The Q&A section allows potential buyers to ask questions about (missing) documents in the Data Room. It creates a controlled, professional process where questions can be reviewed before being sent and answers can be checked before being shared.
Your Q&A role determines what you can do - whether you can draft questions, submit them, answer them or approve them. The roles exist to create a controlled workflow where questions and answers are reviewed before being sent. This ensures quality, accuracy and confidentiality. They make sure that everyone has the correct level of access.
There are several ways to setup this feature. On the Question group side, we have Question Submitters and Question Drafters. On the Answer group side, we have Q&A Coordinators and Answer Drafters. An example of how the Q&A can function is displayed in the image below:
Question Submitter
See the image below:
What Question Submitters can do:
- Create questions about folders and documents that they have permissions to
- Save a question as a draft. This draft can be seen, but not edited by all other users within their buyer group with an active Q&A role and permissions to the question reference
- Edit any of their drafted and assigned questions
- Submit their questions to the sell side
- Draft multiple questions at once by using the Import template feature. These questions will be imported as drafts and need to be submitted.
- Edit and approve questions assigned to them by Question Drafters
- Ask follow-up questions
- Add tags or categories to questions
- Delete questions that have been assigned to then by Question Drafters
- See other Question Submitters and Question Drafters within their own buyer group
- Filter using the Q&A statuses
Click here to read more about Asking Questions in Q&A.
Question Drafter
What Question Drafters can do:
- Create questions about folders and documents that they have permissions to
- Save a question as a draft. This draft can be seen, but not edited by all other users within their buyer group with an active Q&A role and permissions to the question reference
- Edit the drafted questions if they have not yet been assigned to Question Submitters
- Assign their drafted question to a Question Submitter if this user belongs to the same group and access to the question reference
- Draft multiple questions at once by using the Import template feature. These questions will be imported as drafts and need to be assigned to Question Submitters, so the questions can submitted to the sell side
- Ask follow-up questions
- Add tags or categories to questions
- Filter using the Q&A statuses
Click here to read more about Asking Questions in Q&A.
Note: Question Drafters cannot assign their questions to other Question Drafters and they are also unable to re-assign questions to Question Submitters.
Q&A Coordinator
Q&A Coordinators manage the entire Q&A flow on the sell side. They can assign the incoming questions within their team, either to themselves if they will answer it themselves, and otherwise to another Q&A Coordinator, or a Question Drafter. Only Q&A Coordinators can share answers with the buy side.
See the image below:
What Q&A Coordinators can do:
- See and directly answer submitted questions, if they have permissions to see the question reference
- Set categories for the Question group to use
- Assign incoming questions to Answer Drafters and other Q&A Coordinators
- Draft an answer and this draft cannot be edited by Answer Drafters, only other Q&A Coordinators can do this
- Edit and disclose answers from Answer Drafters, even without these being assigned to them
- Answer multiple questions at once using the Import answers feature. These answers will be imported as drafts and need to be disclosed
- Delete their drafted answer by removing all text and saving it
- Add an answer reference without text, and save this as a draft or assign this to an Answer Drafter
- Draft and disclose an additional answer
- Re-assign a question to another Answer Drafter
- See who has submitted the from the buyer group
- Filter using the Q&A statuses
Click here to read more about Answering Questions in Q&A.
Answer Drafter
Answer Drafters are users who respond to specific questions, but do not manage the overall Q&A process. When assigned to a question, the Answer Drafter can formulate the answer and assign it back to a Q&A Coordinator, who will review and disclose it.
What Answer Drafters can do:
- See all incoming questions, as long as they have permissions to view the question reference
- Draft an answer to a question when it has been assigned to them by a Q&A Coordinator
- Assign their question to another Question Drafter
- Assign their answer to the Q&A Coordinator for the final approval
- Answer multiple questions at once using the Import answers feature. These answers will be imported as drafts and need to be assigned to the Q&A Coordinators, so the answers can disclosed to the buy side
- Filter using the Q&A statuses
- Save an answer as a ft in order to be able to edit it later. This draft can be edited by the same Answer Drafter or a Q&A Coordinator. Other Answer Drafters cannot edit this
- Delete their own drafted answers by removing all text and saving it
- Add an answer reference without text, and save this as a draft or assign this to a Question Coordinator
- See the name of the Question Submitters to questions that have been assigned to them, when User visibility has been enabled
Click here to read more about answering questions in Q&A.
Q&A Tip: You can find your Q&A role in the dashboard of the Data Room!