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You can curate multiple years' data collection for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or sustainability reporting from Sustainability Program. From Program overview, a Workspace or Program Owner can manage the Program's reporting years as necessary.

Add reporting year

To begin data collection for a new reporting year, add the year to Sustainability Program. When you add the year, you copy — or roll forward — metrics from another year and choose the value details and files to start with.

Step 1. Prepare files to roll forward

When you add a new year, the Program can copy files for its metric values' data collection or reporting. Before you add the year, choose the files to roll forward:

• Decide whether to continue to collect values through any connected source files, or instead use the streamlined Workiva Tasks portal.
• Identify additional files to copy, such as Processes used with connected source files, the Factbook Spreadsheet, or reporting files.

To prepare these files for the roll forward:

1. From Files , create separate folders for your source and reporting files — respectively — within another folder that identifies the reporting year:

   • In the source files' folder, include any of the values' connected source files to retain for the new year, such as the Data Collection spreadsheet.

     Tip: To help identify values' connected source files, use a Query with the Program as its source. The Program also lists the values' source files when you add a new year.

   • In the reporting files' folder, include the Factbook spreadsheet and all of its linked reporting outputs.

   Tip: For additional clarity, include the year in each folder's name, such as 20XX Sustainability source files or 20XX Sustainability reporting files. 

2. To identify all files that the Program will roll forward, right-click the parent folder, and select Linked Files Report to identify the files that provide source links for its folders' files.
   

   Note: If your Factbook Spreadsheet appears in the Linked Files Report for the source files, delete its source links. Use the Factbook only as a source for reporting outputs, not data collection. 

3. For each source file listed in the Linked Files Report, review its Connections panel to determine whether its incoming connections come from another workspace — such as a Spreadsheet or shared Query — or have sources with data from Chains.

   Note: If a source file has these incoming connections, you may need to recreate the connection in the file's copy created during the roll forward.

4. To determine whether a source file listed in the Linked Files Report use Processes to automate task workflows, search Files for Process  , then open each Process and check whether its actions apply to a source file. 
   
   If a file uses a Process, include the Process file in the file's respective folder.

Step 2. Add reporting year

After you set up the files to roll forward, add the new year to the Program:

1. From Sustainability Program, select Program overview from the outline, then select Manage reporting years from the menu.
   
2. Verify the Program doesn't already have the new year, and click Add year.
   

Step 3. Select value details to roll forward

To help ease data collection, set up the new year with the same metrics as another year:

1. In New year, enter the reporting year to add, in a four-digit YYYY format.
   

   Note: You can only add years that don't yet exist in the Program. To roll forward to an existing year — such as one previously added a placeholder — first remove it from the Program.

2. Select which of the existing years to copy metrics from.
3. In Copy to new year, choose the metric details to roll forward:
   • Collected values, to start the new year with the same data collected directly in metrics or through Workiva Tasks
   • Supporting notes, to retain notes provided during data collection, such as evidence or context for footnotes or reporting narrative
   • Tasks, to retain the same assignments and instructions for the new year's data collection. If so, also choose whether to set the assignments' due dates, adjusted for the new year.

Step 4. Select files to copy

Next, select the files to roll forward to the new year: 

1. Choose whether copy the values' connected source files:
   • To use only Workiva Tasks for the new year's data collection, clear Connected source files.

   • To retain connections to values' source files, select Connected source files, then choose the files to roll forward from the existing year.

     Note: If you choose to roll forward a source file, the Program also copies its linked source files.

     Tip: If you clear a source file's checkbox, its values' tasks will instead use Workiva Tasks for data collection in the new year.

2. To include other files in the roll forward — such as Processes, the Factbook spreadsheet, or reporting outputs — click Copy additional files, then browse to and select the files to copy; for example, those in the 20XX Sustainability reporting files or 20XX folder prepared for the roll forward.

3. In Copy from files, choose what include in the files' copies.
    

   

    

   Copy from files	Description
   All comments	Copies all comment threads — Open and Resolved — in the files
   Outline labels	Copies labels applied to outlines Note: In the copies, outline labels will be turned off by default. After the roll forward, choose whether to turn outline labels on for each copy.
   Attachments	Copies attachments uploaded to the files Note: Attachment markup is not included in the copies.
   Automations	Copies automations used within the files such as to automate data collection from integrated source systems Note: To help reduce errors in copies, include all items used to run the files' automations. Note: In the copies, automations will be deactivated by default. After the roll forward, choose whether to activate automations in each copy.
   Incoming and outgoing connections	Copies all connections from the files — incoming from data sources, and outgoing to destination files Note: If you include the Data Collection or Factbook Spreadsheet, select Incoming and outgoing connections. You can then adjust the connections' parameters as necessary in the copies created during the roll forward.
   Input cell values	Copies any data entered in input cells within the files, such as where assignees prepare metric values. Note: If you clear this option, the copies will include empty input cells, not any values entered in those cells.

   Tip: Copies created automatically retain any extensible business reporting language (XBRL) tags.

4. Choose whether to save the copies in a new or existing folder:
   • If New folder, enter its name, and select where to create it.
   • If Existing folder, select the folder to save the copies to.

5. After you choose all details to roll forward to the new year, click Add year.

   Note: Depending on the number of metrics, it may take several minutes for the new year to appear in the Program; do not add or remove metric values or tasks in the Copy from year during that time. If you include files, you'll receive an email notification when their copies are created.

Step 5. Set up new year

After the roll forward completes, prepare the new year in Sustainability Program and — if included — the Data Collection and Factbook Spreadsheets.

Note: If you choose to copy Outline labels or Automatiions from files, choose whether to turn on outline labels or activate automations for each copy.

Remove reporting year

You can remove a year from a Program, including all of its metric values and any in-progress data collection tasks.

Tip: Rather than remove all of a year's values, you can remove specific metric values instead.

To remove a year:

1. From Sustainability Program, select Program overview from the outline, then select Manage reporting years from the menu.
2. From the reporting year, select Remove year.
   
3. Click Remove.

Undo a roll forward

If necessary, you can roll back a new year, such as to add it again with different details or files. 

Note: Make sure to remove the year added during the roll forward, not another year that may contain collected values.

To undo a roll forward:

1. From Sustainability Program, remove the new year from Program overview.
2. From Files, delete any files' copies created during the roll forward.