Connect source Workiva files to Sustainability Program values

To ease data collection for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or sustainability reporting, you can connect Spreadsheets and Documents as sources for metric values in Sustainability Program to ensure their values automatically update with the latest data.

Connect source file from metric value

To connect a metric value to its source file from Sustainability Program:

From Sustainability Program, open the metric, then select the value's reporting year and collection period.
In Values, select Edit details from the value's menu.
In Value, click Connect source add_link.
Browse to and select the source file, then click Open file.
From the file, connect the source cell or content to the metric value to complete the connection.

Connect metric value from source file

From a Spreadsheet or Document, you can connect a cell or content as a source for metric values in Sustainability Program. When you connect a metric value to a source file, it automatically updates with the latest data from the Spreadsheet or Document.

Tip: You can also start to connect a metric value to its source file from Sustainability Program.

Spreadsheet
Document

From a Spreadsheet, you can connect a source cell to a value, such as automatically update the metric with the latest data collected in the sheet.

Note: You can connect a cell to only one metric value at a time. To connect a cell to a different metric value, first disconnect its current value.

Note: To use the Data Collection spreadsheet as a source for a new metric, first refresh its incoming connections to include the metric in its Source section.

Open the Spreadsheet with the value to the connect to the metric.

Tip: To open a connected file from a metric, value select the source file and section, then click Open source.
In the value's cell, right-click and select Connect to program metric.
Select the value to connect — based on its Program, year, metric, and dimensions — and click Apply.
- If you select a value that already has a connected source link , you replace its existing connection.
- If a value is unavailable block , it may already be Completed, included in a task with other values, or sent for collection through the Workiva Tasks portal. To view only the values you can connect, select Show only available values.
Tip: To create a new metric value, select its Program and year, then click Add metric, select its topic, and click Apply. From Sustainability Program, configure the metric's data collection as necessary.

From a Document, you can connect content to a metric value, such as to automatically update it with the latest draft of a qualitative narrative.

Note: You can connect a span of content to only one value at a time, and you can connect only body text — no embedded tables, charts, images, hyperlink URLs, or page or footnote numbers.

Open the Document with the value to the connect to the metric.

Tip: To open a connected file from a metric, select the source file and section, then click Open source in Value.
Select the content to use as the metric's value, right-click, and select Connect to program metric.
Select the value to connect — based on its Program, year, metric, and dimensions — and click Apply.
- If you select a value that already has a connected source link , you replace its existing connection.
- If a value is unavailable block , it may already be Completed, included in a task with other values, or sent for collection through the Workiva Tasks portal. To view only the values you can connect, select Show only available values.
Tip: To create a new metric value, select its Program and year, then click Add metric, select its topic, and click Apply. From Sustainability Program, configure the metric's data collection as necessary.

View metric value's connected source

From Sustainability Program, you can hover over a connected value to view details about its source file and section, from either:

The Value column in the metric' Values
The Value field of the value details

Tip: If a source Spreadsheet has no value collected, the connected cell's coordinates appear in the Value column or field.

View file's connected metric values

In a source file, the cells or content connected to metric values have a blue border. To show or hide this border on a Spreadsheet's connected cells, click Sustainability connections on the View toolbar.

You can view a file's connected metrics from its Sustainability panel:

To view the metrics connected to the selected sheet or section, select the applicable Program under Metrics . You can select a metric to view its connected cell or content.

Note: You can view all Program metrics that use the file as a source for their values.
For details about a specific metric value, select its connected cell or content in the file. From Metrics , you can view details about the value and its metric, including any description, framework references, attachments, or notes.

Note: From the panel, workspace members can edit notes or upload a value's supporting attachments when they are the metric's assignee or approver with an open task, or the Editor or Owner of the file or Program.

Tip: From the Bookmarks panel, you can click Open in Explorer to open related Explorer content directly in Sustainability Explorer.

Open connected metric from source

To open a connected metric from its source file:

Select the connected cell or content, right-click, then select Go to connected metric.
From the Sustainability panel, select the metric in Metrics, then select Go to connected metric from its menu.

Disconnect metric value from source file

You can disconnect a metric value from its source file, such as to connect to another source file or instead collect the value directly from Sustainability Program or the Workiva Tasks portal.

Select the value to disconnect from its source file:
- From Sustainability Program, select Edit details from the value's menu, then click Remove source link_off.
- From the source file, right-click the connected value, and select Disconnect from program metric.
- From the source file's Sustainability panel, select the metric in Metrics , then select Disconnect from program metric from its menu.
If the value is included in an in progress task, choose whether to send email notifications to its assigned workspace members, then click OK.

Update metric with changed source value

If a connected source value changes when the metric value is Complete, the metric retains the value as of its completed data collection. You can view when a connected source value differs from its completed metric value from the metric and the file's Sustainability or Tasks panel.

Tip: To help identify Completed metric values that differ from their connected source files, run a Health check from Program overview. For additional alerting, a Program Owner can also enable email notifications for Program Owners and Task Owners from Program settings.

To update the metric with the new source value, a Program Owner or Editor or the Task Owner must first either:

Reset the value or its task from the metric to restart data collection.
Reopen the task from the connected source file, then choose whether to complete the task on behalf of its assignee.

Tip: For details about an updated source value — such as who changed it and when — refer to the file's History panel.

Note: Metric values completed before March 23, 2026 may show a Completed value timestamp of that date — such as in the source file's Tasks panel — attributed to the workspace member who last edited the source value. This reflects when the Program preserved the metric value; prior to March 23, a Completed metric value would update with edits to its connected source value.

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