Attaching documents to transactions is quite common use case for me, and it is a great feature.
But there are times I want to check all attachments related to a particular type of transaction. Allowing to add existing attachments to folders would be a great feature. This way the same attachment is re-used in the transaction & also in the folder. I can see it from both places.
Sample use-case: all my GST payment confirmations. These are mostly needed for audit / review purposes.
Currently I attach these confirmations to the payment when it is done, which adds more meaning to the payment transaction. But I also have to submit all these confirmations every once in a while for review. Currently I maintain a separate folder in my desktop to do this.
Overall, attachments are really good, but a way to group existing attachments would be cool.
Even if quite easily feasible I don’t think that it is the scope of an accounting software. There are many DMS out there that will fullfil the scope perfectly. We use Mayan EDMS which is open source and works very well and we manage to link it to Manager quite easily.
Rather than storing them twice or storing and maintaining two links. I can see more value in just having greater visibility of transactions with attachments. Such as the attachment icon showing on summary page drill down.
That way double filling is not required, instead Managers existing transaction coding can be leveraged.
I like the suggestion by @Patch . A filtered list of attachments solves the use-case I mentioned. Adding transaction context to the attachments list view is a good idea.
The intent of the suggestion was to use Manager to categorization attachments, that list does not realize that benefit as it contains all attachments.
The original poster initial solution was to use a folder structure, but using Manager account transaction coding structure was a viable alternative.
So while you are correct file name search can be done in the attachment tab, that tab is devoid of all filing structure, so does not address the suggestion.
An alternative solution would be to show the account in the attachment tab, an inferior solution in my opinion as it would not show what transactions do not have an attachment (an important function when entering supporting information).
@shobhit
This idea appears to be related to your suggestions but for reasons already listed Imo there is a better solution