Using Correspondence Manager in Batch Manager
Correspondence Manager opened from Batch Manager includes features to create, edit, and import Organizer letter templates for Individual and Fiduciary returns.
Opening Correspondence Manager
To open Correspondence Manager from Batch Manager, do the following:
- In Dashboard, click Application Links on the navigation panel, and then click Batch Manager under Tax.
- Click Letters in the Customize group on the Home tab.
Commands
Most of the features used in Correspondence Manager are accessed from commands found on one of the following:
Navigation Panel
The navigation panel, located on the left of the Correspondence Manager window, contains a Library Selection box and two libraries: the Letter Template and Keyword libraries. Each library can be expanded and collapsed by clicking a section's navigation bar.
- Letter Template Library. Lists all Organizer letter types, each containing standard and any custom letter templates.
- Keyword Library. Lists keywords that are defined by the system. Keywords are variable blocks of text in correspondence that change to return specific data when the applicable letter is rendered in a tax return.
The Library Selection box, located at the top of the navigation panel, defines the year, return type, and return configuration for which you are creating correspondence. Organizer letters apply to Individual and Fiduciary return types only.
Each library includes a Search box to locate objects in a library.
See Managing Organizer Letters for more information on selecting and searching libraries.
Word Pane
The Microsoft® Word pane displays to the right of the libraries. Word maintains many of its functionality and displays menu and tab options that are separate from the Correspondence Manager window. The New, Open, Save, Close, and Exit commands are not available in the Word pane. These functions are available on the Correspondence Manager Application menu, ribbon, and library context menus.
- When you open Correspondence Manager from Dashboard, a blank document displays in the Word pane. To display a letter or paragraph in the Word pane, select it from a library on the navigation panel.
- When you open Correspondence Manager from Batch Manager, a blank document displays in the Word pane. Select Organizer letter templates from the Letter Template Library to display in the Word pane.
- When you open Correspondence Manager from inside a return, the letter on the Print Preview window displays in the Word pane. You can enter content directly in this document, or you can drag keywords and paragraphs from the libraries when editing letter templates.
The Word pane has the same view settings as your last session of Microsoft® Word outside of Correspondence Manager.
You can resize the Word pane to enlarge or reduce the viewable area of the open document and the Correspondence Manager libraries. To resize the pane, click the divider between the Word pane and the libraries to display double arrows, and then drag the divider left or right. The default Word pane size is applied when you reopen Correspondence Manager.
Status Bar
The status bar, displayed at the bottom of the window, displays information about the active element. The information displayed on the status bar varies depending on where the cursor is in the text. Some examples of the information displayed on the status bar are as follows:
- Role description of the current user
- Current mode (for example, New Letter Template or Edit Letter Template)
- Name of a template, when it is saved
- The path of a selected or open paragraph, including the letter type and name, paragraph section, reference ID, and the first 125 characters of the paragraph text
- Category and name of a keyword
- Keyword reference information