Workflows

Workflows are your central hub to manage your reporting processes. Use workflows to:

Visualize how your data flows through Datarails
Assign tasks to update inputs and review outputs
Validate processing
Manage a budget collection process
Update Chart of Accounts
Sync Integrations
Upload new data
Share reports with team members

You can find workflows on your homepage in the Datarails web interface (app.datarails.com) or you can access them by clicking on Workflows at the top navigation bar (depending on your version of Datarails).

Let's clarify a few important concepts before we cover how to edit a workflow.

The Filebox

A Filebox is a special type of folder we use to organize your files inside Datarails. Every file you upload to Datarails needs to be in a Filebox. It's used to:

Keep track of multiple versions of a file automatically. Datarails maintains comprehensive version control of files each time they change, so you can retrieve earlier versions as needed.
Tag reports with a date or scenario label, so you can easily reference different periods or forecast versions.
Receive data automatically from an ERP system or via email.

Try it now: Uploading files to a filebox

Follow steps 1-3 (instructions are linked here) to access the Practice Environment in your browser
Click Settings and then on the folder Practice Files (if your version of Datarails doesn't have a Settings option in the navigation, click on Home)
Hover over the file "P&L - Practice Report" and click on Download Latest
Click on New+ in the top-right corner, select New Filebox, and give it the name "test filebox".
Click on the toggle next to Date and select Month. You can use the date tag to create daily, weekly, quarterly, or yearly reporting processes.
Click Upload File and upload the practice file you just downloaded and click Close. The video below illustrates the process.

Lookups

A lookup adds columns to a dataset that can help make the information more useful, such as hierarchy levels from a chart of accounts or FX conversion rates. They can also be used to merge data from multiple systems as long as they have a common identifier (such as an invoice number).

Try it now: Lookup Maintenance

In the Exercise Environment, navigate to Settings (or Home if you can't see Settings in your version of Datarails) and click on Configuration and Lookups
Click on the folder COA (it stands for "Chart of Accounts")
The number of Unmapped Items specifies how many line items in your dataset aren't tagged with a column in the lookup. For example, you may have recently created an account for a new expense type in your ERP system. Datarails found that account number in the actuals you uploaded and flagged it as an unmapped item, because the Chart of Account doesn't yet include hierarchy levels for it. In this example, the lookup "CoA Entity A" has 19 unmapped items, i.e. 19 account numbers without an assigned hierarchy.
Hover your mouse over the name "CoA Entity A" and click Download.
Open the Excel sheet "CoA"
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the file. You'll see a number of rows where we have an account number but no other columns are populated (Datarails adds these automatically if they appear in your data set). These are the unmapped items.
Let's map the account "650500". Enter the following information into the row:
Click Submit. Now Datarails knows how to categorize this account and added the hierarchy to all your reports that use this Lookup.

Now that we covered fileboxes and lookups, let's get back to workflows.

Try it now: Editing a Workflow

Follow steps 1-3 (instructions are linked here) to access the Exercise Environment in your browser
You can find workflows on your Home page in the Datarails web interface (app.datarails.com) or you can access them by clicking on Workflows at the top navigation bar (depending on your version of Datarails).
Hover your mouse over "June 2022" and click on Open on the right hand side.
The first screen shows your input files. That's the data that has been uploaded to Datarails, for example your actuals on the transaction level. In our example, there is only one input file called "GL", however, we could have dozens of inputs from various systems. You can use Workflows to show which input files are used for a specific purpose, such as the Financial Month End Close. Another Workflow may manage the inventory management process, for example, and only show the respective relevant files. This setup visualizes how your data flows through Datarails.
Hover your mouse over the row again and click on the three-dot menu on the right hand side.
Note that you have easy access to replace, download, and view the file directly from the workflow.
Click on Next at the bottom of the screen to move to the "Configuration" screen. It shows the Lookups associated with this workflow.
This Lookup has several unmapped items. Assignees can update them simply by clicking on "Update Unmapped Items".
Click on the empty space in the "Classification" column for Account # 41500. Note that you can select hierarchy levels simply by clicking on them. This is an alternative way of updating unmapped items. The result is the same as the process we covered under "Lookups".
For now, click Cancel to return to the Configuration screen.
Click Next to see the Outputs of this Workflow. In our example, that's all reports related to the Financial Month End Close process.
Let's add another report to this workflow. Click on the wheel icon in the top right corner (circled in the screenshot below).
Wait a moment for the information to load, then click on Next.
Click on Output and then Add Output (circled below).
Check the box next to "P&L - Practice Report" and click Add.
Click on Save Changes, and in the following screens on Yes, and Activate Workflow to save the changes.
Back on the homepage (or Workflow page), click on Tasks at the top of the screen. You can use this feature to monitor all tasks you assigned to team members or to yourself. You can filter by user, status, and due date.
Click on Completed to mark the task as incomplete, since some unmapped items still need to be updated.

Versions

Every time you click Submit in the Excel add-in or upload a new file to a filebox, Datarails creates a new version. That means, you never have to replace old submissions and maintain the ability to revisit previous iterations.

Datarails automatically tags each version with the date and time it was last edited and the name of the user who submitted it. Additionally, every version has a unique number and you can assign a name to specific ones.

As a result, maintaining proper version control becomes seamless.

Try it now: Versions

In the Practice Environment, navigate to the "Practice Files" folder, hover over the filebox "P&L - Practice Report" and click on "Download Latest"
Open the Excel file, click "Enable Editing" and navigate to the Datarails ribbon.
Click on Submit
Navigate back to the Datarails web environment in your browser.
Hover your mouse over the filebox "P&L - Practice Report", click on the three-dot menu on the right and select "Versions".
You should now see a new row for the version you have just submitted, stating the current time and your name.
Hover your mouse over the column that says "Version Name" (you may have to drag the column to make it wider so that you can see it) and click the pencil icon.
Give it the name "Test Version 1" and click Save. You can reference version names in your reports to toggle back and forth between different iterations of your forecast, budget, or other models.