The Document management tool within Open To Close has many powerful use cases such as syncing documents between your integrations, sharing them with your portal users, automating attaching documents in your email correspondence, and the ability to use your documents to control the conditional logic for your properties.

Let's start by reviewing your File Roles. Go to the Hammer Icon on the left-hand side navigation menu and choose Filters. From there, select File Roles.

Here you will find a list of File Roles that are automatically loaded into your Open To Close account. As you are reviewing this list, feel free to edit or add new file roles as you see fit. Keep in mind to create different versions of the files you might track, you can use the following acronyms: BS for Buyer Signed, SS for Seller Signed, and FE for Fully Executed.

File Roles are used to control the automation within your document management. This can look like auto-attaching your documents to your email templates but also influencing the conditional logic for things like your Smart Blocks and Property Triggers.
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Now that you have customized your File Roles, you will want to review and add the appropriate Document Templates that you will be using in your Open To Close account. Under Document Templates, you will create folders and placeholders. These placeholders are where you will relate your File Roles.

Navigate to the Hammer Icon in the left-hand navigation and choose Templates. Next, select Document Templates.

There are two different kinds of File Buttons in your account. First, we have the Standard File Buttons. These buttons are the default file buttons on a property and have specific functionalities.

Second, you can create Custom File Buttons. These buttons are a helpful visual aid for tracking your documents.

As mentioned in the video above the Standard File Buttons include Priority, Notes, Missing, Broker Signed, and Excluded. Each of these has a specific functionality or setting associated with them.

Custom File Buttons can be altered, updated, and deleted if necessary. Use these buttons to assist yourself and team members in tracking the stages your documents can be in.

If you know a document has a high priority and needs to be updated as soon as possible, you can use the P button next to the placeholder to preset the document's priority. This will flag the document and place it in the Health Bar/Queue. Marking the priority as high will highlight the placeholder on a property.

A common strategy used is pairing the Priority Buttons (P) with the Notes button (0). This way you can assign the Priority to flag the document and use the Notes to provide context as to why the document was flagged.

Now that you have customized your File Roles and Document Templates, let's review how they are used on a live transaction.

You can add Documents to Open To Close through your integrations, by manually uploading them into a Folder or File Placeholder, or email documents to the unique Property Email address located at the top of each property within Open To Close.

The Paperclip Icon will show you what the Main File is. As documents are uploaded or added to the placeholder, the Main File will update with the latest document added and the older version will automatically be added to the Additional Documents.

You can update or add a File Role to a placeholder by selecting the drop-down arrow next to the placeholder. If a Fire Icon is present, a File Role is already associated with the placeholder. Selecting a different File Role from the drop-down menu will update the placeholder with the new File Role.

We suggest segmenting your Document Templates into separate templates for each process that you may manage on a property. This allows you to only bring on the Document Templates that are needed on a property.

It’s okay to have very short Document Templates. For example, you might have a Document Template that only has three placeholders on it for your HOA documents. The reason we want them separate in a bite-sized list is so that you can have it applied only when the property is part of an HOA. Otherwise, those three placeholders are not applicable and do not need to be added to a property.

If you are working in multiple states, you may need some state-specific Document Templates. Using the Category sorting feature on the Document Templates can be very helpful as your list of possible Document Templates expands. We suggest adding a Category for each state you manage transactions for.

Customizing and adding in your Document Templates and File Roles will be crucial in continuing to build a successful Open To Close account.