Creating and Configuring Form Templates

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Data Collection

All Steps at a Glance

User interface of Data Collection

User Roles in Data Collection

Basic Configuration

Creating and Configuring Form Templates

Configuring Tables in Form Templates

Creating and Configuring Validation Rules

Importing Reporting Entities from Consolidation & Financial Planning

Creating and Configuring Reporting Packages

Viewing the Change Log

Collecting Data

Glossary

Form templates are the foundation of data collection in Lucanet Data Collection. A form template defines the structure and layout of the data you want to collect from reporting entities. You can configure your form templates by adding elements that are based on Consolidation & Financial Planning (CFP) structures, or by creating them from scratch.

To create a form template in Data Collection:

Navigate to Data Collection | Form templates.

Click Create form template in the top right. The Create Form Template dialog is displayed:

Shows the 'Create Form Template' dialog in Data Collection with the 'Name' field and the 'Cancel' and 'Create' buttons. — 'Create Form Template' dialog

Enter a unique Name for your form template.

Click Create. The form template detail view opens, where you can build your form by adding sections and elements.

After creating a form template in Data Collection, you configure it by adding instructions, adding sections, adding elements to those sections, and setting the configuration options for each element.

The Instructions field in the detail view of a form lets you add optional guidance for collectors. Collectors access the instructions via the Show instructions button in the form header, which opens a dialog displaying the instruction text.

Shows the 'Instruction text' rich text editor in the form template designer in Data Collection, marked as 'Optional', with a formatting toolbar and the placeholder 'Enter text here...'. — 'Instructions' field

The instructions are copied to each form when the data collection process starts. Subsequent edits to the form template do not affect forms that have already been created.

A form template consists of sections that contain elements. Sections help organize your form into logical groups, while elements are the individual data entry fields within each section. To build your form template, first add one or more sections, then add elements to each section.

To add a section to a form template in Data Collection:

In the Form structure panel, click + Add section. The Add Section dialog is displayed:

Shows the 'Add Section' dialog in Data Collection with the 'Name' field, the placeholder 'Enter section name', and the 'Cancel' and 'Save' buttons. — 'Add Section' dialog

Enter a unique Name for the section within the form template.

Click Save to create the section.

Once you have created a section, you can add elements to it.

To add an element to a section in Data Collection:

In the section, click + Add element. The Add Element dialog is displayed:

Shows the 'Add Element' dialog in Data Collection with the element types 'CFP Pivot table', 'Pivot table', 'Dynamic table', 'Numeric input', 'Boolean', 'Financial input', 'Date', 'Selection list', and 'Text input'. — 'Add Element' dialog

Select the type of element you want to add. The selected element is added to the section.

The following elements are available when creating a form template in Data Collection:

Element	Description
CFP Pivot table	A table whose row structure is imported from a Consolidation & Financial Planning workspace, with fixed rows and columns
Pivot table	A custom table with fixed rows and columns
Dynamic table	A table where collectors add, duplicate, and remove rows themselves during data collection, up to a configured maximum. See Entering Data for the collector workflow.
Text input	A text entry field where collectors type free-form text, such as comments or descriptions
Numeric input	A number entry field where collectors enter quantities or counts
Financial input	A monetary amount entry field; the currency is taken from the reporting entity at collection time and is configured in CFP
Date	A date picker where collectors select a date, month, or year
Boolean	A check box that collectors activate or deactivate to indicate a yes/no answer
Selection list	A drop-down list from which collectors select one or more options from a predefined list

For Pivot table, CFP Pivot table, and Dynamic table, you also configure the table structure — columns, rows, and drill down — on the table itself (see Configuring Tables in Form Templates).

For Text input, Numeric input, Financial input, Date, Boolean, and Selection list, see Entering Data for the collector workflow.

To configure an existing element of a form template in Data Collection:

In the form template detail view, click the element you want to configure.

Click the cog-wheel icon on the selected element. The Element configuration panel is displayed on the right:

Shows the 'Element configuration' panel in Data Collection with the 'Element name' field containing 'CFP_PIVOT_TABLE_a0', the 'Label' field, the activated 'This element is mandatory.' check box, and the 'Enable Lucanet.Financial Warehouse structural mapping' toggle under 'Lucanet.Financial Warehouse structural mapping'. — 'Element configuration' panel

Configure the element as needed (see the configuration options below).

Click Apply changes to save the configuration.

The following configuration options are available in the Element configuration panel in Data Collection. Options marked with an asterisk (*) are required for the element type they apply to. The remaining options either apply to specific element types or are optional.

Field	Description	Available for
Element name *	A unique identifier for the element within the form template.	All elements
Label *	The display name shown to collectors. The label must be unique within the template for each language.	All elements
This element is mandatory	When activated, collectors must complete this element before submitting the form.	All elements
Enable Lucanet.Financial Warehouse structural mapping	When enabled, the table can receive data from Lucanet.Financial Warehouse during data collection. See Importing Data from Lucanet.Financial Warehouse for the full configuration and import workflow.	Pivot table, CFP Pivot table
Formula precedence	Determines which formula's result is displayed when a cell falls at the intersection of a formula row and a formula column. Select Column or Row. Appears only when the table has at least one formula row and one formula column.	Pivot table, CFP Pivot table
Maximum number of rows *	The maximum number of rows a collector can add to this table. Positive integer.	Dynamic table
Maximum number of characters *	The maximum number of characters a collector can enter. Must be a positive integer greater than zero.	Text input
Check box text *	The text displayed next to the check box	Boolean
Selection type *	Defines whether collectors can select one value (Single select) or multiple values (Multi select) from the list.	Selection list
Maximum number of decimals *	The maximum number of decimal places for entered values. Must be a non-negative integer.	Numeric input, Financial input
Allow negative values	When activated, collectors can enter negative numbers. Deactivated by default.	Numeric input, Financial input
Date format	The level of date precision collectors select: Full date (day, month, and year), Month and year or Year. Defaults to full date if not configured.	Date

You can duplicate an existing element to reuse its configuration without recreating it from scratch. The duplicate inherits all properties of the original — element type, configuration, mappings, required-field status, and all language labels — and is placed immediately after the original element in the same section.

Element duplication is available only while the form template is in Draft state.

To duplicate an element in Data Collection:

Click the Duplicate icon in the top right corner of the element. The Duplicate Element dialog is displayed:

Shows the 'Duplicate element' dialog in Data Collection with the 'Element name' field containing 'CFP_PIVOT_TABLE_a0(1)', the empty 'Label' field, and the 'Cancel' and 'Duplicate' buttons. — 'Duplicate Element' dialog

Data Collection adds a suffix (for example, (1)) to the Element name. Review the proposed name, and add a Label, if applicable.

You can change the element name and label later in the Element configuration panel.

Click Duplicate. The new element appears immediately after the original.

The form templates list in Data Collection displays all configured templates with the following information:

Shows the 'Form templates' workspace in Data Collection with the columns 'Form template name', 'State', 'Created on', and 'Last modified on', the example form templates 'Balance Sheet' in 'Published' state and 'P&L' in 'Draft' state, and the 'Create new form template' button. — Form templates list

Field	Description
Form template name	The name of the form template.
State	The current state of the form template: Draft or Published.
Created on	The creation date.
Last modified on	The date of the most recent modification.

To display the actions on a form template, such as its creation, publishing, and updates, select View change log in the three-dot menu at the end of the form template row. For more information, see Viewing the Change Log in Data Collection.

How you open a form template for editing depends on its state. In both cases, you use the three-dot menu at the end of the respective form template row.

For a form template in Draft state, select Edit. The form template opens in edit mode and you can make any number of modifications.

For a form template in Published state, select View details, and then click Edit in the top right corner. A published form template must be unpublished before you can edit it, so if the form template is linked to one or more reporting packages, the Unpublish template confirmation dialog is displayed. The dialog lists all affected reporting packages and their current status.

Shows the 'Unpublish template' confirmation dialog in Data Collection with the message '1 reporting package(s) use this template. If you unpublish, those packages will be set to Invalid until they are re-published.', the 'Affected reporting packages · 1' table with the 'Name' and 'Status' columns listing one reporting package in 'Draft' status, the information 'Active and completed processes won't be affected. They'll keep the form that was in place when they started.', and the 'Cancel' and 'Yes, unpublish' buttons. — 'Unpublish template' confirmation dialog

Click Yes, unpublish to proceed. The form template moves to Draft state and can be edited, and the listed reporting packages move to Invalid status. To make the form template and its reporting packages usable again, republish them (see Publishing a Form Template).

Active and completed data collection processes are not affected — each process continues using the form template state that was snapshotted when it started.

When you delete a row, column, or section element that is referenced by one or more validation rules, Data Collection displays a warning dialog before saving. The dialog lists all affected rules by name, type, and status.

Shows the 'Delete Row' warning dialog in Data Collection with the message '2 validation rules depend on this element: Employees', the 'Affected validation rules · 2' table with the 'Name', 'Type', and 'Status' columns listing 'Validation Rule #1' and 'Validation Rule #2' of type 'Intercompany' in 'Published' status, and the 'Cancel' and 'Yes, delete' buttons. — Impact detection warning dialog

Click Yes, delete to save the template change. All listed validation rules are paused automatically. Paused validation rules do not execute in new data collection processes — existing processes continue using the snapshot version of the validation rules captured when each process started.

Edits that do not affect any rule formula references — such as renaming elements, reordering rows, or adding new rows and columns — do not trigger this warning.

A form template must be in Published state before it can be used in validation rules and reporting packages. When first created, a form template is in Draft state.

To publish a form template, click Publish in the top right of the form template editor.

When you republish a form template that you unpublished in order to edit it, the affected reporting packages move from Invalid to Draft state. You must then publish each reporting package manually to restore it to Published state.

In Data Collection, you can translate the labels, options, and instructions of a form template with a translation file. The translation file is an Excel file that contains these items in the languages that you select. The file contains the following items:

The name and the instructions of the form template

The section titles and the element labels

The options of selection elements and the texts of check boxes

The column labels of tables and the texts in text input cells

The names of the validation rules of the form template

Collectors see the labels, options, and instructions of a form in the language that they select in their profile. Items without a translation are displayed in English.

Translation files are available only for form templates in Draft state.

Downloading the translation file

To download the translation file of a form template in Data Collection:

Open the form template in Draft state.

Click More actions in the top right corner and select Download translation file under Manage translations. The Download Translation File dialog is displayed:

Shows the 'Download Translation File' dialog in Lucanet Data Collection with the text 'Download the reference file', the required 'Language' drop-down list, the information 'Do not rename the file. Data Collection uses the filename to identify the template on import.', and the 'Close' and 'Download' buttons. — 'Download Translation File' dialog

In the Language drop-down list, activate the check boxes of the languages that you want to translate, and click Apply. The languages English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, and Chinese are available.

Click Download.

In the translation file, the first row contains one column per selected language, and each further row contains one text of the form template. Enter the translations in the language columns. Data Collection identifies the form template by the file name, so do not rename the file.

Uploading the translation file

To upload the translated file in Data Collection:

Open the form template in Draft state.

Click More actions in the top right corner and select Upload translation file under Manage translations. The Upload Translation File dialog is displayed:

Shows the 'Upload Translation File' dialog in Lucanet Data Collection with the upload area for XLSX files and the information box 'Rules before upload', which lists the rules for the translation file, and the 'Cancel' and 'Validate and upload' buttons. — 'Upload Translation File' dialog

Drag the translation file into the upload area, or click choose a file and select the file.

Click Validate and upload.

Data Collection imports the translations only if the translation file meets the following rules:

The file name is the same as in the download.

You upload the file within 7 days of downloading it.

The file contains the same rows and language columns in the same order as in the download.

Every translation is filled in, and each label is unique.

The form template is still in

Draft

state, and no elements were added or removed since the download.

If the translation file does not meet a rule, Data Collection displays the reason and does not import any translation. If the form template has changed since the download, download a new translation file.

To delete a form template, click the three-dot menu at the end of the row and select Delete. In the confirmation dialog, click Yes, delete.

Form templates that are attached to a reporting package or referenced by validation rules cannot be deleted.

This content was generated using AI and reviewed by Lucanet subject matter experts before publication.

Page IDKB7387073

Last updated on Oct 29, 2026

Overview

Creating Form Templates in Data Collection

Configuring Form Templates in Data Collection

Managing Form Templates in Data Collection

Editing a Form Template

Impact on Validation Rules When Editing a Form Template

Publishing a Form Template

Translating a Form Template

Deleting a Form Template

Creating and Configuring Form Templates in Lucanet Data Collection