Sync Insights with AccountsIQ - Beta

Introduction

The Data Model and AIQ

Your Insights Data Model is built from your chart of accounts in AccountsIQ. When your chart of accounts changes, for example when a GL account is added or a subcategory is deleted, Insights picks up the change and tells you what has happened.

This article explains how the two stay synced, what happens for each type of update, and when you need to take action.

Disabling Insights and your Data Model

If Insights is disabled on your account, your Data Model, drafts and saved views are kept. They are restored in full if Insights is enabled again.

See:

📗 Insights Setup & Data Model - Beta

📗 Insights Reports - Beta

📗 Building Calculations - Beta

How AIQ and Insights connect

How Sections and Lines link to AIQ

Sections and Lines can be linked to your chart of accounts in AccountsIQ using the Linked to field.

A Section can be linked to a GL category. This will add all the GL accounts that belong to the GL Category's Subcategories.
A Line can be linked to a GL subcategory. This will add all the GL accounts that belong to the GL Subcategory.

How updates impact linking

Links use the Category/Subcategory ID in AccountsIQ, not the name, giving greater control over how updates are managed.

Module	Action	Impact on Links
Insights	Rename line	None. If you rename a linked line in Insights, the new name is kept, even if the category or subcategory is later renamed in AccountsIQ.
Insights	Move line	None
AIQ	Deletions	If a category or subcategory is deleted in AccountsIQ, you decide what happens. You can choose to remove its GL accounts from your structure and calculations, or to keep your current structure.
AIQ	Rename Category or Subcategory	Renaming a category or subcategory in AccountsIQ will not break your Data Model. When a category, subcategory or GL account is renamed in AccountsIQ, the new name appears in Insights automatically, unless you’ve already renamed that item in Insights. Any name you set in Insights is always kept.

Report layout is driven by the Data Model, not AIQ directly

Your report layout belongs to your Data Model. Changes in AccountsIQ never alter your line order, your groupings or how your calculated lines are defined. The figures in your report will still update as your GL data changes.

How GL Accounts Map in the Data Model

All GL Accounts in your chart of accounts must be mapped to a line in the Data Model before you can save your changes. Both Sections and Lines can be mapped to select GL Accounts in addition to, or instead of, Categories and Subcategories.

The following updates to the Data Model have no impact on GL Mapping:

Action in Insights	Impact
Unlink Line	The line keeps the GL accounts already mapped to it.
Move Line	None. Note: When you move a line to a different section, its EBITDA Reporting Type is reset to None. Check the line and select a new EBITDA Reporting Type if needed.
Rename Line	None

When you add a GL account in AIQ, one of the following outcomes will happen:

Line Status	When a new GL account is added to the subcategory in AIQ
Linked	Mapped: The GL Account will be automatically added in Insights if it is part of a linked subcategory, wherever the line sits in your Data Model.
Not Linked	Unmapped: The account will appear in the Unmapped section, and you need to map it to a line yourself.

Save setup time with linking

Sections and lines that you create yourself in Insights aren’t linked when you create them. Link lines to their categories or subcategories wherever possible, so new accounts are added to your reports automatically.

Reviewing Notifications

When does Insights check for changes in AIQ?

Insights compares your published Data Model with your chart of accounts in AccountsIQ:

when the Data Model is opened
when you publish the Data Model
when a report is viewed
when you run a check on demand

Notifications

When your chart of accounts changes, an indicator such as 1 item needs your attention appears at the top of the Data Model. Select it to open Chart of accounts updates, which lists each change with an explanation and the date it was last updated.

Notifications are shown at three levels, depending on whether you need to act:

Notification	Colour	Meaning
Informational	Purple	Insights has updated your Data Model automatically, for example when a new GL account linked to a mapped subcategory, or category is added. No action is needed, but you can change the mapping if you’d like. Select X to dismiss the message.
Warning	Amber	A change needs your review, for example when a GL account is moved to a different subcategory in AccountsIQ and your reported numbers may change.
Error	Red	A change must be resolved before you can save, for example when a subcategory is deleted. Save Changes is disabled until you choose how to handle it. Once handled, the updated Data Model must be saved and then published.

Warnings and Errors block publishing

Warnings and errors block publishing. Amber and red items can’t be dismissed; they stay open until you resolve them. While they are open, the Board P&L continues to show the last published version, with a banner explaining what is affected.

Resolving Notifications

Any difference that needs attention appears as an unresolved item in the Data Model.

Change in AIQ	What happens in Insights
New GL account added	If the GL account’s subcategory is linked to a line, the GL account is automatically added under that line: If not, it appears in the Unmapped section and you need to map it to a line:
New subcategory added	If the subcategory's category is linked to a section, the subcategory is automatically added under that section. If not, it appears in the Unmapped section and you need to map it to section. Note: Mapping GL Accounts is required but mapping the newly added subcategory in addition to GL accounts is optional.
New category added	Insights automatically creates a new section for the category, with a line for each of its subcategories, their GL accounts, and a total line for the section. You don’t need to build anything, but you can rearrange it.
Category, subcategory, or GL account renamed	The new name flows through to Insights automatically while your numbers stay the same. If you’ve renamed the linked item in Insights, your name is kept.
GL account moved to a different subcategory	Insights flags the change for your review, because your reported numbers may change.
Category or subcategory deleted	You need to decide how to handle the change before you can save. Choose one of the following: Remove Category/Subcategory. This removes the category/subcategory and its GL accounts from your structure and from any calculations that use them. Keep Current Structure: This keeps the line in your Data Model. The line becomes unlinked since there is no existing category/subcategory to connect it to. Alternatively, you can restore the deleted item in AccountsIQ.

Data freshness, accuracy and governance

Data Area	Notes
Consolidation	Reports reflect the most recent consolidation run. The Data last consolidated timestamp above the grid shows which run you are looking at. If consolidation runs while you have a report open, you keep seeing the previous run until you refresh. FX translation, revaluation, intercompany eliminations, ownership percentages and minority interest are applied by AccountsIQ before the data reaches Insights.
Reconciliation	At GL category and subcategory level, Insights totals match the AccountsIQ GL Explorer for the same entity, period and scenario.
Rounding	Totals and calculated lines are worked out from unrounded values and then rounded for display, so a rounded column may differ from the visible total by a small rounding amount. This is standard practice. In an Excel export, Excel’s SUM over the exported cells matches the exported total.
Presentation only	Display Settings change how numbers look, not the numbers themselves.
Access control	Reports, drill-down and exports are always limited to the entities each user can access in AccountsIQ.
Audit trail	Every Data Model publish is logged with the user, time and changes made. Every Excel export records who exported it, when, and the data timestamp.