Workiva
Workiva, Inc. is a global SaaS company. It provides a cloud-based connected and reporting compliance platform that enables the use of connected data and automation of reporting across finance, accounting, risk, and compliance.
The company was named for the second consecutive year as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2020.
History
Early history
Workiva Inc. was formed as WebFilings LLC in California in August 2008 by six entrepreneurs— four engineers and two public-company chief financial officers. Five of the founders previously served as executives at Engineering Animation Inc., a 3D computer animation company.Workiva's CEO, Martin Vanderploeg was a co-founder of EAI and served as CTO and Executive Vice President until they were acquired in 2000 by UGS Corp, and is now a division of Siemens, the German technology multinational.
Workiva's primary product is Wdesk, a cloud-based enterprise software-as-a-service platform that enables companies to collect, manage, report and analyse critical business data in real time. Wdesk also allows companies to manage and file financial and compliance documents to regulatory agencies.
The Wdesk platform integrates information from disparate content formats, including spreadsheets, presentation documents, emails and other unstructured data, into a single cloud-based report.
Recent history
In July, 2014, the company's name was changed to Workiva LLC, and was converted into a Delaware limited liability company in September 2014. In October 2014, Workiva opened its Ames campus in Iowa State University Research Park.The company went public in December 2014 and with an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.
Deloitte's 2015 Technology Fast 500 survey of fastest growing technology companies in America Workiva ranked fiftieth among all software companies. In the DevOps Excellence Awards 2019, Workiva won Best Software-Defined Product.
In May 2016 Gartner's Magic Quadrant analysis of the ten leading financial corporate performance management software firms, ranked Workiva in the "Leader" quadrant along with three others: SAP SE, Oracle and BlackLine. In the same year Forbes magazine listed Workiva as one of the 25 Highest-Rated Public Cloud Computing Companies To Work For, according to its Glassdoor rankings.
In May 2019, Workiva opened offices in Frankfurt, Germany, and Paris, France. The company also has offices in Amsterdam and London, 12 U.S. cities, and two Canadian cities.
In October 2019 Gartner's Magic Quadrant analysis ranked Workiva as Leader in Cloud Financial Close Solutions for the third year in a row.
Workiva’s product Wdata allows users to connect large datasets of information to the Workiva platform. It was designed to improve the usefulness of Wdesk. Wdata connects data from enterprise resource planning, governance risk and compliance platforms, and other third-party, on-premise systems and cloud applications.
Wdata was named the technical innovation of the year by The American Business Awards in June 2019. In September, Workiva updated the Wdata platform to include automatic updates, approval workflows, finance and accounting connectors, risk and control integration, and improved controlled access tools. The company also integrated its platforms with BlackLine, a producer of financial close software. The integration allows accountants to connect and transfer data between the two companies. Later in September, Workiva established a partnership with FloQast, a financial close management software company. The two offer a reporting and compliance solution for private companies, as well as for companies to use before and after they issue an initial public offering of stock.
In March 2020, FORTUNE included Workiva on its annual list of “Best Workplaces in Technology”. It was the company’s third year on the list. Workiva was also added to FORTUNES 100 Best Places to Work list for the second year in a row in 2020.
In April 2020, Workiva launched It is a solution to help European companies comply with the European Securities and Markets Authority requirements for European Single Electronic Format reporting. W for ESEF was made available in 23 European languages. Companies can use the solution to build reports, tag data, and compile the final ESEF submission package.
Applications
Workiva's first SaaS product was SEC reporting software designed to enable corporations to automate their SEC filings by using a proprietary system of document tags and linking. The platform also enabled companies to file electronically directly with the SEC, using the business mark-up language XBRL, required by the SEC. A Workiva customer was the first company to file Inline XBRL with the SEC.The company has since expanded to include other corporate financial and compliance reporting functions, including:
- Sarbanes–Oxley reporting and Recovery and Resolution Plans - WDesk integrates documentation required for financial statements, risk assessment and forecasts required by the Sarbanes–Oxley Act into a single view.
- SEC Filing - including EDGAR HTML conversion and XBRL mapping, creating and filing documentation for IPOs, S-1s, 10Ks, 10-Qs, 20-Fs, as well as the reports needed to meet Investor Relations, Mutual Fund reporting regulations.
- CAFR and State and Local Reporting - used by municipal securities issuers or agents for preparing documentation for to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and documentation required of state and local education departments to meet mandated guidelines.
- Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility - WDesk supports most global reporting frameworks that track CSR including , the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
- Internal Reporting - these tasks include compiling management reports, risk assessments, board reports, among others.
European companies use Wdesk to comply with European Securities and Markets Authority’s reporting mandates.
Global Legal Entity Identifier deployed the workiva platform to create their annual report which was then showcased by ESMA as a paragon for European Single Electronic Format -compliance reporting.