Once the workpaper has been connected to your client's file, the trial balance will populate in the Index sheet. The Index sheet acts as a summary for the entire workbook to allow for easy navigation and reviewing.
This article will look at each of the columns and their functions:
- Accounts, balances and movement
- Links, notes and workpaper title
- Flag
- Chat
- Items
- Checklist
- Reconcile to
- Status
- Rollover
- Delete
Account name, balances and movement
After connecting your workpapers to your client's file, the Trial Balance will populate in the Index. Depending on whether you selected a comparative and variance, will determine the columns that appear in this area.
Note: If you are using Connected Workpapers in conjunction with our Reportance Cirrus product and want your Trial Balance accounts to match those that you have set up in your chart of accounts in Reportance, make sure to use Reportance as the source when first connecting your file. For more information on connecting your file to Reportance see the knowledge article: Connecting Client Files to Connected Workpapers.
General ledger detail
You are able to see the transactions in the general ledger by right-clicking on the relevant account balance and selecting View General Ledger.
A popup window will appear with the general ledger transactions as shown below:
You can refresh this list and copy it to Excel by using the buttons on the top right corner. The copy to Excel function is useful for pasting the data into other worksheets as required.
Links, notes and workpaper title
Links
The Links column is used to add worksheets, hyperlinks and comments. For more information on what options are available to be added and what they do see the knowledge article: Connected Workpapers - Adding Worksheets.
If you have linked a worksheet, the blue arrow can then be used to navigate straight to that worksheet. The name of the worksheet will also be displayed in the Notes/Workpaper Title column.
Notes
The Notes section is used to add simple notes on the Index sheet. They are not referenced by any other
workpaper and will not rollover to subsequent year's workpapers.
Flag
The Flag feature can be used to highlight a worksheet with a red flag. It has two modes, either on or off. To make the flag red, simply click once on the grey flag in the row of the corresponding worksheet. Click again and the flag will return to grey.
Chat
The chat feature is generally used for quick notes for other workpaper users. It can be accessed by clicking the cell in the Chat column. Once clicked, a pane will appear on the side of the window. This feature also contains an audit trail, which keeps track of who has created a workpaper and updated the status.
The colour of the chat cell will depend on the status of the comment:
- Red: The comment is unread
- Blue: The comment is read
Items
The Items feature indicates how many items are in the query management system and whether they are resolved or unresolved:
- Red: Number of unresolved workpaper items
- Blue: All workpaper items are resolved
For detailed information on how to create and use workpaper items see the knowledge article: Connected Workpapers - Workpaper Items.
Checklist
Many of the Business Fitness worksheet templates contain checklist items to assist you in completing an accounting and tax job. Clicking on the checklist item box will take you to that worksheet where you can update the checklist by toggling through 'Yes', 'No' or 'Not Applicable' by clicking on the cell to the right of the relevant checklist item.
The checklist feature on the Index sheet indicates how many checklist items are incomplete within individual worksheets:
- Yellow: Number of checklist items not complete
- Green tick: All checklist items have been completed
Reconcile to
The Reconcile To column allows you to quickly see whether the relevant balances on the linked worksheet agree with the Trial Balance. This function can also be used when inserting hyperlinks and comments. In the example below, rather than inserting the 'F10 Bank' worksheet, a hyperlink to the bank statement has been added and the balance on the bank statement has been entered directly in the Reconcile To cell.
If reconciliation fields have been created, either manually for those you have created yourself, or from those that already exist in the worksheet templates, a dropdown list will be available of all the cells on the worksheet that can be reconciled to. If the amount in the associated worksheet agrees with the Trial Balance amount on the Index, the arrow in the Links column will turn green. If it is unreconciled it will be red.
For more information on how reconciliations work and how to create them see the knowledge article: Connected Workpapers - Referencing and Reconciliation.
Status
The status shown on the Index is the status of the individual worksheet. This can be either updated on the individual worksheet itself or on the Index sheet. In the Index, click on the Status column dropdown and select the relevant state of progress of the worksheet. The Updated By and Change Date columns will be automatically filled based on who is logged into the workpaper. The audit trail of the status changes can be found using the 'Chat' feature listed above.
In the worksheet, simply use the same dropdown options next to the Index cell.
Rollover
The rollover function allows you to roll in data from a previous year, as well as gives you the option to mark specific worksheets available to be rolled over into subsequent years.
Data rollover
The Data R/O column shows whether data has been imported from a prior year's worksheet. This is indicated by a tick in the column. You are able to import data when you first connect your file, or by clicking on the Import Opening Balances button. This will allow you to choose an open Excel file or to browse for a file. Once selected, you can then choose which worksheets you would like to import into the current workbook. For more information on bringing in opening balances when connecting your file see the knowledge article: Connecting Client Files to Connected Workpapers.
Rollover
The R/O column lets you choose whether you want the worksheet to be available for import in subsequent year's workbooks.
Delete
The Del column allows you to delete a worksheet. However, if you have multiple accounts linked to the same worksheet (e.g. multiple bank accounts reconciled to the one 'F10 Bank' worksheet), it will only delete the link. You are able to finally delete the worksheet once you only have one link remaining.
Warning: You are not able to retrieve a worksheet or it's calculations once it has been deleted.
Next article: Connected Workpapers - Adding Worksheets