Goodman Jones - Document Automation
How we automated Letter of Engagement and Letter of Representation generation for Goodman Jones LLP, with Dynamics 365 and iManage integration.
Goodman Jones - Document Automation
How we automated Letter of Engagement and Letter of Representation generation for Goodman Jones LLP, with Dynamics 365 and iManage integration.
The Challenge.
Goodman Jones LLP is a London-based accountancy firm serving a diverse client base — from limited companies to charities, sole traders to groups. Every client engagement requires formal documentation: Letters of Engagement setting out services and fees, and Letters of Representation confirming client responsibilities.
Before automation, this was a labour-intensive manual process. Partners would complete a form with client details, engagement type, and services required. The form would then be sent to secretaries who had to manually populate Word templates — carefully selecting the right template for each entity type, adjusting terminology for different organisation structures, and formatting fee schedules by hand. The completed documents would go back to partners for review and inevitable tweaks.
The challenge wasn't just time. It was complexity and consistency. A Letter of Engagement for a limited company looks different from one for a charity. Audit engagements need different wording than accounts preparation. Letters of Representation have different representations depending on whether it's an audit, accounts preparation, or independent examination. With dozens of variables across multiple templates, manual document creation was slow, inconsistent, and prone to errors.
We built two automated document generation workflows using Microsoft's Power Platform, eliminating manual document creation entirely.
Letter of Engagement Automation
Staff complete a Microsoft Form with client details, entity type, services required, and fee structure. When submitted, a Power Automate flow triggers automatically. The flow processes the form responses, formats the data (dates, fee calculations, service lists with proper line breaks), and populates a Word template using Content Controls.
The template handles eight different entity types — Limited Company, LLP, Personal Tax, Trust, Charity, Partnership, Sole Trader, and Group — with conditional sections that appear or disappear based on the engagement. Consumer Contracts notices for applicable clients. FATCA declarations where needed. Dual signature blocks for joint engagements. All handled automatically.
Letter of Representation Automation
A comprehensive Microsoft Form with intelligent branching captures everything needed for client representations. The form adapts based on entity type and engagement — charities see questions about restricted funds and Charity Commission requirements; limited companies see questions about directors and shareholders.
Power Automate populates a master Word template, generating the correct document for any combination of entity type (Limited Company, Charity, LLP, Partnership) and engagement type (Audit, Accounts Preparation, or Independent Examination). Legal terminology adjusts automatically — 'directors' becomes 'trustees' for charities, Companies Act references become Charities Act references.
Dynamics 365 Integration
Both workflows integrate with the firm's Dynamics 365 CRM using the Client Reference Code. When a form is submitted, the automation checks Dynamics for an existing client record. If found, it pulls the relevant client data directly. If the client doesn't yet exist in the system, the workflow creates a new client record automatically — keeping the CRM up to date without manual data entry.
iManage Document Management
Completed documents are automatically saved to iManage, the firm's document management system, ready for partner approval. Using the Client Reference Code, each document is filed in the correct client folder with consistent naming conventions — no manual filing, no misplaced documents, and a clear audit trail for compliance.
The Solution.
The Result.
Document generation that previously took 15-20 minutes of manual work now takes around 2 minutes — and most of that is answering the form questions. The actual document creation is instant.
More importantly, every document is now consistent. The right paragraphs appear for the right entity types. Legal terminology is always correct. Fee calculations are accurate. Formatting is professional every time. The risk of manual errors — wrong client name, incorrect entity type wording, missing conditional sections — has been eliminated.
The Dynamics integration means client data stays current without duplicate entry, while iManage integration ensures every document lands in the right place, properly organised and ready for approval. Partners and secretaries can now focus on client work rather than document administration.
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