CASE: show / hide templates with formula for automatic hiding

Templates Cases
1

From now on, you’ll see an extra option with custom reconciliation templates:
10

It’s the Formula for automatic hiding; this function will make it possible to set certain templates in your working papers visible or not!
Basically, this is an if-function checking on a certain result tag or a database variable of a template.

How can this be used?

Let’s say we have certain templates regarding VAT reconciliation, but my client is not VAT liable. So in the working papers, there will be recon templates that have no purpose in there:

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The template “VAT checks”, that impacts the progress bar of my working papers (unless I unstar it of course), is not needed here.

How can we let this template “disappear”, so it no longer can accidentally impact in any way the flow of my working papers and/or the progress of it all?

Let’s say we’ve build a template with some general settings in it:

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In there, we ask the user to check f.i. if the client is VAT liable or not, with this code:

{% stripnewlines %}
| Questions regarding VAT
{% newline %}
|:--------:#
{% newline %}
{% newline %}
|----70%----
|----25%----
|-----5%----#
{% newline %}
| {% t "Is the company VAT obligated?" %}
| {% input custom.vat.obligated as:select options:"Yes|No" option_values:"1|2" %}
| {% if custom.vat.obligated != blank %}
    {% assign ind = 0 %}
  {% else %}
    {% assign ind = 1 %}
  {% endif %}
  {% unreconciled ind as:indicator %}
{% endstripnewlines %}

So, the value of the database variable custom.vat.obligated (1 or 2) can be used to trigger our show / hide condition of that other template, if we add this as a formula in the template of the VAT checks:
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So, this means:

  • when Yes is chosen (value 1), the template VAT checks will be visible and can impact the progress of your working papers:
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    -when No is chosen (value 2), the condition we filled in the formula box, will be fullfilled and will mak the template disappear from the working papers, so it no longer impact the progress of the working papers
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    061187×81 2.69 KB

Of course, the possibilities are endless here. Above is just a simple example how it can be used.
But it’s clear that this update can have a huge impact on the workflow in your custom working papers :bangbang:

3 Likes
2

Okay, replying to an old conversation once again, sorry.

I have a question regarding the use of auto hide formulas, or better said, I have a case I cannot get resolved on my own.

One of my reconciliation templates shows transactions we are fetching with the API. Now, what I want is that the template is only shown if there are transactions, so what I’m doing is this:

  1. At the start of my code I set a local variable:
{% assign vraagposten_teller = 0 %}
  1. On each transaction line I’m updating the variable:
{% assign vraagposten_teller = vraagposten_teller+1 %}
  1. Then, at the very end of my code I push the local variable to a result:
{% result 'Aantal_vraagposten' vraagposten_teller %}

Now I want to hide this template if the result Aantal_vraagposten is still set to 0, because in that case no transactions are shown. So my input in the auto hide formula is:

result.Aantal_vraagposten == 0

But this doesn’t work. Am I trying something that isnt possible, or am I simply making a mistake here?

3

Hi @ronald_groot_RSF,

In the reconciliation you are trying to hide (let’s call it recon A further on), you should avoid rendering (creating) that result tag there. If I’m not mistaken, that is what you are doing right:

  • add auto hide formula to recon A with result tag
  • create result tag in recon A

As it could be that when going in the template (when it actually shouldn’t be possible), the result tag wasn’t created yet.
Although, when going to a workflow we render all result tags (and not when clicking on a template), but depending on how many tags need to be made, that can take some time (and within that time-frame you could still see recon A as the result tag hasn’t been made yet).

Is it an option to render the result somewhere else? Perhaps it’s even better to call upon the result of the account itself (zero or not)? In the latter case, you don’t need to loop over all accounts (which can be quite a lot I can imagine).

1 Like
4

YES!!! @Sven you rock! By changing my auto hide formula to:

custom.VraagPosten.count == 0

it works like a charm. i wouldn’t have thought of that where it not for your suggestion, thank you!

EDIT: When deploying to live I had a small issue. Seems like the auto hide formula needs a virtual account number in order for it to work.

5

OMG I didn’t even notice it immediately :man_facepalming:
Even better: calling on a database variable works better as nothing has to be rendered

Glad to help :wink:

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It seems that this auto-hiding part is not available in the standard reconciliations of Silverfin. Is this something that can be activated?

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Hi @Peter ,

Indeed this is something that cannot be configured on firm level for partner templates. This auto-hide formula that is in place applies across firms.

Is there a specific reason why you would want this option? If you could describe your use case, we might consider expanding this to partner templates but definitely can’t make any promises in this respect.

Kind regards,
Robin

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Hi Robin,

I’m asking because in our workflow there are standard reconciliations for all companies, for example “VAT balance”. I’ve created an template where the user can check if the company is VAT liable. If the answer is no than I want the template “VAT balance” and “VAT/Turnover” not showing in the workflow.
I know you can unstar the template but there is also checklist questions connected to these templates, so the user has to answer questions there are not applicable

Kind regards,
Peter

9

Hi @Peter ,

Thank you for sharing this.

I understand your use case, we will present this to our core team to see if we could add this.

Keep you posted!

Kind regards,
Robin

10

Hi @Peter ,

So as promised I checked this internally, please find our feedback below.

Adding this auto hide condition for Silverfin standard templates will not happen within short notice, but we believe there is an alternative solution that can be applied in your case.

You could actually create an extra workflow for non VAT liable clients which doesn’t include that VAT reconciliation. This workflow can then be added and used in these specific clients and will contain all templates that are necessary for these types of files.
More info on setting up a workflow can be found here: Workflows and Workflow Working Screens [ADMIN] - Silverfin Help ENG (and https://nl.help.silverfin.com/article/673-masterclass-workflows.) When in doubt, you can of course always reach out via Community or our Helpdesk.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,
Robin

11

Hi Robin,

Thanks for this info, but I don’t think this would be a good solution for us.
The user will have to make extra manual steps to delete the default workflow and then add the other workflow for non VAT liable.
And as we progress maybe there will be other templates that are applicable depending on previous questions/checks and this way this would mean that we need to create each time a specific workflow.

Many thanks for your time

Kind regards
Peter