Custom Participant Configuration Via UI - Product Advisory

February 2024

New Feature: Configuration Settings, Custom Participant Configuration

With this release, we added a feature giving users the ability to create a Custom Participant via the Configuration Settings workspace. Participant creation is available for deal, asset, or allocation level attributes. Support only previously offered the setup of Custom Participants through a Service Cloud request, and with the new self-service feature, Support will no longer create Custom Participants.

Self-Service Form

The new interface is accessible via the Configuration Settings workspace under a new Custom Participant Configuration tile.

If you already have Custom Participants, they will appear in the table. When a Participant is associated with a lease, you will see the binoculars icon at the beginning of this line to facilitate viewing the details. Once used, they cannot be deleted or edited.

Note: There are pre-configured participants in the table that most would not consider being custom at first glance. The original configuration of customer environments includes these participants because they are historically the most requested. They are:

Note: Cost Centers and GL Code are not Participants with a party role type, although they appear in your GL String.

To add a new Participant, click on the plus sign to open the required form.

1. Once all fields are populated, click the Add button at the bottom of the form.

   1. The edit and trash icons will appear next to the new Participant. Users may make changes or delete a custom participant before saving if necessary.

      Note: Once a participant has a company or person assigned or used in a deal, it cannot be deleted or edited.

2. Click the Add button at the bottom of the form.

3. After adding the desired participants, click Save on the Configuration Settings workspace.

Field Descriptions

Participant Name

This is the name you would like to assign to the Participant. The character limit on this field is 20, and special characters are not allowed.

Suppose you try to add a Custom Participant using an existing name, e.g., Lessee. In that case, you will receive a validation message telling you that the Participant cannot be added.

Participant Type

The drop-down offers either Company, Address, or Person, and you can select only one. The Participant Name will appear in the Contact Management and Access Control workspaces as a Can Act As Lessee Role.

Note: When using the Participant Type of Address, LeaseAccelerator supports importing the specified value at Deal level using a Bulk Participant Update only.

Scope of Participant

The drop-down offers either Deal, Asset, or Allocation. You can select only one.

Note: LeaseAccelerator does not support a Participant Type of Person with Scope of Allocation on imports. Trying to perform an import with this type will cause an error.

Does this participant need to be in the GL String?

If the Participant needs to be a ledger segment, check the box. The Participant will have a Ledger Code field in Contact Management and appear in the ledger configuration workspace as a drop-down option in the Role menu.

Is Participant required?

Check the box if the Participant is required when entering deals via the UI and Import. Requiring a Participant will make this field’s label red and block imports if not included, where needed.

Set Participant to Auto Import?

This parameter enables the value of the Custom Participant to be imported directly from the PIW, bypassing the need to have that Participant previously in the UI or loaded with the CIW before importing the PIW. See the screenshot below.

Note: This feature is only available for a Company Participant Type. The checkbox is not visible with any other type.

Description

Provide a helpful explanation for this Participant that makes sense to your business.

Bulk Importable Participants

New Participants are importable using a CIW, PIW, Bulk Participant Import, or Asset Management Update. To add new People, Companies, and Addresses, use the CIW.

There is a limited number of Custom Participants that are importable. The maximum allowed includes the pre-configured Participants listed above. When you reach the limit, you can still add the new Participant, but you can only populate the field via the UI. A pop-up message will appear to let you know when this happens.

To help users determine when the limitation affects the ability to import a value for a Custom Participant, a column in the summary table labeled Exceeds Import Limit lets you know that you can only enter a value for that Participant in the UI. When the importable limit is reached, the checkbox is disabled.

Validation warnings also appear to guide users when hitting the limit.

If you reach your importable limit, there are some considerations for actions taken after. If you delete a Custom Participant that was created before the import limit was reached, the next Custom Participant created after you hit the limitation will be importable. However, this only applies to Custom Participants created after the deletion. Any Custom Participants created after the original Participant but before the deletion will not change and will not be importable.

If a participant is mandatory and the import limit is reached, then the import validation will not return an error when not included.

Note: You must add a column for each importable Custom Participant Name to the appropriate import file. When using an import file with a Data tab and Participant Type or Role Type field, e.g., CIW or Bulk Participant Update, you will need to add the new Participant Name to the Participant/Role Type list on the Data tab of the import template. For example, if you create a new Deal Level Address Participant Type, you would put the “Participant Name” in the Address Role Types list on the Data tab of the CIW.

*This number is reduced by any existing participants previously created for your portfolio.

Note: This feature is primarily intended for new environment configuration. The best practice is to create all Custom Participants before loading any leases in your environment.