---
title: "Starting Data Collection Processes"
description: "Data collection is the process of gathering financial and statistical information from multiple reporting entities within an organization. In Data Collection, an Administrator starts data collection processes to gather financial and statistical information from reporting entities."
source_url: https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/data-collection/collecting-data-dc/collecting-data
language: en
last_updated: 2026-05-28
---
# Starting Data Collection Processes

## Overview

Data collection is the process of gathering financial and statistical information from multiple reporting entities within an organization. In **Data Collection**, an Administrator starts data collection processes to gather financial and statistical information from reporting entities. The process is based on pre-configured reporting packages, and once started, the system creates individual forms for each reporting entity and form template combination.

## Starting a Data Collection Process

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You can start a data collection process in two ways:

- From **Data Collection | Data collection** using **\+ Start data collection**(described below)
- Directly from **Data Collection | Reporting packages** by clicking the three-dot context menu at the end of the respective [reporting package](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/data-collection/basic-configuration-dc/create-configure-reporting-packages.md) row and selecting **Start data collection**
{% /info-box %}

To start a data collection process from the **Data Collection** workspace:

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Navigate to **Data Collection** | **Data collection**.
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Click **\+ Start data collection** in the top right. The **Start Data Collection Process** dialog is displayed:

'Start Data Collection Process' dialog
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Enter a unique **Name** for the data collection process.
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Click **Start** to start configuring the data collection process (see the following section).
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## Configuring Data Collection Process

The following options are available for configuring the data collection process:

### Reporting package

The following options can be configured in this step:

'Reporting package' step

| Option | Description |
|---------|---------|
| Reporting package | List of available reporting packages showing package name, description, number of forms, and frequency |

### Period and instructions

The following options can be configured in this step:

'Period and instructions' step

| Option | Description |
|---------|---------|
| Reporting period | Specific time interval (month, quarter, semester, or year) for this data collection process. Available periods depend on the frequency defined in the reporting package. |
| Add instructions | Optional instructions or completion notes visible to all participating reporting entities. These instructions are also included in the e-mail and in-app notifications sent when the data collection process is started. |

### Set deadlines

In this step, you configure deadlines for each form template in your reporting package. The following options are available in this step:

'Set deadlines' step

| Option | Description |
|---------|---------|
| Form template | Name of each form template included in the reporting package |
| Deadline | Due date for each form template. Use the date picker or type a date manually. |

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Deadlines must be set to today or a future date. Past dates are not allowed and will display a validation error.
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### Starting the Data Collection Process

After completing all steps, click **Start data collection process** in the top right. A confirmation dialog is displayed:

'Start Data Collection' confirmation dialog

- Click **Confirm** to start the data collection process.
- Click **Cancel** to return to the configuration and make changes.

**After the process starts:**

- A success notification appears: **Data Collection started successfully. Redirecting to Data Collection list.**
- The system automatically navigates to the **Data Collection** list.
- The data collection process is created with status **New** at the top of the list and is briefly highlighted.
- Individual forms are created for each reporting entity and form template combination with status **New**.
- Notifications are sent to assigned users with links to their forms.

{% info-box %}
If an error occurs during process creation, an error notification is displayed. You can click **Start data collection process** to retry, **Back** to return to the previous configuration step, or **Cancel** to close the wizard. All your entered data is preserved.
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Once the process is started, Collectors can begin working on their forms. For detailed information on entering data, running validation, and approving forms, see [Entering, Validating, and Approving Data](https://support.lucanet.cloud/en/documentation/data-collection/collecting-data-dc/entering-validating-approving-data.md).