Overview
By connecting Outlook to AccountKit you can collate your important client emails into the Correspondence Register, save documents directly to your integrated Document Management System, and can add or link items to workflow directly from your emails, bringing visibility across the Client Group all in one place.
You will also have shortcuts into certain areas of AccountKit, straight from your Outlook.
Please note
It's worth being aware that if you are using an IMAP/SMTP account within Outlook (e.g. if you have connected a Gmail account), you will NOT have the ability to install this add-in into Outlook. Outlook only supports add-ins for Microsoft Exchange accounts. Because the Gmail add-in is authorised by Google, you can utilise the add-in within Gmail itself (click here to see this article), but still not within Outlook.
Getting started
There are three super quick steps to get up and running:
- Authorise across the practice
- Authorise each User
- Install the add-in to Outlook
Simply work through the following details and you'll be ready to go in no time!
Authorise across the practice
The user with Practice Administrator permission will need to authorise / enable this integration at a Practice level:
Click on User's Name -> Practice Settings (bottom left corner)
Choose the tab Integrations and under Communication Settings, find the option for Office 365 (Outlook)
Hover over the Office 365 (Outlook) to see the option to connect and click on it.
This will enable the authentication of the practice administrator AND it will also allow other users to then connect.
After enabling, the Outlook icon will change to colour (from grey), to indicate that you've successfully enabled it.
Authorise each user
After the practice administrator has enabled access, each user will then have the Outlook Integration option appearing within their own My Profile page, so they can connect their emails individually.
For each user to now enable the integration and authorise the connection individually, they must follow these steps:
Click on User's Name -> My Profile (bottom left corner)
On the Profile card, head to the Integrations area and mouseover the Office 365 (Outlook) icon, where you'll see a green Connect button appear. Select it to continue.
Once connected, open Outlook and login using the *applicable email account, to authorise AccountKit having access.
*Important to note:
On the steps above, make sure you're using the same email address you want to connect to Outlook.
If you connect the incorrect email, you'll get an authentication error
when you install the Outlook add-in and try to login.
You will then be returned to AccountKit, where you will see the Outlook logo is now coloured, showing this integration has been successfully enabled.
Install the add-in
Now that the integration has been enabled and authorised, it's simply a matter of installing the add-in to your Outlook. To do that:
In Outlook, click on the small Apps icon within any email from your inbox, and click on Get add-ins + to be able to search for AccountKit, by typing it in the
bar.
Click on the AccountKit add-in icon and follow the prompts to Add it.
This will enable the add-in and give you access to AccountKit whether you're in Outlook desktop or using the cloud version.
Once added, you can then choose to close the dialogue window, or skim over the Get Started or other details.
Using the integration
Within Outlook
Now that the integration is up and running in Outlook and authorised within AccountKit, you simply need to locate the add-in and login to AccountKit via Outlook, so that you can begin processing emails.
Initial Setup
In the previous version of Outlook, add-ins would show automatically in the top ribbon and there was also an option to pin the add-in, so it remained visible in the right panel.
The new Outlook offers alternative ways to access add-ins - see below.
If the pin icon is available to you, you can click on it if you wish to keep it visible at all times.
On Existing Emails (e.g. Received and Sent)
To see the AccountKit add-in on your current emails, select any email and click on the Apps icon , and the add-ins that you currently have installed will appear in the pop-up.
If you want to easily access the add-in in the new Outlook while viewing any existing email, click on the three-dot icon for More actions, then select Customise actions.
A new window will pop up, with all the options available for customisation.
Select the relevant add-in (e.g. AccountKit) and hit Save.
Note on the top left corner how your new panel appearance will change, as you click through the options.
The add-in will now show as part of your action buttons, simply click on it to open on the right-hand side.
On New Emails
Click on New -> Mail and the Apps icon will appear within the Message tab.
Click on Apps and the AccountKit icon will appear on the pop-up window, then select it to open on the right-hand side.
On the screenshot shown above, the user had already logged in, but this being the first time you're using the add-in, you will need to Login to carry out the final authorisation which is followed by the normal 2FA check.
After that, you'll automatically be returned to Outlook - and you're ready to go!
Please remember that you must login with the same email address that you had authorised within AccountKit, otherwise you'll end up with an authentication error.
General Layout
There are 3 tabs in the email add-in extension, all that serve different functions.
They all leverage the Client Selected field, so start by adding the relevant client to enable other options along with the client details, DMS folder and workflow.
TAB 1 | Assign - This is how you'll assig this piece of correspondence to AccountKit. For this example, we're using a (demo) client called "Bull Antics Pty Ltd".
You can assign it to two areas of AccountKit: Correspondence Register and Workflow.
If this is a New Mail, you can choose to Save it to AccountKit, otherwise simply untick this option.
Correspondence Register - New Mail
These are the details that will be included when saving a New Mail to the Correspondence Register, once you select the Client.
- Send to - choose from the list of contacts, with the option to add cc and bcc recipients.
- Body - you have the option to add text templates for optimisation and consistency. If not required, simply type in your email from scratch, on the email body in Outlook.
- Attachments - select files to add.
Click on Insert to confirm the above steps and insert text template and file attachments.
Correspondence Register - Existing Mail
These are the details that will be included when saving an Existing Mail (e.g. received or sent) to the Correspondence Register, once you select the Client.
- Subject Line - this can be amended to a different subject.
-
Attachments - select which files to save. Here you can identify where the attachments (and which ones) are being saved. These will then link from the Correspondence Register entry to the saved documents in your DMS.
Correspondence Register - New and Existing Mail
These are common fields across new and existing mail.
-
- Tags - assigning a tag gives you other ways to search for it later on, from AccountKit.
-
Share with - allows you to notify other users about such email.
Workflow - New and Existing Mail
In this area you can add this mail to your Workflow, create or link tasks (optional) and create reminders.
-
- Link to a pre-existing task by clicking on the task from the drop-down list (which will appear based on the selected Client).
- Create a new task from blank.
- Create a task from a template.
- Create a reminder.
TAB 2 | Files (formerly called Folder) - note that you must have a Document Management System connected (e.g. One Drive), to have visibility of this tab.
In this area you can:
- Perform all the expected behaviour - rename files/folders, create new folder, upload documents.
- Browse the client's folders.
- Drag attachments into the client's Files.
- Attach files to outbound emails.
TAB 3 | People - This surfaces information about the selected client, from the client record. Here you can:
- Browse the client notes.
- Access details like entity, contacts, practice info, relationships, contact details and practice integrations.
- Access the client's linked integrations, such as to Xero.
Assigning Existing Emails into AccountKit
When you receive an email, you can take several actions before saving the correspondence into AccountKit, all available within the TAB 1 | Assign
Correspondence Register
-
- Assign it to a client (Assign to...)
- Updating the Subject line (Subject Line)
- Saving attachments (Attachments)
- Tagging (Tags)
- Notifying other AccountKit users about such email (Share with)
Workflow
-
- Assigning or creating workflow items
- Add a new task
- Add task from template
- Add a reminder
The quick demo below illustrates these steps:
From here you can see which Client the email has been assigned to, along with an icon to open the Correspondence Register entry in AccountKit:
Composing emails in Outlook (and assigning to AccountKit)
When sending emails to clients, you have a few more options available.
Working from Outlook you can essentially use AccountKit as your address book and template location.
In Outlook, click on New Mail. Then all the following actions can be done using the AccountKit add-in.
Correspondence Register
-
- Select the Client (this is the record the email will be saved against).
- Send to: now choose the recipient for the email you're sending.
- Email address: check and confirm the email address detail is correct - or choose another one.
- Cc & Bcc (optional): option to add in the Cc and Bcc.
- Body (optional): if you wish to use an email template, here's where you'll select and insert it.
- Attachments (optional): choose any files you'd like to attach from the client folder.
- Tags (optional): assign any relevant tags.
- Share with (optional): use this in case you want to notify other users in your office, about such email.
Workflow
-
- Link to an existing task (simply pick a task from the list).
- Create a new task from scratch.
- Create a new task from a template.
- Create a reminder.
Click on Insert to confirm all the above selections. This also:
-
- Populates the various client details.
- Inserts the template (if selected).
- Creates / links any workflow tasks.
- Assigns it as a Draft in AccountKit.
Send: upon sending the email (using the Send button in the Outlook message), we will check for changes, and we'll also update the status of this entry from Draft to Sent, in AccountKit.
The quick demo below illustrates these steps:
Using the integration
Within AccountKit
You and other users will now have access to any emails logged to AccountKit, and you can also create and send New emails from within AccountKit, utilising your own email account. In this case, any sent emails will also appear in your sent items, in Outlook.
To learn more about the Correspondence Register tool and how to fully utilise it, please refer to our Correspondence Register article.
All emails will be hosted within the Correspondence Register tool, which can be accessed in two ways:
Correspondence Register tool
Via the Administration tab - will show all correspondences within AccountKit, for all clients.
Client Summary Page
Via the Client Summary page - hover over a client's name for this green icon to appear. The Client Summary page will then only show correspondences for that relevant client.
Disabling the Integration
Disconnect each user
This is optional, as disabling at the practice level will also de-authorise all users as well.
Each user can follow these steps.
- Head to "My Profile" within your user menu in the top right of your screen (the same screen shown earlier in this article, to enable the individual connection to Outlook).
- Under Integrations, find the Office 365 (Outlook) icon and hover over the line to see the three-dot option, click on it to see the option to Disconnect.
- The logo will then return to grey to indicate that it is no longer connected.
De-authorise across the practice
To stop people from re-authorising the integration, the user with Practice Administrator permission will need to disable this integration at a Practice level:
Click on User's Name -> Practice Settings (bottom left corner).
Choose the tab Integrations and under Communication Settings, find the option for Office 365 (Outlook).
Hover over the Office 365 (Outlook) icon and select to option to Disable.
After disabling it, the Outlook icon appearance will change back to grey, to indicate that you've successfully disabled it.
Once access has been disabled across the practice, any attempt to attribute an email from Outlook will result in an authorisation error.
Troubleshooting
Connections & Email Extension Issues
If you're experiencing issues with your email extension and connectivity in AccountKit - such as regular disconnects requiring continual logins, sent emails from Outlook not populating or remaining in drafts, or emails not appearing correctly in the Correspondence Register, please follow these steps to increase the permissions specific to the AccountKit domain and see below additional options to resolve the issue.
Open the control panel on your Windows device, then use the search bar to look up and select Internet Options.
- In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Security tab.
- Select the Trusted Sites icon.
- Click the Sites button.
- Add each of the three following URLs to the Add this website to the zone field, one at a time.
Click Add after entering each one:
https://my.account-kit.com/
https://accountkit-files.sharepoint.com
Please update the portion in red to your SharePoint site directory.
Eg: https://superstaraccountants-files.sharepoint.com
https://accountkit-myfiles.sharepoint.com
Please update the portion in red to your SharePoint site directory.
Eg: https://superstaraccountants-myfiles.sharepoint.com
- Once you've added all three URLs, click Close.
- In the Security level for this zone section, set the security setting to Low.
- Next, click on the Privacy tab and click Advanced.
- Select the Accept radio button for both First-party and Third-party cookies (if the options are greyed out, select the Override automatic cookie handling checkbox).
- Select the Always allow session cookies checkbox.
- Click OK.
- Click Apply.
- Logout of AccountKit in the browser and in Outlook, then login again on both.
Related Links
| Practice Settings - Integrations | Head to practice settings for the steps to enable this integration. |
| Shared Elements (Eg. Action Menu) | Check out this link for various elements shared throughout the various toolsets. |
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