Checkpoint Tools for PPC

Quick Reference
Installed on your local computer, Checkpoint Tools for PPC are a collection of value-added productivity solutions created in Microsoft®
Word and Excel templates that will save you time and money when you set up client engagements.

Treeview Selector
Shown below is the Treeview Selector, which is the main dialog screen in the Checkpoint Tools for PPC suite. The suite consists of four
product categories:
Engagement Letter Generator: Contains letter templates for audit, attest, and tax engagements.
You can select the type of client, engagement, period end dates and additional paragraph text.
Currently, PPC offers 48 different letter templates (updated annually).
Disclosure Libraries:
Make sure you are
following professional
standards. The disclosure
checklist lists every
pronouncement under
current rules.
The library contains
hundreds of examples
of disclosure wording
that you can use in Notes
to Financial Statements.

Practice Aids: Includes

PPC audit programs,
checklists, and sample
letters from corresponding
guides.

Workpapers: Used for

documenting sections of
engagement work, PPC
creates and updates these
Excel spreadsheets with
numeric calculations,
dynamic content and
automated schedules.

The following options are available from the drop-down menus at the top of the Treeview Selector screen:

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© 2011 Thomson Reuters/PPC. All rights reserved. W-329871: 0811

Practice Aid Example
Below is an example of a Practice Aid Word document. Open this audit program in Word and use Practice Aid functionality with or
without paperless engagement software.

In the N/A Performed by and

Date column, easily sign off
on steps as you complete the
stages of the engagement.

In the Workpaper Index

column, enter notes for easy
retrieval of this information
at a later date in your
engagement documentation.

Checkpoint Tools for PPC Menu

The Checkpoint Tools for PPC menu functions in both Word and Excel. The menu options vary, however, depending on what type of
document you are in. Below is an example of the options that are available when you are in an audit program:

Create a New Workpaper – Displays Share Data – Share data within a

the treeview selector so you can select document (such as client information)
the document you want to create. with other documents in an engagement.

Review Audit Program Changes – View Practical Considerations – Show

Show/Hide/Accept changes to the Practical Considerations in a document,
document (similar to Word’s Track if available. (They are displayed in blue
Changes feature). text.)

Print Practical Considerations – Step Sign-Off – With your initials and

Print Practical Considerations date, mark a procedure step as signed
when you print the document. off. (Shortcut: ALT + G )

Step NA – Designate a procedure Clear All Sign-offs/Checkmarks –

step as Not Applicable (N/A). Clear all sign-offs and checkmarks in
(Shortcut: ALT + N ) the document.

Add Comments – Insert comments Tickmarks Toolbar – Show/Hide the

into an audit program document. Checkpoint Tools Tickmarks toolbar
in Word or Excel.
Content Settings – Select a link
to the related reference material Checkpoint Tools Help – Open the
(if you have a valid Reference Checkpoint Tools for PPC Help system.
Library subscription or Checkpoint
subscription to the material). About Checkpoint Tools – Display
copyright information for the product.

Note: In Office 2007, the PPC menu is located in the upper left of the Add-In tab.

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Field Designations
On each Excel template, you can easily identify the type of field by its formatting. Below is an example of the Fixed Asset Rollforward
Workpaper for Nonpublic Companies:

Color Codes:
• Cells shaded white are data entry fields.
• Cells shaded yellow are calculated fields
and should not be edited.
• Cells shaded gray are blank fields.

Note: Cells with guidance notes contain

a small red triangle in the upper right
corner. Whenever you place your cursor
over a triangle, a guidance note appears.

Warning: Editing the calculated fields

will result in the loss of calculations
because of the removal of formulas!

Diagnostics
In Workpapers, you can obtain additional guidance from relevant messages or additional fields, based on input selections.

Viewing diagnostic items (appearing as red text)

on a workpaper input sheet:
For example, select No to the first question on this
Impairment of Long-lived Assets template in
e-Workpapers for Small Business Audits, located in
the Cash, Inventory, Property and Other Assets folder.
Appearing in red text under that question is the
following message:
”The asset is not considered impaired. The remainder
of this worksheet need not be completed.”

Viewing Diagnostics items as fields requesting

additional data:
Click Yes to the second question, and an additional
table for input information is displayed on the sheet
automatically.

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 Disclosure Checklist Documents
Every PPC Interactive Disclosure Library™ product contains a user-friendly disclosure checklist, plus hundreds of disclosure examples
that you can paste directly into your financial statements. The three available disclosure checklists are Nonpublic Businesses,
Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations.
A Disclosure Checklist has five worksheets: Introduction, Part I, Part II, Subsequent Pronouncements, and Comments. (Notice the tabs
at the bottom of the screens below.)
Click Hide Instructions to hide the display of the
instructions paragraph on the Part I tab. To view the
instructions paragraph again, click View Instructions.

Click a plus sign to expand the detailed rows.

Click the Ex icon to see an example.

Part I tab Right-click to insert a check mark
in the Yes, No, or NA column.
Engagement Letter Generator
You can create engagement letters for a variety of engagements. On the Treeview Selector screen, click the plus sign and expand the
Engagement Letter Generator product title to the document level, down to Small Business, for example. When the letter template
opens in Word, you can customize it to meet your needs.

From the PPC menu at the top of your template, you can select Customize a Letter to quickly fill in your client’s engagement letter
information:

A new dialog box containing your customization options is displayed:

Notes:
Depending on the letter you are using, the options on the PPC Letter
Customizer dialog box will be different.
Go through each tab on the Letter Customizer and complete any
required fields prior to clicking OK. Otherwise, you will see the word
“error” on your letter wherever you have incomplete data.

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PPC Tickmark Toolbar
You can use the Checkpoint Tools for PPC set of predefined and customizable tickmark symbols to help organize comments and workflow
processes in any of your tools documents.

From the main menu, select PPC and then Tickmarks Toolbar
to display the available PPC tickmarks.

Note: You can show/hide the

Tickmarks toolbar by right-
clicking anywhere in the toolbar
and selecting Checkpoint
Tools Tickmarks.
You can also select PPC>
To display the PPC Tickmarks toolbar, first open a file
Tickmarks Toolbar to show
(ASB-CX-2 in Practice Aids, for example).
or hide this toolbar.

As shown at the right, you

can also drag the Checkpoint
Tools Tickmarks toolbar to
the Excel toolbar.

Inserting a Tickmark Legend

You can insert a Tickmark legend on any page of a document. First, select a
cell in an empty portion of an Excel worksheet or click anywhere in a Word
document. Then click the Insert Legend button on the Tickmarks toolbar.
Check or uncheck the Tickmarks to be displayed in the legend.

Click OK.

Defining Tickmarks
To define a tickmark, first select Define Tickmarks from the PPC Tickmarks
toolbar:
Select a tickmark that is not already defined and type a definition in
the field to the right of that tickmark, such as Agreed to Current Year
Workpapers.
Note: These definitions will always appear from this point forward until
you make another definition change.
To insert a tickmark, place the cursor in the document where you want
to insert a tickmark. Then, from the PPC Tickmarks toolbar, select the
tickmark you want to insert.
To delete a tickmark, select the tickmark in the document you want to
delete. (In Excel, you must select the tickmark, not just the cell in which
the tickmark is located.) Then press the Delete key on your keyboard.
After defining a tickmark, click OK.
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 Installing and Updating Checkpoint Tools for PPC
To install or update Checkpoint Tools for PPC, log in to Checkpoint and click the Tools tab. Then select PPC Install/Update from
the left frame of the screen.

Or:
Select PPC Install/
Update.

The PPC Install/Update page displays the various tools available for installation:

Click Install/
Update.

Checkpoint displays the installation instructions:

Click Product Installer (and follow the prompts).