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How to reference a document in a spreadsheet

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I have ~25 spreadsheets where all of the data on these spreadsheets link to one consolidated spreadsheet. Every quarter, areas complete their specific spreadsheet, and I review all of those responses via the consolidated spreadsheet.  For this process, there is a document that all areas need to access. This document will change every quarter.  I would like to add the Word document to the consolidated spreadsheet and have the ~25 spreadsheets link to this Word document. So, when I update the Word document every quarter, the new document will automatically be updated on the ~25 individual spreadsheets. Is there an easy way to do this? 

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  • Mike
    • Edited

    Hello and welcome to the Community, Marnita!

    Great question. If I follow you correctly, I can think of two options that might work for you.

    Option 1 - Link to a Document

    I assume when you say Word document you mean an actual MS Office file. One option could be to bring this Word file into Workiva and import as a next gen Document. You can link too or from this document to your Spreadsheets and can keep this file updated. You could permission it as well so that users can see it and add comments but not edit it unless you wanted them to. Here's some Help articles on the process of importing, linking, permissions and commenting.

    If you want to keep the file in Word, then the following option might work.

    Option 2 - Convert to a PDF and share attachment

    Next gen Documents currently allow you to attach many file types to cells or text alike. A caveat here is that only PDFs can be opened from the attachment viewer so in order to make this attachment viewable, you'd need to convert the Word file into a PDF to then be viewed from within the same Workiva experience. Once attached, you would see this option, for example:

    Your specific areas can see this attachment and the option to open it, or you can also provide the URL of this file and share that. Furthermore, as you continue to update the file, you can replace it with a new version but keep the same attachment location and such. Here is some Help content on attachments in Documents and Spreadsheets.

    I'll add too that eventually we you'll also be able to view attached MS Office content files as well. This is planned to be available later this year.

    Hopefully these options help some. Let me know if I've missed the mark or you have any questions for me on the above processes. Thanks again for your question and have a happy Monday!

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