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 folder/file locking through their respective APIs. Whenever possible, FloQast takes advantage of these locking capabilities to lock the matching folder within cloud storage too. All of our 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 - Please reach out to your Accounting Success Manager or support@floqast.com for more details and to enable file locking through FloQast for Dropbox.
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 corresponding Google MyDrive folder will have its permissions updated. The connected GDrive user will convert the other collaborators on the folder from "can edit" to "can view" on the folder, which waterfalls to the files within the folder. Google Drive upholds certain exceptions, such as allowing the original folder owner and the original file owners to retain edit access.
A newer version of file locking for Google MyDrive now exists, which allows the files to simply be locked without the permissions changing. With this method, users with edit access can unlock the files. Please reach out to your Accounting Success Manager or support@floqast.com for more details and to enable this new method of folder locking.
Google Shared Drive - Please reach out to your Accounting Success Manager or support@floqast.com for more details and to enable file locking through FloQast for Google Shared Drive.
Microsoft OneDrive - Depending on your team's OneDrive configuration, file locking may be possible. Please reach out to your Accounting Success Manager or support@floqast.com for more details.
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.