Required Roles: Editors/Reviewers/Approvers
Required Permissions: Access to the Documents module and, for setup, Workspace Manager
Index
Overview
This overview explains the essential components that make up Kivo’s Document Management System (DMS). Whether you’re configuring Kivo for the first time or deepening your understanding as an existing customer, these four foundational pillars define how documents behave, where they live, and how teams interact with them.
1. Document Classification
The structure of your DMS begins with defining what kinds of documents exist and how they should be consistently identified.
This is where you establish:
Document Types, Categories & Artifacts – The hierarchical classification system that determines how documents are organized and which rules apply to naming, title formatting, and control number assignment.
Document Naming & Identification Standards – The conventions that dictate how documents are titled and assigned unique IDs, ensuring clarity, consistency, and traceability across your organization.
Together, these definitions form the backbone of how documents are organized, controlled, and recognized throughout your DMS.
2. Metadata
Once types are established, the next layer is defining the metadata each document should carry.
This involves selecting the fields that help track, filter, and contextualize documents, such as:
Product
Functional area
Document subtype
Lifecycle status
Any other business-specific attributes
Associated Dates (effective date, review due date, etc.)
This metadata enables compliance, efficiency, and powerful search/reporting later on.
3. Cabinets, Folder Structure, and Folder Attributes
With your document types and metadata defined, the next step is determining where documents live and how they behave within your DMS. This begins with designing your storage hierarchy:
Cabinets – High-level storage areas that group major collections of documents
Folders & Subfolders – The organizational structure within each cabinet that mirrors how your teams navigate information
Once your cabinets and folders are in place, you then define the rules and behaviors that apply to documents stored in each location. This includes configuring:
Workflows that control how documents move through drafting, reviewing, and approving
Preset metadata that auto-populates required fields for documents created in that area
Access controls and permissions for users or groups at the cabinet and folder levels
Together, these structures and attributes ensure documents are stored logically, routed through the correct processes, and accessible to the right users—while minimizing administrative overhead and maintaining compliance.
5. Creating, Editing, and Approving Documents
With document classifications, metadata, storage structures, and folder-level rules in place, your teams can now create and manage documents efficiently and consistently. When users draft new documents in Kivo, all of the appropriate settings, such as naming conventions, metadata, permissions, and workflows, are automatically applied. This ensures that every document moves smoothly from creation to review and approval, following a predictable, compliant lifecycle.
Document Classification
Types, Categories & Artifacts
Document types, categories, and artifacts form the foundation of document organization and reporting in Kivo. These elements define how documents are structured, controlled, and classified across the system, ensuring consistency, automation, and reliable reporting.
Kivo uses these attributes to determine how each document is numbered and which metadata applies. Every document includes the following:
Type – A high-level classification (e.g., Quality, Clinical, Regulatory).
Category – The functional grouping of the document (e.g., SOP, Policy, Work Instruction).
Artifact – A more specific sub-classification, used when additional detail is needed.
Once these attributes are assigned, Kivo applies predefined settings based on the specific combination of type, category, and artifact. These settings include:
Name format – How the document title is structured.
Prefixes and numbering – How the control number is generated.
Metadata – Which fields appear on the document.
Together, these elements ensure that when a user selects a document type—or creates a document in a folder where these attributes are already defined—Kivo automatically:
Assigns a unique control number.
Applies the correct metadata fields.
Keeps documents consistent, structured, and easily reportable.
Document Names, Prefixes & Numbering
Kivo supports both document names and control numbers:
The document name is built from configurable variables such as
#{{Title}},#{{Year}}, or#{{Record Type}}.The control number usually combines:
A prefix (e.g., SOP, WI, POL).
Optional variables (e.g., department code, year).
A manual or sequential number.
Numbering can be:
Manual: You enter a value (useful when migrating existing documents).
Sequential: Kivo generates the next number automatically based on your pattern (e.g., SOP-001, SOP-002).
You can:
Define sequence formats using
#symbols (e.g.,###= 000–999).Set a sequence start (for example, starting at 1000 instead of 0001).
Choose whether sequences restart per specific prefix (e.g., SOP-CO-001) or per general prefix (e.g., SOP-001).
Metadata
Metadata Overview
Once document types, categories, and artifacts have been established, metadata can be associated with these classifications to ensure all relevant information about a document is captured.
Document metadata consists of custom fields that surface important information and support reporting. Examples include Department, Process, Effective Date, and Product. These fields can be created and applied at any of the three levels of document classification.
Some metadata, such as Effective Date or Review Date, may apply broadly to all documents within a type like Quality. Other fields may be more specific and apply only to documents that fall under both a particular Type and a specific Category or Artifact.
The set of metadata that appears on a document is the combined list of all fields associated with its Type, Category, and Artifact. This ensures that each document automatically receives the most accurate and relevant metadata based on how it is classified.
Configuring Metadata (Workspace Managers)
Workspace Managers define and manage metadata within Workspace Settings > Document Metadata. From here, they can:
Create new metadata fields
Associate metadata with document Types, Categories, or Artifacts so the correct fields appear automatically when a document is created
Kivo supports multiple metadata field types, including:
Text
Text Box
Date
Select
Multi-Select
Address
These tools allow administrators to build a structured, reliable metadata framework that enhances reporting, compliance, and searchability across the system.Once document types, categories and artificats have been established. Metadata can be associated wtih these classifications to ensure all relevant data around ad coument is captured.
Document metadata consists of custom fields that surface important information and support reporting. Examples include Department, Process, Effective Date, and Product. These fields can be created and applied at any of the three levels of document classification.
Some metadata, such as Effective Date or Review Date, may apply to all documents within a type like Quality. Other fields may be more targeted and apply only to documents that belong to both the Quality type and a specific Category or Artifact.
The metadata that appears on a document is the cumulative set of all fields associated with its Type, Category, and Artifact. This ensures that each document automatically receives the most accurate and relevant metadata for how it is classified.
Cabinets & Folders - Structure and Attributes
Cabinet & Folder Structure
Once classifications and associated metadata has been defined, organizations need to determine how and where these documetns exist. Kivo organizes documents within cabinets and folders, helping you mirror your existing quality or corporate filing system.
Cabinets act as top-level containers (for example: “Quality Controlled Documents,” “Corporate Documents,” “Regulatory Submissions”).
Folders and subfolders sit within cabinets and can be tailored to your processes (e.g., by department, process, product, or site).
Kivo offers templated folder structures for the DMS in each of the modules.
Quality
Clinical
Regulatory
Kivo also supports Automated Folders, which allow you to quickly create sets of folders and subfolders from preconfigured templates. This is especially useful when:
Adding new products or studies.
Replicating standard structures (e.g., per product, per site, per department).
Access and Permissions
Application-wide permissions are configured in User Management, and additional permissions are defined at the cabinet and folder levels. This layered approach ensures that each individual has the appropriate access to the documents and actions required for their specific role.
Workflows & Approvals
Kivo’s workflow engine supports the full lifecycle of controlled documents through configurable steps, including:
Collaboration (drafting and editing)
Review Content (commenting)
Review (read-only review)
Approval (formal sign-off via Kivo or DocuSign e-signature)
Workspace Managers:
Create workflows in the Workflow tab under Settings.
Apply them at the cabinet or folder level.
Configure step settings such as duration, participants, metadata updates, and assignment rules.
Approvals can be sequential or parallel, and completing an approval step automatically creates a new document version.
Templates & Placeholders
Kivo supports robust content creation via templates and placeholders.
Document Templates
Templates (e.g., SOP, POL, WI) are created, reviewed, and approved in Kivo.
Once approved, they’re uploaded and linked to folders using tags (for example,
[[sop]]Standard_Operating_Procedure_Template).Templates can auto-populate fields from document metadata (e.g.,
#{{Title}}).
Placeholders
Placeholders reserve a “slot” for a document you plan to upload later.
They can carry control numbers, metadata, categories, and artifacts just like full documents.
They are especially useful when initially loading large sets of existing documents and wanting to preserve numbering or structure.
Placeholders are enabled by Workspace Managers in cabinet or folder settings.
Creating, Editing, and Approving Documents
Once your document types, metadata, cabinets, and folder level rules are in place, your teams can begin creating and managing documents with confidence. Every document automatically inherits the correct settings, including naming, numbering, metadata, permissions, and workflows, based on where it is created and how it is classified. With these foundations established, the document lifecycle in Kivo becomes predictable, compliant, and easy for users to navigate.
Lifecycle Summary
In Kivo, controlled documents follow a structured, repeatable lifecycle that ensures consistency, traceability, and compliance across your organization. At a high level, every document progresses through the following stages:
1. Create
Documents are created either from a pre-approved template or as placeholders. When created from a template, Kivo automatically applies the correct type, category, and artifact, generates the control number, and assigns the required metadata fields. Placeholders preserve numbering and structure when content is not yet ready.
2. Draft
In the Collaboration stage, editors draft or revise the document. Multiple users may collaborate depending on permissions, and Workspace Managers can configure assignment rules, durations, and metadata updates. This stage supports iterative development while maintaining consistent structure.
3. Review
Documents move through one or more review steps to ensure accuracy and alignment. Reviewers may provide comments (Review Content) or perform a read-only review (Review). Thresholds, participant requirements, and step rules ensure proper oversight before documents advance.
4. Approve
The final approval step formalizes the document. Approvals may occur in sequence or in parallel and can use standard Kivo approval or DocuSign e-signatures. This step cannot be skipped, and completing approval automatically generates a new version with the appropriate metadata updates (such as setting the Effective Date).
5. Version
Each completed approval creates a new approved version while preserving full history for auditing. When updates are needed, the document re-enters the lifecycle beginning with drafting, ensuring continuous improvement while maintaining traceability.
Together, these stages form a controlled, predictable lifecycle driven by your configured classifications, metadata, permissions, and workflows—ensuring documents remain consistent, compliant, and easy to manage across their entire lifespan.
Where to Go Next
To learn how documents move through their lifecycle in Kivo, see:
Document Lifecycle Overview
To dive deeper into metadata, numbering, and versions, see:
Document Basics: Metadata, Status & Versions
[Kivo] > [Document Management] > Kivo Document Management Overview