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How do I create a Questionnaire?

Updated over 2 weeks ago

Our Questionnaire builder lets you easily create custom forms to gather client information — saving you time and sparing you the headache of chasing down details, fixing errors, or doing endless follow-ups. Whether it's for intake forms or organizers, our customizable form builder helps you keep everything on track, making the whole process of gathering client info simple and efficient!

Heads Up! This feature is currently in beta, which means you may notice some changes over time. As you explore the Questionnaire beta, we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions to help us make it even better! To leave a suggestion or feedback, click here!

Table of Contents

  1. Create a Custom Questionnaire

  2. Send a Questionnaire

  3. Review and Submit

  4. Using Questionnaire Templates

Create a Custom Questionnaire

The following steps will guide you through building your customized form. To start using Questionnaires, you'll first need to navigate to the Template section in Canopy.

Don't see this feature? Learn how to toggle on the Questionnaires beta here!

1. Click the Templates icon, and select Questionnaire from the menu.

2. Click Create Template.

On the Questionnaire Templates page, click Create Template to get started.

More Pre-Built Templates Coming Soon! We're adding more pre-built Questionnaire templates, available in the Presets tab. Currently, you’ll find the 2024 1040 tax organizer template. Stay tuned for more! In the meantime, let’s walk through creating a custom Questionnaire template from scratch.

3. Set Up Welcome Screen.

Providing context helps clients know what to expect when filling out your form. The first step in setting up your custom form is personalizing the Welcome Screen, which is the first thing your clients will see when opening the form. Be sure to include any essential information you clients need to get started.
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The Welcome Screen section includes:

  1. Questionnaire Title

  2. Welcome Message

    1. Formatting Options - You can add headers, bullet points, hyperlinks...etc.

    2. Description - Add context here to help your client understand whats needed.

  3. Add Page - You can add as many pages to your form as you'd like!

  4. Hide Pages Button - Collapse the pages section to only see the form section.

  5. Preview Form - Take a look at what your form will look like to your client.

  6. Save to - Save to the Team tab, Private tab, or Drafts tab.

  7. Review & Submit - Requires to review and confirm all responses prior to submission. Learn more at Step 9.

4. Add Pages and Sections to your Custom Form.

Just like a physical form has pages, our Custom Questionnaire builder allows you to add Pages to your form by clicking Add Page. Each page can be broken down into sections, making it easy to group together questions and fillable fields by topic. Each page comes with one section by default. You can add more sections to each page by simply clicking Add Section.

To add a Page:

  • Click Add Page.

  • Click the stacked dot icon next to Page 1 and select Edit to name the Page.

  • Click the stacked dot icon next to Section 1.1 and select Edit to name the Section.

To add a Section:

  • Click Add Section to add more to the Page.

  • Click the stacked dot icon next to the new Section and select Edit to rename.

To Duplicate or Delete a Page or Section:

  • Click the stacked dot icon next to the page or section and select Duplicate or Delete from the dropdown menu.

5. Add Groups to Sections.

Now that we've added a section to our page, we can add a Group in our section. Each group contains questions and fillable fields. For example, the group Full Name includes fields for First Name, Middle Initial, and Last Name. You can customize the fields in the group by renaming them to better suit your needs.

You have the option to either use our pre-built groups to quickly add questions and fields to your Questionnaire, or create custom groups designed specifically for your requirements.

Add a Group to a Section of the Questionnaire:

  • Each Page comes with a Section, and each Section contains a blank Group.

  • To add another Group in a Section, click Add Group.

  • On the right side, you'll see the following options:

    • Build your own - New Group (add another blank group)

    • Personal Information - Full Name, Taxpayer Details, Spouse Details, Dependent Details, Address, Additional Residences

    • Financial Information - Income, Expenses, Deductions

    • Sole Proprietorship - Business Information, Income, Goods Sold, Expenses, Vehicle Details, Assets Listing, Use of Home

Customize Pre-Built Groups:

Let's make things easy and add a pre-built Group. We will learn how to build Custom Groups later. From the menu on the right side, select a Group to add to your form.

  • In this example, we've selected the group 'Full Name'.

Now that we've selected our Group, you'll notice the following areas:

  1. Group Name - In our first section, our Group Name is called 'Full Name' since we selected that option from the menu. You can rename this group by deleting the text and typing into the field.

  2. Field Name or Question - This section is the Field Name or Question, which tells the client what information to enter in the text box below. You can rename this field as needed.

  3. Placeholder Text - You can add placeholder text in a field to preview what the text will look like, and to demonstrate to the client what they need to type into the field.

  4. Move Icon - The stacked dots on the left side of the field allow you to reorder fields within the group. Click and hold the dots to drag the field up or down to a new position.

  5. Add Group - Allows you to add another Group of questions or fields to this section. You can also move groups to change the order now that you have more than one.

  6. Edit Group – Allows you to Copy, Delete, Expand, or Collapse groups. Since groups can contain multiple questions or fields, expanding and collapsing them helps you focus on customizing one group at a time.

  7. Group Preview - Displays a preview of how the group will appear on the form. The expanded group will be the one shown in the preview.
    ​
    You can also see within the pre-built groups, some fields are marked as Required. Click the Settings Icon next to the field or question to toggle Required on or off.

    Questions and Fields can be easily Duplicated or Deleted within groups.

6. Add a Question Type or Field Type to a Group.

The Add Question option enables you to add a new question or field to the group. When you do, you'll have a range of question or field types to choose from.

Exploring Question and Field Types

  • Click Add Question.

  • On the left side, you'll see the following Question Types:

    • Text Response - Long Text, Short Text, Number, Date.

    • Multiple Choice - Single Select, Yes/No, Multi Select, Dropdown.

    • Contact Info - Name, Email, Phone, URL, SSN, EIN, Address, State, Country.

    • Miscellaneous - Headline, Body Text, File Upload.

    • Tax & Accounting - Filing Status, Taxpayer Status, Live Events, Financial Events, Income Sources, Expenses.

Build a Custom Group

To demonstrate the full potential of custom questions and fields, lets build a custom group together.

  1. Click Add Group.

  2. Select New Group from the right-hand menu.

  3. Name your Custom Group by typing into the field.

  4. Click Add Question.

  5. Add any Questions or Fields you'd like.

7. Add A File Upload

Document uploads are essential for collecting client information. You can now include file upload fields as a question type.

To Add a File Upload Question:

  1. Click Add Question in a pre-created or custom group.

  2. Select File Upload from the right-hand menu.

  3. In the question field, enter instructions, a question, file type, or any details to guide the client on what to upload.

  4. (Optional) Click the Settings icon to make the upload Required or add a longer Description for additional instructions.

8. Customize Group, Question, and Field Settings.

Now that we've learned how to add and edit groups, let's take a look at Customizing Group Settings.

First, click on the Settings Icon next to the group you'd like to customize. You'll notice the customization options on the right-hand side.

  1. Settings Icon - Click here to open up your customization options.

  2. Change Group – Click this option to change your question group.

  3. Repeating - Allows the client to make an additional entry.

  4. Set Condition -Set a condition based on a client's response, applicable only to multiple-choice questions. For instance, if a client selects "Married Filing Jointly" under Filing Status, you may want to show the Spouse Details section.


    To do this, first add your question groups—such as Taxpayer Details and Spouse Details—in the example below.


    Next, click the gear icon on the question group you want to display based on a specific answer. For example, in Taxpayer Details, under the Filing Status dropdown, you can set the Spouse Details section to appear when the client selects "Married Filing Jointly."

9. Preview and Save.

Before you send your Questionnaire to a client, make sure you Preview your form to make sure everything looks good. Then, click Save to and select on of the following options:

  • Team – The template will be available for your entire team to use.

  • Private – Only you can access and edit the template.

  • Drafts – Save a draft of your template to edit or revisit later.

Review & Submit

When the Require Review & Submit setting is enabled, you can preview the review and confirmation section before finalizing answers.

  1. Select Preview.

  2. Click the Review & Submit tab.

  3. Tap the arrow next to each section to expand or collapse it.

  4. Review the answers in each section.

    • Click Edit Responses to make changes. You’ll be taken directly to the relevant section of the questionnaire.

    • Click Confirm Responses to finalize answers. A green checkmark will display next to the section after confirmation.

Ready to send your Questionnaire?

Click here to learn how!

Build a Questionnaire using a Template

  1. Go to Templates > Questionnaire.

  2. Choose one of the following:

Option 1: Create Your Own Template

  1. Click Create Template.

  2. Follow the steps in Create a Custom Questionnaire.

  3. (Optional) Add a template Type and Description if needed.

  4. When finished, click Save To and select Team, Private, or Drafts.

  5. (Optional) In the Team, Private, or Drafts tab, click the 3 dot icon to open the options menu. You can:

    • Preview

    • Edit

    • Duplicate

    • Delete

Option 2: Use a Preset Template

  1. Click Preview to review the preset.

  2. Click Make a Copy.

  3. Open the Team tab, click the stacked-dot icon, and select Edit.

  4. Make any edits you need.

  5. (Optional) Add a template Type and Description.

  6. Click Save To and choose Team, Private, or Drafts.

  7. (Optional) In the Preset tab, click the 3 dot icon to open the options menu. You can:

    • Preview

    • Duplicate

Next Steps

Once you’ve created a Questionnaire template, you can:

  • Use it when creating a questionnaire for a client.

  • Send it in bulk to multiple clients.

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