Template snippet for using nicknames

TaxCycle General
1

I spent some time building some template code that does a couple of things that aren’t in the standard letters and thought I would share in case it is useful for others.

The code below is a salutation for letters with the name, address and Dear XXX and works without change for coupled or uncoupled returns. (Note, however, if you have a coupled return but want your letters individually addressed, this won’t work for you).
What is does that is different than the standard letters is:

  1. If there is a nickname in the file, it uses that instead of the first name.
  2. If the return is coupled, it also includes the spouses name (or nickname).
  3. If the spouses use different last names, it includes both last names.

You can copy and paste this into a template to try, or download the attached file (which works as a snippet).T1TY2017;T1TY2016;T1TY2015.Salutation.taxcycletemplate (3.5 KB)

{{# CurrentClient}}{{# coupled(CurrentClient)}}{{# Info.ID.Nickname}}{{Info.ID.Nickname}}{{/end}}{{# not(Info.ID.Nickname)}}{{Info.ID.FirstName }}{{/end}}{{# Info.ID.LastName != Info.SpouseID.LastName}} {{Info.ID.LastName}}{{/end}} and {{# Info.SpouseID.Nickname}}{{Info.SpouseID.Nickname}}{{/end}}{{# not(Info.SpouseID.Nickname)}}{{ Info.SpouseID.FirstName }}{{/end}} {{Info.SpouseID.LastName}} {{/end}}{{#not(coupled(CurrentClient))}}{{# Info.ID.Nickname}}{{Info.ID.Nickname}}{{/end}}{{# not(Info.ID.Nickname)}}{{ Info.ID.FirstName }}{{/end}} {{Info.ID.LastName}}{{/end}}
{{# CurrentClient.Info.Address }}{{# CareOf }}c/o {{ . }}
{{/ CareOf }} {{# POBox or POBoxLocation }}{{# POBox }}PO Box {{ . }}{{/ POBox }} {{ POBoxLocation }}
{{/ POBox or POBoxLocation }} {{# RuralRoute }}RR {{ . }}
{{/ RuralRoute }} {{# Apartment }}{{ . }} - {{/ Apartment }}{{# Street }}{{ . }}
{{/ Street }} {{# Country != “USA”}}{{ZipCode}} {{/ Country != “USA”}}{{# City }}{{ . }} {{/ City }}{{ abbreviate(Province) }}{{# State }}{{ . }} {{/ State }} {{ format(PostalCode) }}{{# Country = “USA”}} {{ZipCode}}{{/ Country = “USA”}}{{# Country}}
{{ . }}{{/ Country }}{{/ CurrentClient.Info.Address }}
Dear {{# coupled(CurrentClient)}}{{# Info.ID.Nickname}}{{Info.ID.Nickname}}{{/end}}{{# not(Info.ID.Nickname)}}{{Info.ID.FirstName }}{{/end}} and {{# Info.SpouseID.Nickname}}{{Info.SpouseID.Nickname}}{{/end}}{{# not(Info.SpouseID.Nickname)}}{{ Info.SpouseID.FirstName }}{{/end}},{{/end}}{{#not(coupled(CurrentClient))}}{{# Info.ID.Nickname}}{{Info.ID.Nickname}}{{/end}}{{# not(Info.ID.Nickname)}}{{ Info.ID.FirstName }}{{/end}}, {{/end}} {{/CurrentClient.Info}}

7 Likes
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This is great Matthew. We love that you’re sharing these ideas.

I’d like to know what other people think about us adjusting our built-in templates to include nicknames if applicable? (Probably not a this season thing, but I like the idea of a salutation snippet that works for all the letters.)

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I must say I have never seen a tax software company react so respectively and quickly to their customers suggestions and observations! Kudos to Cameron and all his staff! Keep up the excellent work!

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Thanks @alcotaxprep. We enjoy it. :grinning:

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It isn’t going to affect me, given that I don’t put nicknames within Taxcycle. So I am neutral to the whole change. In fact, if people do put nicknames within the file, then the snippet makes sense. Otherwise, there is no impact.

About the only modifier that may be useful would be an option within the settings to “Use nickname, if available”. This will allow people who put the nickname within Taxcycle, but who don’t want the nickname used, to continue with the current behaviour.

As you said, this is something that could be looked at after tax season.

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Thank you so much

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@Elizabeth
I didn’t think I would care, but since you “built in” the CSalutation snippet, I found I love using it. A lot of my clients go by something other than their “official” full name, and yet we must have the correct full name on the tax return. So it is great to be able to use this feature!

However, 2 comments:

  1. Since the “trigger” to use the nickname is the title field (Mr/Mrs, etc), I would prefer that TaxCycle not put a yellow warning on the title field if I leave it blank.

  2. The built in CSalutation snippet exists in the 2018 module only. After customizing my T1 client letter, and copying it to all years, the client letter (in other than 2018) showed no client name or address or salutation. I had to clone the CSalutation snippet and copy it to all other years (after which the client name and address also magically showed up again). Would be nice if you could include the CSalutation snippet in all year modules.

Thanks!