Process step details: Create Email

The Recipients field is initially set to Client Email. This uses the email address held for the client selected for the process and can be changed if required. Additional recipients can be added as the To, CC, or BCC recipients. 

Click the drop-down under the Recipients field and select the required option. The Selecting an Email Recipient section below covers each option in more detail.

If the selected recipient field value is missing when the process runs, the process creates the email as a draft, a warning message is displayed in the Process Activity, and a comment is added to the email in FYI.

After selecting a recipient, use the drop-down next to the To option to select To, CC, or BCC.

When sharing documents using Secure Link, add each recipient as a To recipient. CC and BCC recipients cannot access documents shared using Secure Link.

Select the email template to use. The template can include Merge Fields to create the email text. Click the Open Template button to open the template in a new window.

Any changes made to the template after the automation has been created will be automatically applied when the process runs.

When sharing documents using Secure Link, select an email template that includes the Secure Link Merge Field so the recipient receives the link to the shared documents.

Add an attachment to the email. This can be a document created by a preceding step within the process, or select Trigger Document to attach the document from the document filter.

The Attachments drop-down displays Trigger Documents and relevant preceding steps that generate a document, including Create Word, Create Spreadsheet, Create Presentation, or Create PDF steps.

For practices on the Elite plan, invoices and credit notes can be attached once they have been assigned an invoice number or credit note number and the PDF file has been generated. It's recommended to set up an Invoice View filtered by Invoice Status and any other relevant filters to ensure only invoices that are ready to send are included.

The Sender defaults to the person creating the process. If the email is configured to be sent immediately, the Sender can be set as:

• A specific person in your user list.
• Partner or Manager, to set the Sender as the relative partner or manager for the client or job. 
• A Custom User Role, for example, Accountant, Bookkeeper, Team Coordinator, or Supervisor. This sets the sender as the user selected for that custom field for the client or job. 

Refer to Selecting a Sender as Partner, Manager, or Custom User Role below.

If the email is set to Draft, once the automation creates the drafted emails, the Sender will be the user who clicks Send on the email.

If the value for the Sender is missing, the process creates the email as Draft, a warning message is displayed in the Process Activity, and a Comment is added to the email in FYI.

Select whether to save the email as Draft in FYI, Draft in Outlook, or Send Immediately.

Emails saved as Draft in Outlook are marked as Sent in FYI immediately and should be managed from Outlook directly from that point onwards. The Workflow Status will be set to Completed.

The name of the email created in FYI.

When selecting a template, the name can be set as Default from template to use the name of the template for the email. Alternatively, type directly into the field to set the Name.

Merge Fields can be used in the Filing Name field. For example, select Name from the Merge Field filter Trigger Client and add "- Monthly Reporting" to create an email named "Frank Marshall - Monthly Reporting". Refer to Including Merge Fields in Automations.

AutoFile can be enabled or disabled as required.

• Disabled - The email will be filed using the Cabinet and Categories selected in the automation process step.
• Enabled - The Cabinet and Categories are selected based on the order defined in Email AutoFile Filing Defaults. For example, Filing Defaults may be applied from the client, the user, or the practice. Refer to Managing Email AutoFile Filing Defaults.

The Filing Status defaults to Filed.

If set to Unfiled, the email will be displayed in the Owner's In Tray. If an Owner is selected in the Workflow section, that user is used. If the Owner is not selected, the owner of the automation process is used.

Select the owner of the email. This can be set to a specific user, or Merge Fields can be used to automatically select the user.

When selecting a Custom Field, only Custom Fields with the Type set to User are available. Refer to Custom User Roles.

When a drop-down option is used to select an owner:

• For a process run for a client, the Manager, Partner, or Custom User Role is taken from the client details.
• For a process run for a job, the Manager, Partner, or Custom User Role is taken from the job details.

If there is no partner or manager assigned to the client, the Process Owner is added as the owner of the email created in the step.

Select the approver of the email. This can be set to a specific user, or Merge Fields can be used to dynamically select the user.

When selecting a Custom Field, only Custom Fields with the Type set to User are available. Refer to Custom User Roles.

When a drop-down option is used to select an approver:

• For a process run for a client, the Manager, Partner, or Custom User Role is taken from the client details.
• For a process run for a job, the Manager, Partner, or Custom User Role is taken from the job details.

Select a Task Template, if required, to prepopulate the remaining fields, for example, Assignee.

Advanced task fields, for example, Priority, Job Category, or Work Type, can only be populated using the selected Task Template.

Select a specific user, or use Merge Fields to assign the task automatically. Depending on the automation filter, this can include roles such as the Job Manager or Partner. For manual processes, the task can be assigned to the Automation Initiator User. Custom User Roles can also be selected from the Merge Fields window.

When using the drop-down option to select the Assignee:

• For a process run for a job, the Manager or Partner is taken from the job details.
• If there is no Partner or Manager assigned to the job, the Assignee is set to Unassigned.

Select the number of days before the task is due. Set this to 0 days to make the task due immediately.

If Custom is selected, the Days field is displayed, allowing a value up to 365 days.

Set Blocking to On to stop the process until the task created by the process is set to Complete. When the task is completed, the next step in the process commences.

If the process only contains one step, do not set a task created with Blocking to On, as the process will remain outstanding until the task Status is set to Complete.

The method used to calculate the time assigned to the task.

Fixed - The Default Time entered is always used when the time entry is created, regardless of the size of the client or the job time budget.

Relative - Calculates the time relative to all tasks on the job. The total Default Time for all tasks in the process is compared to the Estimated Hours for the job, and Relative times are proportionately increased or decreased.

For example:

• The total Default Time for all tasks in the process is 10 hours.
• A task is set to Relative and has a Default Time of 30 minutes.
• If the Estimated Hours for a job is 30 hours, the allocated time for the task is increased to 1 hour 30 minutes.
• If the Estimated Hours for a job is 2 hours, the allocated time for the task is reduced to 6 minutes.

Set the estimated time that the action or task will take.

Time can be entered using hours and minutes (hh:mm), a whole number, or a decimal. Decimals are converted using 6-minute increments. Once entered, the time is displayed using the hours and minutes format. Refer to Time Overview.

For example, to add 12 minutes, enter:

• 00:12
• 12
• 0012
• 0.2

Updates custom field values on the time entry when a task is completed.

When a custom field is selected, a new field is added to the drawer and the selected field is removed from the available options. Additional custom fields can be selected from the drop-down.

Update the added custom field by selecting a value from the drop-down or clicking the Merge Field icon. When updating a date custom field, it is set to Current Date by default.

Custom fields on the time entry are updated using the selections made in the automation process step, along with any values inherited from the job.

To inherit from the job, the custom fields must be enabled for both Job and Time.

Enter the details of a comment, using the @ symbol to notify a specific user.

The following Merge Fields  are not available to use in comments:

• Original File Name, except in the Alter Document step
• Upload Folder
• Share Folder

Displays a list of practice users to select from. 

Once selected, the user's name, email address, and source of Internal user will be displayed. 

A Mobile supported or No Mobile label indicates whether FYI can retrieve a mobile number for Secure Link verification:

• For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, FYI retrieves the mobile phone number from the user's details in Xero Practice Manager.
• For practices integrated with FYI using Practice Sync, or practices without a practice management integration, FYI sends the verification code by email.

Enter a valid email address.

As the recipient doesn't exist within FYI, the recipient source details will show as details unavailable. When documents are shared using Secure Link, the verification code will be sent by email.

Selected by default.

When there is no valid email address in the Summary tab of the Client workspace:

• If Client Email is the only recipient, the email will not be sent.
• If Client Email is selected together with Enter a new email, the email will be sent to the valid address entered in the new email field.

The recipient source will be displayed as Client. The Mobile supported label indicates that FYI will try to find a valid mobile number for Secure Link verification. 

FYI will first check the client or primary contact details. If a valid mobile number is not available, or SMS verification is unavailable for the recipient's country, FYI sends the verification code by email.

Send the email to the relevant partner for the client or job.

Once selected, a recipient source of Internal user will be displayed. 

A Mobile supported or No Mobile label indicates whether FYI can retrieve a mobile number for Secure Link verification:

• For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, FYI retrieves the mobile phone number from the user's details in Xero Practice Manager.
• For practices integrated with FYI using Practice Sync, or practices without a practice management integration, FYI sends the verification code by email.

Send the email to the relevant manager for the client or job.

Once selected, a recipient source of Internal user will be displayed. 

A Mobile supported or No Mobile label indicates whether FYI can retrieve a mobile number for Secure Link verification:

• For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, FYI retrieves the mobile phone number from the user's details in Xero Practice Manager.
• For practices integrated with FYI using Practice Sync, or practices without a practice management integration, FYI sends the verification code by email.

Custom Fields with the Type set to Email will be displayed as the name of the Custom Field.

Once selected, a recipient source of Custom Field will be displayed. 

As this is an email-only field, FYI sends the verification code by email when documents are shared using Secure Link.