My books are closed - what do I do?
At Drivepoint we refer to the process of updating the model after the accounting data for the last month closed, ārolling the model forwardā.
So what should you do after your accountant let you know that the books are closed for last month?
If you have done this process a couple of times, you can click on āImport All Dataā and then navigate to the Roll Forward step.
First we need to import fresh QBO data into your model.
Navigate to Drivepoint
Open your SmartModelā¢
Open the Drivepoint Add-In
Click on āData Importā
Click on the ā¬ļø icon next to QBO or Netsuite
If the import was skipped, you need to map new accounts that we found in your financial data. The UI will take you there: map new accounts to Drivepoint categories and click āSave Accounts mappingā. Find more info here.
Drivepoint will now import your financial (QBO or Netsuite) data. Drivepoint imports financial data in the R-GL tab in your model.
You can see that the import has worked if thereās data populating for the month you just closed in the R-GL tab inside your model.
Now that we have mapped any new accounts and have fresh financial data we should also import all of the other data sources to make sure we have the complete business data in the model.
Click on Data Import
Click on the ā¬ļø icon next to Shopify and/or Amazon. Both can be run in parallel.
Drivepoint will now import your operational data. The data populates in multiple different tabs (R- DTC/AMZ Product Sales Mix, R- DTC/AMZ Retention Predictions).
Depending on the size of your data, this can sometimes take 5-8 min since we are also importing the Drivepoint retention predictions (our prediction of your returning customers for the next months).
For a quick check whether the data looks right, navigate to R-Product Sales Mix and see if the data has populated for the month you are trying to close
Now that we have full fresh data, letās actually roll the model forward - a motion that essentially grabs all of the fresh data and turns the month you are trying to close from āForecastā to āActualsā.
In the Drivepoint Add-in, click on āRoll Forwardā
Since we just imported fresh data, you can skip the data import pop-up screen
Select the month that you are trying to close (last month of actuals)
Select all of the tabs you want to roll forward. We strongly recommend to roll forward ALL tabs
Confirm your selection
Drivepoint will now roll the model forward by grabbing the fresh data and converting the month from forecast to actuals
Upon completion, you can navigate to M-monthly and see whether in Row 3 the label has changed from āForecastā to āActualā
Check for errors to ensure everything looks good:
Look into the forecast: any big crazy numbers?
M-monthly checks
Assets & Liabilities - make sure they are balanced
Annual views: is cash okay? Does it look reasonable?