Engagement Letter Builder

Purpose
The purpose of this documentation is to describe how to create, modify, and manage Engagement Letter Templates.

Audience
Content Administrators and Lender Executives.

Engagement Letter Builder Overview

The Engagement Letter Builder allows Lender Executives and Content Administrators to create and modify the Engagement Letter Templates that are sent to vendors along with RFPs.

To access the Engagement Letter Builder, click the Settings button in the upper navigation menu, then click Form Settings.

On the Form Settings page, in the Templates section, click the View Templates button.

On the Templates page, click View Templates in the Engagement Letter Templates section.

The Engagement Letter Templates page will open.

The Engagement Letter Templates page can also be reached via the slide-out menu found on the Company Defaults, Company Settings, and Templates pages and sub pages. Click on the three-lines icon in the upper left-hand corner of the page to expose the slide-out menu.

The slide-out menu will be exposed. Click Engagement Letter Templates to open the Engagement Letter Builder page.

The Engagement Letter Templates page will open.

A. Add New Engagement Letter: Click to create a new Engagement Letter Template.

B. Search for a template: Filters the results on the page by the characters entered. The search scans the Name, Description, Last Updated, and Created By fields.

C. Name: Click the blue Name text to open the Engagement Letter Template in the editor tool.

D. Active: Set an Engagement Letter Template status to active or inactive. Active templates are available for selection within Company Defaults and are also available for use to with RFPs.

a. Click to change the Active/Inactive status.

b. When an Active/Inactive status switch is grayed out, it means that template is a set as a default in the Company Defaults tool and the status cannot be changed to inactive without first removing it as a default.

c. When a new Engagement Letter Template is created, its status is automatically set to inactive.

E. Actions: Click the Actions drop-down menu to expose three commands:

a. Edit Engagement Letter: Opens the Engagement Letter Template for editing.

b. Duplicate Engagement Letter: A new Engagement Template will open for editing. The template will be prepopulated with the format and settings from the Engagement Letter Template that was copied.

c. Delete Engagement Letter: Will delete the Engagement Letter Template. A confirmation modal will appear.

Click Yes, Delete Engagement Letter to permanently delete the template. Note that Engagement Letter Templates that are set as defaults cannot be deleted – the Delete Engagement Letter button will be grayed out.

Create a New Engagement Letter Template

Click Add New Engagement Letter to create a new Engagement Letter Template.

The New Engagement Letter Template page will open.

The page is broken up into four sections (from top to bottom):

A. Engagement Letter template details: This section includes the Template Name, Description, and Service Group.

B. Engagement Letter content: This is the body of the Engagement Letter Template. It includes the text, tables, questions, and more that will appear in the engagement letter that Job Managers and Lender Managers send to vendors.

C. Signatures: The Signatures section defines who, if anyone, is required to sign the Engagement Letter.

D. Print Formatting Template: Define the template

E. Change History: Logs all changes made to the Engagement Letter Template. Note It will not appear until you click Save and Create Template at the bottom of the page.

F. There are three additional buttons in a sticky footer: Preview, Cancel, and Save and Create Template.

Engagement Letter Template Details

The Engagement Letter Template Details section contains two text boxes and one radio-button selection list.

• Template Name: This is a required field. The Template Name must be unique; if the Template Name is a duplicate, you will be unable to save.

• Description: The Description field is not required. The field is limited to 255 characters.

• Service Group: This is required; you will be unable to save until a Service Group selection has been made. The selection made here defines which Service Types can use the Engagement Letter Template. For example, a Lender Manager/Job Manager will be unable to use an Engagement Letter Template in the Environmental Service Group for an Appraisal Report.

Engagement Letter Content

The Engagement Letter Content section contains the body of the Engagement Letter Template itself.

It includes the following important functionality:

• Variables: Variables can be inserted in the Engagement Letter Template. A Variable will dynamically display the relevant value for that Variable. For example, the “Property name” Variable will display the Property Name of the Property for that Job.

• Comments: Comments can be added to an Engagement Letter for other users to see. They are a tool for communicating internally with other Lender Executive/Content Administrator users about the Engagement Letter Template.

• Toolbar: The top toolbar includes the File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, and Help menus.

• Lower Toolbar: The Lower Toolbar includes buttons for defining fonts, aligning text, inserting images, and more.

• Tables: Tables can be inserted via the Insert button on the Toolbar and via the Table button on the Toolbar.

• Forms: Forms can be added to the document via the Insert button on the Toolbar. The following types of forms are supported:

  • Checkbox

  • Drop Down List

  • Radio Button

  • Textbox

  • Textarea

Variables

Variables appear as yellow fields in the Engagement Letter Template.

In the example above, Broker Name, Address, Delivery Date, and Delivery Method are Variables.

When an Engagement Letter is being completed by a Lender Manager, each Variable will populate the relevant, Job-specific information for that Variable type. For example, the Variable in the Copies To cell in the screenshot above is Requester. When the Lender Manager is completing the Engagement Letter, that Variable will be populated with that Job’s Requester’s name.

Variables can be inserted by clicking the tag symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the document.

Click on a Variable header, such as Collateral Information or Service Information, to expose the Variables nested beneath it. Click on a Variable to insert it in the Engagement Letter Template in the current location of the cursor.

The appearance of some Variables can be modified. The appearance options available are based on the type of Variable – text or numerical.

Click on a Variable and then click the gear symbol to open a modal.

Text Variables have the following four options:

• No change (Maintains the existing formatting from the source, such as the SRF or RFP)

• All uppercase

• Capitalize first word

• Title style

Numerical Variables have the following eight options:

• $1,234 (currency symbol and thousands separator)

• $1234 (currency symbol and no thousands separator)

• $1234.00 (currency symbol and two decimal points)

• $1,234.00 (currency symbol, thousands separator, and two decimal points)

• 1234 (no currency symbol, thousands separator, or decimal points)

• 1,234 (thousands separator)

• 1234.00 (two decimal points)

• 1,234.00 (thousands separator and two decimal points)

Any change made to a Variable’s options will be applied solely to the current Engagement Letter Template.

Comments

Comments can be inserted in the body of an Engagement Letter Template. These Comments allow you to communicate with other users who can view the Engagement Letter Template or use the template to complete an Engagement Letter.

To insert a Comment, click the Comment bubble icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Engagement Letter Template document.

The Comment interface will open in the right-hand side of the screen.

When the Comment interface has been opened, existing Comments will be represented in the body of the document by blue highlighting.

Click on a highlighted section to open the comment in the Comment interface on the right.

The original Comment can be responded to by entering text in the text box below the original Comment and then clicking Save.

Once the Comment response has been saved, it will then appear beneath the original Comment whenever the Comment bubble is clicked in the document.

A Comment you have posted can be edited or deleted. Click on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of the Comment to expose a menu with two options:

Delete conversation OR Delete: One of two button labels will be listed.

• If there is a single Comment, or if attempting to delete the first Comment in a multi-Comment thread, the button will read ‘Delete conversation.’ Note that deleting the first Comment in a multi-Comment thread will delete all Comments in the thread, including those made by other users.

• If clicking on a secondary, tertiary (etc.) comment, the button will be labelled ‘Delete.’

Edit: Opens the Comment for editing. Click Save to save the changes after editing or click Cancel to discard the changes.

To insert a Comment, click a location in the template, or highlight text or an image. Then, click the Comments icon to open the Comments interface.

Enter the desired text, then click Save. The Comment will be inserted at the location selected/on the text or image highlighted.

There are two additional methods for inserting a Comment:

A. Click the Insert button in the toolbar at the top of the document, then click Add Comment. The Comments interface will open.

B. Click the Comment icon in the toolbar at the top of the document. The Comments interface will open.

Toolbar

There’s an extensive suite of tools for working with the Engagement Letter Template.

Lower Toolbar

The Lower Toolbar includes buttons for formatting text, inserting images, adding Comments, and more.

From left to right:

Tables

Click within a table in the template to expose a menu of table options.

Forms

 There are five types of form input that can be added to an Engagement Letter Template:

• Checkbox

• Drop Down List

• Radio Button

• Textbox

• Textarea

Checkbox

While checkboxes can be inserted anywhere, creating a table, and then adding the checkboxes to the table will create a more organized Engagement Letter Template.

1. Click the Insert button in the toolbar.

   

2. Place the cursor on the Table button, then drag the cursor in the table submenu to create a table of the desired size.

   

3. Highlight the cells in which you’d like to place checkboxes.

   

In this example, three of the four columns in the table have been selected.

4. Click the Insert button.

   

5. Highlight the Form Inputs button, then click the Checkbox button.

   

6. A pop-up message will ask if you want the checkboxes to be mutually exclusively.

a. Yes: Only one checkbox in each row can be checked. Checking a second checkbox will uncheck the first checkbox.

b. No: Multiple checkboxes in a single row can be checked concurrently.

7. The checkboxes will be added to the table.

   

Drop Down List

1. Click the Insert button in the toolbar.
   

   

2.Highlight the Form Inputs button, then click the Drop Down List button.

3. The Drop Down List modal will open. Enter the items you would like in the drop-down menu, with a line in between each item. Then click OK.
   

   

4.The drop-down menu will be added to the Engagement Letter Template.

Radio Button

While radio buttons can be inserted anywhere, creating a table and then adding the radio buttons to the table will create a more organized Engagement Letter Template.

1. Click the Insert button in the toolbar.

2. Place the cursor on the Table button, then drag the cursor in the table submenu to create a table of the desired size.

3. Highlight the cells in which you’d like to place radio buttons.

In this example, three of the four columns in the table have been selected.

4.  Click the Insert button.

5.      Highlight the Form Inputs button, then click the Radio Button button.

6.   A pop-up message will ask if you want the radio buttons to be mutually exclusively.

a. Yes: Only one radio button in each row can be checked. Checking a second radio button will uncheck the first radio button.

b. No: Multiple radio buttons in a single row can be checked concurrently.

7.The checkboxes will be added to the table.

Textbox

The textbox form type is a text-entry field that allows the user to enter up to 50 characters. Note that Variables cannot be placed in textboxes.

1. Click the Insert button in the toolbar.

2. Highlight the Form Inputs button, then click the Textbox button.

3. The textbox will be placed in the template.

Textarea

The textarea form type is a text-entry field. Unlike the textbox field, the textarea field does not have a character limit. Note that Variables cannot be placed in text areas. 

1. Click the Insert button in the toolbar.

2. Highlight the Form Inputs button, then click the Textarea button.

3.  The textarea field will be placed in the template.

Signatures

Click to define who will be required to sign the Engagement Letter. The default is “No Signatures.”

Print Formatting Templates

The Print Formatting Template defines how the Engagement Letter will be displayed in PDF format, defining such things as margins and whether the company logo appears. Click the drop-down menu and select the desired template.

Change History

The Change History logs all changes made to the Engagement Letter Template. It will not appear until you click Save and Create Template, at which point it will appear at the bottom of Template Editor with an entry listing the creation date and time and the user who created the template (or made the change).

Click in the Start Date and End Date fields to filter the Change History entries by a specific date range. Dates can be entered manually (Format: 00/00/0000) or by clicking in the box and then selecting a date in the calendar modal.

When a change is made to a template and the Save Changes button is clicked, a new entry is created in the Change History. Entries are arranged from newest to oldest, with the current version of the template at the top. 

To see a previous version of the template, click View Revision.

The Revision history modal will open.

A. Filter the available revision items in B by a specific date range.

B. Select a revision entry from the drop-down menu to display that revision snapshot.

C. View the Engagement Letter Template at the time of the snapshot. This includes Template Name, Description, Number of Signatures, and the body of the template.

Sticky Footer

The sticky footer contains three buttons.

Preview: Click to open a modal that allows you to select a Print Formatting Template.

• Select a Print Formatting Template from the drop-down menu then click Preview.

• A pop-up will appear to the right of the modal and state that the PDF is loading.

  

• Once it has finished loading, a PDF version of the Engagement Letter Template will open in a new browser tab.

Cancel: Click to discard the Engagement Letter Template and return to the Engagement Letter Templates page. Note that you will NOT be prompted for confirmation.

Save and Create Template: Click to save the new Engagement Letter Template and close the page. If any required fields have not been completed, a warning will appear at the top of the screen; you will be unable to save until the required fields have been completed.