The Documents features of AdvisorEngine CRM allow you to store any files that are needed and relevant to a particular Record. This could include all correspondence history, important forms, or anything else you find necessary.

Structure

Each Record in AE CRM has its own space for storing documents. Though they may have similar folder structures, each Record’s document storage space is independent of each other. Files cannot be transferred between Records within AE CRM and any files added must be added to Records individually.

The document space within each Record has no practical limit for file types, folders, or storage space. There is, however, a size limit of 25MB per file.

See Documents Workspace Overview for more information.

Function

The document storage space in a CRM Record is intended as a place to archive important Record documents and communication histories. Since the files are stored online and not on your local machine, making changes to files on the fly is a different experience than simply opening the file and making some edits.

This is not to say you cannot change files you’ve uploaded, but it is a more involved process. The function is more like a filing cabinet for a Record and less like a desktop workspace. Files must be removed from a filing cabinet, changed, and then re-filed in their appropriate folder.

Plan your use of the AE CRM Document storage around this expectation. Files that need frequent updates and changes should be kept locally or within another office system. Files that are more or less “complete” and require no regular future changes can be stored for future reference within a CRM Record.

Methods of Adding Files

Files can be added to a Record’s document storage in one of three main ways. Follow the links below for more information on each.

• Uploading: Files can be directly uploaded to a Record from your local machine.
• Creation: Using the CRM Online Document Editor, new documents can be created from scratch within AE CRM.
• Automatic: When using features such as Email Capture with the Local Outlook Add-in or Microsoft 365 integrations, or sending emails and letters with AE CRM Correspondence Tools, copies of these communications are automatically archived in the appropriate folder in the Record’s Documents storage.

Additional Features

There are other functions of AE CRM that tie into Documents that will be discussed in this section as well. Follow the links for more information.

• Document Editing: Through the Online Document Editor, it is possible to make changes to standard DOC and DOCX file formats directly within AE CRM. This section also covers the needed steps to make changes to a document that cannot be edited within the CRM.
• Document Templates: For general use or with the CRM Correspondence tools, you can create document Templates to quickly recreate similar documents right from within AE CRM. These can also be quickly personalized with Record merge fields.
• Action Links: Any Document may be linked to an Action to show the activity it is relevant to or to provide supplemental material within an Action. Some links are created automatically, such as Actions created from email capture or correspondence, but any document may be manually linked to any Action.