Workflow to trigger comms when number exceeded but not in between.

James Preston

Hi, trying to work out how I can get a workflow to trigger only when certain milestone numbers are met.

For example, I'd like an email comm to be sent once the sum of a column reaches 50, 100, 150, 200 etc.

The number will be entered via a form, very basic, so for example 4 entries could be sent via 4 form inputs (15, 11, 22, 8) and once that final value is sent the sum of the line the exceeds 50 so an email comm should be sent. Then it carries on and once you exceed 100 a new unique comm will be sent etc etc.

I was using 'greater than or equal to' however it then triggers on each subsequent entry whereas I only want it to trigger again once I hit the next milestone i.e. 100. So the sum of the above is 56 so that has triggered the first comm, now if I enter another value, say 10, the sum is now 66 and so will trigger the first comm again as its over 50, but I do not want any further comms sent until the next milestone is reached, in this case it would be 100, then 150 etc .

Any thoughts/solutions?

Appreciate your support.

jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp

@James Preston

Great question, James!
One approach is to use a helper column setup with formulas to detect those “milestone crossings.” Here’s a working example:

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=1de4a2836c2645e7a7a24de81b36257a

[Row]    ← Auto-number or sequential row number

[Number] ← Your form entry

[Sum]    ← =SUMIF(Row:Row, <=Row@row, Number:Number)

[INT]    ← =INT(Sum@row / 50)

[Send]   ← =OR(

               Number@row >= 50,

               IF(

                 Row@row > 1,

                 INDEX(INT:INT, Row@row - 1) < INDEX(INT:INT, Row@row),

                 false

               )

             )

How it works:

• [Sum] keeps a running total of all entries.
• [INT] divides the running sum by 50 and drops decimals. So:
  • 0 = <50
  • 1 = 50–99
  • 2 = 100–149, etc.
• [Send] checks if either:
  1. The entry itself is 50 or more (to cover single large inputs *), OR
  2. The current milestone “bucket” ([INT]) is larger than the previous row’s.

That way, the flag only flips to true the first time a new milestone is crossed.

From here, you can build your automation/workflow to trigger “when Send = 1” and deliver the comm once per milestone.

(*) If the first row number is less than 50.