Entering, Validating, and Approving Data

Once a data collection process has been started, assigned collectors can view, edit, validate, and submit data through forms. This chapter covers the complete workflow from entering data to final approval.

Users can view and browse the forms within data collection processes they are authorized to access:

Administrators

can view all forms in the system.

Collectors

can view forms for reporting entities they are assigned to (all statuses).

Approvers

can only view forms for reporting entities they are assigned to with status

Submitted

Approved

, or

Cancelled.

To view the forms, navigate to Data Collection | Data collection.

A list of forms is displayed. — Forms list

The following columns are available:

Column	Description
Form	Hierarchical view showing data collection process name, reporting entity name, and form name
Currency	Default currency of the reporting entity, which is also the currency of each of its forms
Status	Current status of the form or data collection process. See Form and process statuses below for the available values.
Validation results	Indicator showing the result of validation rule execution, if validation rules have been executed
IC Validation result	Indicator showing the result of the last intercompany validation rule execution, if intercompany validation rules have been executed
Due date	Deadline for form completion
Last modified on	Date of the most recent modification

Forms can have the following statuses:

Status	Description
New	The form exists, but no collector has started editing yet.
In Progress	A collector has started work on this form. Data entry, import, or validation can continue until the form is submitted.
Submitted	The form was submitted and is awaiting approval.
Approved	An approver approved this form. An administrator can reopen an approved form to allow corrections.

Data collection processes can have the following statuses:

Status	Description
New	The process exists; collection has not yet effectively started.
In Progress	Data collection is in progress for this process as a whole: at least one form still needs work before the process can finish.
Finalized	The process is complete.

To view a form, click on the form name in the data collection list. The form detail view displays all sections and elements defined in the form template, along with any data already collected.

The detail view of a form is displayed with different form parts highlighted in red. — The detail view of a form

Forms consist of the following sections:

Section	Description
Form header	Displays the key details of the form at a glance: data collection process name, form name, form status, reporting entity, default currency, reporting period, due date, and validation status (once validation rules have been run). The header also contains the action buttons described below.
Form structure panel	Left sidebar showing all form sections and their subordinate elements. Click on a section or element to navigate directly to it. Sections can be expanded or collapsed.
Element detail view	Displays all form sections and elements with the data collected so far. Tables with hierarchical rows allow drill down to any level of detail. Failed validations are indicated next to the affected elements. If the form is in status New, Submitted, or Approved, elements are displayed in read-only mode.

The buttons available in the form header depend on your role and the current form status:

Button	Description
Start editing	Available when the form status is New. Click to unlock the form for data entry. The form status changes to In Progress.
Run validation rules	Available when the form is In Progress. Executes the validation rules configured for this form.
More actions	Contains the Import data option. Use this option to import data from Consolidation & Financial Planning, Excel (upload a file), or Lucanet.Financial Warehouse. Only visible when the form template has at least one import method enabled — that is, when it contains at least one Pivot table or CFP Pivot table, or when Lucanet.Financial Warehouse import is enabled for one of those elements. If no import method is available, this button is not displayed.
Submit for approval	Available when the form is In Progress. Submits the form to the assigned approvers. The form status changes to Submitted.
Approve	Available to approvers when the form status is Submitted. Approves the form. The form status changes to Approved.
Send back	Available to approvers when the form status is Submitted. Returns the form to the collector for corrections. The form status changes to In Progress.
Reopen	Available to administrators when the form status is Approved. Reopens the form. The form status changes to In Progress and the assigned collector receives a notification.
Show instructions	Available when the form template includes instructions. Opens a dialog displaying the instructions configured by the administrator.

When a form is open, you can navigate directly to another form for the same reporting entity without returning to the data collection list. Click the form template name in the navigation path at the top of the screen to open a drop-down list that displays all other form templates you are authorized to access for the current reporting entity within the current data collection process. The drop-down list displays each form's name and current status.

The form template name in the navigation path is clicked and a drop-down list is displayed, showing all accessible form templates with their names and statuses. — Form navigation drop-down list

Only the form template name in the navigation path is clickable. The data collection process name does not link to a separate view.

If the form template includes instructions, a Show instructions button is displayed at the top right of the form. Click Show instructions to open a dialog displaying the instruction text. The instructions are read-only and preserve the formatting configured by the administrator.

If no instructions are configured on the form template, the Show instructions button is not displayed.

When a form is first created, it has the status New and is displayed in read-only mode.

To start editing a form:

Open the form by clicking on its name in the forms list.

Click Start editing in the top right. The form status changes to In Progress and the form becomes editable.

Only collectors assigned to a reporting entity in a reporting package can edit that reporting entity's forms. Administrators can edit any form regardless of reporting entity assignments.

Once a form is in In Progress status, collectors can enter data manually or import it from an external source. To import data, click More actions | Import data and choose from Excel, Consolidation & Financial Planning, or Lucanet.Financial Warehouse. See Importing Data for details.

The following table describes how to enter data for each element type:

Element	How to enter data
Pivot table, CFP Pivot table	• Click a cell to enter or edit a value. Data is saved automatically as you type. • For tables with hierarchical rows, only the lowest-level rows are editable; superordinate rows aggregate values automatically. • Cells in formula rows or columns, marked with the ∫ icon, are calculated automatically and cannot be edited. Point at a formula cell to display its expression. • If a row drill down is configured, add the elements of the drill down dimensions as subordinate rows with the Add buttons beneath the row. If a column drill down is configured, click the drill down icon in the cell to enter values in the drill down dialog. See Entering Data in Drill Down Cells for details.
Dynamic table	• Click + Add row to add a new empty row at the bottom of the table. • Right-click an existing row and select Duplicate to add a copy, or Delete to remove it. • Click each cell to enter a value. Data is saved automatically when you move out of the cell. • Cells support Text, Numeric, and Currency values depending on the column configuration. • Any Total column is recalculated automatically. • If a maximum number of rows is configured, + Add row and Duplicate are disabled once the limit is reached.
Text input	Click the field and type your text. A character counter is displayed on the field; once the configured limit is reached, further input is prevented.
Numeric input	Click the field and enter a number. The number of decimal places and whether negative values are allowed depend on the form template configuration. Thousand separators and decimal symbols follow your Formatting preferences.
Financial input	Click the field and enter a monetary amount. The currency displayed is the default currency configured in Consolidation & Financial Planning for the reporting entity. The number of decimal places and whether negative values are allowed depend on the form template configuration. Amount formatting follows your Formatting preferences.
Date	Click the date picker and select the appropriate value. Depending on the form template configuration, you select a full date (day, month, and year), a month, or a year only.
Boolean	When you open the form, the check box is in an unset state — neither activated nor deactivated. Activate or deactivate the check box to indicate your answer. If the element is required, you must explicitly activate or deactivate it; leaving it unset counts as empty.
Selection list	Click the drop-down list and select one or more options. Whether single or multiple selection is allowed depends on the form template configuration. For single selection elements, you can deselect your current option to clear the field.

Notes on entering data

All data saves automatically.

Mandatory elements are marked with a required indicator and must be filled in before you can submit the form.

Multiple collectors assigned to the same reporting entity can edit the form concurrently. If two users modify the same cell at the same time, a conflict dialog appears. You can resolve the conflict by keeping your value, accepting the other user's value, or entering a different value.

Administrators can configure a drill down for rows, for columns, or for both in the same pivot table, with up to five levels, one per dimension. For details, see Configuring Tables in Form Templates. How you enter data depends on the type of drill down.

If an element selection is configured for a drill down dimension in the reporting package, only the selected elements are available. Excluded elements cannot be selected. For details, see Creating and Configuring Reporting Packages.

Row drill down

Rows with a row drill down display the drill down icon next to their name. You add the elements of the drill down dimensions as subordinate rows directly in the table, one level per dimension:

Beneath the row and beneath each element you add, the table displays an

Add

button for the next level, e.g.

Add Local account

Add Cost center

, or

Add Partner

. Click the button to add a row for an element of that dimension.

For the

Local account

dimension, enter the name of the account in the new row. For all other dimensions, select the element from the drop-down list in the new row.

Enter the values of a lowest-level row directly in its cells. Superordinate rows, including the row with the drill down configuration, are read-only and display the sum of their subordinate rows.

To delete an element, right-click its row and select

Delete

from the context menu.

A CFP pivot table displays an account row with the drill down icon, beneath it the added local account, cost center, and partner rows with their values, and Add buttons for the next partner, cost center, and local account. — Row drill down with the levels local account, cost center, and partner

If the administrator activated the Require transaction currency details option for the Partner dimension, each partner row displays an arrow icon in its value cell.

To record transactions for a partner:

Click the arrow icon in the partner row. The drill down dialog with a transaction table for the partner is displayed. The table contains the columns Partner, Transaction currency, Value in transaction currency, Value in reporting currency, and Transaction description. The partner is fixed.

Click Add row to record several transactions for the same partner, e.g. one per invoice. The value cell of the partner row displays the sum of the values in reporting currency.

The drill down dialog for a partner row displays the transaction table with one row per transaction and the columns for partner, transaction currency, values, and transaction description. — Transaction table for a partner row in the drill down dialog

Column drill down

When a column drill down is configured, the cells of that column are read-only in the main table. Their values are calculated automatically as the sum of all drill down entries. To enter or edit values, click the drill down icon in the cell. The drill down dialog is displayed.

The dialog displays one table per column drill down level, stacked vertically:

Level 1

at the top: One row per element of the first dimension. The

Value in reporting currency

column is read-only and displays the aggregated sum of all entries of the next level for that element. Click a row to select it and load its entries of the next level in the table below.

Further levels

below: The entries for the selected element of the previous level. The transaction currency and the values are editable in the lowest level. The section title displays the name of the selected element of the previous level.

Drill down dialog with a partner table for level 1 and an account table for level 2 stacked vertically, with an element selected in level 1 and its account entries displayed below. — Drill down dialog – two column drill down levels

The table of the lowest level contains the following columns:

Column	Description
[Dimension name]	Code and name of the dimension element
Transaction description	Free text that describes the entry
Transaction currency	Drop-down list for selecting the transaction currency
Value in transaction currency	Editable value in transaction currency
Value in reporting currency	Editable value in reporting currency

Row and column drill down in the same table

If a table has both a row drill down and a column drill down, the cells of the column with the column drill down are read-only for the row drill down elements, too. Click the drill down icon in the cell of a lowest-level row element to enter its values per element of the column dimensions in the drill down dialog. If the row is a partner row that requires transaction currency details, the dialog displays two tables: the table for the column drill down and the transaction table for the partner.

Adding entries

Click + Add [dimension type] to open a dimension selector and add a new entry.

Deleting entries

Click the delete icon at the end of a row and confirm the deletion. When all entries are deleted, the parent cell value becomes empty.

Saving changes

Changes in the drill down dialog are saved automatically when you leave a cell, for example by pressing Enter, Tab, or by clicking elsewhere. Pressing Escape while editing a cell cancels that edit without saving. There is no Save button — close the dialog using the X button, by pressing Escape when no cell is active, or by clicking outside the dialog.

Data Collection provides two types of validation that can be executed during a data collection process:

Validation rules

– check data quality within a single reporting entity's forms (executed from inside a form)

Intercompany validation

– check that transactions between related reporting entities match (executed from the data collection list)

To execute validation rules, click Execute validation rules in the top right of a form. The system executes all active validation rules that apply to the form and displays a summary when complete.

A summary of all validation rules executed on a form is displayed. — Summary of all validation rules executed on a form

After validation rules are executed, a results panel displays:

Blocking

– Critical errors that must be resolved before submission

Warning

– Issues that should be reviewed but do not prevent submission

Passed

– Rules that completed successfully

To view details for a specific rule, expand the rule row.

The expanded view can include:

Details

: Business context of the rule

Validation rule structure

: The configured formula or logical expression

Validation rule in execution

: Values used during execution and the calculated difference (if applicable)

A detailed view of a validation rule is displayed, showing the details of the error. — Viewing validation rule details

Form elements referenced by failed validation rules are highlighted directly in the form.

Outdated Validation Results

If data is changed after the last validation execution, the existing validation results are no longer up to date. In this case, a Validation outdated warning is displayed below the form header. For users who can execute validation rules i.e. collectors, the warning includes an Execute validation rules action so they can immediately start a new validation execution.

The warning is removed automatically when:

validation is completed successfully and results are up to date, or

the form status changes from

In Progress

to another status.

If intercompany validation is enabled for the reporting package, collectors can execute intercompany validation at the reporting entity level. Intercompany validation checks that transactions between related reporting entities match — for example, that the total financial amount that Reporting entity A reports against Reporting entity B must equal the total amount that Reporting entity B reports against Reporting entity A — but with opposite signs, one positive and one negative.

To execute intercompany validation, navigate to the Data collection workspace, and select Execute IC validation from the three-dot context menu at the end of the reporting entity row.

The 'Execute IC validation' button is displayed. — 'Execute IC validation' option

After intercompany validation has been completed, a second notification appears and a View IC validation results option becomes available in the context menu.

To view the results, select View IC validation results from the context menu. A results panel is displayed, showing each intercompany rule that was executed with its status:

Passed

– the values match exactly, or the difference falls within the configured tolerance thresholds

Warning

– a difference was found and no tolerance thresholds are configured for the rule

Failed

– the difference exceeds the configured tolerance thresholds

Not evaluated

– the rule could not be evaluated. This occurs in two cases:

The rule reconciles in transaction currency but no transaction currency values were entered for one or both counterparties.

Transaction currency values were entered but none of the currencies match a configured threshold entry.

The calculated difference is always shown in the results, even when the result is Passed. For rules with thresholds configured, you can see whether the difference was within or exceeded the threshold. You can execute all rules again at once using Execute all validations again at the top of the results panel, or execute a single rule individually using Execute validation again.

When you expand a rule, its description is displayed under the Details heading, in the same way as for the results of regular validation rules. If a rule has no description, No description provided is displayed. The results display the description as it was when the validation was executed; changes to the rule appear in the results only after the validation is executed again.

Intercompany validation results are displayed. — Intercompany validation results

Within each validation rule, the results are grouped by counterparty, i.e. the reporting entity against which your values are reconciled. Each counterparty section displays:

Difference

– the calculated difference between the values of both reporting entities, displayed in the section header

Detail table

– the values of both reporting entities per item or account; for validation rules that reconcile aggregated values in group currency, the table also includes the

Exchange rate

column with the rate applied to convert each reporting entity's values

To follow up on an intercompany difference or missing data, you can display the contact information of a counterparty's collectors. Click the phone book icon next to the counterparty name in the section header to open a dialog that lists each collector assigned to the counterparty in the reporting package, with their name and e-mail address.

If a counterparty has not entered a value on any of the items or accounts in the validation rule definition, the section header displays No data instead of a difference. Additionally, a message is displayed stating that the difference cannot be calculated. The counterparty's rows are displayed with empty value columns and the validation rule receives the status Warning.

A counterparty section without data displays a message stating that the difference cannot be calculated. — Counterparty with the 'No data' label in the intercompany validation results

After entering data and executing validation, collectors submit forms for approval.

To submit a form:

Navigate to the form to be submitted and click Submit for approval in the top right. The Submit for Approval dialog is displayed:

Optionally, add comments to provide context for the approver.

Click Submit. The form status changes to Submitted and the form becomes read-only. A notification is sent to the assigned approvers.

Forms cannot be submitted if:

Mandatory fields are not filled in

Validation rules have not been executed

Blocking validation errors exist

Approvers review submitted forms and either approve them or send them back for corrections.

To approve a form:

Open a form with status Submitted.

Review the data and any validation of type Warning.

Click Approve in the top right. The Approve dialog is displayed.

The dialog for approving a form is displayed. — 'Approve' dialog

Optionally, add comments. Click Approve to confirm.

The form status changes to Approved and a notification is sent to the collector. When all forms in a data collection process are approved, the process status changes to Finalized.

If the data requires corrections, approvers can send the form back to the collector.

To send back a form:

Open a form with status Submitted.

Click Send back in the top right. The Send Back dialog is displayed.

The dialog for rejecting a form is displayed. — 'Send Back' dialog

Add comments explaining what needs to be corrected.

Click Send back to confirm.

The form status returns to In Progress and the collector can edit and resubmit the form. The collector can view the rejection comments to understand what needs to be corrected.

If an error is discovered after a form has been approved, a data collection administrator can reopen it to allow corrections.

To reopen a form:

Open the form with status Approved.

Click Reopen in the top right. The form status changes to In Progress and the collector receives a notification.

The collector must edit and submit the form again for approval. The regular submission and approval process applies.

Reopening one form does not affect any other form in the same reporting package — all other forms remain in their current status.

Reopening a form and changing its data does not automatically update any posting already imported into Consolidation & Financial Planning. The existing posting remains unchanged until a data collection administrator re-executes the Import from DC data import in Consolidation & Financial Planning. Once re-executed, the import overwrites the previous posting with the updated values. For details, see Importing Data Collection Postings into CFP.