Canny Group is a Geelong-based business with four divisions across accounting, legal, financial planning, and NDIS Plan Management. With two directors and 25 team members, the firm needed document workflows that could keep pace with a broad service offering and a changing operating environment.

When COVID hit, Canny Group was still adjusting to newly adopted systems, including Xero Practice Manager and FYI. The team had already made big technology changes, but one important workflow still needed attention: preparing and sending final tax return and financial statement packs for business clients.

The firm had a process for individual tax returns, but business client packs were still difficult to manage. They needed a more professional, flexible way to collate documents, send them for signatures, and track what had been completed.

A document process that had become too hard

Before FuseDocs and FuseSign, Canny Group’s process for business client packs involved too many manual steps.

Jamie Arrington, Divisional Manager, Accounting, would review the work from accountants, finalise the pack, discuss the result internally, then send an FYI task to admin. From there, the admin team would prepare the pack, contact the client, arrange the next step, and explain how to use the existing signature platform.

Even with electronic signatures in place, the team was still printing or posting some documents. Files also had to be saved manually, which created room for errors. The process was time-consuming, difficult to track, and limited in how packs could be created or adjusted.

For a firm trying to maintain service levels during a period of major disruption, that workflow was no longer sustainable.

Turning client packs into a faster workflow

Canny Group implemented FuseDocs and FuseSign alongside FYI and Xero Practice Manager to create a more connected process from document preparation through to signatures.

FuseDocs gave the team a faster way to collate and generate client packs. Instead of manually assembling documents and passing work between people, Jamie could create a professional pack directly through FuseDocs, then send it through FuseSign for client signatures.

That shift dramatically reduced the time involved. What previously took around an hour per client pack now takes around two minutes.

Creating a more professional client experience

The improvement was not just about speed. FuseDocs also helped Canny Group present documents in a cleaner, more polished format for clients.

Client packs could be generated as branded PDFs, with features such as bookmarks and a contents page. That made the final document easier for clients to review and gave the firm a more professional way to present important financial documents.

For Canny Group, FuseDocs helped turn what had been a disjointed report into a more complete and client-ready pack.

Making signatures simpler for clients

FuseSign supported the next step in the workflow by making it easier for clients to complete signatures digitally.

The team could send documents to all relevant parties in a family group, while also sending items directly from FYI using FuseSign, including engagement letters and BAS documents.

The client experience improved as well. Jamie noted that clients found the FuseSign process simpler, particularly because using a phone code was easier than remembering a password for a platform they might only use a couple of times a year.

That ease of use mattered during lockdowns, when clients needed to complete documents remotely without added friction.

Reducing manual work and improving visibility

The previous workflow was not just slow; it also made tracking harder. It was difficult to know what had been signed, what had been missed, and where each pack was up to.

By connecting FuseDocs and FuseSign with FYI and XPM, Canny Group created a clearer end-to-end workflow. Documents could be collated, prepared, sent, tracked, and completed with less manual handling.

That gave the team more visibility and reduced the admin burden around client document delivery.

Supporting broader rollout across the firm

Canny Group also saw opportunities to extend the workflow beyond accounting.

Jamie recommended FuseDocs and FuseSign to the firm’s financial planning division, where document delivery involved higher security requirements and similar workflow challenges. She also planned to continue finding new ways to use the tools across BAS, Super Funds, and other practice areas.

That makes the Canny Group story especially useful for multi-service firms. Once the document workflow improves in one area, the same approach can often support other teams and divisions.

The result

Canny Group moved from a clunky, manual client pack process to a faster and more professional document workflow with FuseDocs and FuseSign.

FuseDocs helped reduce client pack collation from around 60 minutes to just two minutes, while creating better branded PDFs and a more flexible document process. FuseSign supported the final step by making signatures easier for clients and helping the team manage documents remotely.

For Canny Group, the result was a major time saving, a smoother internal process, and a better client experience at a time when efficient digital workflows had become essential.

Ready to spend less time preparing documents?

Ready to see how FuseDocs can support your firm’s next step in consistency, time saving, and polish? Book a discovery call today.