As the new calendar year gets into full swing, the team have been busy introducing new features to provide further efficiency to your practice. From the release of Forms and Date-based Time Reporting for our Elite practices, to powerful new capabilities with job synchronisation, automations and task management, this month was full of new improvements.
This month saw the release of one of the most highly anticipated features, Forms. Our Elite practices can now transform how they collect both client and internal information. With Forms, you will be able to collate information, such as onboarding a new client, in one structured workflow. Forms can be branded to suit your practice. and information is submitted securely, automatically filed to FYI and once marked Finished, converted to PDF for secure record-keeping.
Once enabled, Sample templates are automatically uploaded, and additional dedicated workflow statuses are available, assisting you with standardising processes such as annual client information requests, client satisfaction surveys and internal record keeping. To find out more, including how to enable Forms, refer to Announcing the release of Forms.
Optimised Job Sync for practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager (XPM) was also introduced this month, where you can now sync individual jobs directly from the Job Workspace using the new Sync Job button. The Sync button has been removed from the Jobs Lists and Jobs Board. For example, updated job details in XPM, and your team need that information. To update FYI, you no longer run a full job sync, giving faster access to accurate job information. When the sync runs, a Pending Sync icon appears on the Job Workspace. Where a full sync of all jobs is required, FYI Admins and users with Automation permissions can still run a manual sync from the XPM Automation App. Refer to Announcing the new Optimised Job Sync for Xero Practice Manager and Running a Manual Sync with Xero Practice Manager for detailed information.
Further enhancements were made for XPM users, with new jobs created in XPM now synchronised to FYI within approximately 15 minutes, instead of overnight. This enhancement means your team can begin working on jobs that day, and no longer require a manual sync, rather than waiting until the next day. Refer to Synchronising Clients, Staff, Jobs, Time, Tax Returns with Xero Practice Manager.
Along with XPM, for practices integrated with MYOB Practice Management (formerly GreatSoft), the Sync Job button is now also available in the Jobs Workspace. As jobs synchronise every 15 minutes, the Sync button has been removed from the Jobs Lists and Jobs Board to streamline the workspaces. Refer to Running a Manual Sync with MYOB Practice Management (formerly GreatSoft) and Additional Notes on Syncing.
Practices in the United Kingdom received a new integration, Socket, a proposal and engagement platform. Adding to the list of integrations, practices using Socket can now automatically sync engagement documentation into FYI, supporting a smoother handover of proposal acceptance to job delivery. Client and contact details are also synchronised from FYI to Sicket, reducing duplication across systems. Refer to Announcing the Integration with Socket (United Kingdom only).
Our Elite practices now have access to Date-based Time reporting, designed to support more precise WIP reporting. When running a WIP Control report across a large client base, the new Opening Balance option allows you to define the balance period using fixed or relative dates, helping produce clearer and more controlled reconciliation results. To support this functionality, a new WIP Control Report v3.4 template is available. This must be downloaded from the Help Centre and uploaded to your FYI platform to replace the existing version. Refer to Announcing the release of Date-based Time Reporting.
Automations received several enhancements, with the introduction of Custom Due Dates for Tasks, Context behaviour for Look up steps and Comments on Create task steps:
- The Look Up Job and Look Up Client automation steps now include a Context behaviour option. This is particularly useful as you can now control whether subsequent steps in the process apply to the current record, or the record found by the Look Up step. For example, select 'Update context to look up result', to ensure that subsequent steps in the process are applied to the matched record found by this step. Alternatively, selecting 'Preserve previous context' ensures subsequent steps follow the original record from the process. Refer to Process Step Details - Look Up Job and Process Step Details - Look Up Client.
- Create Task steps have had a makeover, with the ability to now include Comments on the step, which also support Merge Fields. For example, if an automation creates a task when a new client is onboarded, you can automatically tag the Admin Team with contextual information such as the client name or engagement type. This ensures nothing sits unassigned or unnoticed. Refer to Process Step Details - Create Task.
- Further enhancements to tasks this month, either within automation or created manually, users can set a Custom Due date of up to 365 days. If a review task should always be due 30 days after a document is approved, the due date can now be calculated automatically rather than entered each time manually. The Custom Due Date can be set as a default in Practice Settings, included in Task Templates, or configured within the Create Task automation step. Refer to Managing Tasks and Process Step Details - Create Task.
Keeping on the theme of tasks this month, when using the grouped view in Home - My Tasks, tasks due 'Today' now appear at the top, followed by 'Past Due' and 'Upcoming'. This means that users can focus on the tasks at hand without having to see overdue or future work first. Refer to Displaying Tasks from your Home.
Further enhancements were made to the New Collaborate Status Check, which now shows the most recent date and time the Guest User reconciliation was run and allows you to manually trigger reconciliation if needed. The Status Check also identifies when guest users have been added directly in SharePoint instead of through FYI. In these cases, access must be revoked in SharePoint and re-added correctly via FYI to restore proper linking. Refer to New Collaborate Status Check Overview and New Collaborate Guest User Error "Link Facet Access - Replace with Invitation".
The FYI Practice Sync Desktop App was upgraded to .NET 8 this month to ensure it continues running on secure, supported technology. The upgrade is automatic. However, if needed, FYI Admins or users with Automations permissions can manually download the latest version from Automation - Apps page. Refer to FYI Practice Sync Desktop App.
We finished off the month with improvements made to messaging for practices integrated with APS, CCH, IRIS or MYOB. When users cannot be created due to a missing email address or username, clearer messages are displayed in Practice Activity, with a specific error message for each scenario, making troubleshooting easier. In addition, user synchronisation now checks for matches by email first. then by alias, and finally by Source ID. These improvements reduce the risk of duplicate users being created in FYI. Refer to Error FYI-2272 "Unable to create user due to missing Username or Email Address" and the individual integration articles for more information on synchronised fields.
There were many more enhancements this month, along with resolutions. For all the details, refer to February 2026 Release Notes.