CCH ProSystem fx Engagement or Workpaper Manager ribbon is missing from Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word.

Symptoms

• Workpapers may fail to open correctly in CCH Engagement.

Environment

• CCH ProSystem fx Engagement

• CCH ProSystem fx Workpaper Manager

• Microsoft Office

• Microsoft Office 365 Desktop Installation

Cause

List of possible causes:

• Hung instance of Excel or Word is running in the background.

• There are files in the Disabled Items in the Addins list for Excel or Word.

• There are no Disabled Items in the Addins list, but the ribbons are not enabled in the COM Addins.

• Microsoft® Trust Center Settings is preventing the ribbon or addins from being loaded.

  • The location of where the workbook is being loaded may not be added as a trusted location.

• The addins are missing, damaged, or corrupted.

• Microsoft® Visual Studio is missing, damaged, or corrupted.

• The Windows profile is corrupt and needs to be recreated.

• Software conflicts or temporary system interruptions.

• Checking out entire binders may cause ribbon display issues.

• Add-in or Excel-related issues preventing workpapers from opening correctly.

Resolution

1. For Engagement or Workpaper Manager version 2018 and higher, use the App Checker Utility to resolve the issue. For all other versions of Engagement or Workpaper Manager, complete method 2 through 4.

• How do I use the App Checker utility for CCH® ProSystem fx® Engagement or Workpaper Manager?

2. Close all open Microsoft® Excel® or Microsoft® Word files. If needed, use Task Manager to close any unresponsive files.

   1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open Task Manager.

   2. Look for EXCEL.EXE or WINWORD.EXE processes that have stopped or are unresponsive.

   3. Right-click the Excel or Word processes that have stopped or are unresponsive, and then click End Task.

   4. If the Pfx ribbon is missing, ending the Excel.exe task in Task Manager and reopening the Engagement add-in may help restore the ribbon.

3. If Microsoft Excel is not responding, try these additional steps:

   1. Restart your computer.

   2. Check for any pending Windows or Excel updates.

   3. Verify that your computer meets the minimum system requirements for Excel.

4. If the issue persists, uninstall and reinstall the ribbon.

   • See How to uninstall or reinstall a CCH® ProSystem fx® Engagement, Workpaper Manager, or Knowledge Coach Ribbon for instructions.

5. Make sure the ribbon is active in Microsoft® Excel® or Microsoft® Word.

   • See How to enable, reinstall, or replace the Microsoft® Word or Excel® add-ins for CCH® ProSystem fx® Engagement, Workpaper Manager, or Knowledge Coach for instructions.

   • Check that required add-ins (such as espace and pfx.Ribbon.ExcelAddIn) are enabled.

   • If the GFR ribbon is missing, verify the add-in is properly installed and enabled in Excel's add-in management settings.

6. Enable Allow Trusted Locations by performing the steps in the linked article below:

   • What are the recommended settings in Microsoft® Excel® and Word for opening workpapers from CCH® ProSystem fx® Engagement or Workpaper Manager?

   • Note: When troubleshooting in opening Microsoft® Excel® from outside of Engagement or Workpaper Manager, the ribbons may not load when launching Microsoft® Excel® from the Start menu. Try and attempt to insert and open a blank workbook inside the Pfx Engagement folder after confirming the trust center settings are set from the linked article.

7. If the ribbon will not stay enabled, repair all Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime installs on the machine. These installs may include the following:

   • Microsoft® Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office 2005

   • Microsoft® Visual Studio Tools for the Office system 3.0 Runtime

   • Microsoft® Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime

If the above steps fail to resolve the issue:

• Check a different Windows profile on the machine. If another Windows profile works fine, then the user's profile is corrupt and needs to be recreated.

• Run a repair to Microsoft® Office. (Note: If running Microsoft® Office 365™ it's recommended to run an Online Repair instead of a Quick Repair.)

• Follow steps in the below article and run a repair to Engagement or Workpaper Manager.

• How do I repair an existing install of CCH® ProSystem fx® Engagement or Workpaper Manager?

• If you are encountering an issue where all ribbons have disappeared when only with opening Knowledge Coach workpapers in Microsoft® Word please review this article:

  • All ribbons in Microsoft® Word disappear when opening only CCH® ProSystem fx® Knowledge Coach workpapers from CCH® ProSystem fx® Engagement.