The following are tips for auditors on accessing and reviewing content within Workiva.

Accessing Workiva

To access content in Workiva for auditing and review,  you must first be granted membership in the appropriate Organization and Workspace.

Typically a company will have one Workiva Organization, and then each team or department will be organized into separate Workspaces. This is also where documents, data, and processes, etc. are organized, ensuring the right people have the right access to information and are able to then collaborate. Members of Workiva Workspaces also receive a role, which is what controls your access to features and functionality. Click here to learn more about Organizations and Workspaces and Roles in Workiva.

Once you are granted membership in a company’s Workiva Org and Workspace, you’ll receive a welcome email with login information. The sender is typically Workiva Notifications (notifications@workiva.com). Here’s an example of what that email looks like.

In many cases, you login to Workiva with a username and password and by default, your username is likely your email address. However, if the Organization you are added to requires single sign-on (SSO), you may login to Workiva via a third party application that controls your credentials.

Should you encounter any issues upon logging in, don’t hesitate to reach out to Customer Support for some quick help.

Workiva Home

Once logged in, you will land in Workiva Home. From here, you are able to see workspace details and view all folders and files you have been designated to see. Additional functionality available to you in Workiva is based on your role. Note that most of your work will take place either in the file itself, or within a review sent to you. 

Understanding your Workspace role

Most auditors are granted one of two roles to perform their review—Viewer or Limited Started. Below is a breakdown of how they differ and what tasks you can perform in each role.

Viewers

This role provides you the ability to thoroughly review and provide your inputs. You are also able to view Reviews, supporting attachments and markup within a file, as well as leave comments and export files to other formats, such as PDF or DOCX. Note that while you can access the “live” file in Workiva, you are not making any edits and any comments you leave are visible to others. If you are adding comments in a Review, those will also flow back into the “live” file for others to see as well.

In addition, this role also allows you to sign or approve Certifications or Processes. Other functions used include:

• Blackline review
• Link properties
• Document history

NOTE: you can access many of these features via Workiva Mobile. 

Limited Starter

This role is more restrictive than the Viewer role and is designed for more controlled contributions and review capabilities. The exact features available can vary based on the Workiva Organization and Workspace configurations but in general with this role you are able view Reviews and/or Blackline review, and add comments, plus export the review to other formats. You would also be able to sign or approve a Certifications or Processes, and can access this same material and functionality with Workiva Mobile.

Note that this role allows no access to the “live” file in Workiva but rather the read-only version. However, as you are adding comments in a read-only version of the file, those will flow into the “live” file for others to see.

Notifications

Workiva Comments support direct mentions so feel free to @mention another or group in your Workspace to directly notify them of your comment.

If you are sent a review or mentioned in a comment or thread in Workiva, you will also be sent a notification. That email will be sent from Workiva Notifications (notifications@workiva.com) and look something like this, with a link to the content needing your input.

Tips, suggestions, and additional resources

For the best experience, take a gander at our System and browser requirements article. To learn more, we recommend the course Discover Workiva available on the Learning Hub.

We suggest checking out our Help site for further documentation on any of the products or solutions you are working on. We also have a Community site here with loads of Q&A, tips, and information.

If you have any feedback to share with us, we’d love to hear from you. You can share it here in the Submit Feedback, or direct in the Support portal by choosing "Product Ideas & Suggestions”.

And should you encounter any issues along the way, you can contact Customer Support 24/7 for assistance.