Letters in Control Centre

Click the Letters button on the Toolbar to open the Select Letter window.

Using the Letter Generator you can:

  • Automatically create letters from a selection of letters provided with Control Centre;
  • Create new letters of your own construction;
  • Create new letters based on existing letters;
  • Create letters for a selected list of clients;
  • Create letters for clients selected as the result of a report;

 

A number of standard letters are supplied with Control Centre. These are organised by the type of client they relate to. Examples of these standard letters are:

  • Letter of engagement*
  • Tax payment reminder
  • Accounts to client
  • Information request
  • Return to client
  • Address Labels (Avery Standard 5162)

 

The Letter Generator allows you to create your own custom letters using the Create New Letter wizard, or you can choose to base new letters on the existing templates. The process works using Microsoft Word’s mail merge facility, allowing letters to be created that use any number of data items from within Control Centre. You can use Microsoft Word to design your letter, and then generate it for clients automatically in the same way as for the standard letters.

For each letter that is created with the letter generator, a Word document template is created. This contains the layout and text of the letter and information about which data fields will be used and their position within the letter. A data field represents an item from a client's data, such as their name or a line from their address, or their income. In the final copy of the letter, the field is replaced by the actual data for the appropriate client.

The Letter Generator works in conjunction with Microsoft Word 6.0, Word 7.0, Word 97, Word 2000 and Word 2003. There is no need for you to make any changes to settings in your copy of Word.

In order to use the letter generator to its full capacity you should have one of the versions of Microsoft Word detailed above installed. If you do not use Microsoft Word, the Letter Generator is still able to produce a mail-merge file of client data. You will then have to manually merge this data into a letter using your word processing software.

*Acknowledgement:

The Letters of Engagement supplied with the Letter Generator are based on example letters produced by, and reproduced with the permission of, the Chartered Institute of Taxation (Registered Charity number 1037771), the Association of Taxation Technicians (Registered Charity number 803480) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.