October 2024 Release Notes

Take a look at this month's new features, enhancements, and resolutions.

31.10.24

Enhancements

• We have merged the Learn course "Before you Begin" with the "Learning the Essentials" course, for more streamlined training for new users. The "Before you Begin" course will no longer be displayed in the Learn Dashboard within FYI. As FYI Admins or IT Administrators may still find the content useful, the course is still accessible from the Before you Begin article. For all other courses, refer to FYI Learn.
  
  
• We have updated the Lists functionality to display a new Filter icon next to each column, making it easier to identify where filtering is available. When a filter is active, the icon will be displayed in green. The List menu icon has also been updated to be displayed as three vertical dots, providing users with easy access to the pin and auto-size column functions as needed. Refer to Sorting and Filtering Document Lists.
  
  
• We have made several enhancements to the Create Task function in Automation Processes. Refer to Process Step Details - Creating Emails, Documents and Tasks:
  
  
  • When using an Automation to Create Tasks, you can now select a Task Delegator. The Delegator will be able to track the status from their Home - Delegated Tasks tab, as well as receive notifications when the task is complete. 
    
    
  • The Task Assignee can now be set to "Unassigned", for example, where an incorrect user was selected. 
    
    
  • When a Task is created by an Automation Process, the Start Date will automatically be set to the current date. 
    
    
• We have made several new enhancements to Activity logs, including:
   
  • When a field value is removed, such as a client's email address or the Partner on a job, the associated Activity log message will display the details of the change along with the previous field value. Refer to Practice Activity, Job Activity, Client Activity, Process History and Activity, and Employee Activity.
    
    
  • For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, when a Client's Structure is created, edited or removed, we have removed the term "(XPM)" from the Client - Activity to ensure a clearer log message. Refer to Client Activity.
    
    
  • For practices where FYI is enabled as the Primary Source for Client Data, when a Client Relationship is created or maintained, a log of the activity will be recorded in both the Relationship drawer and Client Activity tab. This includes changes to the Client Relationship in either FYI or Xero Practice Manager. Refer to Client Relationships.
    
    
• We have made several improvements to the Collaborate Sharing Settings window. Refer to Sharing the Share Folder and Upload Folder with Clients.
  
  
  • The Client Folder link is now displayed in the top right-hand corner, allowing users to quickly open the client folder directly in the New Collaborate SharePoint site. 
    
    
  • When clicking the Options button, we have renamed the "Copy Share Link" and "Copy Import Link" options to indicate the links will be copied to the user's clipboard.
    
    
  • We have added a new Settings tab with the client's Folder Name field. This has now been removed from Client - Settings tab. 
    
    
• When viewing the Client - Summary tab, the field "Provisional Tax Basis" in the Tax & Company section will only be displayed for practices based in New Zealand. Refer to Client - Summary.
  
  
• When users are unable to log in to FYI, we have improved the displayed error messages to provide more details on the cause of the issue, and a link to the relevant Help Centre article for more assistance. As an example, refer to Error FYI-2122.
  
  
• When integrating with FuseSign, the options "Assign documents to individual users" and "Ignore bad phone numbers" will be enabled by default. For practices already integrated with FuseSign, the existing settings will not be impacted. Refer to Integration with FuseSign.
  
  
• For practices integrated via Practice Sync, when jobs are synchronised and created in FYI, the Budget Amount value will be limited to 6 digits. Higher values will be rounded down to a maximum of $999,999. Refer to the Practice Sync articles in the Apps and Integrations section for your chosen integration.
  
  
• For practices using the Run Automations From List Beta, we have added "Run Automation" to the right-click menu for the Job, Client, and Documents Lists. For an example, refer to Using the Documents Lists.
  
  
• For practices on the Elite plan: 
  
  
  • We have introduced a new Automation step, Create Time, allowing practices to automatically create time entries for users. Both chargeable and non-chargeable time can be entered for a fixed time, or by calculating time using Merge Fields. Refer to Process Step Details - Create Time.
    
    
  • Users can now manually create Interim time entries for Interim Invoices that have been imported from Xero Ledger with a status of Paid, provided the Interim time entry has not already been created. Refer to Creating Interim Time Entries.
    
    
  • The Create Disbursement Automation Step now allows users to select a job, by either using the Current Job (as per the Process Filter), or selecting a Job from an earlier step in the process. Refer to Process Step Details - Create Disbursement.
  • We have made several enhancements to the FYI Elite Onboarding Wizard:
    
    We have added a new Reporting section before the Go Live and Next Steps sections. The step Master Report Templates will link practices to help articles, video tutorials and the range of Master Excel Report Templates imported to your platform, to get started with Reporting. 
    
    We have also added a new step, Remove WIP from Xero Practice Manager, to the Finalise Migration Reconciliation section. This step will prompt practices to remove their WIP in XPM, once they have confirmed their WIP Reconciliation in FYI is successful.

Resolutions

• For Australian practices where FYI is enabled as the Primary Source for Client Data, changes to the Tax Number will be displayed correctly in the Client - Activity tab.
• For New Zealand practices where FYI is enabled as the Primary Source for Client Data, changes to the IRD number will be displayed correctly in the Client - Activity tab.
• We have resolved an issue where blank values were displayed in the User Activity and My Settings - Security activity when a Partner or Signature field was updated.
• When a user's AutoFile preference is updated, the User Profile - Activity section and the My Settings - Security tab will now consistently display the name of the selected AutoFile setting.
• When performing a Bulk Export via AWS of more than 10,000 documents, the export will now complete successfully, and display 100% completion in the Documents - Export progress bar.
• When previewing an Email in FYI that had been previously forwarded internally via Outlook, the correct recipient and subject line now display. 
• We have resolved an issue where the Practice Sync app lost connection to MYOB on a fortnightly basis.
• When the Practice Sync Desktop App is not using the latest version, an "Action Required" message will now be displayed in both the Practice Sync App and in FYI Practice - Activity.
• When the FYI Practice Sync Desktop App is connected by a user other than an FYI Admin, a failure message will display in Practice Activity to alert an FYI Admin to either update the permissions or select a different FYI Admin user.
• When using the Create Email step in an Automation, and a template with a Date Merge Field is selected, the correct date will now be displayed when the process runs.
• When using Merge Fields, we have corrected the "Ceil" and "Floor" definitions in the "Formatting" section in the Merge Field selection window.
• When performing a Jobs Bulk Update, Merge Fields can now be used to populate the Partner and Manager on the job.
• When saving a Document View filtered by the "Draft" Filing Status, a message will be displayed that drafts will only be visible to FYI Admins and users with access to the draft document in the In Tray.
• When viewing Time Entries on the My Time tab, all entries created by an Automation Process will be displayed without selecting a date range in the Date filter.
• When creating a new Collaborate site, an error message will be displayed if the site was unable to be created, instead of a loading screen.
• When creating a Word Template, inserting the Collaborate Merge Field "ClientUploadFolderLink | web_link" for the Client Upload Folder will create a hyperlink instead of plain text.
• When adding time using the + button, after entering data the cursor will no longer move to a different field.

For practices on the FYI Elite Plan:

• When creating an Invoice, the Write On/Off and Invoiced Amount will calculate correctly, and no longer display a 1-cent discrepancy on the Invoiced Amount.
• When creating a Progress or Final invoice that has no WIP associated with the job, the error message will now display "Progress or Final Invoice must have WIP against the job for the invoice to be created".
• When creating an Invoice, after selecting WIP and closing the Add Time window, the Create Invoice drawer will stay open.
• When a Practice - Time view is saved with a date filter applied, the saved view will reflect the selected date filter range results correctly.
• We have resolved an issue where the incorrect Xero Ledger Organisation was displayed in the Job Templates list.

17.10.24

Enhancements

• We have made several new enhancements to Automation processes:

  • When managing manual Custom Automations, we have introduced three new options to control where the Automation can be run: From Workspaces, From Lists (Beta), and From Process Step. To ensure there is no impact on current behaviour, the "From Workspace" option will be enabled for existing manual processes, and "From Process" where the process is triggered by another Custom Automation using an "Execute Process" step. Refer to Setting up Custom Processes. 
    
    
  • We have introduced a new Beta to Run Automations from Lists, to allow practices to run manual Automations directly from the Clients, Jobs, and Documents Lists. Users assigned to a User Group with the relevant permissions can run an automation in bulk directly from a list, for example for multiple clients. Refer to Running Custom Processes. 
    
    
  • New User Group Permissions have been introduced for Automations, to allow FYI Admins to control where users will be able to run automations from. The new permissions, "Run Automation from Workspace", and "Run Automations from List" (Beta), will be enabled for the Admin user group by default, while the Standard User Group will have the "Run Automation From Workspace" option enabled. FYI Admins will need to assign the permissions to other User Groups created in their platform.
    
    Please note the Process History tabs on Clients and Jobs will not be available for users if the "Run Automations from Workspace" permission has not been assigned to their User Group. Refer to Managing User Groups.
    
    
• The Legacy Workflow Job setting in the Practice Settings - Jobs, has been renamed to XPM Workflow Job. Refer to Managing Practice Settings for Jobs.
  
  
• When deleting a guest user from the New Collaborate Sharing Settings a message will be displayed if the user still has access to other client folders, allowing practices to identify if the guest user should also be removed from those clients. Refer to Removing Access to the New Collaborate Shared Folders.
  
  
• When performing a Document Bulk Export via AWS, additional document information will now be exported from FYI and included as columns in the report.csv file. Refer to Bulk Export AWS.
  
  
  • Keywords:  Any Keywords associated with the exported document.
    
    
  • Filing Status: Filed and Archived Filing Statuses only. Deleted and Archived documents are not included in the export.
    
    
  • Attachments: Where an email contains an attachment the column will display a Yes value. If re-importing files to a new FYI account, this metadata will be used to display a paperclip icon against the re-imported email in the list view in FYI. The associated Attachments can be accessed by exporting the migrated email. Refer to Exporting Documents.
    
    
  • Email Addresses: For practices re-importing exported files from one FYI account to another, the To, From, and CC metadata will now be populated with the Email Address details in FYI. Refer to Bulk Export AWS.

For practices on the FYI Elite plan:

• You can now create draft Job Templates, allowing practices migrating to FYI for Practice Management to create Job Templates before Time and Billing has been enabled, or connecting the practice Xero Ledger. Once FYI has been selected as the Practice Management source, draft Templates can be activated and assigned to Jobs accordingly. Refer to Create Draft Job Templates and Managing Job Templates.
  
  
• We have added a new Job Template Bulk Update function, to efficiently update the details for multiple templates. This also includes the ability to update the Filing Status from Draft to Active. Refer to Create Draft Job Templates and Managing Job Templates.
  
  
• A new step has been added to the Elite Onboarding Wizard - Configure Settings section, Create Draft Job Templates. This step will link practices to their Job Templates settings to draft Job Templates before configuring FYI as the PM. Refer to FYI Elite Onboarding Wizard.
  
  
• Interim Time Entries can now be reallocated to a Workflow Job, in addition to Billing Jobs. When creating an invoice, the Interim Time Entry can be selected from the Add Time window and reallocated using the Bulk Update function. Alternatively, the Interim Time Entry can also be moved back to a Billing Job by selecting "No Workflow Job". Refer to Managing Work in Progress - WIP.
  
  
• Standard Jobs can now be converted to Workflow Jobs in bulk, using either Jobs Bulk Update or within a Custom Automation process Update Job step. 
  
  The Job Type dropdown option will be displayed, set by default to "Unchanged". Users can select the "Workflow" option from the dropdown, the associated Billing Job, and the Workflow Job Template. When the Bulk Update or Automation is run, the Standard Job will be converted to a Workflow Job. Refer to Converting Standard Jobs to Workflow Jobs.
  
  Note: Only Standard Jobs can be converted to Workflow Jobs. When using the Update Job step in a process, it is important to consider the Job selection in the List View. If a Billing or Workflow Job is selected, a warning message will display in the Process - History tab. Refer to Converting Standard Jobs to Workflow Jobs.
  
  
• When manually creating Time Entries, users will not be required to select a Billing job. Instead, users will be able to immediately select a Workflow Job (or Standard Job) as required. In addition, a new option to Show Jobs by Client will allow users to limit the jobs to the current client, or disable the option to display all jobs within the Client Group. Refer to the articles in Creating Time and Disbursements.

• For practices using the CSV Import Beta, the column type Users can be selected to allow practices to easily update user fields within FYI, for example, when assigning jobs to users. If the user is inactive, doesn't exist, or there's a duplicate name match, an error will be displayed in the Automation History. Refer to Importing and Updating Data using the Automation Process CSV Import Filter (Beta).

Resolutions

• For practices integrated with Zapier and Xero Practice Manager, when creating Standard and Billing jobs in FYI using zaps, the jobs will be synchronised and created in Xero Practice Manager. Please note Workflow Jobs are not synchronised to XPM.
• Standard Users can now view Draft Templates in the Templates Cabinet.
• For practices integrated with BGL, we have resolved an issue where the status of the annual company statement was not updated in the Client - Corporate Affairs tab.
• When saving a View with Grouping enabled, the order of columns will be retained.
• We have improved the Automations process to ensure that failure notifications are received more promptly.
• When using the Job Lookup Automation process step configured to stop the process if a job cannot be found, the step will not display as "Timed Out" in the Automation Process Activity.
• When adding a user to the New Collaborate Sharing Settings, leading spaces at the beginning of the email address will be ignored when searching for a matching client email address.
• When viewing the Client - Activity tab, updates to a client's Postal Address details will not be displayed multiple times.
• When adding columns to a Client List, the Physical Address column names have been updated to display a prefix of "Physical" to make them easier to identify.
• When adding and removing clients to and from Client Groups, only a single entry will be displayed in the Client - Activity tab.
• We have improved the entries on the Client - Activity tab when a client's Provisional Tax Basis options are updated in Xero Practice Manager and synchronised to FYI.
• For practices integrated with FuseSign, we have added additional details to the error messages displayed on Practice Activity when an error occurs with the integration. 
• Where a guest user cannot be added to the New Collaborate Sharing Settings, an error message will be displayed with a link to detailed troubleshooting steps.
• When saving a Job View filtered by a Job Number, the filter settings will be retained.
• After copying a document and deleting the original, the FYI Office Add-in will display the filing details for the copied document and not the details from the deleted original document. 
• We've enhanced the performance of FYI, to make the login process faster and more efficient.
• For practices on the CSV Import Filter Beta, invalid Merge Field values in the spreadsheet will be skipped, and a warning will be displayed in the Process Activity history.

For practices on the FYI Elite plan:

• Editing an Invoice Description will no longer reset the Invoice Amount to match the WIP amount.
• For invoices created by a Custom Automation Process, and the total invoice value was calculated using Merge Fields, the value will be retained after the invoice is synchronised with Xero Ledger.
• Workflow Jobs can now be created by an Automation Process where the client is different to the Billing Job client.

03.10.24

Enhancements

• Automation processes can now be bulk archived and restored from the Automation Processes List view. Select one or more processes to display the Archive or Restore button in the toolbar. Refer to Automation Processes.
  
  
• Before requesting a Document Bulk Export, a summary of the planned export will be displayed, including an Estimated Document Count (both filed and archived documents). Refer to Bulk Export OneDrive and Bulk Export AWS.
  
  
• In addition, we have made several improvements to the Document Bulk Export AWS method. Refer to Bulk Export AWS for details on the following features:
  
  
  • If the user did not select any filters, for example, select a client, a warning will be displayed that it may take longer to calculate the document totals on the Export Summary step. 
     
  • After requesting an export via AWS, an entry will be added to Practice Activity. Clicking the event will open the drawer and display additional details, including the user who requested the export, and the date and time the request was submitted. The Export Settings will also be displayed, for example, any selected filters. Once the export has been completed, the Practice Activity entry will be updated to show the status, and total files exported or errors reported. 
    
    
  • The Export Results will also be displayed in the Practice Settings - Documents - Export tab. Expand the section to review the results and settings used. 
    
    
  • In the event of export errors, an Errors CSV file will be created with the Document Reference Number, ID and Key for each folder that was unable to be exported. This file is located in the root folder, along with the report.csv metadata file.
    
    
• In the Collaborate app, the Status Check will now identify when Webhooks cannot be resubscribed if the Practice OneDrive Admin account token has expired. If logged in as the OneDrive Admin User, the Status Check will resubscribe the Webhooks automatically. If the user logged in is not the OneDrive Admin User, a message will be displayed to request the user log in with the required account. Refer to Troubleshooting New Collaborate using Status Check.
  
  
• For practices integrated with APS, we have introduced a new Company Number field to the APS Automation app. This feature enables practices to map a specific APS field to the Company Number in FYI, with the ACN/ARBN field selected by default. To select a different field, practices must update the APS app within FYI. Refer to Practice Sync Integration with APS (Australia and New Zealand).
  
  
• When integrated with Xero Ledger, the Tenant ID will be stored. This ensures that if there is an error with the connection, the integration can be re-established without impacting invoice synchronisations or Job Templates. Refer to Resetting your connection between FYI and Xero Ledger.
  
  
• When grouping Custom Fields, the Custom Field used to manage the groups will not be displayed as an additional Custom Field in the Client, Job, and Employee Workspace Custom Field tabs. Refer to Grouping Custom Fields.
  
  
• The Practice Settings - General - Views List can now be exported as a CSV file. Refer to Exporting Lists (Clients, Documents, Jobs, Tasks, Views).

For practices on the FYI Elite plan:

• You can now change the Job on Interim Invoices imported from Xero Ledger. This can be done either from within FYI, or by updating the Job Reference on the invoice in Xero (the changes will be reflected during the next invoice sync). The associated Interim time entry will also be updated to reflect the new job. Refer to Opening and Editing Interim Invoices.
  
  
• Users can now manually create Interim time entries for Interim Invoices imported from Xero Ledger where the Interim time entry has not already been created. Refer to Creating Interim Time Entries.
  
  
• The ability to delete Time and Disbursement Rates has been replaced with the Archive and Restore function. Once archived, rates will not be available to select when creating or editing timesheet entries, but will remain assigned to any existing time entries. Refer to Managing Rates for Time and Disbursements.
  
  
• When deleting a Client Relationship, a warning message will be displayed to confirm the user would like to proceed. Deleted relationships cannot be restored. Refer to Creating and Editing Client Relationships.

Resolutions

• When updating an Automation Process Summary Notification step, the Task Assignee and Task Delegator fields are available to select from the Merge Field selection window.
• An error will be displayed in Practice Activity when synchronising a "Number" type Custom Field with Xero Practice Manager, and the value is not a number, for example, text values.
• We have resolved an issue when formatting Merge Fields to ensure that Custom Merge Fields can be combined with the "add_interval" formatter to display the correct year value.
• We have resolved an issue where the Bulk Export via AWS displayed an incomplete value and remained In Progress.  
• When a document is in Co-Edit, the document Filing Details, including Workflow, cannot be updated.
• When filtering using the "This Financial Year" Relative date filter, results will be displayed based on the Financial Year Start field in Practice Settings.
• When adding folders to the New Collaborate Upload Folder, an invalid file will not be created for the folder in FYI. Documents within the folder will continue to be imported to FYI correctly.
• When multiple users are re-ordering Custom Fields, each Custom Field will be given a unique order number to ensure they can be re-ordered successfully.
• For practices integrated with APS, the Mobile number will only be synchronised to the Phone Number field where a Phone Number doesn't exist in APS. If both a Phone and Mobile number are available, the Phone and Mobile number fields in FYI will both be updated with each respective value.

For practices integrated with IRIS:

• The Main Address for client contacts will be synchronised to FYI, in addition to the Billing Address and Registered Office. The Main Address will be displayed at the top of the client's Contacts list in FYI.
• When a Client Contact has been added in IRIS, the details will be synchronised as a contact in FYI, and the Mobile phone number will be synchronised to the Mobile number field in FYI. Where both Phone and Mobile are selected for a single contact, the Mobile number only will be displayed in FYI. Fax Numbers and Extensions will have "(Fax)" and "(Ext)" added to the end of the Name in FYI.
• We have resolved an issue where Client Contacts were incorrectly assigned to an unrelated client by Practice Sync.

For practices on the FYI Elite plan:

• When editing a client, the Company Number can be updated successfully with the NZBN.
• The Job - Summary tab and the Jobs List - Board view now displays a consistent Variance Hours value.