This guide explains how practices can use Compliance Database Template Defaults to automatically apply preferred compliance settings when creating new businesses. This helps reduce repetitive setup work and ensures consistency across similar clients.

Overview

Practices can designate existing businesses as templates for Compliance Database settings. When a new business is created, the system automatically copies compliance database settings from the selected template business, eliminating the need for manual configuration each time.

Business Problem

When practices create new businesses, all compliance database settings must currently be configured manually. Many practices deal with similar types of entities, such as:

• Practices that only prepare FRS 105 companies • Practices specialising in charities • Practices with standardised reporting approaches

This results in wasted time and an increased risk of inconsistent configuration across clients.

Solution Overview

Core Concept

Practices select one or more existing businesses to act as templates. When creating a new business, the system automatically copies Compliance Database settings from the appropriate template based on:

• Template type (Company, Registered Charity, Sole Trader, Farmer) • Jurisdiction (United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland)

This behaviour mirrors the existing process used when copying a Chart of Accounts during business creation.

Template Defaults Tab

Location

The Template Defaults tab is available within the Practice Details screen.

Structure

The tab contains eight searchable dropdowns, organised by jurisdiction and entity type.

Jurisdiction Sections

• United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom) • Republic of Ireland (ROI) (Ireland, Republic of Ireland)

Template Types (per jurisdiction)

• Company Template Default • Registered Charity Template Default • Sole Trader Template Default • Farmer Template Default

Dropdown Contents

Each dropdown:

• Lists all existing businesses that match the selected template type • Is fully searchable, supporting practices with large client lists • Can be left blank, in which case system default behaviour applies

How Template Defaults Work

During Business Creation

1. The user creates a new business using Add Client.
2. The user enters:
   • Country of incorporation (e.g. England, Scotland, Ireland)
   • Entity type (e.g. Company, Charity, Sole Trader)
3. The system automatically determines:
   • The jurisdiction group (UK or ROI)
   • The template type based on the entity selected
4. The system checks: Practice Details → Template Defaults → [Jurisdiction] → [Template Type]
5. If a template default exists:
   • Compliance Database settings are copied from the latest dataset of the selected template business
   • Both hard-coded and soft-coded compliance settings are included
6. If no template default is selected:
   • The system applies the standard XML and database defaults

Note: This process runs silently in the background. No prompts or confirmation dialogs are shown to the user.

What Gets Copied

Included

The following Compliance Database settings are copied:

• Legislation compliance settings • Presentation settings • Accounting options • Disclosure settings • Account page layout • Key Information section (hard-coded) • Auditor and accountant details (hard-coded) • All XML-based soft-coded settings

Excluded

The following information is not copied:

• Transactions or nominal balances • Officer, director, or trustee details • Number of employees • Share information • Any client-specific operational data

User Flexibility

Practices retain full control over how template defaults are used:

• Any existing business can be selected as a template • Template fields can be left blank to use system defaults • Template selections can be changed at any time • Defaults can be temporarily changed to create a specific business, then reverted • Practices can create a dedicated master business with ideal settings to use as a long-term template

Key Benefits

Using Compliance Database Template Defaults provides several benefits:

1. Simplicity – No additional management or configuration screens are required
2. Flexibility – Practices choose which businesses act as templates
3. No database bloat – Existing businesses are reused rather than creating new records
4. No licensing impact – Uses existing business licences
5. Familiar behaviour – Matches the Chart of Accounts copying workflow
6. Full practice control – Practices decide what configuration becomes the default
7. Easy to update – Changing the default is as simple as selecting a different business
8. Silent operation – Templates are applied automatically with no user interruption

Summary

Compliance Database Template Defaults allow practices to standardise compliance configuration across new businesses while significantly reducing setup time. By leveraging existing clients as templates, practices gain greater efficiency, consistency, and control when onboarding new businesses.