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Chapter 1: Engagement Templates

Christa Mason
Updated

Summary

Create an unlimited number of unique Templates directly from within the Firm Portal. You can create Letter Templates, Section Templates, and Section Types. 

The following article outlines the features and functions for Letter, Section and Engagement Name Templates.

Each Letter Template is comprised of Section Types with a specified Section Template for each Section Type on the Letter. An unlimited number of Letter Templates, Section Types, and Section Templates can be created.

A single Section Template can be shared between multiple Letter Templates and an infinite number of Section Template selection combinations are available to create various unique Letter Templates.

Quickly and easily edit existing Section and Letter templates, in addition to having the ability to make one-off edits to drafted letters that you can control.

Included in this article:

Templates Overview

Create, edit, and disable Letter Templates, Section Templates, and Sections by first going to the Settings of the firm portal (bottom lefthand side of navigation bar).

Settings gear firm portal.png

Select the "Create..." button in the top right corner to create a new Letter Template, Section Template, or Section Type.

ENG Template 2.png

Letter Templates

 

Note: Once a Letter Template, Section Template, or Section Type has been created, it cannot be outright deleted. Instead, it can be disabled or edited.

Each Engagement starts with an Engagement Letter, created from a chosen Letter Template. Each Letter Template created in your system is available to be chosen to create a new Engagement. Letters, and in turn Letter Templates, are comprised of Section Types.

Each Section Type on a Letter/Letter Template is tied to a specifically chosen Section Template. The content and available placeholder variables entered in a Section Template populates the contents of the Letter.

On a given Letter Template, one Section Type of the same kind can be added, then you choose which Section Template of that type to add to the letter, though note a single Letter Template cannot contain  the same Section Type.

Each Letter Template is essentially a bucket of defined Section Template selections of the various Section Types you want included on the Letter Template.

For each Section Type shown, the available Section Templates for that Section Type are shown in the drop down list.

 

Adjusting Letter Template Sections - Made with Clipchamp.gif

 

Steps to Create an Engagement Letter Template from Settings Tab

  1. Go to the Settings tab of the firm portal
  2. In the left-hand panel select Letter Templates
  3. Select "Create Letter Template..." button
  4. Enter a name for the new Letter Template (this can be edited later)
  5. The first Section slot is added already, select the Section type
  6. The Section Templates available for the chosen Section appear in the next drop down, select the desired Section Template or select "New" to create a new Section Template
  7. Once the first Section and it's Section Template are added, select "+Add Section"
  8. Choose the next type of Section from the list and select the desired Section Template
  9. To adjust the position of a Section, select and hold the number order and drag to the desired position
  10. Select "Save Template" to complete the setup.

Create new letter template-add section - gif.gif

 

Section Templates

While the structure of an Engagement Letter is managed in the Letter Template, the actual contents of Letters are driven by the Section Types and their assigned Section Templates. 

You can create new Section Templates, and edit existing Section Templates, from a few different places within the module. The types of client or engagement specific data pulled into a particular Section Template is controlled by using Placeholder Variables available to insert when creating or editing a Section Template.

Steps to Create a new Section Template from Settings Tab

  1. Go to the Settings tab of the firm portal
  2. In the left-hand panel, select Section Templates
  3. Select "Create Section Template" button
  4. Name the Section Template (this can be edited later)
  5. Choose the type of Section for the Section Template. Note the Section type assigned to the Section Template cannot be changed once the Section Template is created
  6. Enter the text and desired formatting, and insert any desired Placeholder Variables
  7. Select "Create New Template" to save your changes and complete the process

Engagements-Create New Section Template-Demo Portal.png

 

Steps to Edit a Section Template from an Engagement

  1. Go to the Engagements tab of the firm portal
  2. Select an existing draft engagement 
  3. Go to the Engagement Letter section
  4. Select "Edit Letter..." button
  5. Select "Edit" button next to the Section you would like to edit
  6. Make your desired changes, including inserting any Placeholder Variables related to the Client or Engagement
  7. Choose to either Save the changes for just that letter (Override Template), save the changes to the existing section template (Update Template), or create a new section template of the same type using the changes you made to the section (Save as New Template) and select Save button.

Edit Section Template - gif.gif

 

Tips & Tricks: How to Remove Extra Space between Text or Variables

If you want your letter to appear like the example below, showing the values with no line break between them, follow the instructions set below the image, and you can also watch the short video further below as well.

Engagements - Edit Section Template - Source Code.png

  1. Go to Settings > Section Templates
  2. Edit an existing section template or create a new section template
  3. In the rich text format tool bar, select the <> icon (Source Code) - highlighted in example image above
  4. Copy the code from the code block below and paste it into the source code editor in the portal
  5. Save changes
<p>{{{engagement.primary_contact.name}}}<br>{{{client.name}}}<br>{{{client.address_block}}}</p>

 

 

Section Types

Think of a Section Type as a category assigned to your Section Template. Each Section Template must be assigned to a single Section Type, and note that once a Section Template is assigned to a Section Type, this cannot be changed.

Letter Templates can have any number of Section Types added, and then any of the selected Section Type's assigned Section Templates are available to choose from. You can only have one Section Type in the Letter at a time. 

For example, you can have a Section Type called "Introduction". You can then have many different unique "Section Templates" that are assigned to the Introduction section type. But, you can only add one of the "Introduction" section templates onto the Engagement Letter Template.

By Default, the following Section Types are added to your system:

  1. Date and Address
  2. Introduction
  3. Scope of Services
  4. Service Terms and Conditions
  5. General Terms and Conditions
  6. Agreement Confirmation

Create as many new Section Types as desired. While only one Section Type can be present on a Letter Template at a time, many different Section Types can be created in order to be available for Letter Templates.

To create a new Section Type, in the Engagement Settings, select Section Types to view existing Section Types, create new Section Types, and enable/disable Section Types.

ENG Template 4.png

 

Select "Create Section" button. The creation of a Section Type is simply the creation of a new classification of section templates with which you intend to use on one or more Letter Templates.

 

ENG create section button.png                     

 ENG Template 5.png

 

To Edit, Disable, or Enable a Section Type, select it from the list.

 

Engagements-Sections-Edit Section-Demo Portal.png

Note that once a Section Template is assigned to a Section Type, the Section Type for that Section Template cannot be changed.

 

 

Next: Chapter 2: Consent Templates

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