FYI.
- You set up the Email Signature you want to use as default for your practice. The Signature to use is then selected in Practice Settings - Documents - Settings tab in the Default Email Signature field. This is the email Signature that is used for all users that do not have an alternate Signature set in their user profile. Only an Active Signature can be selected. Refer Managing Practice Settings for Documents.
- If any users need different Email Signatures, these are set up and then the relevant Signature is assigned to a specific user(s). This is then used instead of the default. For example, users in a financial planning division within your organisation may require different information shown in their emails.
For users requiring a different Signature to the default one for your practice, the Signature to use is set from the Practice Settings - General - Users. Only an Active Signature can be selected. Refer to Managing Users.
For information on setting up Email Signatures, refer to Creating Email Templates and Signatures.
The following is an example of an Email Signature. Merge Fields have been added to include the author's Role and Qualifications held in FYI, and the direct phone number when the Signature is applied.
The internal FYI reference number has also been included at the end of the email.
The following is how the Signature looks when used in an email.
Templates
Templates hold the standard text for the email. This would be the text included in the email, for example, the text that is included when emailing an engagement letter or emailing a notice of tax assessment.
When creating an email in FYI or in Outlook, users can select the FYI Template to use as relevant for the email they are sending.
For information on setting up Email Templates, refer to Creating Email Templates and Signatures.
The following is an example of an Email Template. This Template has been set up with Merge Fields to include the clients' salutation and to add the file that was attached to the email. The Merge Field for the Document Attachment Links is populated when the email is sent. The default signature appears
The following example is an email where the Template has been selected by the user creating the email. This has the text from the selected Template, followed by the information from the Default Email Signature.
Merge Fields
You can incorporate Merge Fields to automatically display content within Email Templates and Signatures.
Merge Fields are used to bring in the following information:
- Client information - for example, First Name and Last Name of the addressee.
Information such as the client's Contact Name, Addressee, and Salutation is retrieved, as displayed on the Client - Summary tab (refer to Client Summary). If an Addressee is not specified, Xero Practice Manager uses the Contact Name. - User information - for example, the Author Name, Author Phone.
- Information from FYI - for example, the Role of the Author, a unique Reference Number for the FYI document and the date the document was created.
- Internal Merge Fields used to include links to New Collaborate for attachments, or links to the SharePoint site Share and Upload Folders.
Refer to Including Merge Fields in Email Templates and Signatures.
Benefits of Separating Templates and Signatures for Emails
Defining the elements included in Templates and Signatures separately (with the common information in the Signature and the text for Emails in Templates) offers not only ease of use but also flexibility.
- The Signature holds the email signature information and any text or logos you want included in all emails (and different Email Signatures can be applied for specific users).
- The Email Templates hold the standard text for the body of the emails.
The main benefit is when you want to make changes to how standard emails are produced. It is very clear if changes are needed to the Signature (for common, repeated elements) or to the Templates (for specific text). For example, if you decide in the future you want to add a reference number to all emails, you could add this just to the Signature(s) instead of having to update many Template documents.
For a multi-disciplinary practice (for example, which includes financial planning along with accounting practice) you can simply set up different Signatures that include any licence requirements for financial planning and specific disclaimers. An FYI Admin can then assign this Signature to the relevant users in their User Profile. By clearly naming the FYI Email Signature, you can easily identify which Signature to assign.