Auditor Viewing Permission/ Alternatives
AnsweredHello All,
Has anyone set up their Auditors in Workiva before?
What type of permissions did you give them? I want them to have access to Workiva to use it for comments, but don't want them to see internal comments/workings/discussion. However, upon reviewing the comment permission function, it seems like you have to make sure they're unticked so that they can't view those comments.
Or is it better practice to just copy and paste over a version you want them to be able to review separately from the primary document?
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I can't speak to auditors specifically as I don't have experience with that, but if direct access to the document is not an option, sending a Review may be preferred over copying the file so that you don't lose a single source of truth. It appears that when you send a Review you can choose to exclude comments:
0Can you send people reviews without giving them access to the entire live file?
0That's my understanding Kenny Pham but perhaps someone from Workiva can confirm. As I recall we've tested sending a review to someone with no access to the underlying file. They get access to the review "copy" and can interact with it, make comments, etc., but won't see the source or any changes to it.
Again, this is based on my recollection, so you may want to test yourself or wait for Workiva to confirm.
0👋 Hello, Workiva here!
That is correct. A person does not need permission to the file to be added during the Send for Review. They only get access to the review itself and can interact via comments. From the Document settings you can choose who can create a review, i.e. Editors or Owners or both.
And you can also choose what comments to show or exclude when making the review.
Hopefully that helps some. Let me know what questions you have for me or if you need anything else. Cheers and happy Friday!
0In our case (GSR) we gave the auditor viewer access to both SS and DOC and we are trying to change their mindset to review on the live version while we keep milestones for fixed versions of the draft. Internal comments that we don't want the auditor to see we use private comments.
I do agree that a specific access for auditors would be nice since they are asking to be able to make changes (with track changes enabled) since right now for any small change they need to make a comment and takes time both for the auditor and for us.
2My team agrees with what Guido said - "I do agree that a specific access for auditors would be nice since they are asking to be able to make changes (with track changes enabled) since right now for any small change they need to make a comment and takes time both for the auditor and for us."
Is Workiva working on a way to do this? Not being able to make changes in a review draft has been too inconvenient so we don't use it. We are sending auditors and managers Word doc exports, which is also not ideal because the formatting isn't compatible and we get unnecessary comments over that.
1Thank you Guido and Sera for these insights!
The good news is yes, we are looking into allowing reviewers to suggest changes (requested here). I will happily add both you to this list and will keep you apprised of that progress. Do let me know if you have any follow-ups or need anything else. Thanks again and happy holidays! 🎄
1Hi, I´m also agreed, is needed to have an specific access for auditors would be nice since they are asking to be able to make changes (with track changes enabled)
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