Folder structure templates

You will learn how to design your firm’s folder structure, give it to clients, and change it later without losing files.

• Designing and editing templates needs a Company Owner or Company Admin with access to Settings & Apps.
• Assigning a template to a client needs the right to edit that client.
• Folder structure templates are part of the Documents app, on the Elite plan.

A folder structure template is your firm’s master folder list. Uku uses it to build the same folder tree inside every client that is assigned to it. One template usually serves a whole firm, but you can keep several — for example one for companies and one for sole traders.

Most firms need one template. Start with the one Uku created when you activated the Documents app, and add to it only when a real need appears.

Four parts are built in and cannot be removed:

• Public — the branch your clients see in the Client Portal.
• Private — your firm’s working files.
• A Year folder under Private, and a Month folder under that year.
• New files, the inbox for portal and email uploads. Uku manages it for every client and it never appears in the template.

Path: Settings & Apps → Documents → Folder templates

1. Open Settings & Apps and open the Documents app.
2. Go to the Folder templates tab.
3. Click your template to open it, or click Add to create another.
4. Give it a name under Template name.
5. Under Folder structure, click Add folder to add a folder, or use Add subfolder on a folder to nest one inside it.
6. For each folder, choose what it is: a plain Folder, or a Year, Quarter, or Month folder that Uku fills in by date.
7. Tick Default if new clients should get this template automatically. One template is always the default, so you cannot untick it on the current one: tick Default on another template instead and the flag moves.
8. Click Save.

Add folder puts the new folder inside Private, because that is where your firm’s own structure belongs. To place a folder anywhere else, use Add subfolder on the folder you want it under. The editor has no drag-and-drop.

A Year, Quarter, or Month folder is not one folder. Uku turns it into one folder per period — 2026, then 9, 10, and so on.

• Uku creates them ahead of need, so next month’s folder is ready before the month starts.
• Uku also fills in the past, back to the client’s start date or to 1 January 2025, whichever is later.
• Month names are numbers, the same for every firm and every language. Uku sorts them correctly, so 9 is listed before 10.

Ticking Automatically create Notes and Templates subfolders under each client for files sorting adds two more branches. Files attached to notes are then filed into Notes, and workflow and template files into Templates. Without them, those files go into the year and month folders under Private.

Path: open the client → Edit → Documents

1. Open the client and click Edit.
2. Go to the Documents section of the form.
3. Pick a template under Folder structure template.
4. Click Save.

Uku builds the folders in the background. On a large client with several years of history, give it a minute before the whole tree appears.

Once your firm owns at least one template, every client must have one. A client saved before you started using templates shows an empty picker and cannot be saved until you choose a structure for it.

Path: Clients → select clients → Documents

1. Open the client list.
2. Tick the clients you want to change.
3. Choose Documents from the bulk actions, then Change folder structure template.
4. Pick the template under Select a folder structure template.
5. Read the summary of what will change, then click Change template.

The dialog tells you what happens. New folders from the chosen structure are created. Empty folders that are no longer in the structure are removed. Folders that contain files stay where they are. The change runs in the background, so allow a few minutes before the connected drive matches.

Editing a template changes every client assigned to it. Nothing happens until you click Save.

What happens on save:

• A folder you added is created in every assigned client.
• A folder you removed is removed from a client only when it is empty. A folder holding files stays where it is.
• A folder you renamed is treated as one folder removed and a different folder added. The old folder stays if it holds files, and a new empty folder appears beside it.
• On your connected drive, nothing is deleted by a template change. Uku tidies up its own side only.

Uku matches folders by name, ignoring capital letters, spaces, and punctuation. Reports, reports, and re-ports are all the same folder. Correcting the spelling of a folder name is therefore not a rename, and creates nothing new.

A folder that came from the template cannot be renamed or deleted inside one client. Uku refuses and tells you to change the template. The lock keeps every client on the same structure. A folder somebody created by hand in a client has no such lock.

Three rules cause this. Two folders in the same place cannot have names that match once capital letters, spaces, and punctuation are ignored — rename one of them. A folder cannot be called New files or Recent, because Uku uses those names. And Notes and Templates must sit at the top level, with nothing inside them.

The second folder is expected. Uku reads a rename as one folder removed and another added. The original stays because it holds files. Move the files into the new folder, then delete the empty original.

The rebuild runs in the background. Reload the client’s Documents tab after a minute. If the folders are still missing, open the client’s Edit form and check that a Folder structure template is selected.

Once your firm has the Documents app on and owns at least one template, every client needs a structure. Pick one in the Documents section of the client form. To change what new clients get by default, open the template you want and tick Default. There is no way to have no default: unticking it on the only default template is refused.

Clients created before your firm had templates keep an empty picker. Assign them in bulk from the client list rather than one at a time.