Understanding projects

A project represents a complete financial reporting deliverable, such as an annual report, a statutory financial statement, or a management report for a specific reporting entity and period.

A project acts as a centralized workspace that brings together:

  • Financial data retrieved from IBM Controller
  • Structured report sections with user-authored content
  • Formatting definitions applied through a style sheet

Each project reflects a specific reporting context, such as a financial year, reporting entity, or reporting scope. Projects operate independently; changes to one project do not affect others.

A project follows a lifecycle that includes the following stages:

  1. Creation — Define project settings, data source, and company structure.
  2. Report authoring — Edit report sections including cover page, statements, and notes.
  3. Validation — Review content, formatting, and data accuracy.
  4. Finalization — Lock the project to prevent further changes.
  5. Export — Download the completed report in the required format.
Note: Each project maintains its own independent configuration. Changing the data source or company settings of one project does not affect any other project.