Organizers (Basic): Create & apply templates
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TaxDome organizers allow you to create interactive questionnaires to efficiently gather client information. Having all your FAQs ready to go will save loads of time. Plus, automate your organizers inside pipelines so that they go out to clients right when they need to—without you having to click a single button.
Creating organizer templates
An organizer template can be created by a firm owner, admin or any team member with access rights to manage templates. Create them so that you have them readily available to use and further customize when needed.
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To create an organizer template, go to Templates > Firm templates from the left menu bar, select Organizers, then click Create template.
Or access this page by adding the Create Organizer automation while creating or editing a pipeline, then click New template.
An organizer has sections and questions; each question belongs to a section. Below, learn more about the numbered fields on the Create Organizer Template page.
1. Template name: Enter what you want to call the template. You’ll see this name when selecting it.
2. Organizer name: Enter the name your client will see for the organizer. Click + Add shortcode to individualize it: Shortcode includes dynamic data that gets replaced with, for example, a client’s name or the date. For more info on shortcodes, go to the detailed article.
3. Template contents: Click on section names to view them or hold the six dots icon and swap sections.
4. New section: Click to create extra sections. Use the template contents on the left for navigation between sections.
5. Section name: Enter a heading for the first section (e.g., Address Info).
6. Section settings
- Copy icon: Click to duplicate the whole section including all questions in it.
- Gear icon: Click to choose this section’s settings. Toggle on Allow client to repeat to let clients replicate sections (for more details, go here). If you want a new section to be displayed when a client answers a question a certain way, toggle on Conditions, then set up conditional logic jumps (for more details, go here).
- Trash icon: Click to delete the whole section. Be careful — deleting the section can't be reverted after you save the template.
7. Question and Text block gear icons:
- Required: If toggled on, the client won’t be able to submit an organizer until all mandatory questions are answered.
- Allow pre-fill: If toggled on, the client's answer to the question will be automatically populated when a client fills out the organizer for the second and further times. Read more on how pre-fill works for the client.
- Conditions: If toggled on, you will be able to make a question or text block to be displayed when a client answers a question a certain way. Read more on how to set up the conditional logic jumps.
- Add explanation: If toggled on, you will be able to provide details that explain a question. The explanation is displayed beneath the question.
- Update account tags: If toggled on, you will be able to add and remove account tags depending on client answers. Learn more in the detailed article.
8. + Question: Select the type of question or request from the pull-down.
This is what the question types mean:
Free Entry is for entering text, such as a name, address, or company
Email is for entering an email address.
Number is for entering numerals, such as number of children or an SSN.
Date is for entering a day, month and year, such as a DOB. When entering, the date must match one of the following formats: MMM-DD-YYYY (e.g. Jan-01-2022) or MM/DD/YYYY (e.g. 12/24/2022) for US firms; DD/MM/YYYY (e.g. 24/12/2022) for non-US firms.
Radio Buttons offer a list of options, such as a company type (e.g., nonprofit or LLC).
Checkboxes display small boxes that can be checked off, allowing for both multiple and single answers.
Dropdown expands a menu to select one or more options.
Yes/No is for yes/no answers to questions like “Are you married?”
File Upload provides a place to upload with the name of the doc that needs uploading. (Files uploaded to organizers are saved to the client account, the client can select a folder at the time of uploading)
9. + Text Block: Click to drop a block of text. You can add links, embed videos and paste emojis in text blocks.
10. Preview Mode: Click to see what it looks like from the client side. For details, go to the section below.
11. Settings:
- Notify about document upload: Toggle this on if you want to receive notifications about documents uploaded to the organizer. For more details, go here.
- Organizer self-service: Toggle this on if you want clients to create organizers on their own based on this template. For more details, go here.
- Automatically seal after submission: Toggle this on if you want a client to keep the client from making any new changes. Learn more here.
- Send reminders to clients: Toggle this on to enable sending automatic reminders for pending organizers. Learn more about reminders in organizers.
12. Save & Exit, Save and Cancel: Click Save & Exit to save the template and go back to the templates list, Save to keep your changes and continue editing the template or Cancel to exit without saving.
Note: Empty sections without questions or text blocks won’t be saved. You’ll need to add information to them in or delete them.
Applying organizer templates
Once you’ve created a template, you’re ready to use it to gather data from clients to start your work:
1. Create a new organizer either by clicking New at the top left and selecting Organizer or by selecting the recipients in your accounts list, then clicking Send Organizer.
2. Click the Organizer template list to expand it, then select a template. Preview it if needed.
3. Edit the organizer name or click + Add shortcode to individualize the title. Shortcode includes dynamic data that gets replaced with, for example, a client’s name or the date. For more info on shortcodes, go here.
4. Continue by enabling reminders and linking the organizer to jobs.
Note: If there is more than one recipient, you won’t be able to link the organizer to jobs.
Adding organizer templates from the Marketplace
You can download ready-made organizer templates with the best practices. To add an organizer template from the Marketplace:
1. Go to Templates > Marketplace from the left menu bar and open the Organizers tab.
2. Click Get free on the template you want to add or click on its price and proceed with the payment if it's a paid template.
3. Go to Templates > Template library, open the Organizers tab and click on the name of the organizer template to begin editing if needed.
Editing organizer templates
1. To make changes to an organizer template, go to Templates > Firm templates in the menu bar, open the Organizers tab, then click on the organizer template name in the list.
2. Edit questions (e.g, if you need to update the organizer for a new tax year), move or delete questions and sections using the icons to the far right of the section name or question. Once you’ve finished making changes to the organizer template, click Save & Exit.
Note: The changes you make to an organizer template are not reflected in the organizers that have already been created from the same template. However, all new organizers sent from now on (including the ones in automations) will reflect the changes.
Duplicating organizer templates
Create a new organizer template from an existing one: Click the three dots to the far right of the organizer template name, then select Duplicate. The organizer’s copy will be saved with a suffix (e.g., Organizer (2)).
Deleting organizer templates
To avoid clutter, remove an organizer template if you don’t need it anymore. Click the three dots to the far right of the organizer template name, select Delete in the dropdown, then confirm by clicking Delete. All organizers created for clients with that template will still remain.
What does my template look like for clients?
If you need to check your organizer template from the client side, click the Preview Mode link on the top right of the template.
Here you can select sections to preview from the Go to section dropdown on the top left, fill out any block like your clients do and click Next to proceed to the next section. The green bar on the top will appear along with your progress with organizer blocks.
Once done, click Back to edit or X on the top right.
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