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Practice Management Source: Not Available: APS, Iris, MYOB AE & AO, CCH, MYOB Practice Management (formerly GreatSoft) Available: FYI or Xero Practice Manager
Converting a Form to PDF enables practices to capture a permanent, read-only record of a form.
Forms can be converted to PDF directly from Document Lists, or within an automation process, making it simple to create final copies of Forms.
This article describes how to convert a Form to PDF using the Convert to PDF function. Forms are automatically converted to PDF when the workflow status is set to Finished. For more information, refer to Finishing a Form.
We recommend converting a submitted Form to PDF only once it has been reviewed and approved, to ensure you are capturing the final version of the Form.
Overview of Converting Forms to PDF
When a Form is converted to PDF, all field labels and their corresponding values are displayed in a clear format.
Note: The PDF will not be an exact copy of the original form, but it will contain all fields and values.
Once the Form has been converted to PDF:
- Images are excluded and do not display in the PDF.
- Multi-page Forms are separated into different pages within the PDF.
- Hidden fields are excluded in the PDF, ensuring only visible information is displayed.
- File Upload fields are displayed by filename only.
- Fields that are displayed side by side within panels on a form will be arranged in rows, with each field's label on the left and its value on the right.
- The Date and Time the form was submitted will be displayed as a footer.
Note: The date and time stamps will display in AEDT for Australia and New Zealand practices and GMT time for UK practices. - Any forms that include Balance Month fields will display the value as a number. For example, February will display as 2.
- If a field in the Form has not been completed, the PDF will display "Not provided". For example, where a client has not entered their updated contact details, these fields will display [Not provided].
- Any Forms Branding will still apply.
- The following fields will not display:
- Any answers or fields that are hidden due to Form Rules (Beta).
- Any Summary tables, to avoid duplication of answers.
For an example of a form converted to PDF, refer to Example of Forms converted to PDF below.
Converting Forms to PDF
There are two ways that Forms can be converted to PDF:
- Manually from the Document list
- Within Automations, using Process Step - Convert to PDF
Manually from the Document list
To convert a Form to PDF from a Document List, users can select from either Convert or Convert with threading options when the Form is selected in a Document List:
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Convert: Select Convert and the PDF is added as a new document, and will not be threaded with the original document. Both the original and PDF document will display individually in the Document list.
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Convert with threading: Select the drop-down and click Convert with threading. The PDF is added as a new document and threaded with the original document. The PDF document will be displayed in the Document list as the latest document. To view the threaded documents, refer to Managing Document and Email Threads.
When a document is converted to PDF, the filing details, including the name of the Document for the PDF copy are set to the same as those of the Word or Spreadsheet document that it is a copy of.
Refer to Creating PDF Documents from FYI for more information.
Using Process Step - Convert to PDF
Users with Create Automation permissions can add the Convert to PDF step within a process to automatically generate a PDF copy of a Form.
Within an automation, there are two ways that the Convert to PDF could be used:
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Converting a Form created within an automation step
Add a Create Form step as part of the process. The Convert to PDF step can then be added at a later step, with the form created in a previous step selected to be converted. -
Convert Forms selected in a Document View
Select a Form document list as the automation filter. Then, add the Convert to PDF step to the process to convert the forms in the Document list to PDF. For example, set the filter to all Submitted forms, add a task step to review the forms, and then add a final Convert to PDF step to complete the process.
When the automation runs, the Form will be automatically converted to PDF with the same filing details as the source form.
For detailed instructions on adding this step to a process, refer to Process Step Details - Convert to PDF.
Example of Forms converted to PDF
The following example shows the Update Client Form (Sample) as a Form Preview from within FYI, and when the Form has been converted to PDF.
The following example is the Update Client Form, viewed as an External Link.
The following example, is the Client Update Form converted to PDF.