Mail Merge Guide

Mail Merge is a desktop application designed to send personalized letters for signature to a larger number of recipients than Signatures typically allows. This program requires Microsoft Word®. Once installed, you can create templates and mailing lists to deliver documents like engagement letters in bulk. 

Important

As of April 27, 2024, users can sign in to Mail Merge using Office 365/Single Sign-On. This must be enabled in the Suite Settings.

Download Mail Merge

The Mail Merge download process installs a desktop application and Microsoft Word® plugin.

Info:

• The Mail Merge app has to be downloaded by a System Admin from your Suite Settings.
• This app and Microsoft Word® must be installed locally on each user's PC.
• Mail Merge is not compatible with terminal server environments. 

1. Click the Navigation Widget. 
2. Click Suite Settings. 
3. Click Download under General > Product Downloads > Mail Merge. 
4. Run the downloaded MailMerge.exe file. 
5. Allow the app to make changes to your device to open the Mail Merge Setup window. 
6. Click Next. 
7. Click Agree in the License Agreement window. 
8. Click Install in the Choose Install Location window. 
9. Click Finish in the Completing Mail Merge Setup window. 
10. Enter a username and password then click Login OR
11. Click continue with Office365. 

Creating a Microsoft Word® Template

Once Mail Merge is installed, Microsoft Word® has an E-Sign Action Center plugin that is used to generate a Mail Merge template. 

1. Click Create Document Template from the Mail Merge desktop application OR
2. Open Microsoft Word®. 
3. Click SafeSend Signatures. 
4. Click E-Sign Action Center.
5. Use the SafeSend Signatures window to place signature blocks, merge fields and generate a .CSV template as outlined below. 

Signature Placement

The Signature Placement tab shows client action items. The signer is prompted to fill these fields if they are added to the template. One exception is the date field, which is auto-filled. 

To add fields to the form, follow the steps below: 

1. Place your cursor on the document where an item is needed.
2. Click the Signer drop-down to select which signer will fill the field.
   • The item you are placing can only be completed by the designated signer.
3. Double-click the signature field to be placed.
4. Type a Tooltip into the Data Field box if using a data field. 
   • The signer can enter free text in this box; the tool tip lets them know what information is being requested.
5. Ensure the field is marked as Required if you would like it to be required. 
   • Double-click a placed field to see if it is required. 
6. Continue through the entire document, placing action items for all signers.

The same template can be used regardless of the number of signers. Mail Merge recognizes the number of email addresses (signers) in the CSV file.

Conditional Controls 

When adding checkboxes or radio buttons, you can create conditional rules for those buttons. For example, if a client selects one of two radio buttons you can reveal the option to sign. If the select the other radio button, you can leave the option to sign hidden. 

1. Select the appropriate signer. 
   • This recipient is prompted to fill the field. 
2. Place your cursor on the document where an item is needed.
3. Double-click the radio button or check box option to add it to the page. 
4. Enter how many buttons to add. 
5. Click OK. Additional options appear in the right panel. 
6. Drag/drop the button to move it to the correct position
7. Select whether or not the client is required to select a button. 
8. Click Select field from page. 
9. Click the signature field to reveal when that option is selected. 
   • It is added to the Then options in the right panel. 
10. Click Save Rule to save your changes. 

Mail Merge Tab

The Mail Merge tab allows you to place merge fields into the template. Data is pulled from the .CSV template to auto-fill those fields. There are 2 default Merge Fields:

• TaxpayerName
• Salutation

All other fields are created using Create Custom Merge Fields tool.

Each merge field corresponds to a column header in the .CSV file. There is no limit to the number of Merge Fields that can be added.

Important

The .CSV file now includes a column for ClientId when using Mail Merge.

Adding a ClientId field to your Word® document results in two columns in the .CSV file. There can only be one column for ClientId. The .CSV file should be edited to remove one of the duplicate columns.

The column header must be named ClientId. If any other variation is used, the ClientId is not displayed in the Signatures Report.

Create and Place Merge Fields 

1. Place your cursor on the document where an item is needed.
2. Click Create Custom Merge Fields.
3. Type a merge field name into the field.  
   
   • Spaces are removed.
   • Do not add any special characters to the merge field name. 
4. Click Place Field. 
   • It is saved if needed again for that document.
5. Double-click a merge field to place it. 
6. Continue through the entire document, placing any necessary merge fields. 

Creating a CSV File

Once all the necessary merge files have been placed, you can create a corresponding spreadsheet. Each Merge Field is a column header in the spreadsheet.

Info

• Microsoft Excel® automatically deletes leading zeros. See our Leading Zeros in CSV Template article for more information. 
• The individual cells do not have character limits; full paragraphs or more can be entered in these cells. 
• If a cell is left blank in the CSV file, that field is removed from the Microsoft Word® template, and spacing is adjusted to normalize formatting.  
• Signer1Email is required; other signer email lines can be left blank. 

1. Click Create CSV Template. 
2. Fill in the Signer1Email row (required). 
3. Fill in the Taxpayer Name row (required).  
4. Fill in all other merge fields (optional). 
5. Ensure the Version number is in place (required).  
6. Save and close the file.

Using the Mail Merge Wizard

Once the Microsoft Word® template and CSV file are completed, the batch of documents to be signed can be delivered with the Mail Merge Wizard. There are five steps to batch process and send documents for e-signature. Open the Mail Merge desktop application to get started. 

Step 1: Select Files

The documents must be saved and closed before beginning.

1. Click Open Document Template to upload the Microsoft Word® template. 
2. Click CSV FILE to upload the corresponding CSV file. 
   • The document name appears at the bottom of each box once uploaded.
3. Click Step 2: Check Errors.

Step 2: Check Errors

During Step 2, the Mail Merge Wizard verifies that the selected files can be successfully merged.

If there are errors:

1. Review the detailed error description.
2. Click Select Files.
3. Correct any errors in the Microsoft Word® template and CSV file. 
4. Reupload the corrected templates. 

If there are no errors: 

1. Click Step 3: Merge Files.

Step 3: Merge Files

Step 3 merges the files. 

1. View the progress bar.
   • You can navigate away from this window to allow it to work in the background. 
   • Once complete, a window showing all documents opens.
2. View the Document Name (all show the Microsoft Word® file name).
   • Double-click the document name to preview the file.  
3. View the Signer 1 E-Mail addresses.
4. Click Step 4: Configuration.

Step 4: Configuration

Step 4 allows you to select settings and add/edit the message sent to the document recipients. Default settings are auto-filled based on your firm settings. 

Please note:

Firm settings can allow or restrict editing during the Configuration step. 

1. Select the Document Type. 
2. Adust the Expiry Date as necessary. 
3. Select a Tax Year. 
4. Select the Sender Signing Order if a Sender Signature block was included in the Microsoft Word® document. 
5. Select an Office Location.
6. Select a Contact Person for the signer(s) to reach out to. 
7. Select a Signing Sequence. 
   • Parallel Signing allows all signers to sign at the same time. 
   • Custom Signing Sequence forces clients to sign in order. Signer 2 does not receive an access link until Signer 1 completes signing. 
8. Select a Message template OR create a new Message.
   • If you are creating a new message, please ensure that you clear the formatting for the Subject and Message when pasting it. You can do this by typing it manually or pressing Ctrl + Shift + V.
9. Select Access Code Required to add an additional layer of security. 
   • The document recipient is required to enter an access code sent to their email address before viewing or signing. 
10. Click Step 5: Send for Signature.

Step 5: Send for Signature 

The document is delivered to all designated recipients. The delivered items appear in the Delivered section of Signatures. 

1. View the progress bar.
   • You can navigate away from this window to allow it to work in the background. 
   • Once complete, step 1 of the Mail Merge Wizard displays. 
2. Locate delivered items in the Signature report. 

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