Account-level assignments bring new accountability and efficiency to your Flux Analysis process! You may assign ownership of the explanation for each specific account on your Reports, much like you assign your Reconciliations to individual preparers on your team. With the help of Flux Assignments, your entire team will know exactly what explanations are expected and required.
Much like a FloQast Reconciliation, you can assign just a Preparer, or a Preparer and a Reviewer, or multiple Preparers/Reviewers to each account on a given Flux report.
You also have the ability to assign preparers and reviewers at a Group and Sub-Group level on a Flux Report. You can use this in combination with Account-Level assignments, or in lieu of Account-Level assignments. Learn more here!
With both Account- and Group-Level assignments, you still have the ability to assign a top-level Flux Reviewer for the entire Report. Read more about this final review here.
What do Flux Assignments look like?
An "Assignee" column will be added to your Flux Report, along with a familiar sign-off toggle.
In the Assignee column, you will see the profile picture and the name of the person(s) responsible for preparing and reviewing that Flux Explanation. Note that only accounts with a material fluctuation amount will display the assignees. If someone has been assigned to an account but no material fluctuation exists for that account, the assignees and the associated sign-off toggle will NOT be present for that period.
The sign-off toggle should be marked "complete" when the assignee wants to signal their explanation is final. This toggle will not automatically sign-off when an explanation is left since you may draft your explanations and then revise/remove them. Once the sign-off has been completed, the explanation for that account cannot be modified or deleted. The sign-off would need to be undone if an explanation required further editing.
What Controls are in place for Flux Assignments?
There are some controls that you may opt into when you utilize Flux Assignments. A full overview of all Flux Controls is available here.
How do I add Assignees to my Flux accounts?
You can assign a specific team member to each account in a couple of different ways:
For assigning one account or a few accounts at a time, we recommend using the Inline Editing option! A gear icon will be available beside each account:
Clicking the gear icon will slide out the assignee settings for this account:
A) You may change the existing assignees (if any) by clicking the down-caret next to their names
B) You may add a new (or additional) Preparer by clicking the Preparer button
C) You may add a new (or additional) Reviewer by clicking the Reviewer Button
When you are adding your assignees, you can also edit the Materiality Threshold for this specific account.
D) By default, the materiality threshold will be inherited from the default $ or % that you have set within the settings of a particular Flux Report.
E) If you would like a specific account to have a custom threshold, you can override that default amount in this menu.
F) You can also choose to never show this specific account as material. Please note that if this option is selected, then your assignees will always be hidden for this particular account. Assignees are only displayed on material fluctuations, and by definition, this account is now always immaterial.
You will have the option of saving this assignee change to "This Period Only" or to "All Periods" that the report exists.
Can I add Assignees in Bulk?
If you would like to assign preparers and reviewers in bulk, then you may use your Flux Grouping Template.
1. Navigate to the Settings for the Flux Report that you'd like to add assignees to.
2. Export your current Grouping Template to Excel.
3. Your template will have columns titled Preparer and Reviewer. Just like the other settings templates in FloQast, you will enter your assignees using their email addresses. If you wish to list multiple preparers or multiple reviewers, the email addresses should be separated by a semicolon and a space (alex@floqast.com; ari@floqast.com)
You do not need to add a preparer or reviewer to every account. You may leave some unassigned if desired. You cannot list a Reviewer without listing at least one Preparer, though.
4. Save your changes on the Excel template and re-upload to FloQast using the Upload button.
5. Click "Back to Report" to return to your main Flux screen. You will be prompted to "Run Report" since you have changed the settings. Your new Flux Assignments will take effect when your report finishes running!
NOTE: If you have multiple reports that share a Grouping Template, your assignments on this single template will be applied to all. You will not need to export/upload the template multiple times for reports that already share a Grouping Template.
How can users find their assignments?
In addition to the notifications highlighted in the next section, users can find their specific accounts using additional filters that have been added.
Assigned To You will filter the Flux Report to show only accounts assigned to the current user.
Incomplete will filter the Flux Report to show all accounts with outstanding sign-offs, or any accounts with open Review Notes.
Combining the two filters above will therefore show an action-list for a given user!
How will notifications work?
There are email notifications available to keep preparers informed of their Flux assignments. The notifications available include:
Account Preparer/Reviewer Notification: Newly material fluctuations need sign-off
There is a material fluctuation that needs an explanation and sign-off on an account that a user is assigned to. This notification will be sent to the assigned preparer when there is a material fluctuation recognized (based on your materiality threshold), which may occur the first time that a Report is refreshed or upon a subsequent refresh.
Account Preparer/Reviewer Notification: Material Fluctuations have changed since sign-off
There was a change to the amount of a fluctuation since it was signed off. This notification is sent to the Preparer (and the person that completed the sign-off if not the assigned Preparer) when both conditions below are true:
- An account with a material fluctuation has already been signed-off, AND
- The amount of a material fluctuation changes at all (whether or not the new fluctuation amount is material or immaterial)
Account Reviewer Notification: Account is ready for review
An account that you are the Reviewer on has been signed-off by the Preparer. This account is ready for you to review the explanation, and if satisfactory, perform your Reviewer sign-off.
Report Reviewer Notification: The entire report is ready for review
This notification is sent to the Report Reviewer only when both conditions below are true:
- All material fluctuations on a report have been signed-off, AND
- All Review Notes have been closed.
NOTE: If there is not a Preparer assigned to an account with a material fluctuation, then the Report Reviewer will receive Preparer notifications on that account’s fluctuation activity.
FAQs:
Q: My report is showing some assignees as blank/unassigned even though I added an assignee to all accounts. Where are the preparers/reviewers for these accounts?
A: Assignments will only be visible when the fluctuation amount is material for that account (based on your materiality threshold). Accounts with an immaterial fluctuation will have the assignee "hidden" so that your team spends their valuable time only on the accounts that truly need explanations and sign-offs. An explanation may certainly still be left on an immaterial fluctuation if there is something noteworthy that you'd like to document.
Q: I changed the assignments using the Grouping Template, but only some of them applied. Why do some accounts still show the old preparer/reviewer?
A: The assigned preparer will NOT be updated if an account has already been signed-off. This account is considered complete, and the assignee will be locked in place. Future reports (where the account is still incomplete) will reflect the new assignee.
Q: I tried to upload my Grouping Template to add Assignees, but I got an error that indicated certain accounts do not exist. How do I correct this error?
A: This error indicates that one or more accounts on your Grouping Template no longer exist on your Chart of Accounts. When your template is uploaded, all accounts listed are validated against your COA to ensure accuracy. If an account is not being recognized, please verify that this account has not been modified/removed from your COA in Netsuite or Intacct, or that this account is not missing from your Chart of Accounts file supplied here in your Cloud Storage folders: FloQast > FQ - Entity Name > Chart of Accounts. If you find this account missing from your COA, you may re-add it and try your upload again. If you decide that this account is no longer required on your Flux Report, you may simply delete the row from your Grouping Template and upload it again.