Zeroing out fees it not vendor

Hi,

I have created several sheets where the Main Sheet has All Agent payouts. From that sheet, the rows are copied to that Agent's sheet depending on who is the agent. There are columns in that sheet the agent can record who performed what task, add the fee for that task, and record if paid. There could be different vendors entered with their fees.

For simplicity, here are some of the columns I have where all vendor columns are contact columns: Primary, Address, Tenant, (Other columns)… Task1, Task1 vendor, Task1 Fee, Task1 paid via, Task2, Task2 vendor, Task2 Fee, Task2 paid via, Task3, Task3 vendor, Task3 Fee, Task3 paid via,…Task7, Task7 vendor, Task7 Fee, Task7 paid via, Approve All Payouts(checkbox)…

Once the Agent approves the payouts for the file they check a box and the row will be copied to each vendor's sheet that performed a task. I don't want the vendors to see the other vendors fees paid out and set up automation to zero out the fee if they didn't do it (and they are not the one paying the fee, ie not the agent). I have 7 columns that could be zero'd out if the vendor is not the vendor that performed the tasks and set up.

Automation: I first check to make sure that the I am not zeroing out what the agent recorded and look at if the Agent(payee) is different then the agent in the row added because I don't want to zero out what the agent enters on their own sheet. Then I look at who did task1 and if it is not the vendor, then the cell is cleared. I have an automation for each of the 7 possible tasks.

Screenshot 2025-05-19 at 10.26.38 AM.png

The issue is the 7 separate automations keep erroring out with the following error:

" This workflow was triggered by at lease 5 other workflows, which exceed the maximum allowed. Please modify the workflows that are interating with this one so they don't trigger each other."

Screenshot 2025-05-19 at 10.05.45 AM.png

Screenshot 2025-05-19 at 10.49.10 AM.png

How can I approach this so I don't get the errors?

Thanks,

Lisakay

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David011

You are encountering a workflow recursion limit in Smartsheet, which happens when a workflow is triggered by too many other workflows—specifically, more than 5. This is common when multiple automations are interdependent or trigger each other in a chain reaction.

Best Approach to Resolve the Issue

Here’s a structured way to address the problem:

1. Consolidate the 7 Automations into One Workflow

Instead of having 7 separate automations (one for each task), create a single automation that uses conditional logic to handle all 7 tasks. This reduces the number of workflows and avoids triggering the recursion limit.

How to do it:

Use a "Change Cell Value" action.
Add multiple conditions using “When rows are added or changed” and include logic like:
- If Task1 Vendor ≠ Current Vendor, then clear Task1 Fee
- Repeat for Task2 through Task7 within the same workflow.

2. Use Helper Columns to Avoid Workflow Triggers

Create helper columns (e.g., IsVendorTask1, IsVendorTask2, etc.) that calculate whether the vendor should see the fee using formulas. Then, base your automation on these helper columns instead of direct comparisons in the automation logic.

Example formula:

=IF([Task1 Vendor]@row <> [Current Vendor]@row, 1, 0)

Then, your automation can say:

If IsVendorTask1 = 1 → Clear Task1 Fee

This reduces complexity and avoids triggering other workflows unnecessarily.

3. Add a Delay or Use a Flag Column

If workflows are still triggering each other:

Add a "Processed" checkbox column.
At the end of the automation, check this box.
Add a condition to each automation: Only run if "Processed" is not checked.

This prevents the same row from being processed multiple times.

4. Consider Using Bridge or DataMesh (if available)

If you're using Smartsheet Advance, tools like Bridge by Smartsheet or DataMesh can help manage complex logic and data movement without triggering workflow recursion.

Summary of Actions

Step	Action
✅	Combine all 7 automations into one with conditional logic
✅	Use helper columns to simplify logic
✅	Add a “Processed” flag to prevent re-triggering
✅	Consider Bridge/DataMesh for advanced logic

I hope this helps!

LisakayS

Thank you for your support!

I have tried consolidating them into on automation and the automation stopped after the first trigger. Is there another way I can structure this automation so that it checks each task and zeros out the task if it is not done by the sheet owner?

Screenshot 2025-05-28 at 12.14.40 PM.png

Also, I'd love using formulas, but I can't really use them in the vendor sheet because when the rows are added from another sheet that formula doesn't transfer.

Thanks again,

Lisakay

SSFeatures

Hi @LisakayS,

Instead of using a "When rows are added" workflow, you can use a "When a date is reached" workflow to run the workflows once every day.

The downside of this is that it's possible for some of the vendors to see other vendor's data, until the workflow runs for that day, to clear the new values.

The other option is to decrease the number of Tasks from 7 down to 5.

Unfortunately, there's no way for you to create a single automation that will perform all 7 potential cell changes. The reason is because you can't chain the "Clear cell value" or "Change cell value" action in a workflow. There are some actions that you can chain together, but not these ones.

The logic in your screenshot above will only perform one "Clear cell value" action, and it depends on all of the conditions that you set above.

I hope this helps!

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