Document Creation

Merge your quotes, producer statements, and compliance documents from Word templates — branded with your company details, ready to send.

When to use

Use Document Creation when you need to produce a customer-facing PDF from data already in FSManager:

• A quote to send to a customer.
• A producer statement / compliance certificate when a job is signed off (PS3, warranty, O&M, H1 declaration).
• A multi-quote comparison showing several options side by side.

The system runs your data through a Word template, fills in the merge fields, and either downloads a PDF or generates a draft email with the PDF attached.

Overview

Three pieces fit together:

• Document Template — a .docx file you (or an admin) author in Word, with {{merge tokens}} and a small number of named placeholders where lists and tables go. Stored under Administration → Document Templates.
• Merge data provider — the engine that reads the source record (a quote revision, a job certification) and fills the tokens.
• Output Attachment — the merged document, saved against the source record so it sits in the audit trail.

Key features

Template types

You can have multiple templates of the same type — e.g. a Standard Quote and a Renovation Quote with different layouts. Templates can be flagged:

• Is Default — pre-selected when generating a document of this type.
• Applies to All Account Types — or restricted to specific Account Types (e.g. On Account vs COD).
• Is Multi-Quote — for quote templates that show multiple options in one document.
• Is Warranty / O&M / H1 Document — for compliance documents.

Merge tokens

Templates use {{TokenName}} syntax. The available tokens depend on the template type — for a Quote template, you have ~45 to choose from:

Customer & quote — {{CustomerName}}, {{CustomerEmail}}, {{QuoteNumber}}, {{RevisionNumber}}, {{Date}}, {{ValidUntil}}, {{OptionName}}

Pricing — {{SalesPrice}}, {{SalesPriceIncGst}}, {{GstAmount}}, {{TotalSalesPrice}}, {{CostPrice}}, {{Margin}}, {{DepositAmount}}, {{BalanceRequired}}

Specification — {{ProductType}}, {{GlassType}}, {{HardwareType}}, {{AluminiumColour}}, {{RevealType}}, {{WindZone}}, {{TotalItems}}, {{SquareMeters}}

Sales rep & company — {{SalesRepName}}, {{SalesRepEmail}}, {{CompanyName}}, {{CompanyAddress}}, {{CompanyPhone}}

For Compliance Certificate templates the catalogue shifts to job-centric tokens — {{JobNumber}}, {{BuildingConsentNumber}}, {{RValue}}, {{LegalDescription}}, {{PracticalCompletionDate}}, {{ApprovedBy}}, {{WarrantyExpiryDate}} etc.

The “Edit Template” popup in Administration shows the full token reference for the chosen type.

Placeholders for lists and tables

Some content can’t be a single token — it’s a list. Use named placeholders in the template body:

• LineItemsPlaceholder — replaced with the quote’s line items table.
• OptionalExtrasPlaceholder — replaced with the included optional extras table.
• AdditionalTagsPlaceholder — replaced with specification tag values.
• MultiQuoteComparisonPlaceholder — replaced with the side-by-side comparison block (multi-quote templates only).

You insert these as plain text in the right spot in the .docx; the merge engine swaps them for the rendered content.

Generating from a quote

Two actions on the quote revision toolbar:

• Show In Document — picks a template, merges, and saves the output as an Attachment on the revision. You can either create a new version, update fields on an existing merge, or download for manual editing in Word.
• Send Documents — picks a template, optionally bundles other attachments, combines everything into a single PDF, and generates a .eml email file you can open in Outlook to address and send.

Generating from a compliance certificate

The JobCertification record (1-1 with each JobPart) carries the compliance data — approved by, approved on, warranty start/end, plus everything the merge engine reads from the JobPart and Job.

Trigger from the JobCertification detail view — same template-pick → merge → attach flow.

Company branding

The merge engine pulls company details from your default Branch:

• {{CompanyName}}, {{CompanyAddress}}, {{CompanyPhone}}, {{CompanyEmail}} — from Branch.
• {{CompanyIndustryAssociationNumber}} — your industry body member number (e.g. WGANZ), from Tenant settings.

Logos and imagery live in the template .docx itself. There’s no logo-upload field in FSManager — you put the logo into the Word template using Insert → Image, and the merge engine preserves it.

Setup health check on templates

Seeded default templates carry a CustomizedOn flag that’s null until an admin opens and customises them. The Setup Health Checker raises an informational issue for each uncustomised template, so you can see at a glance which templates are still on the out-of-the-box layout.

How to: send a quote to a customer

1. Open the quote’s active revision (must be in Sent or Draft stage).
2. Click Show In Document.
3. Pick a template from the dropdown.
4. Choose New Version (creates a fresh merged document) and confirm.
5. The merged document appears as an Attachment on the revision.
6. Open the attachment to review the PDF.
7. To email it: click Send Documents, pick the same (or another) template, tick any extra attachments to bundle, and confirm. The system generates a .eml file — open it in Outlook to address it and click send.

How to: customize a template

Admin-only:

1. Go to Administration → Settings → Document Templates.
2. Open the template you want to change.
3. Click Edit Template to see the available merge tokens.
4. Click the attachment link to download the .docx file.
5. Open in Word, edit text, tokens, and layout. Insert your logo. Save.
6. Back in FSManager, Upload the edited file to replace the existing one.
7. Customized On is stamped — the template is now your version.

How to: produce a producer statement

1. When a JobPart is built, signed off, and ready for compliance handover, open its Certification record.
2. Fill in Approved By, Approved On, Warranty Start Date, Warranty Years.
3. Click Show In Document, pick the PS3 (or equivalent) Compliance Certificate template, generate.
4. The producer statement is attached to the certification record.

Tokens like {{BuildingConsentNumber}}, {{RValue}}, {{LegalDescription}} resolve from the JobPart’s existing specification fields — make sure those are filled before generating.

How to: produce a multi-quote comparison

1. Build out the quotes (e.g. Option A — Aluminium, Option B — uPVC) under one opportunity using Add Option on the primary quote.
2. From any of the active revisions, click Show In Document and choose a template flagged Is Multi-Quote.
3. The MultiQuoteComparisonPlaceholder in the template is replaced with the side-by-side block.

Tips & gotchas

• Tokens are case-sensitive. {{SalesPrice}} works; {{salesprice}} does not.
• Placeholders are plain text in the .docx, not Word fields. Insert them as you’d type any other word — the merge engine looks for the literal string LineItemsPlaceholder.
• One default per type. Marking a second template as Default doesn’t replace the first — manage default-ness deliberately.
• Logos live in the template, not in FSManager. If you re-brand, edit your templates’ Word files.
• The Industry Association Number is a tenant-level setting — find it under Administration. Without it, {{CompanyIndustryAssociationNumber}} resolves blank.
• Send Documents produces a .eml, not a sent email. You still address it and click send in Outlook. This is deliberate — keeps your customer’s email and CCs in your usual mail client, and the sent record stays in your Sent folder.
• Uncustomised templates raise Setup Health issues. That’s a feature, not a bug — the seeded layouts work, but you almost certainly want your own.

Related

• Quoting & Sales — the source record for Quote templates
• Job Management — the source for Compliance Certificate templates (via the JobPart’s Certification record)
• Administration → Settings — Document Templates, Branches, Tenant settings (Industry Association Number)