Overview: Users in the Active Platform can generate client-ready documents from published templates using the merge document feature in Active Documents. Generated documents can be saved as a Word file or published as a PDF – both will be stored and logged in Active Document’s version history.
Please refer to the Glossary for definitions of key terms used in this article.
Generate documents for clients
Navigate to the Active Platform’s Clients page. You can do this by clicking on the Clients button in the sidebar menu or in the homepage.
In the Clients page, select the relevant client by either searching or using various filters.
Then, navigate to the Documents tab in the selected client's page. Your client documents are stored in the Client Documents sub-tab.
To generate a document from a template, click the Add Document button and select the From Template option in the dropdown.
A slide-out will open with a stepper that guides you through the flow.
Template Selection
In the template selection step, the slide out will display a list of content templates available for use. Only published templates will be available for selection in this step. The generated document’s content will be based on the content template selected in this step.
Note: Only published templates will be available for use; if you do not see your template here, check the status for the template in the Template list and ensure the template you want to use is Published.
To start, select a content template from the list by ticking the checkbox and click Next.
Document Profile
Once a template is selected, the next step is to fill out the document profile details. The information populated in this step will be used to file the document generated.
Active Documents will pre-populate these fields by default based on the document defaults set for the content template.
Tip: Refer to the support article: How to create content template, section ‘Filling out the template details: Document profile defaults’ for more information.
If no defaults were set on a template-level, users can manually populate each field appropriate for the document.
Once happy, click Next.
Page Setup
This step is where users can select the master template used for the generated document.
Tip: For step-by-step instructions on how to create a master template, refer to the support article: How to create a master template.
Upon selecting a master template, the letterhead configurations for the first page of the document and subsequent pages will display in the slide-out. The configurations will default to what was configured in the master template.
Users can change the letterhead configurations where needed; it won’t override the configurations on the master template and will only be applied to the document generated.
Users can also select a watermark to use, if applicable.
Note: Watermarks are set up in the Admin Centre. If this has not been set up for the firm, administrators will need to create watermarks first before generating documents to be able to use it.
Template Fields
This step is only displayed if the selected template contains custom fields or a Contact field.
System fields, such as client information, are populated automatically using data stored in the Active Platform, whereas custom fields require manual input.
The Contact field, if present, is a dropdown selection populated from the client's existing contact information stored in the Active Platform.
Note: This step will not appear if the selected template has no custom fields and does not include a Contact field.
Once ready to proceed to the next step, click Next.
Preview and generate document
The final step will display a preview of the generated document in the browser, including the letterhead from the master template, watermarks, system and custom prompt fields entered by the user all merged into the document.
Note: The document has not been created or filed in Active Documents at this stage. This step shows a preview only. A PDF copy of the preview can be downloaded here, but downloading the file does not create the document.
Once you are happy with the document, click Create Document to finalise and save the document to Active Documents.
A confirmation page will display once the document is successfully created. Documents generated will be saved in Active Documents as a Word document by default to support for further editing, if needed.
To continue working on the document, click Open Document. This will open the document in Microsoft Word online or Microsoft Word desktop app.
Further editing of the generated document will leverage Microsoft’s word editor and collaboration tool, allowing multiple users to work on a single document.
Publishing a generated document
When a document is ready to send to the client, open the document from the Documents list and click the Finalise & Publish PDF icon at the top.
Once published, the original copy and the published PDF copy of the document will be stored in Active Documents, grouped together to retain relationship with each other.