Start with the files your team uses today, the deadlines you need to meet, and the parts of the process that take too much manual work.
Choose the first report or process
Name a specific deliverable, such as a monthly management report or a quarterly reporting package. Agree on what the first phase includes and what can wait. Keep the reporting deadline and the team's available time in view.
Be specific about what needs to improve. If the team copies the same figures into several reports, identify those reports. If review takes too long, show where questions and revisions collect. That gives the implementation a practical starting point.
Gather the files your team actually uses
Bring a recent report and the spreadsheets or system exports behind it. Include account mappings, manual adjustments, and any instructions that live outside the files. Note where someone still has to copy a value, explain a difference, or repair a formula.
For each source, identify who provides it and when it becomes available. Flag changes in account codes, missing fields, or late adjustments that could affect the report.
Confirm access before configuration starts
Identify who will prepare, review, and approve the work. Ask your Workiva administrator to confirm the required features and access. A person may need both file permissions and a workspace role to perform a task.
Test the process using the permissions those people will actually have, rather than relying on an administrator's account. If data will refresh automatically, agree on who will maintain the connection and respond when a run fails.
Test a complete reporting cycle
Use a prior period with checked results. Follow the data through to the final report, including calculations, review, and the output your team distributes. Compare the finished report with the agreed totals and investigate differences.
Then test a correction and an incomplete input. Check what the reviewer sees and how the team will resolve a failed refresh. For connected reporting, check the source update, connection refresh, and any required link publication separately; completing one does not confirm that the final report has updated.
Prepare for the next cycle
Agree on who will maintain the setup and handle exceptions. Leave instructions for routine updates, checks, and common errors, along with a record of the important configuration decisions.
Before handoff, have the person responsible run the process using those instructions. Use that rehearsal to find missing steps while the implementer is still available to help.
What to bring to an initial conversation
Your latest report, a sample source file, and the next reporting deadline are useful starting points. If you do not yet know how the data should connect or which permissions you need, those are questions we can work through together.
- A recent report or example of the output you need.
- Sample source files and any mappings or manual adjustments.
- Your next deadline and the people involved in preparation and review.
- A short account of what is slow, unreliable, or difficult to maintain.
Use the reporting project worksheet to gather these details. Start with the blank workbook or look at the completed fictional example.
Most engagements start with a paid Workiva diagnostic of one report or process; bringing these details makes the free first call more useful.