Folder templates (Basic): Create & apply

Folder templates streamline the process of making sets of folders to organize your client documents. Have folder templates ready to go to quickly apply to new and existing accounts. You can even be super proactive and include the documents and forms your clients will need inside them.

Covered here:

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Default folder templates

When you add new accounts to TaxDome (manually or via import), each automatically gets a folder template named Default Tax Years.

You’ll want to either edit the default folder template or create a new folder altogether to set as the default so that you have the folder structure you want to organize each client account documents. Both firm owners and admins have the access to do this.

There are three ways to handle the default folder template:

  • Edit the Default Tax Years template: Go to Templates > Firm templates from the left menu bar, open the Folders tab, then click on Default Tax Years. Make changes to the template by editing, deleting and adding folders and subfolders. Click Save & Exit once you’re done.
  • Create a new folder template to use as the default: Go to Settings > Firm Settings from the left menu bar, then choose the template you want to use as your default in the Default Folder Template section. Click Save & Exit.

While editing the template, you can keep the changes and continue editing by clicking Save.

  • Create new accounts without default folder templates: Go to Settings > Firm Settings from the left menu bar, then click the x in the Default Folder Template section. Click SAVE.

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Note: A new account will always have a top-level Client uploaded documents folder. To find out more about visibility settings and access levels (who can see and/or edit the documents inside a folder), go here.

Creating folder templates

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viewing and learning everything you need to know about TaxDome.

Folder templates are created by a firm owner, admin or any team member with access rights to manage templates.

1. To create a folder template, go to Templates > Firm templates from the left menu bar, open the Folders subtab, then click Create template.

Or access this page by adding the Apply folder template automation while creating or editing a pipeline, then clicking New template.

2. Next, create a folder structure. In the Create Folder Template window, you’ll see three top-level folders (Client uploaded documents, Firm docs shared with client and Private). You can rename, edit and delete these and make as many top-level folders as you need.

Your options in the Create Folder Template window:

  • Create a new top-level folder: Click Create folder, name the folder, select the privacy/access level (Private, Client can view or Client can view and edit), then click Submit. Read more about privacy levels here.
  • Create a subfolder: Click the three dots to the right of the top-level folder, click New Folder, name the folder, then press enter on your keyboard.
  • Change the visibility of a top-level folder: Click the three dots to the right of the folder, click Edit, select the privacy/access level, then click Save.
  • Rename a folder/subfolder: Click the three dots to the right of the folder, click Edit, name the folder, then click Save.
  • Delete folders: Click the three dots to the right of the folder, then Delete.

3. Now you can add documents and forms to folders. If you want clients to have specific documents, add them to the folders. Drag-and-drop them or click Upload documents. Or upload several documents from a folder by clicking Upload folder (for details on how TaxDome processes folders, go here).

Add as many documents as needed to the different top-level folders. For example, add accounting, bookkeeping or tax templates to the Private folder and a service agreement to the folder with Client can view access.

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Note: Documents can be added to folders by a firm owner, admin or any team member with access rights to manage documents.

4. Click Save & Exit to save the template and go back to the templates list or Save to keep your changes and continue editing the template.

Applying folder templates

Now that you’ve made a folder template, what’s next?

  • To apply a folder template, you must be a firm owner, admin or team member with access rights to manage documents.

  • You can apply folder templates manually while creating an account or while you importing a client list to TaxDome.

  • Folder templates can be applied to both new and existing accounts.

  • Once you’ve applied a folder template, you still can make changes to the folder structure. To do so, go to the Docs section or the tree view while uploading documents.

What happens when you apply a folder template to an account:

  • If the folders and documents already exist in the client account, they will not be duplicated if a folder template has those.
  • If there are folders and documents in the client account that are missing in the template, they stay in place.
  • If there are folders and documents in the template that are missing in the client account, the’re created.
  • If you perform several services for the same client, you can apply several templates one by one, and the folders and documents missing in the client account profile are created.

There are several ways to apply folder templates:

Apply a folder template to one account

1. On the client account’s Documents page, open the Docs tab, then click Apply Folder Template.

2. Click in the Folder Template field to select a template from the drop-down menu (e.g., New Clients), then click Apply to change the folder structure for the selected account.

Apply a folder template to multiple accounts

1. Go to Clients > Accounts from the left menu bar, select the checkboxes of the accounts you want to apply the folder template to, click on the three dots to the left of More Actions in the menu bar, then click Apply Folder Template.

2. Add more accounts if needed by typing a name, ID or email address into the search field.

3. Click in the Folder Template field to select one of the templates from the drop-down menu (e.g., New Clients), then click Apply to change the folder structure for the selected accounts.

Apply folder templates to accounts via automation

Folder templates can be added by using automations inside a pipeline. This way, when a job for a client moves to a new stage in the pipeline, a new folder structure is automatically applied to their account. Here’s how:

1. Go to Templates > Firm templates from the left menu bar, select the Pipelines tab, then click on the pipeline name or Create Pipeline.

2. Choose the stage to which you would like to add the automation, click on the Add automations link, then choose Apply folder template in the pull-down menu.

3. Click inside the Apply folder template field, select the template in the menu, then click Save to keep your changes. Once the automation is added, you’ll see it by going to the pipeline page and clicking the automation icon above the stage.

Once a job moves to a stage with an Apply folder template automation, a pop-up will appear showing the automation about to be be triggered. If you don’t want folders to be automatically created, deselect the action, then click Move.

Apply folder templates to new accounts

You can apply a custom folder template as you create new accounts manually or via import.

If you want a specific template to be applied automatically, set it as the default. This way, it will be applied to all new accounts created manually or via import.

Editing folder templates (adding a New Tax Year subfolder, etc.)

For more helpful how-to videos, visit TaxDome Academy, our free online hub for
viewing and learning everything you need to know about TaxDome.

1. To make changes to a template, go to Templates > Firm templates from the left menu bar. Navigate to Folders, then click on the folder template name.

2. Make changes to the folder template and click Save & Exit. You can add or delete folders in any of the three locations (Private, Firm docs shared with client and Client uploaded documents).

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Note: The changes you make to a folder template will not be reflected elsewhere. You’ll need to apply the updated template to the client account profile to see the changes. And previously created folders will not be deleted.

Deleting folder templates

Remove a folder template if you don’t need it anymore: Click three dots to the far right of the folder template’s name, select Delete from the drop-down, then click Delete to confirm. All folder structures created for your accounts with that template will remain.

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