Exhibits and Supporting Documents

You can append additional documents called exhibits and supporting documents to your reports in CDM. Exhibits and supporting documents add important information to the financial reports that you create.

An exhibit is a mandatory document that is required by the regulatory body, along with the report itself. An exhibit is usually a Word object, and it can also be an Excel object. Exhibit objects are grouped into sections that are designated as Exhibit sections. When you generate a report, all exhibit objects grouped under an exhibit section are combined into one document that accompanies the report.

A supporting document is an additional optional document that a company chooses to submit along with the mandatory content. A supporting document can be an Excel, Word, or PowerPoint object. When you generate a report, supporting documents are generated separately by default. If you prefer, you can combine all supporting documents in the main report. Supporting document objects can also be grouped under an exhibit section but thereby become an exhibit document object and are added to the exhibit document that is generated for that exhibit section.

Add and Generate an Exhibit

You can designate a report object as an exhibit object by grouping it under an exhibit section. When the report is generated, all exhibit objects (including exhibit objects grouped in descendant exhibit sections) are combined into one document.

For example, you have a report that is organized like this:

REPORT
----Report Object 1

----Report Object 2

----Exhibit Section 1

--------Exhibit Object 1

--------Exhibit Object 2

------------Exhibit Section 2

----------------Exhibit object 3

When the report is generated, Exhibit Objects 1, 2, and 3 are combined into a single document.

Exhibits are included in report snapshots.

To add an exhibit in a report:

1. Open the report that you want to work with.
2. Determine the location in the report hierarchy where you want to add a section that will be the exhibit section under which you want to group your exhibits.
3. Right-click and select Add Child or Add Sibling and then Section.
4. Enter a name for the section.
5. Right-click the section and select Properties > Manage All Object Properties and then select the Exhibit checkbox.
6. Enter an exhibit type, description, and file name in the respective Exhibit Type, Exhibit Description, and Exhibit File Name fields. The information you enter will be displayed in the manifest that is created upon report generation. Exhibit File Name will also be used as the file name for the exhibit document created upon report generation.
7. Click OK.
8. Add or import Word or Excel report objects under the exhibit section. They automatically become designated as exhibit documents.
9. You can also click and drag any Word or Excel report object in the report and place them under the exhibit section. They automatically become designated as exhibit documents.

Note: When you designate a section as an exhibit section, any descendant report objects or sections currently grouped under that section automatically become exhibit objects. You can only change their exhibit object designation by clicking and dragging them out from under the exhibit section to another location in the report hierarchy.

Add and Generate a Supporting Document

Supporting documents are included in report snapshots.

To add and generate supporting documents in a report:

1. Open the report that you want to work with.
2. Determine the location where you want to insert a supporting document, and create the Excel, Word, or PowerPoint object.
3. Right-click the report object and select Properties > Manage All Object Properties. The Properties and Comments window is displayed.
4. In the Report Object Configuration > Print Options section, select the Supporting Document checkbox.
5. Insert the appropriate content for the supporting document.
6. When you are ready to output the report, select Include Supporting Documents. If you want to combine all supporting documents in the main report, also click Include supporting documents in the main report.

Hyperlink to Exhibits

Managing hyperlinks to content being authored can be a hassle. CDM manages the hyperlink to exhibit files being created regardless of the generation format: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Edgar HTML, Adobe PDF, or inline XBRL.

Insert a Hyperlink to an Exhibit Section

In a report, you can have one or more sections containing multiple report objects defined as Exhibit sections. You can place a hyperlink to an exhibit section in a report object.

1. Open the report that you want to work with.
2. Open and check out the report object in which you want to place a hyperlink to an exhibit section.
3. In the Report Object tab on the ribbon, click Insert Variable > Exhibit. The Reference Variables pane is displayed, listing all exhibit variables in the report.
4. In the report object, click on where you want to insert the hyperlink.
5. In the Reference Variables pane, select an exhibit section variable and click Insert (or double-click the exhibit section variable). The hyperlink is inserted.
6. Save and check in the report object.

If the exhibit file name property is set, the exhibit links the report main document to it.

If the exhibit file name property is not set, the exhibit links the report main document to the name of the exhibit section. The exhibit is generated with the file name set to the name of the exhibit section.

Insert a Hyperlink to a Web Object (External URL)

In a report, you can define Web objects as exhibits. You can then place a hyperlink to a Web object exhibit in a report object.

You can define a Web object as an exhibit by right-clicking on it and selecting Properties > Manage All Object Properties, and then selecting the Is Exhibit checkbox and clicking OK.

To insert a hyperlink to a Web object:

1. Open the report that you want to work with.
2. Open and check out the report object in which you want to place a hyperlink to a Web object exhibit.
3. In the Report Object tab on the ribbon, click Insert Variable > Exhibit. The Reference Variables pane is displayed, listing all exhibit variables in the report.
4. In the report object, click on where you want to insert the hyperlink.
5. In the Reference Variables pane, select a Web object exhibit variable and click Insert (or double-click the Web object exhibit variable). The hyperlink is inserted.
6. Save and check in the report object.

If you generate the report to EDGAR HTML and open the HTML, hyperlinks point to the selected section exhibits file when you click the links. Or if you generate in Word and save the generated Word document, the hyperlinks point to the correct linked files or URL for the Web object.