Tuesday, April 5, 2011
ISSUE: Personal.xlsb doesn't load
CAUSE: Apparently, the Personal.xlsb file doesn't load when Excel is started with automation (think opening Excel files within Engagement).
RESOLUTION: Navigate to the location of the Personal.xlsb file and open it. You may need to unhide it before continuing. Do a "Save As" and save the file as an Excel Addin (".xla") which should save the file in to the appropriate directory on the user's machine (which should be in the "C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Addins\" directory for Windows 7 users). Once the Addin file is saved and Excel has been closed, move the Personal.xlsb file to a different location (just to make sure it doesn't get loaded) and reopen Excel. If the Addin file isn't loaded, make sure the Addin file is set to be loaded (meaning "checked") in the Excel Addins dialog (Excel button | Excel Options | Addins | Excel Addins).
Any Addin file that is set to be loaded should be available when opening files from within Engagement.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Issue: Large Excel Files
I called Engagement Support and was told that Excel binary workbooks were not listed as compatible file types but that "if it can be opened outside Engagement you should be able to open it from Engagement." I was also told that no one on the product team had tested compatibility with Excel binary workbooks.
So, in short, no luck with binary workbooks for now. If it's any consolation, a request for enhancement was filed.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
NEWS: Engagement 6.1.2 Issues
Nevertheless, the newsletter is included below.
************************************************
Dear ProSystem fx Engagement Customer:
Based on your current e-fxNews profile, below is an item you may find of interest.
For more information about e-fxNews, or to update your profile, visit our web site at http://support.cch.com/notes/efxnews.aspx.
Online self-service help is now available. Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com.
*************************
Some customers who have moved to Engagement v. 6.1.2 are experiencing longer than normal refresh times for Microsoft Word workpapers containing large numbers of TBLinks. Most often these delays are occurring when the number of TBLinks in a document exceeds 1000, but smaller delays may exist with fewer links as well. We have identified the cause of this issue and have implemented changes to dramatically improve refresh times in Engagement v. 6.5 scheduled for July. However, because of the extensiveness of the change and the small number of customers likely impacted by this issue, we have decided to not issue an interim patch for Engagement. Users that routinely have large number of TBLinks in Microsoft Word documents may wish to consider delaying upgrade until v. 6.5.
Additionally, a small percentage of customers that have upgraded to Engagement v. 6.1.2 have reported the program becoming unresponsive when synchronizing a binder immediately after the upgrade. This situation happens when the Engagement synch service (PFXSYNPFTService) stops. The service will fail to start when manually starting it via the Services console. We are currently investigating this issue to determine the cause. In most instances, the resolution for this issue is to repair Engagement.
As a reminder, known issues like these, as well as FAQs and other information, are available 24/7 on our updated Engagement support website at http://support.cch.com/productsupport/productSupport.aspx?path=%2fTopics%2fproduct_support%2fpfx_office%2fpfx_engagement.
NOTE REGARDING UPCOMING RELEASES: Starting with our version 6.5 release of Engagement this summer, we will no longer be supporting direct upgrade from Engagement versions prior to v. 5.5. If you are using version 5.0 or earlier, we strongly recommend you upgrade to the latest version by July 2010 in order to support direct upgrade in the future. Also, please note that Engagement v. 6.5 will not support the 64-bit version of Office 2010 or IP v. 6.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact Technical Support at 1-800-739-9998, option 4.
Sincerely,CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com/answers/
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CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Attention: Customer Service
9111 E Douglas Avenue, Suite 200
Wichita, KS 67207
NEWS: Engagement 6.1.2 Released
*******************************************************
Dear ProSystem fx Engagement Customer:
Based on your current e-fxNews profile, below is an item you may find of interest.
For more information about e-fxNews, or to update your profile, visit our web site at http://support.cch.com/notes/efxnews.aspx.
Online self-service help is now available. Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com.
*************************
Engagement v. 6.1.2 is now available. Your DVD should be arriving at your office next week. This release provides critical updates to the Engagement and Knowledge Coach application.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR 6.X CUSTOMERS: We recommend that all customers using Engagement or Knowledge Coach v. 6.0 or v. 6.1 upgrade to v. 6.1.2 to take advantage of updates implemented since those releases. This also applies to customers who have installed a patch to address lock-up or other issues.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR KNOWLEDGE COACH CUSTOMERS: ProSystem fx Engagement v. 6.1.2 MUST be installed prior to you installing the 2010 Knowledge-Based Audits of Employee Benefit Plans for Knowledge Coach or any future Knowledge Coach titles. You will receive a separate e-fx News regarding the Employee Benefit Plans title.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR 5.X CUSTOMERS: Customers currently using any 5.x version may upgrade at their discretion. Version 6.1.2 includes Windows 7 compatibility as well as integration with ProSystem fx Portal and ProSystem fx Tax (SaaS) products which may be needed by some customers. However, as there is always a risk associated with a software change, customers on 5.x should carefully consider these risks before upgrading during the busy season.
This Engagement v. 6.1.2 release resolves the following issues reported by 6.0 and 6.1 users:
- Issues related to the Engagement application locking-up upon open or close of binders are fixed where attributable to the Engagement software.
- Prior period balances will now update when workpaper reference columns are selected for the subsidiary trial balance column of a consolidated trial balance.
- Performance is improved when consolidating several trial balances that include a large number of accounts.
- Data conversion errors will no longer occur when consolidating trial balances.
- Time out failures no longer occur when using the Import from Engagement TB function.
- Trial balance links now display the correct balances when the same workpaper is open in more than one binder and the dual monitors option is not selected.
- Trial balance links to accounts over 32 characters and all variance column links now display correct values.
- Trial balance report workpaper references now display with the correct account if you re-imported and regrouped the accounts.
- Rounding account balances in consolidated trial balances are now accurate.
- Performance is improved when saving journal entries with a large number of lines.
- Doubling or quadrupling of trial balance link values in trial balances converted from Engagement v. 5.x no longer occurs.
- Edits made to “significant change description” fields in Knowledge Coach workpapers now flow to other staff members via synchronization, regardless of which user initiates the synchronization process.
- Problems with Excel will no longer occur when a non-Engagement Excel workbook is open and you close a Knowledge Coach Excel workbook.
NOTE REGARDING UPCOMING RELEASES: Starting with our version 6.5 release of Engagement this summer, we will no longer be supporting direct upgrade from Engagement versions prior to v. 5.5. If you are using version 5.0 or earlier, we strongly recommend you upgrade to the latest version by July 2010 in order to support direct upgrade in the future.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact Technical Support at 1-800-739-9998, option 4.
Sincerely,
CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Find answers to your CCH questions in our knowledge base at http://support.cch.com/answers/
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CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
Attention: Customer Service
9111 E Douglas Avenue, Suite 200
Wichita, KS 67207
Monday, February 15, 2010
NEWS: Windows 7 Compatibility Center
Thursday, February 4, 2010
NEWS: Engagement 6.1 and Other Updates
While I was on the phone I also asked about Engagement's planned compatibility with Office 2010 and was told that nothing has been released internally to the Support team about Office 2010 compatibility. The support person did say he tried installing Office 2010 with Engagement 6.1 on a virtual machine and got all kinds of errors. Because I'm running Windows 7 Pro x64 the conversation naturally gravitated to Engagement's architeture, specifically 32 vs. 64-bit. The support person said that for the forseeable future (meaning he hasn't heard anything to the contrary) Engagement will be a 32-bit application. I guess those of us hoping for a true 64-bit application (and not just one that works on a 64-bit OS) are out of luck.
Friday, January 22, 2010
NEWS: Office 2010 Compatibility
Anyone else testing Office 2010 using different combinations than I did? I'd love to hear you're experiences.
Friday, November 20, 2009
NEWS: Office 2010 Beta Released
NEWS: Windows 7 Compatibility Testing
Generally, I've found Engagement 5.7 to work well in Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit. One item to note is that I didn't get the SQL SP2 incompatibility message that I got while installing on Windows 7 64-Bit beta. Other items I've found are below.
1) While the 2003 add-ins for Word and Excel work (displayed in the Add-ins tab), the add-ins for the Ribbon functionality (displayed in the Engagement tab) don't run properly. My guess is that something isn't working well with the 64-Bit OS.
2) I've found everything to work within Acrobat except when I try to close a PDF from the Engagement binder (right-click and select "Close workpaper"). It appears that the command is lost and nothing happens. So I'm forced to close PDFs through Acrobat instead of the Engagement binder.
3) I've had one instance where the "Pfx Engagement PDF Converter" (available from the print menu) didn't work. I think this was an isolated instance becasue I've gotten it to work several times since.
4) We upgraded our office server and workstations from Engagement 5.0 to Engagement 5.7 while I was testing on Windows 7. So, as a good Administrator I tried to convert the 5.0 binder templates to 5.7 but no luck. I had to do it on a colleague's XP machine.
So my findings were rather positive over the testing period (about 3 weeks). Next week I'm going to move to a new machine with Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit as the Host OS (no more playing around in a virtual world). What issues have others seen when moving Engagement to Windows 7? Anyone out there tested Engagement with Windows 7 32-Bit?
Monday, October 26, 2009
NEWS: Windows 7 Certification
Thursday, October 22, 2009
NEWS: Windows 7 Compatibility, Again
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Issue: Verifying workpapers are reviewed in a timely manner
Review responsibility policies and procedures should be determined on the basis that qualified engagement team members, which may include the engagement partner, review work performed by other team members on a timely basis.How does a firm using Engagement verify compliance with the "timely basis" requirement?
Discussion: Since the workpapers and their sign offs are in an electronic environment, just about anything can be logged given the right programming on CCH's side. First, one must decide what electronic evidence would provide assurance of a timely review. Does timely review mean a short time beteen the preparer's sign off and the start of the reviewer's work? Or does it mean the time between the preparer's sign off and the reviewer's sign off? The second example is functionally all we can hope for since Engagement doesn't track the start and finish of any employee's work and CCH programed Engagement to retain the sign offs indefinitely which means the data we need is there (the end of the preparer's work and the reviewer's work).
Resolution: Well, there isn't a resolution for now. While the data exists, a method to extract the data does not. I spoke with CCH Support today asking about a method to pull all the sign offs for all the workpapers. The reply was that the sign off summary report and sign off summary view are the closest thing currently available. The only problem with those options is that neither shows the preparer's sign offs which severly limits the evidence one could use to affirm compliance with the the timely basis requirement in QC Section 10 leaving firms to devise another way outside of Engagement to provide evidence.
Update (11/11/2009): I've got mud on my face. I was so tuned in on finding the sign off data in the binder view that I missed the Workpaper Sign Off History Report that is accessible in the File Room view. Just select the binder you want and select Tools Reports Workpaper Sign Off History Report. The report is exported to Excel and shows the workpaper name, who signed off, the role of the person signing off (preparer, reviewer, 2nd reviewer), and the date of the sign off. This report provides all the raw data necessary to start an evaluation.
However, the raw data is not enough. Professional judgment should come into play when determining if a workpaper file was reviewed in a timely manner. One engagement cannot be evaluated in isolation. It should be evaluated in the context of the firm's situation including staffing, problems in other engagements the team may be working on, etc. So, the moral of the story is that a firm should determine what its best practice is as far as "reviewed in a timely manner" is concerned and then stick to it. The Workpaper Sign Off History Report can play a part of a firm's defined evaluation process but should not be the sole part in the solution.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
How To: Reduce Binder File Size
By "type" of files I'm referring to the file type and the charactaristics of those files. For example, a PDF generated by convertion from a Word file may not take much space but, in contrast, a full-color scanned PDF may consume large amouts of disk space. This plays a larger part of binder size when the Perm File is large or is housed within the workpaper binder (i.e. Perm File and workpapers are in one binder; the firm I work for chose this setup).
Getting the file size data isn't as easy as one would like. CCH created the ReportBuilder application which basically performs queries on the Engagement database. It has several standard queries that return a lot of useful information. However, none of the queries returns binder size. As far as I can tell, the binder size is not stored in the Engagement database because its solely the size of a directory on the server or workstation. This is the problem: How can I run a query from ReportBuilder to get a list of the binders on the server(s) and match it to the directory size? The solution I use is somewhat manual.
Due to the nature of our clients and the firm's choice to combine the Perm File and workpapers in one binder, I've set the target max binder size at 100 mb. Some binders are above that and other are below. One of our biggest audits tops 1 gb, mostly because of the size of the Perm File.
Armed with the list of binder sizes and the target max size, I filter out the binders that have been finalized (I don't want to mess around with documenation past the regulatory deadline for assembly). I'll then identify a few candidates for reduction and view the directory details on a workstation (because the server has everything zipped up in .szp files). Most of the time it ends up that the PDF files are way to big for the number of pages within the document so I have to resave/compress the file to reduce the file to a better size.
If anyone else has suggestions, please feel free to share by leaving a comment. I think we'd all love to hear others experiences and solutions.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
NEWS: Windows 7 Compatibility
Monday, June 15, 2009
Issue: Engagement won't install on Windows 7
Cause: The possible cause of this error message is the installer files for Engagement may not be compatible with Windows 7 (I have not verified this).
Resolution: After many attempts and different steps, I settled on the following. At least one other person on a completely different system used these steps to successfully install Engagement.
- 1. Using the Engagement install media, I installed the prerequisites. One prerequisite, SQL 2005 Express (SP2 is included on the install media), is of particular note. During its install, a message will pop up stating that the version being installed has known compatibility issues with Windows 7 and must be upgraded to SP3. I have never tested Engagement with SQL 2005 Express SP3 with Engagement so I clicked through the message.
- 2. I then right-clicked on the .msi file and selected "Determine compatibility." I defaulted to using Windows XP SP2 settings to install which seemed to work. After the install finished, I was able to connect to our office server and successfully login.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
NEWS: Engagement and Windows 7
However, they did not state whether a 64-bit version of Engagement was in the works or that SQL 64-bit would be supported for the 2010 release. Here's to hoping CCH develops a true 64-bit option and not just one that runs on a 64-bit OS.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
How To: Used Protected Word Documents in Pfx Engagement
Background: Some firms may have specialties in niche industries where standard workprograms, such as those published by PPC, are not tailored enough to fill the need for these firms. Some may decide to develop their own workprograms for their engagements. The question has come up, "How do I ensure the workprograms' text doesn't change from the approved content?" One possible solution is to use protected Word documents.
Resolution: Protecting a Word document effectively makes the document a form in which text can be added to fields. Nothing else on the document can be changed. This also means that the integration with Pfx Engagement is broken unless the following steps are performed.
Before proceeding, at least one person will need to install the Protected Files Utility, available on the Pfx Engagement install media.
- 1. Create the Word document to be protected.
- 2. Add all the fields necessary for the Word document to be completed by a user. Either form fields or VBA fields may be used.
- 3. Protect the document (instructions here). Remember the password used to protect the document.
- 4. Open the Protected Files Utility.
- 5. Navigate to the Word document that was just protected and select "Open".
- 6. Type in the password used to protect the Word document.
All Pfx Engagement toolbar functionality now works for the person who just ran the Protected Files Utility. That utility creates a hash file in the C:\Pfx Engagement\WM\ directory* which contains the password and a GUID associated with the password. It also adds the password's GUID to the custom properties of the Word document (right-click, select "Properties", go to the "Custom" tab) so Pfx Engagement knows which password to use to allow the toolbar functionality.
If the same password is going to be used on multiple Word documents (or Excel documents for that matter), the easiest way to "add" the password to a new document is to copy the the custom property from one file to another manually. It is possible to automate the copy process using a VB script (a web search will reveal the code) but it is pretty complicated. It may be overkill if the firm(s) is only updating a few documents on an annual basis.
Also, to allow all Pfx Engagement users the ability to use the toolbar with these protected Word documents, the hash file created by the Protected Files Utility will need to be copied to the C:\Pfx Engagement\WM\ directory* on each users machine which can be performed manually or using a login script developed by your IT folks.
Considerations and Limitations: If this sounds like a great solution to your problems, there are a few cautions to consider. First, tickmarks cannot be inserted within text fields. Usually, from what I've seen, they can be added but they replace the text field entirely. Second, spell check does not work within text fields. Third, users cannot copy from protected text. This becomes an issue if staff copy some words from the workprogram steps to use in the response to the step. Forth, inserting multiple workpaper references using the Insert Workpaper Reference tool from the toolbar is not easy. Sometimes workpaper references end up outside the text field which prevents any user, including reviewers, from selecting the workpaper reference to open it.
* This is the directory in which Pfx Engagement is installed if you accept the default. Your installation may be located in a different root directory.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
How To: Manage binder sizes on the Pfx Engagement Server(s)
Background: In a Windows environment, a "binder" is represented by a single directory (or folder) on an employee's workstation and on the server. The directory has a unique ID called a GUID. That directory houses all the workpaper files shown to the user through the Binder View within Pfx Engagement. This setup poses stumbling blocks for system (those maintaining the hardward) and application (those administrating the Pfx Engagement) administrators when trying to manage the binders' size on the server hard disk.
- 1. GUID: This is an unique identifier used to keep track of the binders in an efficient and effective way which is standard industry practice. While this is great for computers, humans can't easily make heads or tails of it. It will have to translated into something recognizable to humans so that it can be associated with a specific binder in the views within Pfx Engagement.
- 2. File Size: This is not as easy as saying, "How big is my Word document?" Since a binder is actually a directory on the hard disk, what is actually being asked is "How much space is being used by this directory?" or "How big is this collection of documents?". Directory size is not displayed by default in Windows Explorer making it difficult to view manually (third party applications are available to add this to Windows Explorer).
- 3. Information Accessibility: This is something that may need to be monitored more frequently than annually. As such, creating a list of binders over a certain size should be easier than manually typing the list (basically, running a report).
Once both applications are installed, peform the following steps to identify binder sizes:
- 1. Open a Command Prompt (Start Run Type "command" or "cmd")
- 2. Type the following:
diruse /* /m /, "\\[Pfx engagement server name]\Admin\workpapers\[Central File Room name]" > "[path]\[desired file name].txt"
For example:
diruse /* /m /, "\\engagement\Admin\workpapers\Main Office" > "C:\Engagement Reports\BinderSizes-20081227.txt" - 3. Start ReportBuilder (found in C:\Pfx Engagement\WM\Utilities\Report Builder)
- 4. Enter the name of the server and press OK
- 5. Select "Client/Binders List" from Report on the menu bar
- 6. Press "Export to Excel"
- 7. Move (cut / insert) the "bid" column to Column A and sort in ascending order
- 8. Save the Excel file in the appropriate location
- 9. Go to the tab named "Sheet 1"
- 10. Import the data in the .txt file created in step 2
- 11. Add the column headings ClientID, Client Name, and Binder Name
- 12. Add a VLOOKUP for each of the added columns, pulling the date from the "Client Binder List" tab (you may want to remove the VLOOKUP formulas based on how you're going to use the data)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Error: The finalization process for one or more of the selected binders did not complete successfully.
CRITICAL ERROR: The finalization process for one or more of the selected binders did not complete successfully. The binder(s) cannot be deleted until this problem is corrected.Resolution: Perform a full synchronization by right-clicking on the binder in the local file room and selecting "Synchronize."
Please contact Technical Support for assistance before continuing work on the affected binder(s).
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
How To: Convert workpaper files on the server to their native format
How To:
- 1. Change the file extension from .szp to .zip
- 2. Open the .zip using the password obtained from CCH (call the help line; for security reasons, it will not be divulged here)
- 3. At this point, you can open the native file or extract it to another location
NOTE: There is only one native file per zip file.
NOTE 2: If there are lots of restored .szp files, you may want to consider having the netork administrator write a command line script to convert all the .szp files and extract all the native format files to another directory or folder.