Plan Availability:
Starter
Intermediate
Pro
Elite
Practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager can choose to enable the XPM Workflow Jobs feature, synchronising XPM Tasks to FYI as Workflow Jobs, sub-jobs of a main Billing Job. Using XPM Workflow Jobs, practices can utilise many of the FYI Jobs functions, offering greater control and visibility using Job States, Tasks, and document management.
The XPM Workflow Jobs feature is particularly recommended for practices that use a fixed fee setup in XPM and want to maintain a single Billing Job while separately managing sub-jobs, such as quarterly reporting tasks.
XPM Workflow Jobs is available to practices on the Pro plan only. For practices using or planning to migrate to the Elite Plan, refer to FYI Workflow Jobs. For general information on using jobs in FYI, refer to Jobs Overview.
Note: Once enabled, XPM Workflow Jobs cannot be disabled. Review the feature to ensure this will be suitable for your practice before enabling the setting.
Getting Started with XPM Workflow Jobs
Enabling XPM Workflow Jobs
Before you can begin using XPM Workflow Jobs, you will need to perform several steps, including cleaning up historical jobs, creating Custom User Roles for assigning Jobs, and enabling the XPM Workflow Jobs option in Practice Settings.
For detailed step-by-step instructions on completing each of these steps, refer to Enabling XPM Workflow Jobs.
Once XPM Workflow Jobs has been enabled in the Practice Settings:
- Standard Jobs will be converted to Billing Jobs.
- XPM Tasks will be created as XPM Workflow Jobs.
- The XPM Tasks tab in the Job Workspace will be replaced by the Workflow Jobs tab.
- Job Categories that were assigned to the Standard Jobs (now Billing Jobs) will be automatically selected for assigned Workflow Jobs.
Creating new XPM Workflow Jobs
New XPM Workflow Jobs are created in FYI when:
- A task is created in Xero Practice Manager for a job.
- The job in XPM matches a Billing Job in FYI.
- The Billing Job is assigned a "Standard" Job State in FYI, i.e. the job is open, and not cancelled, archived, or on hold.
When the new XPM Workflow Job is synchronised to FYI, the Job State will be set to "Incomplete". Refer to Creating Jobs.
Editing XPM Workflow Jobs
XPM Workflow Jobs can be edited in FYI from the following locations:
The changes that can be made to the job will depend on the user's permissions:
- An FYI Admin, or a user in a User Group that has Permissions enabled for Edit Job can make changes to any of the fields that can be edited.
- A user without permission to edit Jobs can only change the Job State and, if your practice has Job Cabinet Security enabled in your Practice Settings, the Cabinet.
Please note that the XPM Workflow Job Name cannot be changed in FYI.
Deleting XPM Workflow Jobs
To delete an XPM Workflow Job, the Task will need to be deleted from Xero Practice Manager. After synchronising with FYI, the XPM Workflow Job will then be updated to "Cancelled".
If you delete a Job from XPM (including tasks) that a Billing Job in FYI is linked to, the Billing Job and all assigned XPM Workflow Jobs will be removed from FYI.
If you delete a Job from XPM (including tasks) that a Billing Job in FYI is linked to, the Billing Job and all assigned XPM Workflow Jobs will be removed from FYI.
Jobs cannot be deleted from FYI; you will only be able to set the Job State as "Cancelled".
Refer to Jobs Overview.
Displaying XPM Workflow Jobs
XPM Workflow Jobs can be easily identified using the Workflow Job Type icon. Users can also hover over the Job Type icon to display the type of job.
| Job Type Icon | Available Workspace |
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XPM Workflow Jobs can be displayed from within a variety of locations within FYI.
The Job Type icon will be displayed next to the "Job Details" heading, and "Workflow Job" will be selected as the "Type", displayed in the Job Details section. Refer to the Job Summary tab for more information.
The Job Type column can be added to Jobs Lists to display the different Job Type icons. Refer to Using Jobs Lists for more information.
The Jobs List is available from the following workspaces:
Note: When viewing the Jobs List, while both Billing Jobs and Workflow Jobs are displayed, adding the Billing Job column to the List will display the Billing Job for each Workflow Job. The Billing Job name is a hyperlink that, when clicked, opens the Billing Job Workspace.
When selecting a Billing Job, users can display all associated Workflow Jobs from the Workflow Jobs Tab. The Workflow Jobs can be displayed in a List view or as a Jobs Board.
When opening the Job Drawer for a Billing Job, the Workflow Jobs section will display. Click the Workflow Jobs section to expand and display the associated XPM Workflow Jobs, including details on Start and Due Dates, and the Estimated and Actual Hours.
Working with XPM Workflow Jobs
Sync with Xero Practice Manager
Once an XPM Workflow Job has been created, updates made in both FYI and Xero Practice Manager will continue to sync between both systems.
Please note that not all XPM Workflow Job fields will be synchronised. For example, the Job Budget, Partner, or Manager fields will not be synchronised with XPM. Refer to Synchronising Clients, Staff, Jobs, Time, Tax Returns with Xero Practice Manager.
Open in PM button
When viewing the Job Summary tab for an XPM Workflow Job, the Open in PM icon is displayed at the top of the Job Details section. Click the icon to open the task directly in Xero Practice Manager.
Assigning Users
Users are assigned to the job either within FYI or using Xero Practice Manager, depending on your FYI Practice Settings and whether FYI as Primary is enabled.
| FYI Plan | FYI as Primary Enabled | Method |
| Xero Practice Manager | ||
| Custom User Roles in FYI |
Where FYI as Primary is not enabled, practices can still utilise the Custom User Roles feature to assign non-standard roles, for example, Bookkeeper. Custom User Roles are configured when enabling XPM Workflow Jobs, mentioned above.
Once assigned to a Custom User Role for the job, users will be able to view all active Jobs they have been assigned to, including XPM Workflow Jobs. Refer to Assigning Users to Jobs and Your Home Workspace.
Job Category
Job Categories are synchronised from Xero Practice Manager, and can be used to filter and segment your jobs in FYI. The Job Category is displayed on the Job Summary tab, and can be added to Jobs Lists as a column if required.
The Job Category for XPM Workflow Jobs are automatically inherited from the Billing Job, and cannot be modified in FYI.
Update Job States
Job States are used in FYI to manage the lifecycle of a job within the practice.
XPM Workflow Jobs are initially created with a Job State of Incomplete. Users can edit the job in FYI to select any other Job State as required. When the Job State is set to either Completed or Cancelled in FYI, Xero Practice Manager will be updated to mark the task as completed.
Recording Time
Time created in FYI against the XPM Workflow Job will be added to the relevant task in Xero Practice Manager for billing. For information on using Time in FYI, refer to Time Overview.
When creating time, after selecting a Billing Job from the drop-down field, XPM Workflow Jobs will be available to select from the XPM Task field.
Time can only be added for users assigned to the Job or Task. If the user is not assigned to the Job or Task, submitted time will not be synchronised, will return to a Draft status in FYI, and an error will be displayed in Practice Activity.
Xero has a set number of synchronisations available to be performed each day, referred to as the Xero Rate Limit. Refer to Xero Practice Manager Rate Limiting.
To reduce the number of synchronisations with Xero, the XPM Staff Allocation setting available in Practice Settings allows practices to control whether FYI should perform additional synchronisations to automatically assign the user to the Job or Task before submitting the time. Depending on the number of time entries submitted each day, this may increase the risk of reaching the Xero Rate Limit. Refer to Xero Practice Manager Rate Limiting.
It's recommended to record time within FYI, rather than Xero Practice Manager, to allow users to record their time against documents and client interactions. However, where practices have a number of users working on a single Job or Task, it may be recommended to log time directly in Xero Practice Manager to reduce the number of syncs with XPM.