Planning projects

Prepare and consolidate planning information in a project, including the project background, purpose, scope, and relevant planning files.

Notes
  • The Planning tab in a project is equivalent in functionality to the Reference tab in a framework.
  • When two users are editing the same field, the first user to save is successful. The second user receives a warning message to copy the changes and refresh the page to avoid overwriting the earlier change.

How it works

Planning a project is the process of defining objectives within a project, and setting up all the tasks that are required to achieve objectives.

Planning a project typically involves:

  • defining the background or context of the project
  • documenting the purpose of the project
  • defining the high-level project activities within scope
  • preparing all relevant planning files

Within each project, you can document planning information from the Planning tab, and upload supporting files that pertain to the planning process from the Planning Files tab.

Example

Planning information: FCPA assessment and monitoring

Scenario

You are responsible for preparing and consolidating all planning documentation related to a FCPA assessment and monitoring project. You need to capture this information in the project so that it can be referenced at a later date.

Process

First, you navigate to the Planning page, and define the background, purpose, and scope of the project. Then, you add supporting documentation using the Planning Files page.

Result

The planning information reads as follows:

Background Anti-bribery and anti-corruption risks are not well mitigated by standard (i.e. reporting focused) financial controls. The impact of non-compliance to anti-bribery and anti-corruption legislation is potential investigation by authorities leading to fines up to billions.

Organizations with operations in the United States are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and organizations connected with the United Kingdom are subject to the U.K. Bribery Act.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 is a US Federal Law primarily intended to prohibit payments of bribes to foreign officials and political figures (also know as the Anti-Bribery Provision). The second provision requires that companies maintain transparency requirements for business accounting as outlined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (also know as the Accounting Provision).

The Bribery Act of 2010 is a UK law that creates four distinct criminal offenses of:

  • Bribing another – i.e., the offering, promising or giving of an advantage to another person
  • Being bribed – i.e., the requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of an advantage from another person
  • Bribing a foreign official
  • Failing to prevent bribery (for commercial organizations)

Purpose / Objective This program is intended to provide you with insight on preventing and detecting anti-bribery/corruption risk, and should not be construed as legal advice.

Anti-bribery and anti-corruption legislation is complex. You are cautioned to obtain independent, qualified legal and accounting advice regarding the regulations that affect your organization.

Scope This program will provide guidance on how to implement preventative and detective controls in your organization to mitigate the process-level risks related to anti-bribery and anti-corruption.

We will include all key business processes and general governance within the project scope, specifically:

  • Governance & Business Partners
  • General Ledger
  • Vendor Management
  • Purchase to Payment
  • Order to Cash
  • Payroll
  • Travel and Entertainment

Permissions

Only Professional Managers and Professional Users can add planning information. Oversight Executives and Oversight Reviewers have read access to planning information.

Add planning information

Add planning information to define the background, purpose, and scope of a project.

  1. Open the Projects app.

    The Projects homepage opens.

  2. Open a project.

    The project dashboard opens.

  3. Click the Planning tab.
  4. Enter the relevant information and click Save:
    Note

    Rich text fields cannot exceed 524,288 characters.

    FieldDescription

    Background

    optional

    the context of the project

    Purpose/Objective

    optional

    the goals of the project

    Scope

    optional

    the extent of the project

    Attributes

    optional

    specifies the attributes associated with planning or the overall project

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can define custom attributes for planning under Manage project types.

    Tip

    To enable spell check on rich text fields, do one of the following:

    • Chrome, Firefox, or Safari CTRL + right-click within the field on Windows or Command + right-click on Mac
    • Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge open your browser settings and turn on spell check / highlighting of misspelled words

    Result The planning information is added to the project.

  5. Entity Coverage - Optional. Tag the project to one or more entities for reporting purposes.
    Note

    Only Professional Managers can tag a project with an entity by clicking Show content and selecting each entity to associate with the project. Changes are automatically saved.

Add a planning file entry

Quickly add a planning file entry to your project.

  1. Open the Projects app.

    The Projects homepage opens.

  2. Open a project.

    The project dashboard opens.

  3. Click the Planning tab.
  4. Click the Planning Files subtab.
  5. Click Add Planning Documents, enter the relevant information, and click Save:
    FieldDescription
    Name/Title

    the file name

    The maximum length is 255 characters.

    Planning ID

    optional

    the reference number or code for the planning file

    The maximum length is 8 characters.

    Attributes

    optional

    specifies the attributes associated with the planning file

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

    Result The planning file entry is added. The attachments column remains at "0" until you upload files.

Update planning file information

Note

When two users are editing the same field, the first user to save is successful. The second user receives a warning message to copy the changes and refresh the page to avoid overwriting the earlier change.

Update planning file information and upload supporting files that pertain to the planning process.

  1. Open the Projects app.

    The Projects homepage opens.

  2. Open a project.

    The project dashboard opens.

  3. Click the Planning tab.
  4. Click the Planning Files subtab.
  5. Click Details next to the appropriate file name, enter the relevant information, and click Save:
    FieldDescription
    Name/Title

    the file name

    The maximum length is 255 characters.

    Planning ID

    optional

    the reference number or code for the planning file

    Content or Description

    optional

    specifies details about the planning file

    Note

    Rich text fields cannot exceed 524,288 characters.

    Tip

    To enable spell check on rich text fields, do one of the following:

    • Chrome, Firefox, or Safari CTRL + right-click within the field on Windows or Command + right-click on Mac
    • Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge open your browser settings and turn on spell check / highlighting of misspelled words

    Planned Start Date

    optional

    specifies the date when work on the planning file is planned to start

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

    Planned End Date

    optional

    specifies the date when work on the planning file is planned to end

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

    Actual Start Date

    optional

    specifies the date when work on the planning file actually started

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

    Actual End Date

    optional

    specifies the date when work on the planning file actually ended

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

    Planned Milestone Date

    optional

    specifies the planned date of a milestone associated with the planning file

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

    Actual Milestone Date

    optional

    specifies the actual date of a milestone associated with the planning file

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

    Attributes

    optional

    specifies the attributes associated with the planning file

    Project Admins and Project Type Admins can enable and customize this field under Managing project types (see Projects app settings).

  6. Optional. Under Supporting Files, upload any necessary files.

    For more information, see Working with attachments.

    Note

    For security reasons, Diligent One does not accept file attachments with the following extensions: .bat, .com, .dmg, .exe, or .scr.

    Result The planning file information is added to the project.

After you plan a project

After you plan a project, you can complete the following tasks:

Task Information
1. Ensure that all team members have the appropriate access to the project.

Assigning user roles in projects and frameworks

2. Build the project (define objectives, risks, and controls). Workflows and project types

3. Manage timelines and dates across the different phases of all active projects in a single, central view.

Scheduling projects