Sync documents with SharePoint

Many firms keep each company's papers in a SharePoint library, one folder per company. SharePoint sync connects that library to IQ Entities, matches each folder to its entity, and keeps the documents in step, so the people who work in SharePoint and the people who work in IQ Entities see the same files.

It is set up once, for the whole organisation, by an administrator with the permission to manage the organisation's settings. The decision to make first is the direction: whether SharePoint stays the master copy, IQ Entities does, or both are worked in.

Before you start

• A Microsoft 365 administrator who can sign in and approve IQ Entities' access to your SharePoint. If that is not you, book them for ten minutes.
• The SharePoint site and document library that holds the company folders. Folders named after each entity's legal name are matched without any work from you.

Connect your Microsoft 365 tenant

1. In Administration, open Integrations and click the SharePoint sync tile.

   

2. Click Set up. Once a connection exists, the same button reads Manage.

   

3. Click Connect with Microsoft and sign in with the Microsoft 365 administrator account. IQ Entities reads your tenant from the sign-in, so there are no IDs to copy.

   

4. Back in IQ Entities, the Connection card says Connected and shows your tenant.

   

Connect a library

1. Under Document libraries, click Connect a library.

2. Choose the SharePoint site, then the Document library. Leave Scope (optional) on the whole library, or choose the folder that holds the company folders.

3. Choose the Direction and what happens On conflict, using the tables below, and click Connect & match. A message says how many folders were matched to entities.

4. Click the library's name to open its review, and finish the matching:

   • Under SharePoint folders needing a match, choose the entity for each folder in Link to entity… and click Link.
   • Under Entities without a folder, tick the entities that need one and click Create selected, or Create folders for all to create a folder for every one of them in SharePoint.

   

What syncs, and how to check it

Documents in a linked folder sync with the entity's documents in IQ Entities, in the direction you chose, and new subfolders follow. Changes are picked up as they happen; click Sync now on the library to run a sync straight away, for example after a large upload. An entity created in IQ Entities later gets its own folder in every library that IQ Entities sends documents to.

With Flag for review, a file changed on both sides appears under Conflicts with the reason. Choose Keep SharePoint or Keep IQ Entities to settle it; until you do, neither side's copy is touched.

Disconnect

• To stop syncing one library, click the cross beside Sync now (Remove library). The documents already on both sides stay where they are.
• To stop syncing altogether, click Disconnect on the Connection card.

Tips from practice

• Rename SharePoint folders to the entities' legal names before you connect. Matching is by name, and only a folder whose name fits exactly one entity is linked for you.
• Start with Flag for review for the first few weeks. Once nobody is surprised by what syncs, a rule such as Newest wins saves the review.
• Connect the library that holds the company folders, not the site's top-level library with everything else in it, so unrelated folders do not appear as needing a match.

Related: Upload documents to an entity and Organise documents in folders.