Requests

Requesting information from a client can be difficult. Email is tedious and recording conversations after the fact may be inaccurate.  Often a client contact has limited time and thus the information requested through correspondence should be as efficient as possible. 

Our Requests feature allows users to compile questions and requests for information and then share them all at the same time on one page when ready. This reduces time spent corresponding with contacts.

• The feature may be used to get information from the client at any point in the job.
• The request and client's responses stay in the job after they are completed and will be part of the audit file.
• A good way to think of requests is as "Follow-ups for client contacts".
• Every request is connected to a contact, so be sure to set up required contacts early on the job before creating requests. However, requests can be shared with multiple people (see below)

Sending Draft Requests

• Create draft requests on any items by using the drop-down arrow on the right. Select the "Request" tab, a contact to assign the request to, and enter your request description.
  
  In the screenshot below we are assigning a new request to Susan Stumich and asking for more details for the step above. When entering the request, be aware that the client will only see the request, so any information they need to respond should be part of the request. You and the client are able to optionally add attachments to the request which will appear in the audit file.
  
  
  
  
• Draft requests are not sent to the client automatically. This allows for many requests to be built up throughout the job and sent in bulk. To send requests click either the "Review and send draft requests" button under draft requests or the requests icon at the bottom of the page.  

• On the Requests page, click "Review and send" for the contact you want to send requests to. If the contact does not have a working email address, this step will not work - the contact must have already been set up.
  
  
• In the dialogue that appears after clicking "review and send", enter an extra message you would like to send. After clicking send, the draft requests are sent to the assigned contact and are no longer in a draft state.
• If you want to receive a copy of the automatically generated email into your inbox tick tyhe "Send me a copy" box.
  
  
• The client receives and email with a link. the link opens a dialogue like this:

• They add their comments and attachments - these are saved in real time. They may add as many responses as they like. If they make a mistake, they can click the edit button that appears to the left of their comment.
• The auditor receives a notification that the request has been addressed and may then mark as resolved or add an additional enquiry.

Finalising Completed Requests

• Additional questions may be added using the 'enquire further' button. 
• Click the 'enquire further' button and add your further response. 
  • This allows further documents or other attachments to be shared with the client.
  • The client may also send attachments back.
• Saving this will email the follow-up request automatically to the client.
• All the interactions (auditor comments and client responses) will appear on the work item in the workbook.
• After a request is resolved, the styles change and it looks like a part of the job and the item gets a green tick.
• On the Requests page, clients may be filtered according to whether or not they have unresolved requests.
  
  

Sharing with multiple people

All requests are connected to and emailed to a particular contact. However, the link that allows access to the request may be sent to multiple people.

• Clicking "Review x published requests" below a contact (from the requests summary page or contacts page) will open a page showing all pending or completed requests for a particular contact.
• The "Get Share Link" button below allows a user to copy the link and share it with as many people as required. 
• The "Revoke Link" button is used if you wish to cancel the request - for instance if it was sent to the wrong person.

• When the page is opened, the user will be prompted to confirm their name in a way similar to shares. Although the request is still connected to the original contact, every response will be tagged with the name of the person who completed it.

What about asking for multiple attachments?

In some cases, for instance if asking for documents to support a sample of transactions, the auditor may want multiple documents from the client.

• A client may upload more than one document per request, but this must be done one at a time.
• A more efficient way may be to download a CSV file of the testing table to send to the client, and then have them email the supporting documents back.
• To create a CSV of a table see the icon in the screenshot below:

Notes

• If a client attaches a document to a request, this will show in the file as received, but it only becomes part of the file that can be reviewed, cross-referenced or otherwise accessed by being re-attached. So when the auditor receives the file, open it, add annotations if required, and then re-attach it as a normal attachment.
• If a request on a page is not resolved, the page cannot be completed. Delete requests if you no longer need them
• To review the requests sent to a particular contact, go to the contacts page and click "Review published requests". From there you can see all published requests for that contact and a button to copy the access link again if you need to re-share it for any reason.
• Similar to shares, the duplicate/restore function will cause problems with any links that have been sent out. To account for this, the requests will be reset to draft on any duplicates.