Setting up Automated Workflows (Record Date, Generate PDF, Request Approval)

aschneiderheinze1025

I am building an automated workflow to request approval of a contract. The Instructor who receives the contract will receive a PDF attachment of the contact generated by Smartsheet. A signature isn't required but they are asked to click "Accept" (or "Reject") to accept the terms of the employment outline in the contract (PDF).

The contract also includes a target date to accept the contract (5 business days after the the contract is sent).

There are two other approvals that occur before the PDF is generated (the Program Developer receives an approval request to approve the content to be included in the contract and, once that is Approved, the Finance Representative receives an approval request to approve the payment amount).

To build this workflow, I need the following to happen in this order:

1. Both the Program Developer and Finance Representative have to approve their separate yet sequential approval workflows. This means the approval workflow for the Finance Representative runs only when the status for Program Developer is "Approved". (I think I need to also add that the status for the Finance Representative is "Not Started" or it will keep running and running even after the Finance Representative complete the approval.
2. Then, another automated workflow records the date in the cell [Contract Initiation Date], and another column uses that value in a formula to generate the [Target Acceptance Date], =WORKDAY([Contract Initiation Date] , 5). To run, there are two conditions: both the Program Developer and Finance Representative status columns have to be "Approved" and the Instructor status column must be "Not Started" (again to avoid the workflow from running over and over).
3. When there is a date in [Target Acceptance Date], generate the document using a fillable PDF (contract), which will include the [Target Acceptance Date] and other cells in the sheet. The conditions for this workflow would be the same as #2: both the Program Developer and Finance Representative status columns have to be "Approved" and the Instructor status column must be "Not Started".
4. Run this workflow daily at 6 am PT: Send approval request to the Instructor with the PDF attachment included to either Accept or Reject the terms outlined in the contract. The condition would be the same as #2: both the Program Developer and Finance Representative status columns have to be "Approved" and the Instructor status column must be "Not Started". (It changes to "In Progress" once the workflow runs.)

My concern was that the workflows 2, 3, and 4 would run simultaneously, and either the PDF would be generated without a [Target Acceptance Date], or the approval request would go to the Instructor without the PDF being generated and attached to the row.

The screenshot shows the status columns for each person in the approval process, as well as a column to record when the approval started for each person and when the approval/rejection was received. The two on the right are my Contract Initiation and Target Acceptance Date columns.

Any suggestions to improve my thinking on this?

Kelly Moore

Hey @aschneiderheinze1025

I understand your concern. When faced with similar concerns I have added a helper checkbox column with a formula that checks the box when I have all the required data for automation. I then (in it's own automation - ie, not part of a long, multi-step automation), trigger the automation off the checkbox. This sequencing seems to give the automation the 'beat' it sometimes needs.

I'm sure others will provide you with more elegant solutions

Kelly