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Templates and tags

Use account templates

An account template is a saved chart of accounts you can copy into new matters. Templates belong to the workspace, and every member can create and manage them.

What a template holds

A template holds asset, income, and expense accounts, with their parent and child structure, their order, and their report descriptions. It does not hold liability or equity accounts, balances, or transactions. Account names within one template must be unique.

Save a matter's accounts as a template

  1. Open the matter. The Accounts tab opens first.
  2. Click Save as Template above the Chart of Accounts. The button appears once the matter has accounts.
  3. Enter a Template Name, and a description if you want one.
  4. Click Save Template.

The first template saved in a workspace becomes its default template.

Apply a template to a new matter

When you create a matter from the matters list, choose a template under Account Template. The default template is selected for you. Estate Bookkeeper copies the template's accounts into the new matter. See Create a matter.

Templates apply only when you create a matter. To add accounts to an existing matter, add them on its Accounts tab.

Manage templates

Go to Workspace Settings, then Templates. The page lists your saved templates with their account counts. Each template's menu has these actions:

  • Edit. Opens the template editor.
  • Duplicate. Makes a copy under a new name.
  • Set as Default. Makes this the template that is preselected for new matters.
  • Delete. Removes the template. Matters already created from it keep their accounts.

Drag a template by its handle to change its position. Templates appear in this order when you create a matter.

Edit a template's accounts

The template editor shows a Template Editing Mode notice. Your edits apply to future matters only. Matters already created from the template don't change.

  1. Change the Template Name or Description if needed.
  2. In Asset Accounts, Income Accounts, or Expense Accounts, click Add Account, or use an account's menu to edit or delete it. Each account has an Account Name, an optional parent, and an optional Report Description.
  3. Drag accounts to reorder or nest them, the same way as on a matter's Accounts tab.
  4. Click Save Template. To keep the original, click Save as New and name the copy instead.

You can also click Set as Default here. If you leave with unsaved changes, a Discard changes? dialog asks whether to keep editing or discard them.

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