A Document Folder Template is a reusable folder structure you build once and reuse across clients. Instead of recreating the same set of folders inside every client's Documents section by hand, you define the structure in one place, then either let Kerdora apply it to new clients automatically or push it to existing clients whenever you want.
You'll find it in the Templates area (the same place you manage your Guide templates) under the Document Folders tab.
You Already Have Three Templates
You don't start from a blank slate. Every Kerdora practice comes with three built-in folder templates already created for you in the Document Folders tab:
Detailed - w/ subfolders — a full filing structure with 10 top-level folders (Tax, Income & Employment, Investments & Accounts, Insurance, Estate & Legal, Real Estate, Debt & Liabilities, Business Planning, Meeting Notes & Reports, and Onboarding), most with nested subfolders like Tax › Tax Returns or Insurance › Life Insurance.
Detailed - No subfolders — a flat, six-folder version: Investment Statements, Tax Returns, Financial Plans, Estate Plans, Insurance, and Bank Statements.
Advisor / Client Uploads — the simplest option, just two folders: Client Uploads and Advisor Uploads.
These are ordinary, editable templates. Use one as-is, rename or rearrange its folders, duplicate it as a starting point, or ignore them and build your own from scratch.
None of the three built-in templates is set as your default, so no folders are created in your clients automatically until you pick one. Open the template you want and click Set as default (see below) to turn that on.
Building a Template
Open the Templates area and select the Document Folders tab.
Click New folder template and give it a name (for example, "Standard Client" or "Tax Prep").
Add folders to the template. You can nest folders inside other folders, so a "Tax" folder can hold subfolders like "Returns" and "Supporting Docs."
The structure you build here is the blueprint. It doesn't touch any client until you apply it.
Setting a Default Template
You can mark one template as your firm default. When a template is set as the default, its folders are created automatically in every new client you add, so each new client file starts with your standard folder structure already in place.
To set it, open the template and click Set as default. The button changes to Default once it's active. Click it again to turn the default off. You can only have one default template at a time.
Applying a Template to Existing Clients
You can also push a template's folders to clients you've already created:
Open the template you want to use.
Choose Load clients to pull in your client list.
Select the clients who should receive the folder structure (or use Select all).
Click Apply. Kerdora creates the template's folders inside each selected client's Documents section and confirms how many folders it added.
Applying a template is safe to run more than once. Kerdora matches on folder name and location, so any folder that already exists is left alone and only the missing folders get created. You won't end up with duplicates.
Templates vs. Per-Client Folders
Templates and folders are two sides of the same feature:
A template is the reusable blueprint you manage in the Templates area. Changing a template does not change folders that were already created in a client file.
Folders are the actual folders inside a specific client's Documents section. Once a template has been applied (or auto-created for a new client), those folders belong to that client. You can rename, move, add to, or delete them from the Documents section without affecting the template or any other client.
Set up your default template before you add a batch of new clients. Every client you create while a default is active starts with that folder structure already built, which saves you from setting up folders one client at a time.