Custom task automation

How to automatically create an invoice task as soon as a contract is signed?

• As one of the possible use cases, we will automatically create a new invoice task when a sales contract is fully signed.
• With the help of our automation builder, you can now automatically assign a new invoice task to your finance team for all contracts generated from a specific template.
• Here is a short video tutorial on the automation setup: 

How to set up a custom task automation with Contractbook?

Click on the Automations tab from the main menu and then on the blue button Create new at the upper right-hand corner.

How can I configure the trigger event?

• You will be redirected to a pop-up window where you can customize the automation's setup. To begin with, select the Contract is signed trigger from the drop-down menu.
• This will automatically open a configuration window to the right in which you can define which contract should start the automation.
• You can assign the trigger to every contract, only contracts drafted from a specific template or only a specific contract. We recommend using "Every contract drafted from a specific template" for the most efficient automation flow.
• This will allow you to automatically assign a new custom task to the relevant assignee each time you have signed a contract from a specific template by turning it into a draft first:

• After selecting one of the three main options, you can use the search bar to find the contract, draft, or template you want to base the automation flow on by name.
• If you have several documents sharing the same name, you can click on the small eye icon to directly open the document for review. 

• After choosing the correct file, you can choose which signature should start the automation.
• This extra configuration enables you to pick whether the trigger of the automation should be executed after each time a signee completes a signature added to the contract (Every signature) or only after the last signature that defines the contract as fully signed is completed (Final signature):

• You can use the drop-down list to select the option to define whether adding the custom task to the signed contract should happen after each signature or only after the last one.
• In our use case, we will choose the Final signature option under the automation setup and expect all required signatures to be added first for the signed contract to be automatically assigned with the configured custom task:

How can I delete the trigger in the Automation Builder? 

• At the very bottom of each trigger configuration window, you have the option to delete only this specific trigger and not the complete automation:

• After completing the trigger event configuration, you can confirm all customizations by clicking on Save, and the next step in the automation setup will be displayed.

How can I configure the action event?

• This step covers the action the automation trigger you have defined will generate. You can use the search bar to locate the option Create a custom task:

• A new configuration window will appear on the right side of the screen.
• Here you will be able to customize all properties of the task by defining assignees, followers, title, description of the task, due date, and additional alerts:

• The first detail in the automation configuration's action step is the template's document ID, which will be used to execute the automation. It will be automatically fetched and available under the respective required field under the Create a custom task window:

• The next steps allow you to customize the entire task in detail by writing a title and adding a description for its execution by combining text input and data fields from your template.
• For the example in the article, we have customized the following task to be connected to each signed "Sales & purchase agreement":

• This will automatically create a custom invoice task on each signed from the template agreement and assign it to the correct person from your finance team.  
• In the following configuration step, you can invite assignees and followers by email or by searching for a data or signature field associated with them.
• In this case, we will use the email address of the document owner to identify the assignee:

How do I use Party or Signee variables in my automation?

• Note: You can always use any Party or Signee variable when adding variables to the title, description, assignees, or followers of your new custom task. 
• This can deliver essential details to the task's stakeholders fetched directly from the associated with any Signee information.
• Next, in the next block of the task configuration window, you can set a due date for its completion. There are two available options for the date type in the drop-down menu:

• In the example we are configuring, we will use the second option of a date type: based on execution time which determines the moment the contract has been signed.
• Adding an offset of 1 month after this date means that the due date of the invoicing task will be precisely one month after the agreement is fully signed:

• The last task property you can customize is the additional alerts reminding you of the task's due date (in case the task still needs to be completed).
• The date type can be again based on a due date or an automation variable. You can set as many reminders as needed.
• In our case, the alert will be based on the variable date in the purchase agreement, which defines the date of the delivery of the purchased customer goods:

• Once you have everything done, click on Save to confirm the configuration of the custom task and then Publish in the upper right-hand corner.

How can I delete an action in the automation builder?

At the very bottom of each action configuration window, you have the option to delete only this specific action and not the complete automation:

How can I rename the automation?

• You can always rename the automation and its steps as you find fit by clicking on the small pen icon next to the generic title in the upper left-hand corner. In the example we are working with, let us call it "Sales & purchase agreement - Invoice task automation":

How can I make changes to published automation?

Note: If you need to make any changes to the automation flow at one point, remember to unpublish it first, make the needed edits, and click again on Publish to put the flow into practice. You can control that by turning the Status toggle bar on or off: 

How can I use the Activity feed of my automation?

• If you click on the three grey dots next to the status toggle bar, you can open, rename, delete, or see the activity feed of the automation.
• Remember that the automation must be active (published) for the activities to be available to see. This option allows you full traceability of the automation's usage and flow.

• In the activity sidebar, you will see all the details of when the automation was used and the steps taken before it was triggered. Just click on the small arrow next to the date and time to expand the details:

• In addition, you will always be notified in-app in the Notifications at the top navigation bar as soon as any of your automation flows has been executed:

Note: You can adjust your account's email and in-app notifications under Profile Settings.

How can I test Contractbook custom task automation?

• To perform the test, you can add yourself as a signee, then save the template as a new draft and sign it. Remember to choose Only me as the signature method at the draft's top.
• You can then fully sign the contract draft only by adding your signature, which is also the trigger of the automation we have set up.
• As soon as the contract has been signed, go to your documents overview and check the notifications under your account. The automation status will be listed there as either successful or failed.

How can I fix a failed automation? 

• In case the automation has failed, you can access the detailed view by clicking on the failed notification in the list under your profile notifications:

• In this view, you can identify the reason for the failure by expanding the failure to run details. You can then use the information found here to change the approval automation from the configuration settings.
• In the example of the failure below, we need to go back and ensure the alert date is before the due date of the task's completion. 

How can I check the automation runs successfully?

• If the automation has run successfully, you can open the signed contract, which must now be automatically connected to a new custom task with the same properties as the ones you have chosen under the configuration of your automation.

• Additionally, if your signed contract has dates (as shown in the showcased example), you will automatically be suggested to use them to set new reminder tasks.
• Using the functionalities of the Contractbook task sidebar view, you can amend any changes to the created custom task, including marking it as resolved. 
• Note: you can only mark a task as completed if you are assigned to it.

• Of course, you can also find the task in the general tasks management dashboard, which allows you to adjust its properties and directly access the document it is assigned to.
• As usual, you will also be able to see that there has been a new pending task in the documents view when locating the signed contract created from the template chosen for the automation flow:

Now that you have tested the automation workflow, you are ready to start using it and save time by assigning reminders for any task to the relevant executor.

With the in-app automation builder, you ensure that you always meet that deadline.

Note: Automated workflows and integrations are available for the users on any of our paid subscriptions.

Contact us anytime via our Support Chat or email if you need additional information or assistance.