Client Checklist
When you select a client in the list, the checklists recorded in respect of the client will be listed in the bottom half of the window.
Note: you can change the height of the lower panel by pointing to the divider between the upper and lower panels and dragging it up or down.
The list will initially be displayed in reverse period end date order, with the latest period end shown first. As with other lists, you can change the sort order by clicking in the column headings.
The information shown for each checklist is as follows:
Name - the name and version of the checklist, e.g. FRS 102 (version 6.3) or UK IFRS (version 6.3).
Period start and period end dates - whether the checklist is in progress, completed or reviewed. Checklists are not considered finalised until they have been fully reviewed.
Status - Whether the checklist is in progress, completed or reviewed. Checklists are not considered finalised until they have been fully reviewed.
Outstanding questions - the number of questions yet to be answered in the checklist.
Outstanding notes - the number of comments in the checklist that still require clearing. This subject is covered in Comments.
Reviewed by - if the checklist, or any part, has been reviewed, a hyperlink will appear here to a list showing who reviewed each section of the checklist.
A toolbar at the top of the list provides the following options:
Add checklist
To add a new checklist, select Add checklist.
First checklist for a client
If this is the first checklist created for a client, the Select group field will be blank and the period start dates will both be set to the current date.
Select the type of checklist to be created from the Select group drop-down list. Enter, or select using the calendar button, the start and end dates of the financial period to be covered by the checklist and click on OK. The checklist will be created and loaded for completion. Completion of the checklist is covered in Checklist completion.
Subsequent checklists
If there is already at least one checklist recorded for the client, the system will auto-complete the fields of the Add checklist dialog based on the previous checklist.
The checklist group will be set to the latest version of the same checklist type and the period start and end dates calculated for the next financial period assuming it is a 12-month period. You are free to change any of the data shown before clicking on OK. The checklist will be created and loaded for completion. Completion of the checklist is covered in Checklist completion.
Note: if you create a subsequent checklist using the same checklist group, you will be able to view prior period’s answers during completion of the current period. You will also be able to use the review tool that displays questions where you have answered the questions differently in the current period. If you use a different group, e.g. FRS 102 was used in the prior period and UK IFRS in the current period, you will not be able to do this.
Load checklist
Select a checklist from the list and click on Load checklist to load it for completion. You may also double click on a checklist in the list to load it. Completion of checklists is covered in Checklist completion.
Change period end date
If you have created a client checklist with a wrong period start or end date, you can edit this by selecting the checklist and clicking on Change period end date. The following dialog will be displayed in which you can change the start or end dates as required.
Delete checklist
If you have system manager status, you may delete individual checklists from the list displayed for a client. You may only delete the oldest or youngest checklist in the list. To delete the checklist, select it in the list and click on Delete checklist. The system will ask you to confirm your instructions before removing it from the list.
Note: deleting a checklist is permanent so please ensure you have created a PDF or printed version for record purposes before removal.
Backing up and restoring checklists
Options are provided on the Client management tab to allow you to backup and restore individual checklists:
Backup checklist
The option to back up a checklist will only be available if you have a checklist selected in the lower panel. On selecting this option, the Windows Save As dialog will be displayed:
The system will suggest a name for the file based on the client name and the period end date. Select the location where you would like the file saved and click on Save. The system will back up the checklist and display the following on completion:
Restore checklist
You may restore the checklist to any database that does not already contain the checklist and this option can therefore be used to copy a checklist from one database to another. If you wish to replace a checklist with an earlier backup, you will need to delete the checklist prior to restoring it, otherwise you will see the following message:
Select the option to restore the checklist and you will see a dialog similar to the following:
The contents of the dialog will vary depending on the data currently stored in your database.
Top panel - this contains details of the checklist being restored, the name of the client, the period end and the checklist type and version.
Middle Panel - this will only appear if you are restoring the data to a different database and a record already exists in the database for a client with the same name, but which has a different unique identifier.
You will normally want to add the checklist to the existing client record, and this is therefore the default option.
Explanation: when you create a client in the database it is allocated a unique identifier that will never be replicated elsewhere. Hence, if you have 2 databases and you create the same client in both, they will have different unique identifiers. This option allows you to confirm to the system that the two client records represent the same client.
Bottom panel - this will only appear if you are restoring the data to a different database and a record already exists in the database for a user who has answered questions in the checklist which has the same account name but has a different unique identifier.
You will normally want to link the answers to the user record that already exists, and this is therefore the default option.
Review the contents of the dialog and click on Restore if you wish to proceed. On completion the system will display:
To be able to restore a checklist, the master checklist on which it is based has to be present in the database, if it is not you will see a message similar to the following:
If you see this, install the master checklist update and then restore the checklist.
Settings
There are 5 system settings that can be used to change the way the system operates. These can only be changed by a system manager and are applied globally for all checklists contained in a database.
To access the system setting, select Settings from the Client management tab of the ribbon bar and the Disclosure checklist settings dialog will be displayed:
The options are as follows:
New comments need clearing - as described in the checklist completion section, you may enter comments against any question in a checklist. You may also turn a comment into a note that needs further attention by clicking on Needs clearing checkbox. Any question on which there is a comment that needs clearing is deemed outstanding until a clearing comment has been entered.
By default, all new comments created are not created as notes that require clearing but as normal comments. If you would prefer that all comments required clearing by default, tick this option.
Allow display of prior year answers for checklists where there are unanswered questions - there is a facility available during completion of checklists to allow you to view prior year answers for questions displayed. Some organisations may prefer that these are not available to those completing the checklist in case it guides the answer provided in the current period. If this option is not ticked, users will not be able to view the prior answers until all questions in the displayed checklist have been answered.
This option will be ticked by default. To suppress the ability to view prior answers during completion, remove the tick.
Use spell checking - the system includes a spell checker that will check for any typing errors in user-entered comments. The check is carried out when you move focus away from the comment cell.
This option will be ticked by default. If you do not wish to use this facility, remove the tick from the checkbox.
Suppress ability to copy answers from prior period - the system includes a function to allow answers and comments to be copied from the previous period’s checklist. Tick this checkbox if you do not want users to be able to do this.
Suppress automatic addition of users using Windows Authentication - the system has the ability to automatically add new users to the user list when they first access the system using Windows Authentication. Tick this option if you do not want this to happen but would prefer to have control over which users are allowed to access the software.
There are two further options available from the settings dialog:
- Install checklist updates
- Run script
Install checklist updates
This option is used to add new and updated checklist to the system. When we release a checklist update it will be made available for download as a ZIP file. You simply place this ZIP file in the Checklist folder that is contained in the Script folder in the program directory. This will normally be:
For 32-bit systems:
C:\Program Files\CCH ProSystem\Interactive Checklist\Scripts\Checklists
For 64-bit systems:
C:\Program Files (x86)\CCH ProSystem\Interactive Checklist\Scripts\Checklists
Once you have done this, select the Install checklist updates button and the system will check for new checklists and new versions of existing checklists. If it finds any they will be presented in the following dialog:
Click on Install to add the updates to your system. If you are running multiple databases, then you will need to do this on each checklist database.
If, when you select the option to install checklist updates, no new or updated checklists are found, you will see this message:
Run Script
The final option on the Settings dialog allows you to run a script on the checklist database you are logged into. This option should only be used under the direction of CCH and we would strongly recommend that you take a backup of your data before using this option. On selecting the option, you will see the following dialog:
Use the Browse button to the left of the Run script button to load the script file provided and the text of the script will appear. Click on Run script and it will be executed. If the script ran without error, you will see a message confirming this. If an error occurred an error panel will appear in the dialog with the error message displayed in red.