Engagement details are the facts your firm records about each due diligence engagement, such as the project type, the industry, where the work came from and the expected fee. They power Practice Intelligence, and your firm chooses which ones to use. In My Firm Settings they're called engagement fields.
This article covers the firm-wide setup. Changes here apply to every engagement at your firm. To fill in details on an engagement, see Entering Engagement Details.
Open the Engagement Fields settings
- Select the arrow next to your initials in the top-right corner.
- Select My Firm Settings.
- Select the Engagement Fields tab.
Each row is one engagement detail, with a short description, its type and two switches: Required to Archive and Enabled. Hover over or select the info icon next to a field name to see examples.
You can also get here from any engagement: on its Summary tab, select Configure next to the Engagement Details heading.
When your firm starts out, no detail is required. The text, currency, number and user details are turned on. The seven dropdown details start with no choices, so they stay off until you add your firm's choices. A dropdown turns on once it has at least one choice.
Set up your firm for the first time
- Add your firm's choices to each dropdown you want to use (see Customize dropdown choices below).
- Turn off any details your firm doesn't want to use.
- If you have finished engagements that were never archived, archive them before the next step. Once a detail is required, each of those engagements needs it filled in before it can be archived.
- Turn on Required to Archive for any detail that must be filled in before an engagement is archived. Engagement Fee Average is a good candidate, since every fee figure in Practice Intelligence depends on it.
- Tell your teams, and share Entering Engagement Details.
The details you can track
In these descriptions, the seller is the company being bought or sold.
| Group | Detail | Type | What it captures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deal | Project Type | Dropdown | The type of advisory work being performed, such as buy-side or sell-side diligence. |
| Deal | Acquisition Type | Dropdown | The type of acquisition being evaluated, such as a platform or add-on acquisition. |
| Deal | Source of Opportunity | Dropdown | How the engagement opportunity originated, such as an existing client or a referral. |
| Client & Target | Client Name | Text | The organization that hired your firm, such as a private equity fund or a corporate buyer. |
| Client & Target | Investment Banker(s) | Text | The investment banker or advisory firm involved in the transaction. |
| Client & Target | Seller Location | Text | The seller's location. Agree on one format across your firm, for example "Columbus, OH". |
| Fees | Engagement Fee Low | Currency | The low end of the fee range. |
| Fees | Engagement Fee High | Currency | The high end of the fee range. |
| Fees | Engagement Fee Average | Currency | The fee you expect to earn for the engagement. Practice Intelligence uses this detail for every fee figure. |
| Industry | Industry | Dropdown | The seller's primary business sector. |
| Industry | Sub-Industry | Dropdown | A more specific category within an industry. |
| Accounting & Reporting | Seller Accounting System | Dropdown | The accounting system the seller uses. |
| Accounting & Reporting | Financial Report Type | Dropdown | The type of financial diligence report to be delivered. |
| Accounting & Reporting | Calendar Years to Present in Report | Number | How many calendar years of financial information the report presents. |
| Team | Financial Partner | User (someone at your firm) | The partner responsible for the engagement. |
| Team | Financial Project Manager | User (someone at your firm) | The person managing the engagement day to day. |
The groups show how the details are arranged on each engagement's Summary tab.
Note: Engagement Fee Average is the expected fee your team enters. It isn't calculated from the fee range, so a $40,000 to $70,000 range can still have an expected fee of $50,000.
Note: Client Name is the organization that hired your firm, such as the buyer on a buy-side deal. It's different from the client the engagement belongs to in Audit Sight (the company being analyzed), whose name fills in Seller Legal Name automatically.
Note: Industry and Sub-Industry are your firm's own categories for engagements. They're separate from the industry you can set on a client.
Details filled in automatically
Seven details are filled in for every engagement. They aren't listed on the Engagement Fields tab and can't be turned off or edited in Engagement Details.
| Detail | Where it comes from | To change it |
|---|---|---|
| Project ID | The engagement's ID number in Audit Sight. | Can't be changed. |
| Project Name | The engagement's name. | Rename the engagement in Edit Engagement. |
| Date Project Added | The date the engagement was created in Audit Sight. | Can't be changed. |
| Single or Multi-Entity Deal? | Multi when the client has two or more entities in Audit Sight; otherwise Single. | Add or remove the client's entities. |
| Calendar Year End or Fiscal Year End | Calendar Year End when the client's fiscal year starts January 1; otherwise Fiscal Year End. If the client has no fiscal year set, Audit Sight uses the month the engagement's accounting period ends (December means Calendar Year End). | Set the client's Fiscal Year Start Date when you edit the client. |
| Report TTM Period | The twelve months ending on the last day of the engagement's accounting period, for example TTM Dec-25. | Change the accounting period's End Date in Edit Engagement. |
| Seller Legal Name | The client's name in Audit Sight. | Edit the client's name. |
Customize dropdown choices
- Select the pencil icon at the end of a dropdown detail's row.
- In Edit Choices, make your changes:
- Select + Add Choice to add a choice. Each choice needs a name of up to 100 characters, and two choices in the same detail can't share a name, even with different capitalization.
- Type over a choice to rename it. Engagements that already use it show the new name.
- Select Retire to stop a choice from being picked for new entries. Engagements that already use it keep it, and it still appears in Practice Intelligence. Select Restore to make it available again.
- Select × to delete a choice. Engagements that used it will show that detail as empty, and the choice is removed from Practice Intelligence. Once you select Save Choices, this can't be undone. To keep past engagements' history, retire the choice instead. To delete a retired choice, restore it first.
- Select Save Choices. Nothing changes until you save, and Cancel discards your edits.
Turn a detail on or off
Use the Enabled switch. Changes save right away.
- A detail that's turned on appears in Engagement Details on every engagement and throughout Practice Intelligence: the table, filters, charts and export.
- A detail that's turned off is hidden everywhere. Anything already entered is kept and comes back if you turn the detail on again.
- A dropdown detail can't be turned on until it has at least one choice.
Require details before archiving
Turn on Required to Archive for any detail your firm wants filled in before an engagement is archived.
- Your teams can still work on and save an engagement with the detail empty. Audit Sight checks required details only when someone archives the engagement, and lists anything missing. See Entering Engagement Details.
- Engagements that are already archived aren't affected.
- Audit Sight checks a required detail only while its Enabled switch is on.
- A dropdown detail needs at least one choice before it can be required, and a required dropdown must keep at least one choice that isn't retired.
Frequently asked questions
Can we add our own details or rename one?
Every firm has the same list of details, and you choose which ones to use. You can't add your own details or rename them. If your firm needs a detail that isn't listed, contact Audit Sight support.
