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Financial Engagement - Transparency Settings: Financial Data

This article is intended for: Admin users with a Financial Engagement subscription (Inform and Engage).

Use this article for: Choosing how much financial detail residents see on your Revenue and Expenditures widget, which fund they see first, and which categories count toward your totals.

Note: You can select any image below to zoom in.

In this article, we review:

To hide fiscal years or the Checkbook page, see Financial Engagement - Transparency Settings: Years and Pages.

What Are Financial Data Settings?

Financial Data Settings control how your financial data displays on the public Revenue and Expenditures widget. 

You can decide whether residents can drill down to line items, which fund opens first, which funds residents can choose from, and which categories roll up into your totals. These settings are included with Financial Engagement and apply to your whole site.

These are display settings, not data changes. Turning a setting off never removes or changes your underlying financial data. It only controls what residents see. To change the data itself, see Financial Engagement FAQ: How do I update Financial Data?

Open Financial Data Settings

  1. Log in to ClearGov.
  2. In the left navigation, select Engage, then select Transparency.
  3. Select the Financial Data tile and the Financial Data screen opens.

Note: Because you are signed in as an admin, you see all of your data even when a setting hides it from the public. After you save a change, check your site in a private or incognito browser window to see what residents see.

Choose What Residents Can Explore (Feature Settings)

Feature Settings are on and off toggles. Each one controls a single detail on your public financial widgets.

Setting When it is on When it is off
Show Line Item Detail Residents can select View Breakdown and drill down past a category's total to the individual line items, with a breadcrumb trail back up. Residents see category and fund totals only.
Show 'Per Capita/Year' Per-resident figures appear alongside your totals. Per-resident figures are removed.
Show Check Detail The Checkbook widget appears as an option when you add a widget, so you can add it to a page. Checkbook does not appear in the list of widgets you can add.

Turn Off Line Item Detail

Use this when you want residents to see totals but not individual accounts.

  1. Open Financial Data settings as described above.
  2. Under Feature Settings, find Show Line Item Detail.
  3. Toggle it off. A green Changes saved message appears.
  4. Open your live site in a private or incognito window and refresh the page. Find your Revenue and Expenditures widget, select a category, and confirm no line items appear.

Pro-tip: If your organization is not ready to share line items yet, turn this off now and turn it back on when you are. Your data stays in place either way.

Choose Which Fund Residents See First (Default Fund)

The Default Fund is the fund that opens when a resident first lands on your widget. Most organizations choose the General Fund or Governmental Funds. Funds Available for Display controls which funds residents can switch between.

  1. Open Financial Data settings.
  2. Under Default Fund, select the Native Categories button (we recommend this setting). Then use the Select Default Fund to Display drop-down to choose the fund you want residents to see first.
  3. Under Select Funds Available for Display, uncheck any fund you do not want residents to see. All funds are checked by default. To show only the General Fund, uncheck every other fund. A green Changes saved message appears.
  4. Refresh your live site in a private window and confirm residents see only the funds you chose.

Note: You can show or hide funds that ClearGov has already categorized for you, but you cannot add a new fund from this screen. To add a fund, submit a Data Update Request. See Financial Engagement FAQ: How do I update Financial Data?

Choose What Counts Toward Your Totals (Financial Summing)

Financial Summing lets you leave categories out of the roll-up totals residents see. Most organizations exclude transfers so the same dollars are not counted twice. You can also leave out a whole department. Nothing is deleted, and an excluded category comes back as soon as you check it again.

  1. Open Financial Data settings.
  2. Find Financial Summing and select the Native Categories button (we recommend this setting). Under Select categories to include in financial roll-up calculations, every category is checked by default. Select the arrow next to a category to see what is inside it.
  3. Uncheck the categories or departments you want to leave out of totals.
  4. Select Save below the list.
  5. Refresh your live site and compare the widget's totals to your budget document.

Pro-tip: If a resident or council member says "these totals don't add up," check Financial Summing first. An excluded category is the most common reason a total looks different from a report.

Check What Residents See

After any change, check your site the way a resident would.

  1. Open a private or incognito browser window. Do not sign in.
  2. Go to your site and find your Revenue and Expenditures widget.
  3. Try the setting you changed, such as selecting View Breakdown, switching funds, or comparing a total to your budget.

Note: You do not need to publish your site or edit the widget. Refresh your public page and your changes appear.

Troubleshooting

What you see Likely cause and fix
I turned a setting off, but I can still see the detail. You are signed in as an admin, so you see everything. Check in a private or incognito window.
I do not see Checkbook when I add a widget. Show Check Detail may be off. Turn it on, then add the widget again. If the widget is on your page but empty, your checkbook data may not be loaded yet.
A fund I expect is missing from the list. It may be unchecked under Funds Available for Display. If it was never there, submit a Data Update Request to add it.
The totals do not match my budget report. Check Financial Summing for excluded categories, such as transfers.
I do not see Transparency in my navigation. Contact Support or your Client Success Manager.

Additional Resources

Check out our other training resources to learn more:



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