Introduction – Replay of Session 3 – Sep 26, 2024
Session 3 was held on Thursday, September 25, 2024 at 1:45pm BST.
The session was lead by Megan Pontier (Assistant Controller - North America) with support from Oscar Villacis (Senior Financial Analyst, Financial Reporting - North America) and Stephanie Casertano (Head of Finance Systems)
Attendees included Joshua Hart (Group Marketing), Sanjay Marwaha (Group IT), Claire van Blerck (Group IT), Shane Williams (Kiddi), and Charlotte Caton (UK Marketing).
To easily navigate the video, please click anywhere on the video and select Chapters on the right hand side.
Meeting notes generated by AI:
- Vena Overview : Megan provided an overview of Vena, explaining the task tab, columns, and roles such as owner, support worker, and watcher. She emphasized the importance of understanding one's role and responsibilities in the task.
- Task Tab: Megan explained that upon logging into Vena, users are directed to the task tab, which displays various columns. Users can customize the columns using a dial on the left-hand side.
- Roles: Megan detailed the roles in Vena: owners are responsible for inputting data and submitting tasks for review, support workers assist owners but cannot submit tasks, and watchers monitor the task's lifecycle without direct involvement.
- Responsibilities: Megan emphasized the importance of understanding one's role and responsibilities in Vena to ensure tasks are completed accurately and on time.
- Task Columns and Roles : Megan explained the different columns in Vena, such as type, role, due date, task name, status, and activity. She highlighted the importance of the type and role columns in identifying tasks and responsibilities.
- Type Column: Megan explained that the type column distinguishes between input and review tasks. Input tasks require data entry, while review tasks involve reviewing the entered data.
- Role Column: Megan highlighted the role column, which identifies the user's relationship to the task, such as owner, support worker, or watcher.
- Due Date: The due date column shows deadlines for input tasks. Once an input task is submitted, the due date for the review task is updated accordingly.
- Task Name: The task name column includes the entity number, cost center, and type of task, providing a clear identification of each task.
- Status and Activity: The status column indicates the progress of the task (e.g., work in progress, started), while the activity column provides details about the type of activity and specific items involved.
- Input and Review Tasks : Megan detailed the distinction between input and review tasks, explaining that input tasks require data entry into templates, while review tasks involve reviewing the entered data.
- Input Tasks: Megan explained that input tasks involve entering data into templates, which are then submitted for review. Owners are responsible for completing these tasks.
- Review Tasks: Review tasks involve examining the data entered into templates. Reviewers check the accuracy and completeness of the data before approving or rejecting the task.
- Adding and Managing Tasks : Megan demonstrated how to add and manage tasks in Vena, including adding line item details, inserting rows, and removing unnecessary lines. She also explained the importance of saving and refreshing data in Vena.
- Adding Line Items: Megan demonstrated how to add line item details to tasks, such as specifying travel costs for individual employees or projects.
- Inserting Rows: Megan showed how to insert rows to add new accounts or details, ensuring that the correct cost center and other information are selected from the dropdown menus.
- Removing Lines: To remove unnecessary lines, users must delete all data in the row and then save and refresh the template to ensure the row is removed.
- Saving Data: Megan emphasized the importance of saving data to Vena using the "Save Data to Vena" button, rather than relying on Excel's autosave feature.
- Comparison Scenarios : Megan and Stephanie discussed the use of comparison scenarios in Vena, such as actuals, forecasts, and budgets. They explained how to switch between different scenarios and the importance of saving data before making changes.
- Comparison Scenarios: Megan explained that users can select different comparison scenarios, such as actuals, forecasts, and budgets, to view alongside the current budget data.
- Switching Scenarios: Users can switch between scenarios using the "Choose" function, but must save and refresh data before making changes to ensure data integrity.
- Comments and Collaboration : Megan and Stephanie explained the comments feature in Vena, which allows users to leave comments on specific cells and tag colleagues for collaboration. They emphasized the importance of clear communication and using comments to track incomplete tasks.
- Adding Comments: Megan demonstrated how to add comments to specific cells, providing explanations or additional details about the data entered.
- Tagging Colleagues: Users can tag colleagues in comments to notify them via email about specific issues or updates, facilitating collaboration and communication.
- Tracking Tasks: Comments can be used to track incomplete tasks by noting what still needs to be done, helping users and watchers stay informed about the task's progress.
- Data Inspection Tools : Megan and Stephanie discussed the data inspection tools in Vena, such as drill down, drill transactions, and audit trail. They explained how these tools help users access detailed information and track changes in the data.
- Drill Down: The drill down tool provides detailed information at the bottom level of Vena data, useful for examining specific details within a report or form.
- Drill Transactions: The drill transactions tool accesses transaction-level detail from M3, allowing users to investigate individual transactions within actuals data.
- Audit Trail: The audit trail tool tracks all changes made to the data, providing a history of edits and updates for transparency and accountability.
- Review and Approval Process : Megan explained the review and approval process in Vena, detailing how reviewers can leave comments, reject tasks for revisions, and approve completed tasks. She emphasized the importance of communication between input persons and reviewers.
- Review Process: Reviewers examine the data entered into templates, leaving comments for any necessary revisions. They can approve or reject tasks based on their review.
- Approval Process: Once the reviewer is satisfied with the data, they approve the task, which then moves up the chain for further review if necessary.
- Communication: Megan emphasized the importance of communication between input persons and reviewers to ensure that data is accurate and any issues are promptly addressed.
- Introduction and Roles: Megan and Oscar introduced themselves and their roles at Colart. Megan is the North America assistant controller, and Oscar is a financial analyst for the US location.
- Vena Overview: Megan provided an overview of Vena, explaining the task tab, columns, and roles such as owner, support worker, and watcher. She emphasized the importance of understanding one's role and responsibilities in the task.
- Task Columns and Roles: Megan explained the different columns in Vena, such as type, role, due date, task name, status, and activity. She highlighted the importance of the type and role columns in identifying tasks and responsibilities.
- Input and Review Tasks: Megan detailed the distinction between input and review tasks, explaining that input tasks require data entry into templates, while review tasks involve reviewing the entered data.
- Adding and Managing Tasks: Megan demonstrated how to add and manage tasks in Vena, including adding line item details, inserting rows, and removing unnecessary lines. She also explained the importance of saving and refreshing data in Vena.
- Comparison Scenarios: Megan and Stephanie discussed the use of comparison scenarios in Vena, such as actuals, forecasts, and budgets. They explained how to switch between different scenarios and the importance of saving data before making changes.
- Comments and Collaboration: Megan and Stephanie explained the comments feature in Vena, which allows users to leave comments on specific cells and tag colleagues for collaboration. They emphasized the importance of clear communication and using comments to track incomplete tasks.
- Data Inspection Tools: Megan and Stephanie discussed the data inspection tools in Vena, such as drill down, drill transactions, and audit trail. They explained how these tools help users access detailed information and track changes in the data.
- Scratchpad Feature: Megan introduced the scratchpad feature in Vena, which allows users to perform calculations and keep notes within the template. Stephanie encouraged using the scratchpad for rough workings and calculations to maintain transparency and accuracy.
- Review and Approval Process: Megan explained the review and approval process in Vena, detailing how reviewers can leave comments, reject tasks for revisions, and approve completed tasks. She emphasized the importance of communication between input persons and reviewers.
- Support and Resources: Stephanie highlighted the support resources available for Vena users, including the Vena help button, knowledge base, and Vena Academy. She encouraged users to provide feedback and reach out for assistance as needed.
- Closing Remarks: Megan and Stephanie concluded the meeting by thanking participants for their time and encouraging them to ask questions and provide feedback. Megan mentioned that she would send out an agenda and FAQ document to assist users.