Benefits of Locking Folders:
When all work is completed in a folder in FloQast, you will have the opportunity to lock the folder from the Folders tab. Besides the feeling of accomplishment that your folder is completed and locked, there are also some internal-control benefits to locking your folders!
Locking a folder will set all checklist items and reconciliations to a "read-only" state, ensuring all sign-off timestamps remain intact. No sign-offs can be removed unless the folder is first unlocked, helping you lock in your evidence of completion/review for upcoming audits.
Locking a folder also ensures that no new items are added to the folder via inline editing or the settings template. Your current list of checklist procedures and reconciliations are the ones locked in place.
Note: The Refresh button is still available in a locked folder, and your balances can still be refreshed to show the latest and most accurate numbers. FloQast strives to be a source of truth for your reconciliation balances, so the per-GL and per-Excel columns will reflect legitimate changes your team makes to either the GL system or supporting documentation. If a Reconciliation does fall out of balance, the folder will need to be unlocked before it can be edited and signed off again.
Note: Locking folders is restricted to users with the Admin or Manager role in FloQast.
In order to lock a folder, all checklist items and reconciliations in that folder must be completely signed off. Note if you have the Strict Folder Locking feature enabled (see screenshot below), then additional conditions must be satisfied before a folder can be locked. Specifically, the reconciliations in the folder must be tied out and review notes must be in a closed state.
Cloud Storage:
Cloud Storage Providers allow file locking through their respective APIs. When the Lock Files in Cloud Storage Provider setting (managed in Admin Settings > Entities) is enabled, FloQast takes advantage of these locking capabilities to lock the matching files within cloud storage as well. If this setting is disabled, then only items within the FloQast application will be locked (e.g., sign-offs, the ability to add/remove attachments, etc).
Note that locking is limited to files that appear in the Documents section on the Folders tab and any files linked directly to Checklist items. Files saved directly in folders on the CSP side (including those added ot the Linked Documents subfolder) will not be locked.
All of FloQast's cloud storage integrations allow locking to varying degrees:
Box - The files within the corresponding Box folder will be locked indefinitely by the connected Box user. Users with edit access will be able to unlock the files.
Dropbox - The files within the corresponding Dropbox Shared folder or Teams Space folder will be locked indefinitely by the connected Dropbox user. The connected Dropbox user or an Admin user will be able to unlock the files.
Egnyte - The files within the corresponding Egnyte folder will be locked by the connected Egnyte user. Egnyte does not allow a file to remain locked longer than one week, so all files will be unlocked by Egnyte after 7 days. The folder will remain locked in FloQast.
Google MyDrive - The files within the corresponding Google Drive folder will be locked indefinitely by the connected Google Drive user. Users with edit access will be able to unlock the files.
Google Shared Drive - The files within the corresponding Shared Drive folder will be locked indefinitely by the connected Google Drive user. Users with edit access will be able to unlock the files.
Microsoft OneDrive - The files within the corresponding OneDrive folder will be locked, or "checked out", indefinitely by the connected OneDrive user. The owner and admin users will be able to unlock.
Microsoft SharePoint - The files within the corresponding SharePoint folder will be locked, or "checked out", indefinitely by the connected SharePoint user. The owner and admin users will be able to unlock.
Locking Folders in Bulk:
If you prefer to lock all folders for a given month simultaneously, you can do so on the Single Workflow Dashboard, as shown in the screenshots below. Work in all folders must be completed to lock from the Dashboard. You can lock all folders in an entity by visiting the Timeline tab and viewing the timeline by Entity. You can also visit the Entities tab.
#1: Expand the data pane on the timeline tab to lock all folders in an entity at once.
#2: The open lock icon will appear when all folders are completed in an entity. At this point, the entity is ready to be locked.
#3: The lock icon will be filled in once all folders are locked.
#4: The lock icon will appear filled in on the entities tab when all folders in an entity are locked
#5: The empty lock icon will appear next to an entity when all folders are ready to be locked. Simply click on this icon to lock all folders in an entity at once.