Email-to-ticket: turning client emails into work

Stop losing client requests in a shared inbox. Set up email-to-ticket in Finye so inbound emails become trackable work items automatically.

Most practices still run client requests through a shared inbox or a partner's personal email. Things get missed, two staff reply to the same email, and there is no record of who did what. Email-to-ticket in Finye fixes this by turning every inbound client email into a work item on a board, so nothing slips and everyone can see the state of play.

This guide walks through setting it up, what happens when an email arrives, and how to keep your boards tidy as volume grows. If you have not set up boards yet, read the work items and boards guide first, then come back here.

How email-to-ticket works

Finye gives you an inbound email address that feeds a board. When a client emails that address, Finye creates a new work item with the subject as the title and the email body as the description. Attachments come across as files on the work item. Replies on the original email thread are added as comments on the same work item, so the whole conversation stays in one place.

From there it behaves like any other work item: you can assign it, set a priority and status, add it to a project, log time against it, and move it across the board as the job progresses.

Step 1: Set up the inbound address

Go to Settings and open the email or inbound section.
Choose the board that incoming emails should land on. A dedicated Client requests or Inbox board works best so new emails do not clutter active project boards.
Finye generates a unique inbound address for that board. Copy it.
Set the default status (for example New or Triage) and a default assignee if you want one person to triage everything first.

Forwarding from your existing inbox

You rarely want clients to email the Finye address directly. Instead, set up a forwarding rule in your mail provider (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace) so that mail sent to an address such as requests@yourfirm.com.au is forwarded to the Finye inbound address. Clients keep using your branded address and never see the Finye one.

Step 2: Match emails to the right client

When an email arrives, Finye looks at the sender address and tries to match it to a contact on one of your clients. If it finds a match, the work item is linked to that client automatically, so you get the full context: their entity type, prior requests, and compliance obligations.

Make sure your client contacts carry the email addresses people actually send from. If a client emails from a personal address you have not recorded, the work item will be created but left unlinked.
For unlinked work items, open the item and set the client manually. Add that email to the contact record so the next one matches automatically.

Step 3: Triage incoming requests

Once emails are landing on your inbox board, build a simple triage routine.

Review new items at set times each day rather than reacting to every notification.
Set a priority so urgent lodgements or ATO deadlines rise to the top.
Assign the item to the right staff member.
Move it from New to In progress so the board reflects reality.

If you have AI credits enabled, AI triage can do the first pass for you by suggesting a priority, assignee, and category on each incoming request. You stay in control and can override any suggestion, but it removes most of the manual sorting on busy mornings.

Step 4: Reply and keep the thread together

You can respond to the client directly from the work item. Your reply goes back on the original email thread, and the client never needs to know there is a system behind it. Because replies attach as comments, any staff member picking up the item later sees the full history without digging through a mailbox.

Use the work item comments for the client-facing conversation.
Use internal notes or checklists for things the client should not see.
If the request is really a recurring job, link it to the relevant project so it is tracked against the right engagement.

Step 5: Turn requests into billable work

Because the request is now a work item, time you spend on it can be logged straight against it and flow into your WIP ledger. When the job is done you can bill from WIP rather than trying to reconstruct what was done from an email trail. This is where email-to-ticket pays for itself: client work that used to disappear into a mailbox becomes visible, assignable, and billable.

Tips for keeping it clean

Use one front-door address. Funnel client requests through a single forwarded address so everything lands in one place.
Keep contact emails current. Accurate contact records are what make automatic client matching work.
Close the loop. Move items to a Done status when resolved so your inbox board reflects only live work.
Watch for spam. Newsletters and automated mail can create noise; keep the inbound address private and rely on forwarding rules.

With email-to-ticket running, your shared inbox stops being a black hole and becomes a managed queue of client work. To take the next step, set up recurring projects so jobs like quarterly BAS generate automatically alongside the ad hoc requests arriving by email.