In Step 1, you will be asked to choose whether your data source is a commercial desktop product, a web-based product, or an export file (see image below).

Choose the answer that best represents your type of data source. For example, if you use ACT!, Goldmine, Outlook or any other program you installed on your PC then choose the first radio button. If you use Albridge Web Services or Redtail, choose the second radio button. Or, if you exported your data to Excel or CSV, choose the third radio button.

Connect to Commercial Software Already Installed on My Computer

In Step 2, select the name of your database product from the drop-down list.

After selecting a database type, you will then be presented with different options based on the type of database you selected.h2.Standard Databases
In Step 3, you will find the location of the database file. To start, click the Browse button (see the image below). Quik! will attempt to find the database location but if it can't, you may have to navigate to it. If you need help with this step, don't hesitate to contact our support team.

NOTE: If you use a shared network drive, your database may be located there and not on your PC's hard drive
After you locate your database, click the Save button. You can choose to review the field mapping and modify the default mapping.

Databases With Usernames (ACT!, dbCAMS, etc)

Some databases include usernames and passwords that must be used with Quik!. ACT! is a good example of such a database where you can have a username and/or password, or none at all. If you are prompted to enter a username and password when you launch your database normally, then you will need to enter that same username and password in Quik!. Your database credentials are securely kept on your computer and encrypted so users cannot find your password at any time.
NOTE: If you have multiple users of your database, you may want to set up a different database connector for each user in order to control the access associated with each username and password.

Enter the username and password exactly as you do in your CRM program. This includes spaces, punctuation, capital letters, etc. If your CRM asks for a username and you leave the password field blank then leave it blank here too.
NOTE: If your CRM does NOT ask you for a username and password, then leave these fields blank

SQL Server Databases (Qube, Junxure, etc)

Some databases are designed using Microsoft SQL Server. While this design is transparent to you, it isn't to Quik! and it needs to be handled differently from other databases. Typically Quik! needs to know a username and password for the database, not your user account.
In addition, Quik! needs to know a Server name and Database name for the product's database.

The Server Name is typically the name of the computer running the database portion of the software (SQL Server). A computer's name is shown on the System screen of Windows. There are many ways to get to this screen.
One way is to open the Windows Control Panel and select "System."
This is the Windows 7 System screen:

This is the Windows XP System screen. Here you need to click on the "Computer Name" tab.

Advisors Assistant (Version 6.0 and later)

For the more recent versions of Advisors Assistant, the data source is not connected to Quik!. Instead, the data is sent to Quik! from the Advisors Assistant user interface.

To begin, launch the Advisors Assistant software. From the sidebar, select the client you want to work with (see the red box near the bottom of the image to the left).

Next, click the Forms icon (see the arrow).
Quik! Transaction Manager will launch and you will be prompted to select a form. After you do this, click "Next" to choose client roles.
Your client data source will be shown as "Quik! Launch Data".

Microsoft Outlook

Connecting to Microsoft Outlook is perhaps the simplest because you don't have to browse for your database location. The drawback is Outlook will prompt you to allow the connection to operate whenever you need to retrieve data. And, Outlook as a client data source is not very complete or flexible.
When connecting to Outlook, you may be prompted to choose the Outlook account (see image below). Check the box to "Allow access for," choose "10 minutes", then click "Yes".

NOTE: When connecting to Outlook not all the fields, especially custom fields, will be available in Quik!. Also the connection may cause Quik! to be very slow to respond until Outlook finishes loading.

Connect to a Commercial Web-Based System

If you use Albridge Web Services or Redtail CRM, you can connect either the online or desktop versions to those systems directly via a web connection.

Albridge Web Services

When using Albridge, you will be asked for a Partner User ID. The Partner User ID is an ID assigned to you by your broker/dealer for use specifically with Quik! and Albridge. Enter that Partner User ID in the box provided (see red box in the image below) and click "Save".

Redtail

When setting up Redtail, you will be asked for your Redtail Username and Password. Enter them into the boxes provided (see red box in the image below) and click "Save".

When you are ready to choose a client, select Redtail as your client data source in the drop-down list of the Clients screen. Your Redtail client list will automatically load.

If you just need the information for one client and do not want to load your entire data list, you can start from the Redtail software and send that client's information to Quik! Transaction Manager.
In Redtail, open that client's Contact Overview screen.

Click the "Integrations" link at the bottom of the screen, scroll down to the Quik Forms section, then click the "Send To" link. If prompted by your web browser, click "Open".

In Quik! Transaction Manager, you will be prompted to select a form. After you do this, click "Next" to choose client roles.
Your client data source will be shown as "Quik! Launch Data".
NOTE: The client list will only include the client you sent from Redtail If this client is designated as a "Family Head" in Redtail, other contacts related to the client will also appear in the client list. See Redtail's information titled, "Quik! Forms Setup".

Non-Supported Databases

If your client data source is not supported, Quik! can still use your client data if you can export the data to an Excel or text file (comma-separated-value, CSV) format. To export your data, please see the help file from the data source provider. If you cannot figure out how to get data out of your system, contact our support team and see if they can help.

Export File Requirements

The columns are used by Quik! to identify the client record you choose and to display a list of your clients. Each client record you wish to use on forms should be exported as a separate and unique record (e.g. A spouse record, which is part of a main client's record, should be exported as its own record in your export file.).
When you export your data to Excel or CSV format, there are some requirements:

1. The first row of data must be the names of columns (e.g. "First Name", "Client ID", etc)
2. One column of data must contain a unique identifier for the records (e.g. "123" or "ABC123")
3. One column of data should contain the client first name
4. One column of data should contain the client last name

To see an example of a data spreadsheet, see the section below titled, "Automatically Mapping Export Files".

Field Mapping For Export Files

Most export files will have a unique naming convention for the column names. For example, first name can be called "FirstName", "FName", "F_Name", "First_Name", "First", or any number of possibilities. Since Quik! cannot predict what the column name will be, you will need to manually map the fields (column names) from your export file to the Quik! specification. This process is covered in the Field Mapping section but note that you only have to do the mapping once. To automate the mapping process, see the section below.

Automatically Mapping Export Files

If you can control the names of the fields coming out of your system and into your export file, you can possibly save yourself the effort of mapping the fields within Quik!. If you name your column names using the Quik! System Name convention, Quik! Transaction Manager will know exactly how to map the fields and will do it for you. Although this may be a bit more effort for you to do, it will save you time in the long-run, especially if you intend to use the same export file on multiple computers.
An Excel spreadsheet template is provided for this purpose. It is called, "Data Entry Template" and is located in the Quik! Transaction Manager program folder:
C:\Users\YOUR USER\AppData\Roaming\QuikTransactionManager
It is accessible from the start menu as shown below.

Connect to Excel or CSV

Quik! Transaction Manager can use an export file in the format of Excel or CSV as your client data source.
To connect to an Excel or CSV file, choose the third radio button then select the type of file from the drop-down list in Step 2. Browse for your file location (Step 3) and select the file.

After the initial setup, you'll need to refresh the export file each time you change the data. This will enable Quik! to use the latest version of the data file. To do this, click on the desired data source link on the Advisor Data Source Connections screen (see the arrows on the left). A notification will pop up briefly to confirm the refresh (see the arrow on the right).

Using Excel As a Client Data Source

If you chose Excel as your client data source, a pop up message will appear and ask you to tell Quik! a little more information about your Excel file. As you may be aware, Excel is a free-form system which allows you to put your data in any field and on any worksheet.

In order for Quik! to know where to get your data you need to tell it one of the following:

• Worksheet – the tab where your data resides
• Cell Range – a specific range of cells to read the data from
• Named Range – a range that is named within Excel that represents the data

Most users will find the Worksheet selection the easiest and most practical approach. However, because the structure of a given worksheet in Excel can be changed (e.g. columns moved around), there are a few things to know about working with Excel as a client data source.

Rules For Using Excel As a Client Data Source:

Please follow these rules when designing your Excel spreadsheet for use with Quik!.

1. Excel data regions need to be contiguous. Empty columns or empty rows in your table will cause problems that can mean data is excluded or not read at all.
2. You can have empty cells or fields, but an entire row should not be left empty unless it is the last row.
3. Each column should be uniquely named according to the data the column represents (e.g. "First Name" to represent client first name values).
4. Your table should have a column that contains a unique client identifier and each row should have a unique value in it. The value can be numeric or alpha-numeric.
5. Your table should have a column for First Name and another column for Last Name so Quik! can display a client list. If your table does not have both of these columns because the name is contained in a single column then add a second column with no values in it so Quik! can point to the column and then ignore it.

Specify The Last Name, First Name and Client ID Columns

After you find your export file, Step 4 asks you to select the column in your data source that represents the client's last name, first name and unique identifier. Simply choose the appropriate column name in each of the three drop-down lists. Doing this enables Quik! to know how to display a list of clients for you to choose from during the generate forms process.

Save Your Changes

After clicking "Save" you will be asked if you want to change your default field mapping:

Click "Yes" to bring up the Field Mapping Screen or "No" to finish the setup of your connection. For more details about field mapping, see the section called "Field Mapping".