Running the deal in a Vault

The request list

Paste the buyer's due diligence list into the room's Request list, one request per line, and each line becomes a numbered request (R-001, R-002 and so on). Give it a category, an owner on your team, a due date and, in a sale with several bidders, the buyer group it belongs to. Tick the documents in the room that answer it and set its status.

The top of the list shows how much is settled, what is in progress and what is overdue. Guests see the lines meant for everyone and for their own group, with only the documents they are allowed to open; you can hide the list from guests in one click.

New versions of a document

When the accounts are restated or a contract is signed in its final form, use New version on the document. By default it publishes the latest version of the same Drive file; you can also choose another file. The document keeps its number and its place, so references like "per 2.14" still hold, and a short note says what changed.

Every earlier copy stays on record under the room's retention, with the dates it was the one guests saw. A document whose Drive file has moved on is marked Newer in Drive, so the room is never behind by accident.

Guests see a document marked New when it was added after their first visit, and Updated when a new version arrived since they last opened it, with your note. The marks go once they open it, and a guest can show only what is new for them.

Folders, subfolders and order

Folders nest three levels deep and the index numbers through them: folder 2, its first subfolder 2.1, the third document inside that 2.1.3. Rename a folder, move it up or down, add a folder inside it or delete it (its documents move to the top level, nothing is removed). Move a document up or down, or into another folder; the numbers follow, as in any data room.

A buyer group given a folder is given the folders inside it too. A folder's ZIP and the closing archive keep the nesting.

Access dates and deal phases

An invitation can open on a date, and each folder a buyer group sees can open to it on its own date: the first round sees the teaser folders now, the second sees the data pack next Monday. Until a folder opens the group does not see it; the guest page says how many more folders are coming and when.

Reports to hand over

The Reports menu in the room's header gives the document index and the activity report, each as PDF or Excel. The index lists every document by its number, folder, type, size and the date it was added; withdrawn documents are left out and counted. The activity report covers the people invited, the buyer groups side by side, how much each document was read, questions, the request list and every event. The PDF keeps the latest thousand events; the Excel version keeps them all.

The people who run a room also get a summary email, daily by default or weekly, with visitors, who read the most, what was read the most, new and overdue questions, NDAs accepted and refused downloads. A quiet room sends nothing. Choose the frequency, or turn it off, in the room's policy.

Buyer interest

The reading report scores each reader and each buyer group from 0 to 100: how much of the room they opened (40), how long they read (35), how recently (15) and the questions they asked (10). With several groups, the By buyer group view puts them side by side. The score ranks attention; it does not predict a bid.

Branding the guest pages

Give a room your logo and an accent colour in its Branding panel, with a preview beside the controls. The logo is redrawn by FileMentra as a PNG of at most 600 by 200 pixels; SVG files are not accepted. A colour too pale for white text is darkened on the guest pages until it reads.

Guests see the branding only after they have confirmed their code: before that, the room shows nothing about itself. Templates and duplicates keep the look.