This glossary matches the HowNow features and terms you use today to their Active Documents equivalent, so you can find your feet quickly.
How to use this guide
Each table below covers one area of the product. Read left to right: the HowNow feature you know, the Active Documents equivalent, and a short note on what stays the same or what changes. Where a HowNow feature has no documented equivalent yet, it is listed under “Features to confirm”.
What you need to know
Key transition facts
Active Documents replaces HowNow as the firm's cloud document management system on the Active Platform.
Most documents migrate seamlessly. Your merge templates are converted as part of the process, though they may still need a manual review to finish.
All HowNow Smartlinks are maintained during the migration.
Active Documents is 100% cloud, so you work directly in the browser.
Office and PDF files open in the browser (or in SharePoint with collaboration enabled), so there is no EditApp and no checking files in and out. Other file types that need editing still use check-in/check-out, and many file types can be viewed in the preview panel.
1. Getting around — where things live
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Records (tab): stored letters, emails and documents | Clients: your filed client documents, organised in cabinets | Same idea: the firm's central store of client documents, filed in cabinets against clients and entities. |
Records (tab): Admin records (by Location Type) | Internal: your filed internal practice documents, organised in cabinets | Same idea: the firm's central store of practice documents, filed in cabinets against admin cabinets |
Contacts (tab): client list synced from your Practice Management (PM) system | Clients & Contacts: synced from your PM system | Unchanged: your PM system stays the single source of truth; you can't edit clients in either product. |
Knowledge (tab): the firm's “How We Do It Here” templates | Template library: the firm's templates | Same purpose: firm wide templates (letters, procedures, forms, workpaper starters). |
Dashboard: overview of reviews, portal downloads and latest templates | Homepage: your central hub to search, upload and open clients | Both are your landing screen; the Homepage is built around search and upload. |
HowNow X Web: browser access to your records | Active Documents: 100% cloud, works in any browser | Active is fully browser based; there is no separate desktop application. |
Cabinet / filing location structure and permissions | Cabinets (against clients & entities) with permissions | Your familiar filing structure and access controls carry across. |
Help (?) top-right / Help File | Training Academy and your Active Documents champion | Where to get help (links at the end of this guide). |
2. Finding documents — search & filters
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Keyword search: by title, keywords, part-words or file extension | Metadata search: searches title, keywords and file extension | Use the document title, assigned keywords or file extension to quickly find the right file. |
Search operators (AND, OR, NOT, “ ”) | Metadata search | Search by title, keywords or file extension; narrow results further with filters. |
Knowledge Filters: Procedural Area, Document Type, Topic | Filters: Client, Cabinet, Financial Year, Category | Same idea: narrow results down the side. Active's core filters are client, cabinet, year and category. |
Records Filters: Date Range / Area (Contact or Team) / Role / Record Status filters | Filters (Client, Cabinet, Financial Year, Category) | The everyday narrowing is the same; some HowNow specific filters differ, please confirm equivalents with your implementation team. |
“Filter on this contact”: records for one client | Open a client to see their documents by cabinet, or filter a search by client | Focus your search on a single client. |
3. Adding documents
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Drag & Drop / “Send to HowNow” / New Profile Wizard | Upload (single file) and Bulk upload, drag & drop a batch, set a default profile, override per file | Drag and drop stays; bulk upload with a per-file override is new and the biggest time saver. |
Profiling a document in the wizard | Document profile: cabinet, financial year, Category | Same concept: profile the document so search and filters work well. |
Office Add-In: Word/Excel toolbar to save into HowNow | No add-in needed: upload the file, or edit directly in the browser | Because Active edits in the browser, a separate save to add-in isn't required. |
HowNow Document Converter: print to PDF into HowNow | Built-in PDF merge tool + upload | Merge and add PDFs inside Active without a separate app. |
Email Manager: Outlook add-in that prompts to save emails on send | Email Manager / Outlook Add-in: file emails both ways and recognise conversation threads | Upgrade: files received and sent emails and keeps a thread as one connected record. |
4. Templates & creating documents
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Merge Documents / Merge letters: Word letters populated from contact data | Generate a document from a template: created and filed in one step, fields fill automatically | Same outcome (a filled, filed letter); built and edited in the browser: no Word plug-ins or bookmarks. |
Master style templates (firm styles & logos) | Master style letter templates + Global styling (firm brand/style) | Retained; some templates will need converting on migration. |
Signatory (Director/Partner) selection on a merge letter | Template fields & conditional content (system fields, custom fields, Show/Hide, If/Else, Match Value) | The same “fill in the details” idea, driven by fields and conditions: one smart template can replace several near identical letters. |
Standard Record Titles: firm naming protocol | Document profile (Category): consistent profiling | Keeps naming and filing consistent across the team. |
“Automatically File” templates from Knowledge | Generating from a template files it automatically | The document is created and filed together, against the client. |
5. Working with & editing documents
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Editing via the Office Add-In; a record locks while open; Final = read-only | Open and edit in the browser with real-time collaboration, several people in the same Office file at once | Big shift: no check-in/check-out and no file locking for Office 365 documents; the team works on one file together. Other file types that need editing still use check-in/check-out. |
EditApp | No EditApp required | 100% cloud/browser editing. |
Record Linking (Link code) between related records | Link a document to a workpaper binder or job “upload once, use everywhere” | The same file is linked wherever it's needed, no duplicates, always up to date. |
Duplicate a record to another client | Link one file rather than copying it | Active favours linking a single source of truth over duplicating, confirm your firm's approach with your implementation team. |
6. Version history, audit & security
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Record Status (e.g. Draft, Final); Final becomes read-only | Document status / read-only controls | Status controls manage whether a document is still editable or treated as final. |
Version history / audit trail | Version history + audit trail every version saved; restore any earlier version | Versioning is made visible and easier; you can roll back rather than only locking down. |
Full audit on the document profile | Detailed audit logs, track uploads, opens, deletions and status changes | Similar audit trail across document activity. |
Security (location / permission based) | Security (location / permission based) | The controls you trust today, in a secured cloud with cabinet + process context. |
7. Email & sharing
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
HowNow Smart Link, email a link (in-office) instead of the file | Smart Links, Email or Copy a Smart Link to collaborate on documents | Your existing HowNow SmartLinks are kept during the migration. Going forward you do not need to create SmartLinks, documents are shared using direct URL links instead. |
“Email as” File / Zip / PDF / Combined-PDF attachment | Send documents / secure document sharing | Sending documents out to clients or third parties. |
Email Manager save on send / delete prompts | Email Manager / Outlook Add-in desktop & browser, email profiling, conversation threads, send documents to workpapers | Email filing is one of the biggest improvements emails become part of the client record. |
8. Workpapers & integrations
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Smart Workpapers starter files (opened from Knowledge) | Active Workpapers link documents to workpaper binders | Documents connect directly into workpaper binders on the Active Platform. |
Contacts synced from your PM system | Practice Management integration XPM, MYOB, APS, FYI Elite, Kloud Connect, Karbon | Broader PM system coverage; the sync stays one-way. |
Portal, client portal (e.g. “downloaded from the Portal”) | Client Portal secure document sharing + BYO e-signature (release date TBD) | Coming to Active Documents. |
9. E-signature & completing the job
In HowNow | In Active Documents | What stays the same / what changes |
Signatory on merge letters (manual signing afterwards) | E-signature, send for signing; once signed it auto-files back into Active | Closes the loop: create → approve → sign → store in one flow. Integrates with Annature (Adobe & FuseSign coming soon). |
New in Active Documents (no direct HowNow equivalent)
Real time, multi user co editing of Office documents in the browser.
Bulk upload with a per file profile override (set a default once, change only what differs).
Conditional template content (Show/Hide, If/Else, Match Value) so one template replaces several.
E-signature that auto files the signed document back into Active.
One connected platform alongside Active Workpapers and Active Ledger & Reporting.