Set up central planning

Note: This feature is only available if it has been enabled in your product.

Central planning allows you to sync risks, controls and selected checklists across engagements so the work doesn’t need to be duplicated in multiple engagements. When you set an engagement as a central planning engagement, all risks, controls, and selected checklists are synced to the destination engagements.

Create a central planning engagement

To set up central planning, you must first designate an engagement to use as the central planning engagement. This engagement is where you will perform all work for the risks, controls and synced checklists.

To set an engagement as a central planning engagement, in the engagement select the Information icon ( ) and then select Settings to open the Engagement Settings dialog. On the Central Planning tab, select Set as Central Planning Engagement.

Note: Once you set an engagement as a central planning engagement, this action is irreversible.

The Central Planning tab in the engagement settings.

The Central planning icon ( ) now displays in the top menu and next to synced checklists. You can select the icon in the top menu to open the Central Planning Hub and view a list of your destination engagements and whether they are up to date.

Create a destination engagement

After you set an engagement as your central planning engagement, you can then create destination engagements.

To create a destination engagement, navigate to the central planning engagement in your Cloud site and use the Create Engagement from Source option. Risks, controls and selected checklists in this new engagement will then be synced from the central planning engagement.

The Create Engagement from Source option for a centrally planned engagement.

When you open a synced checklist in a destination engagement, a message displays informing you that the document has been completed in the central planning engagement with a link to the checklist in that engagement. Risks and controls will continue to display in the destination engagements but in a read-only state.

A synced checklist in a destination engagement.

You can select the Central planning icon ( ) in the top menu bar to open the Central Planning Hub. This page informs you if any changes have been made in the source engagement and allows you to sync those changes.

Carry forward for central planning

You can carry forward central planning and destination engagements the same way you carry forward any other engagement. However, the new engagements will not automatically be linked for syncing. You must manually link each destination engagement to the central planning engagement.

If you start making changes in the central planning engagement before you link it to the destination engagements, these changes will be synced to the destination engagements once you link them.

To link a destination engagement created from carry forward to the central planning engagement:

  1. Ensure both the destination engagements and the central planning engagement have been carried forward.

  2. In a destination engagement created from carry forward, select the Central planning icon ( ) in the top menu.

  3. In the Central Planning Hub, select the Sync icon ( ) to link the destination engagement to the current year central planning engagement.

    Note: There may be a small delay before newly linked destination engagements are visible in the Central Planning Hub of the central planning engagement.