Overview: By the end of this guide, you will be able to add a client group and clients, create a Workpaper binder for the client, import records and documents and reconcile balances.
Please refer to the Glossary for definitions of key terms used in this article.
Linking your Microsoft account
To connect your Microsoft account, login to the Active Platform at my.businessfitness.com.
Note: It is essential that users connect their Microsoft accounts with Business Fitness so they are able to open documents within the Active Platform in Excel. Without connecting this, users are unable to do so.
Click on the Wp icon.
This will prompt you to link your Microsoft account.
Select Link Microsoft Account and follow the prompts.
Once connected successfully, you will be able to proceed with using the Active Platform normally.
Adding a client group and clients
Navigate back to the Active homepage and click Clients.
Note: If your firm has Active Sync turned on, clients and groups will be imported from your practice management software automatically so please skip to the next chapter.
Click + New Client, then Client Group and fill out the mandatory details.
Once done, click Add Client Group.
This will take you to the client group. Click + Add Client and fill out the mandatory details.
Once done, click Add Client.
Creating a Workpaper binder
Within the client group page, find the client you want to create a binder for.
Click on the Wp icon next to the client’s name.
Select to Create from Scratch.
Fill out the mandatory details. Select the type of binder you wish to create (e.g. for year-end compliance work, select Accounts and Tax). Ensure the dates match your current reporting year, check that your assigned users are correct, and update the binder status to 'In Progress' for example. Then click Create Binder.
Click Open Now to open the Workpaper binder.
To link your trial balance to your Xero file, press + Connect to New Source.
Choose the appropriate source you want to import data from, e.g. Xero.
Note: The sources available to you will vary depending on your region. For UK users, sources will only include Active Ledger & Reporting, Excel, Xero and QBO.
This will prompt a login to your cloud accounting provider online account. Sign into your account and select the client file you wish to use as a source. Click Continue.
Once back in Active, select the file and click Add Source.
In the account column section, column 1 will be automatically set as your current financial year, and column 2 will be your comparative year. Click the checkbox Show Adjustment Journals.
Add further financial or calculation columns by clicking on the + Add Column dropdown.
Once done, click Continue.
The next section allows you to link your binder directly to your client's ATO data. The system will pre-fill the client's TFN and/or ABN using details already stored in the Active Platform.
Click Connect & Import.
Note: If you don't need to import ATO data at this time, you can choose to Skip this step.
Once you click to Connect & Import, a secure authentication modal will appear, prompting you to re-authenticate your sign-in credentials (e.g., via myGovID).
This crucial step ensures secure, authorised access to sensitive ATO data.
Upon successful authentication, your ATO data import will begin in the background, inserting the ATO workpaper records into your binder as you complete the setup.
Note: You must enter a TFN to import all pre-filling data for an Individual Tax Return (ITR), hence please ensure it's accurate. If only an ABN is present, you'll still be able to import certain ATO data types, BAS Lodgements, for example.
In the final step, provide the additional relevant details as required. For users in Australia, ensure that the checkboxes for 'Small Business Entity' and 'Base Rate Entity' are selected, if applicable.
Once happy, click Complete.
You are now ready to start preparing your binder.
Note: You will be presented with the 'Bulk Insert' wizard when the binder has loaded. This feature allows you to insert standard Business Fitness worksheets against your trial balance accounts in bulk.
Select No Thanks or Bulk Insert depending on whether you wish to import these or not.
If you choose not to bulk insert the worksheets at the start of the job, you can always bring up the 'Bulk Insert' wizard later should you need it from the Settings & Tools screen.
Launching the Excel binder
To open the Excel binder, you first need to have downloaded the Excel add-in from Microsoft AppSource. Refer to the following support article: How to install the Active Workpapers Excel add-in.
Download the add-in and return to these instructions.
To open the binder in Excel, click "Open in Excel".
Once the Excel binder opens, log in using your Business Fitness credentials.
Once logged in, you will notice the Excel taskpane mirrors exactly what you see in the web binder. You can work in either the web or Excel taskpane, however to complete or review Excel worksheet reconciliations, you will need to have the Excel binder open.
We recommend that if you have access to two screens, you open the Excel binder on one and the web on the other. Where you are only on one screen, we recommend opening the Excel binder and using the taskpane.
Adding and reconciling records
Firstly, turn on recommendations so that Active Workpapers prompts you to add a particular worksheet against your general ledger accounts.
There are various types of records you can add against an account. To get started, click on the Trial Balance tab and select Add Record.
In this example, the trial balance account is categorised as a bank account, offering the choice to either select 'Bank' or '+ New Record'.
If the recommended record is relevant, accept it. In this case, we will accept the Bank record to proceed.
This will populate the sheet against the account, ready for you to reconcile.
To reconcile this worksheet, launch the Excel binder, navigate to the sheet and fill out the required details.
For this example, input the account details and balance per bank statement.
Once the worksheet balance agrees to the general ledger, the reconciliation indicator will turn green on the record template, and a green tick will appear on the index to indicate that there is a two-way match between the record template and the general ledger.
To finalise the worksheet to ensure it is ready for review, select the checklist icon and complete the checklist.
Once your worksheet is reconciled, change the status to Ready for Review, for example.
You can also choose other ways to add a record to an account if one has not been recommended.
Click on the Add Record button then click + Add Record. A pop-up screen will appear on the screen.
These options are as follows:
Record template: allows you to choose a standard Business Fitness worksheet you wish to use to reconcile the account
Link to existing sheet: allows you to bring in or create your own worksheet to reconcile your account
Comment: allows you to write a comment on the account and choose to roll the comment over each year
General ledger: where connected to a cloud client accounting file, this record will extract the GL entries for the account for the period and put them in a GL details worksheet against the account
Link to external value: allows you to reconcile a balance in one set of Workpapers to another set of Workpapers. This is especially useful when you want to reconcile inter-entity loans
Upload documents: allows you to simply drag and drop a document to use as support for your GL account balance. This will save the source document inside Active Workpapers for ease of review
Workpaper binder tips
There are a few main tips relating to the Workpaper binder, as below:
On your initial set up of the binder, before you open the Excel sheet for the first time, if you prefer to see the year you are completing on the right-hand side of the trial balance, please select column 1 as your comparative and column 2 as your current year
You can move the worksheets around like you would any other Excel spreadsheet - this will not change the link it has to the trial balance.
Additional resources
If you need help, refer to the following for guidance.
RESOURCE | SUMMARY & LINK |
Quick start video - Active Workpapers | Click here to learn how to create a Workpaper binder for a client, link a data source, add standard/custom worksheets, and perform account reconciliations |
Quick start video - Active Platform | Click here to discover how to set up clients/client groups and navigate the Active Platform home screen with ease |
Training Centre | Click here for our training courses on Active products |
Support Centre | Click here for our library of support articles |