Customizing the client letter

Formatting

Control codes

• Comments

      %*        When this appears on a line, the rest of the line is ignored.
  

  Comments entered this way are not printed. This is useful for inserting notes indicating to whoever subsequently uses the letter why certain changes were made.

• Margins

      %TM N     Top margin
                "N" represents the space in inches from the top of the page.
      %BM N     Bottom margin
                "N" represents the space in inches from the bottom of the page.
      %LM N     Left margin
                "N" represents the space in inches from the left edge of the page.
      %RM N     Right margin
                "N" represents the space in inches from the right edge of the page.
  

• Formatting

      %NL       Indicates that you want to start a new line.
                There must be a space between %NL and any preceding character on the line.
                %4, %NL   is correct
                %4,%NL    is incorrect
      %NP       Indicates that you want to start a new page.
                Be careful when using this control code. Because of conditional statements,
                the amount that will appear until any point in the letter can vary quite a lot.
      %CP N     Indicates a conditional page break.
                If less than "N" inches remain from the current printing position to the bottom
                margin, DT Max will resume printing from the following page.
  

• Fonts

  The typeface and size of the font are specified under Client letter in the Preferences menu. In the letter template you can enter codes to bold, italicize or underline sections of text.

      <B> = bold on         </B> = bold off
      <I> = italics on      </I> = italics off
      <U> = underline on    </U> = underline off
  

• Conditions

      %IF       Starts a conditional paragraph by stating the condition and
                what occurs if it applies.
      %ELSE     Starts paragraph to print if the condition
                expressed in %IF does not apply.
      %ENDIF    Indicates the end of a conditional paragraph.
  

• Mathematical and relational operators

      +         add
      -         subtract
      *         multiply
      /         divide
      =         equals
      !=        does not equal
      <         less than
      >         greater than
      <=        less than or equal to
      >=        greater than or equal to
      ( )       brackets containing any statement
  

  These operators enable DT Max to compare amounts.

• Logical operators

      %AND      logical AND
      %OR       logical OR
  

Letterhead

To enable you to use your letterhead, DT Max will skip 1.8" at the top of the first page. If your letterhead requires more space, give yourself additional room by adding blank lines or by changing the %TM (top margin) setting.

Adding a conditional paragraph

Go to the position where you want to add the paragraph, then enter the condition by using %IF followed by the condition itself in parentheses.

If you want the paragraph to appear whenever the variable mentioned in the paragraph is not equal to "0", enter the condition as follows:

    %IF(%v!=0)

Then, type the desired text into the letter, entering the variable as %v, and end the statement by entering %ENDIF.

For example, if you want to tell your clients how much they can contribute to an RRSP without making an overcontribution, look up the relevant variable in the list. You will find that it is %49. Then, type the following (in your own words):

    %IF(%49>0)
    You can contribute %49 to a RRSP. We recommend that you do so at
    the earliest possible opportunity to avoid the interest for as
    great a period as possible.
    %ENDIF

If, on the other hand, you feel that this will only be of interest to clients who can make a contribution of at least $1000, your condition would change accordingly:

    %IF(%49>1000)
    You can contribute %49 to a RRSP. We recommend that you do so at
    the earliest possible opportunity to avoid the interest for as
    great a period as possible. 

    %ENDIF

Ensure that a blank line appears between each paragraph. To do so, enter %NL after the %IF that introduces the paragraph.

Signature

If you wish to use an image of your personal signature or a logo to accompany your signature in the client letter, you may do so by inserting the location of the bitmap file (a file with a ".bmp" suffix) created to that end next to your signature or in its place in the appropriate location within the client letter.

For instance, if the .bmp file were named "signature" and saved in the folder "C:\temp", you would insert the following string into your client letter:

Creating a new client letter

• Example A (T1)

  Assuming that you want the client letter printed on letterhead, that the letterhead fits within the 1.8" space allocated by DT Max, and the User's defaults are set correctly:

  • City and date

    To have the name of your city as well as the date displayed as shown below, using the left-margin,

          Montreal, March 1, 2002
    

    look up the %-variable for the date and enter:

          YOURCITY, %8
    

    The date used is the date generated by your computer on the day that the tax return is calculated and will be the same as the date on the tax return. The display format is that of DT Max.

  • Heading

    Enter the heading using the variable codes provided. To enter a heading that will look like:

        Mr. Robert Jones
        2222 Oak St.
        Victoria, British Columbia
        T3T 4E5
    

    you need to look for the following:

        TITLE           %3
        FIRSTNAME       %2
        LASTNAME        %1
        STREET          %4
        CITY            %5
        PROVINCE        %6
        POSTCODE        %7
    

    After finding the required %-variables, enter:

        %3 %2 %1, %NL
        %4, %NL
        %5, %6 %NL
        %7 %NL
    

• Example B (T1)

  Here is an illustration of a complex condition:

  If you want the text printed only if variable %47 (RRSP contributions) is greater than variable %48 (RRSP deduction) and if variable %51 (overcontributions to an RRSP) is NIL, enter:

      %IF((%47>%48) %AND (%51=0))
      You have contributed %47 to RRSP's this year, but have only been able to
      deduct %48.
      %ENDIF
  

For more insight on how to set up the client letter, look up the DT Max default client letter in the file DTnWLET.YYE ("n" represents the program number and "YY" represent the relevant tax year)

Error checking

Particular values

    1         Quebec
    2         Newfoundland and Labrador
    3         Prince Edward Island
    4         Nova Scotia
    5         New Brunswick
    6         Ontario
    7         Manitoba
    8         Saskatchewan
    9         Alberta
    10        British Columbia
    11        Yukon
    12        North West Territories
    18        Nunavut
    13        Other

A paragraph intended for taxpayers living in the Prairie provinces would be set up using:

    %IF((%10=7) %OR (%10=8) %OR (%10=9))
    (paragraph)
    %ENDIF

If variable %10 (keyword PROV-RES) is used in an address, the name of the province will be printed.

The following are available for variables whose value is Yes or No:

    1         YES
    2         NO

Verification

For more information, see also ...

• The client letter
• Client letter options
• Exporting the client letter to a word processor