Plan: Not Available: Intermediate, Pro Available: Elite
Users: Available: All users
Practice Management Source: Not Available: Xero Practice Manager, APS, Iris, MYOB AE & AO, CCH, MYOB Practice Management (formerly GreatSoft) Available: FYI
Forms provide a complete lifecycle for collecting and managing information across your practice. Powered by Syntaq's advanced forms engine, forms transforms the way a practice manages client information by removing manual touchpoints and ensuring that every form submission is automatically filed in FYI.
With dedicated automation processes and the ability to apply practice branding, Forms delivers a consistent, professional, and integrated experience for practices and their clients:
- Form Template: Create and customise layouts tailored to your practice's requirements.
- Create and Share: Share Client or General Forms automatically through process steps, or individually using email templates.
- Auto-file and Workflow: Once submitted, forms are automatically filed to FYI. Using dedicated Workflows, form responses can be reviewed before client data is automatically updated in FYI.
- Update Client Records: Using merge fields and automations, update client data, ensuring your client's information is always accurate, before finalising the form.
Getting Started with Forms
Forms are currently available to Elite practices. Refer to Forms Feature Rollout for more information on the status of the Forms feature.
Forms can be enabled by an FYI Admin from Practice Settings - Forms. Once enabled:
- Practices can update their Branding. Refer to Managing Forms Branding.
- Form templates must be created and marked as Active to enable users to Create Forms. Form Templates can be created and managed by FYI Admins and users with Template permissions.
- Draft Sample Form Templates will be automatically uploaded to your Knowledge Template list.
- All users can begin to create Client Forms or Internal Forms.
- A Forms - Submitted Document view is created, automatically filtered to Forms with a Submitted workflow status. Refer to Search and Views Overview.
- FYI Admins can disable the Forms feature, if and when required.
Note: For practices that transition from the Elite plan to the Pro plan, Forms will be automatically disabled.
FYI Admins can disable forms when needed, for example to reduce the risk of unintentional form creation and to maintain clear process controls. This feature can be re-enabled at any time.
Once the Forms feature has been disabled:
- Form Templates: New Form Templates cannot be created or imported. Existing templates remain available in the Knowledge Workspace and can be exported, but not edited, or copied.
- Client and Internal Forms: New forms cannot be created, manually or via automation. Existing forms can still be viewed, submitted, finished and converted to PDF.
- Submitting Forms: Existing Client or Internal Form links remain active and can still be submitted.
- General Forms: Links to General Forms can still be accessed and submitted. New External links cannot be created.
- Workflow Statuses: All Workflow statuses remain available.
- Automations: The Create Form step is no longer available. If an automation attempts to run with this step, an error message will be displayed in the Automation History. The Filter Type - Forms remain accessible.
Note: Before disabling Forms, it's recommended that practices review any outstanding automations to ensure that client data won't be affected.
Refer to Managing Practice Settings for Forms.
Forms Branding allows practices to customise the appearance of their Forms by setting a Primary Brand Colour. This colour defines the background and panel styles used in all Forms and Form Templates, ensuring consistent branding across client and internal Forms.
FYI Admins can update the colour using either a hexadecimal code or the Colour Picker Window, and reset it to the default dark blue at any time. Once the Primary Brand Colour is changed, all active Forms and Templates automatically update to reflect the new colour scheme.
Refer to Managing Forms Branding for more information.
Form Templates Overview
Creating Form Templates
Creating a Form template allows practices to define a consistent format for collecting data, that can be reused, ensuring consistency across teams.
Practices can create a custom Form template, specific to your practice. Refer to Creating Templates for Forms for more information.
This feature is currently in beta. Learn more about beta registrations.
When creating a Form Template, rules can be added to dynamically display fields based on how users complete the form. Applying rules lets you control the behaviour of a form without having to create multiple versions of the same template.
Each Form Template includes its own set of rules. When a new form template is created, new rules are created for that specific form.
Refer to Creating and Managing Rules for Forms (Beta) .
Once the Forms feature has been enabled, the following sample Form Templates are available from the Knowledge - Templates workspace of your platform.
Each sample template's filing details will initially be set to Draft and all template names will be affixed with "(Sample)" at the end for easy identification:
- Starter Form: Best practice example layout.
- Update Client Details: Manage and request client updates.
- Client Onboarding: Capture new client details.
- Client Satisfaction: Gather client feedback.
- Employee Performance Review: Evaluate performance.
- Professional Development Request: Request training or growth opportunities.
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Hardware Replacement / Upgrade Request: Request new or updated equipment.
Each template can be customised to suit your practice. Refer to Managing Form Templates.
Managing Form Templates
Once a Form Template has been created, the layout and details can be edited and updated, where required. Refer to Managing Form Templates.
Before editing Form Templates, it is important to consider the following:
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Active Form Automatic Updates: The structure of a Form is based on the Form Template, any additional fields must first be added to the template itself. If any active Forms have been created using the template, any changes will be automatically applied to the active form, including those that have been submitted.
- Field Names: Field Names are used to default client data for FYI fields, and used as merge field names referenced in automations. Updates to Field Names may affect any automations that rely on the merge field.
When updating a Form Template, it is recommended to first create a copy of the template to ensure that changes are not applied to active Forms.
Practices can import or export Form Templates to share across practices in their network or group. When importing, any missing custom fields are flagged with a warning when the form template is edited. If a template is included in an exported automation, these are automatically uploaded as draft templates when the process is imported.
When a Form Template is no longer required, the template can be Archived or Deleted.
Form Templates cannot be deleted if:
- Forms created from the associate template do not have a 'Completed' Workflow Status.
- The Form Template is used in an automation.
Displaying Forms
Forms are displayed in Document Lists, including Templates lists with the following icon:
To display Forms that have been created, filter a Document List:
- Type: Form.
Users can apply additional filters, such as Workflow to refine their search. For example, Filter Forms and the Workflow status 'Pending Submission' to display all Forms that have been sent out to Clients but have not yet been submitted.
Displaying Uploaded Form Documents
When a Form template includes the Upload field, any files uploaded to the Form will be imported directly into FYI, when the Form is submitted. Once uploaded, the documents will automatically be:
- Stapled to the original Form
- The source of the uploaded documents will be "Form"
- Inherit all Filing Details from the original Form
- Workflow Status will default to 'Not Started'
To display documents that have been uploaded through a Form:
-
All Documents uploaded: Filter Document Lists Source column to "Form."
-
Documents specific to a Form: Click the Staple icon next to the Form to display all documents uploaded to the selected Form.
Using Forms
Creating Client Forms
Forms are created directly in FYI, and can be created for Clients or Internal Users:
- Individually, by using the Create Form function:
- In bulk, using an Automation that includes the Create Form step. Users require Automations permission to perform this action.
Creating General Forms
A General Form is a form that has been shared from a Form Template external link. This allows practices to easily collect information without linking the form to a specific client. Responses from General Forms are not filed to a client record.
FYI Admins and users with Template permissions can create an external link from an active Form Template. Once generated, the link can be copied and shared through emails, websites, or other channels.
When accessed, the general form opens in a browser and is be completed anonymously, meaning users cannot save their progress. Clients can either clear or submit their responses. Once submitted, General Forms are automatically filed to the practice’s default Cabinet and Categories and are not filed to a client.
For more information, refer to Creating a Direct Link to a General Form.
Editing and Removing Forms
Once a Form has been created, users can edit and update the details as needed. Within the Form Preview, users can make adjustments such as pre-filling responses, where applicable. This is typically used when submitting an internal form.
Important Note: The structure of a Form is based on the Form Template. If updates are made to the Form Template, these will be automatically applied to all active forms, including submitted forms.
Users can delete a form in the same way that documents are deleted from FYI. When a form is deleted, details stored within the Form are retained by the Syntaq form engine until the form is permanently deleted from FYI. Refer to Deleting Documents and Recovering Deleted Documents.
Forms are also permanently deleted from FYI and the Syntaq form engine when a form's workflow status is changed to 'Finished'. Refer to Finishing a Form.
Sending Forms to Clients
Once one or more Forms have been created for a client, they can be sent by email as links for the client to complete the form.
Forms can be sent to clients:
- Manually, from the Documents list.
- In bulk, using the Create Email step in an automation. Refer to Setting Up a Custom Process for Form Management.
- Using New Collaborate, either manually or using automation steps. Forms can be shared using Share and Email or Share No Email. Refer to Sharing Forms using New Collaborate.
When sending Forms to clients, the Form link will be inserted into the body of the email using a form merge field. Where multiple Forms are being sent, the links will be generated as a bullet-point list of the selected Form links.
When sending Forms to Clients:
- Forms cannot be sent as PDFs, they must be shared using the merge field link.
- If the merge field is not included in the email template, the links will not be sent to the client.
- Currently, when a Form link is sent to a client, the link remains accessible if the client chooses to forward the email.
- Form links will expire after 28 days of the link being generated.
- When a Form has been submitted, the Form Link is no longer accessible.
Refer to Setting up Form Email Templates and Sending Forms to Clients Via Email.
Using Forms Workflows
Once forms have been enabled, additional Workflow Statuses will be available to enhance visibility and provide further process tracking on all documents, including forms. In addition to current Workflow Approval statuses, the following additional states are available.
The following are examples of how these additional states can be used for forms:
- Pending Submission: Once a Form has been sent to a client, the status will automatically be updated to Pending Submission.
- Submitted: When the Submit button is clicked on a Form, the Workflow Status is automatically updated. It is recommended that the Form be reviewed after being submitted to ensure that all details have been completed correctly.
- Reviewed: Allows users to update a Form's status to "Reviewed" without requiring Workflow Approval permissions.
- Finished: FYI Admins can select or update a Form to "Finished" to mark the entire form process complete. Once a Form is marked as finished, the original form will be automatically converted to PDF and the form permanently deleted. Refer to Finishing a Form.
Note: Changing the status of a document, including a Form to 'Pending Submission', 'Submitted', or 'Reviewed' will not lock the document.
Refer to Managing Form Workflow Statuses.
Finishing Forms
An FYI Admin can update a form's workflow as "Finished", indicating that the entire process is completed. It is recommended that forms are submitted and reviewed before this status is updated.
When the "Finished" status is selected, the form is automatically converted to a PDF and the original form is permanently deleted. Once converted, images are redacted and all other key details of the original form are retained on the PDF document
Refer to Finishing a Form.
Using Forms in Automations
FYI Admins or users with Automation permissions can create and share Forms using the Automations engine. Once a client submits a form, Automations are used to update data in FYI with the submitted Form information:
- Create Form step: This process step allows practices to generate client forms in Bulk from a nominated form template, ensuring consistent formatting and streamlined information requests.
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Form Management: A Custom Process can be set up to manage completed Forms and update particular data in your platform. The process uses a selected Form Template to determine the Merge Fields available to update details.
Important: Before setting up this process, it is recommended that Forms be reviewed and their workflow status updated to confirm that the review has been completed.
Trigger Form Merge Fields
Merge Fields allow practices to extract data from a Form and insert that information directly into additional steps of an automation, such as Update Client, Update Jobs, Alter Document or Create Task.
For example, when an Update Client Details Form has been submitted and reviewed, the data provided (such as address or phone number) can be mapped through Merge Fields to automatically update the client record.
Form Merge Fields are displayed in the following sections of the Merge Field Editor:
- Step (x) Form Data - Where a Form has been created in an earlier step of the process, where x will display the relevant step number.
- Trigger Form Data - Displayed when using the Form - View Filters Automation Filter.
The Merge Fields available will depend on the Form Template selected in the Automation Filter. For more information on using Form Merge Fields in Automations, refer to Setting Up a Custom Process for Form Management.