Video
🎨 Setting Up Annotation Colors
Each firm user in Truss can now be assigned a unique annotation color, which will appear on their tick marks and text throughout the work paper. Before diving into work papers, set this up first.
1. Open up the Profile menu.
2. Click on Organizational Settings.
3. Click on Manage Firm Users.
Assign each user their own unique annotation color. This makes it easy to see at a glance who reviewed or marked off each page.
📜 Generating Workpapers
Once your documents are sorted into tax order, you're ready to generate workpapers.
- Open the Project and sort files into tax order.
- Click Generate Workpapers.
Truss will create a single combined PDF of all documents. This replaces the previous multi-file experience and brings a few key improvements:
- Continuous scrolling – Browse through all pages in one uninterrupted view.
- Persistent zoom – Set your zoom level once, and it stays consistent across all pages, rather than resetting with each document.
- Bookmarks – Use the bookmark panel to jump directly to any document in the PDF.
Once generated, click Go to Workpapers to open the combined PDF.
📝 Note: Previous errors caused by restricted PDFs (such as Merrill Lynch statements) have been resolved. These files should now process seamlessly.
Handling Duplicate Documents
- Any documents with a duplicate name will be flagged.
- Click Generate Workpapers to move to the next step, where you can rename one of the files.
Using Keyboard Hotkeys
Hotkeys are the fastest way to move through a work paper. These shortcuts handle the core of the review workflow:
| Hotkey | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + \ | Quickly accesses the checkmark tickmark. |
| Ctrl + ] | Flags the page for review and moves to the next page. |
| Ctrl + Enter | Marks the current page as approved and moves to the next. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Enter | Marks the entire file as approved and moves to the next. |
Hovering over a completed document mark displays a timestamp showing who marked it and when — useful for tracking reviewer activity across the team.
Flagging Documents
If a page needs a second look or you want to skip it and come back later, you can flag it directly in the work paper view. Flags can be added or removed at any time, making it easy to coordinate between preparers and reviewers.
How It Works for Reviewers
The same tools are available to reviewers. Each user can come in after the preparer, use their own assigned color for tick marks, and mark documents off independently — creating a clear, color-coded record of who reviewed what.