Overview
Agreements can be ingested into LinkSquares Finalize via email.
Email ingestion enables users to send emails to a LinkSquares inbox, where the content is automatically added to the corresponding agreement or placed in a review queue for manual processing and application.
This is particularly helpful when you want to allow non-users the ability to upload documents into your repository.
Process
A unique email address is provided by LinkSquares (e.g., subdomain@finalize.linksquares.com). Emails and attachments sent to this unique email address are ingested into Finalize.
Administrators can verify the email address for their organization within
Settings / Finalize App / Global
On the Global page, the email sync address will appear at the top of the page next to the Internal forwarding address setting. Copy and paste this email address via the clone icon. This will ensure you have the correct address to share.
* Image above shows the Finalize Global Settings page where the Finalize email resides
Prerequisites
If the email did not originate from the Finalize agreement, a list of allowed senders must be designated for the email sync to work. Emails outside of an agreement thread, and not on an allowed senders listing, will return automated notifications that the ingestion was unsuccessful, noting: 'ineligible email'.
To determine the list of allowed senders, click + NEW DOMAIN OR EMAIL ADDRESS next to the Allowed senders setting within the Global tab.
*Image above shows the Allowed Senders section of the Finalize Global Settings
Enter a domain (e.g., @linksquares.com) or individual email addresses. Entering a domain allows all senders with that domain to ingest files into Finalize.
Click into the ellipsis icon, to edit or delete existing allowed senders.
Determine who the responsible user is for assigning inbound emails to new or existing agreements next to the Unassigned emails setting. Select one or various users from the drop-down. All Finalize users are eligible to assign inbound emails.
*Image above shows the Unassigned Email Designation setting
Unassigned emails will only be visible to the designated user(s) in charge of assigning emails and Administrators. Without a user designation, only Administrators can view and assign unassigned emails.
LinkSquares recommends assigning someone to this responsibility or managing the ingestion of agreements via the individual agreement view in which agreements can be automatically assigned.
By choosing the user from the drop-down, that user is applied automatically.
Agreements can now successfully be ingested into Finalize via email syncs.
Automatic Handling of Ingested Emails
Emails and attachments may automatically be ingested within a specific agreement/workflow based on if Finalize can detect certain metadata either in the attachments on the email, or the inbound email record itself.
Finalize does this in two stages:
Message/Email Thread Metadata
If the counterparty is responding to a message directly sent from Finalize, then their reply will automatically be detected and attached to the relevant agreement based on the following rules:
- If a counterparty replies back directly to an email chain sent from Finalize, the system will detect metadata in the email message header.
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If that metadata in the email message header matches an existing agreement, Finalize then checks the status of the existing agreement.
- If the agreement is in the Review phase, the file is added as the latest version, the status is updated to Internal Review, and any remaining files are added as attachments.
- If the agreement is not in the Review phase, the email is added to the agreement and there is no status change.
Agreement Metadata
If the email header check above fails, Finalize then checks if there is an existing Finalize agreement file that has matching metadata to that of the attachment in the inbound email, Finalize automation will process the inbond email that is received as per the following rules:
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When Finalize receives inbound emails with attached files, the files are scanned to verify whether a matching metadata field to an existing agreement is present.
- This metadata field is automatically added to all files sent via the Finalize Outbound Email feature or downloaded from Finalize directly.
- If the recipient edits the Word document that is initially sent over and sends it back via the same thread, the agreement will be ingested into Finalize as a new version.
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If the metadata field is present, Finalize associates that email and the file with the agreement to which it corresponds.
- If the agreement is in the Review phase, the file is added as the latest version, the status is updated to Internal Review, and any remaining files are added as attachments.
- If the agreement is not in the Review phase, the email is added to the agreement and there is no status change.
- Any additional attachments sent over by the recipient will be added to the agreement as attachments.
No Matching Metadata
Suppose the recipient sends over a file that is not the original Word document from Finalize and sends it within a separate email thread. In that case, the sender has the option to forward that attachment to Finalize.
If the both the Message header AND agreement file metadata are not found, the email is added to the Unassigned Emails section.
Note:
- If the recipient replies to an email related to an agreement within the Internal Review or Counterparty Review statuses, the file is added as the latest version.
- If the recipient replies to an email related to an agreement within the Ready for Signature status, the file is added as an attachment.
- If there is an additional attachment included within the email thread initiated from Finalize, the file is added as an attachment.
Manual Handling of Unassigned Emails
When the unique email address is leveraged, the email and any attached files will appear at the top of the main Agreements page within the Unassigned Email section for Administrators and any users assigned to inbound emails.
To assign an unassigned email, select the email from the Unassigned Emails drop-down.
From here, determine whether this email and any attachments should be added to an existing agreement or a new agreement.
Alternatively, delete the email using the trash icon.
* Image above shows the Unassigned Email queue in Finalize
If the existing agreement option is selected, leverage the search bar to locate the desired agreement.
If the new agreement option is selected, the agreement creation flow is initiated. Once the new agreement has been created, the email and attachments will be added to the individual agreement view.
Note:
Emails should only take a few minutes to appear within Finalize.
Once the email is ingested and populated within Finalize, the sender will receive an automated email stating that LinkSquares could not find a corresponding agreement.
If the email does not populate within Finalize, the file may already be associated with an existing agreement. Users can test their ability to ingest emails into Finalize by sending a regular email with no attachments. If the email with no attachments populates, this means that the file was ineligible. LinkSquares recommends saving the agreement as a new file and trying again.