uniFLOW Online + FYI Docs: One-Touch Scanning for Accounting Practices

If your practice runs on FYI Docs, you already know the payoff of having every client document in one place. The weak link, for most firms, is the trip paper takes to get there: scan to email, wait for it to arrive, download the attachment, drag it into FYI, delete the email. Multiply that by every engagement letter, trust deed, signed declaration and piece of ATO correspondence that crosses the front desk, and it adds up to real hours.

We've been setting up a much better route for our accounting clients: scan straight from the copier into FYI Docs, with one press, using the Microsoft 365 integration built into uniFLOW Online.

What it looks like at the copier

A team member walks up to the copier and authenticates, with a badge, a code or their Microsoft 365 login. Because uniFLOW Online knows exactly who is standing at the device, the panel shows their personal scan actions, including one labelled Scan to FYI Docs.

They load the document, press that one button, and walk away. No choosing destinations, no typing email addresses, no filing from an inbox later. A few moments after the pages feed through, the document is sitting in their own FYI In Tray, ready to be checked and filed against the client.

How it works behind the scenes

The clever part is how simply the two platforms meet in the middle:

• FYI creates the landing zone. Every active FYI user automatically gets a system folder in their OneDrive called FYI - My Imports, and FYI watches that folder constantly.
• uniFLOW Online delivers to it. Using uniFLOW Online's native Microsoft 365 integration, we build a scan workflow that sends the scanned PDF directly into the authenticated user's FYI - My Imports folder. Because authentication happens at the panel, the file always lands in the right person's folder.
• FYI does the importing. As soon as FYI detects the new file it imports it as an FYI document, adds it to that user's In Tray, and applies their AutoFile defaults for cabinet and categories where they're set. The file is then cleared out of OneDrive automatically, with a copy kept in an FYI - Processed folder for 14 days as a safety net.

From there it's business as usual in FYI: open the In Tray, confirm the client and filing details, and file. If several documents share the same details, bulk update handles them in one go.

How it works, start to filed

Five steps, one button press for the person standing at the copier.

Why practices love it

• One press, start to filed. The scan-to-email shuffle disappears, along with the downloads folder full of "scan0047.pdf".
• Documents land with the right person, every time. Authentication at the copier means your scan goes to your In Tray, not a shared inbox someone has to triage.
• Nothing gets lost in email. Attachments can't be forgotten, misdirected or buried. The document takes one secure path from feeder to FYI.
• It's secure end to end. Jobs only run for authenticated users, files travel through your own Microsoft 365 tenancy, and confidential client paperwork never sits in an unattended output tray.
• AutoFile does the tidying. With filing defaults set in FYI, scans arrive pre-categorised, so filing is a check rather than a chore.
• It scales with the practice. New staff member? The moment they're active in FYI and enrolled in uniFLOW Online, their scan button works. No per-user IT configuration on the device.

A couple of practical notes

FYI imports from the My Imports folder within about ten minutes, and there's a manual sync button in the In Tray if you want a document immediately. Files up to 500MB are supported, which covers even the chunkiest scanned workpaper bundles. And because the integration uses each user's own OneDrive, there are no shared credentials or generic scan accounts to manage.

The bigger picture: your copier as a capture point

This FYI workflow is one example of what uniFLOW Online does well: it turns the office copier into a smart, secure capture point for whatever systems your business runs on. The same approach can deliver scans into SharePoint libraries, Teams channels or OneDrive folders, all tracked, all tied to the person at the panel. If you're weighing it up more broadly, our uniFLOW Online page covers the full feature set.

Want this running in your practice?

GBS supplies and supports Canon devices with uniFLOW Online across Warrnambool and South West Victoria, and we've done the FYI Docs integration enough times to have it down to a fine art. If your team is still scanning to email, get in touch and we'll show you the one-button version on your own fleet.