How can I set up an automated workflow using party and signee variables?

This article describes how to use your parties and signees details across automations. It contains the following topics:

• Example workflow - video tutorial 
• Configuring the automation trigger
• Configuring the automation action
• Using the details tab
• Auto-populating parties and signees in the new draft
• Using the new automation
• Checking the automation workflow

As an example workflow which we will showcase in this article, you can:

• Automatically create a new draft from a specific template as soon as a contract is signed
• Then use both signees' names directly in the new draft's name
• And finally - auto-populate the party and signee fields of the draft with variables fetched from the signed contract

 Here is a short video tutorial of the automation setup, and a step-by-step guide follows right after: 

• Click on the Automations tab from the main menu and then on the blue button Create new at the upper right-hand corner.
• You will be redirected to a pop-up window where you can customize the automation's setup entirely.

How can I configure the trigger event?

• The first thing you need to do is to set the trigger event which must occur in order for the automation to be executed.
• To begin with, in our example, 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 initiate the automation.
• You can assign the trigger to every contract, only a contract drafted from a specific template or only a specific contract.

• We will use every contract drafted from a specific template for our automation flow. If you have selected the same option as we did, you can then use the search bar below to find the template you want to use as a base for the automation trigger event:

• If you have several templates sharing the same name, you can click on the small eye icon, and the document will directly open for your review:

• After choosing the correct file, you can proceed with choosing 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):

• Use the drop-down list to select the option to define whether creating a new contract draft should happen after each signature is added to the selected contract 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 trigger the automatic creation of the new draft.

• 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 that the trigger event you have just defined will automate. You can use the search bar to locate the option Create a draft. 
• Then select the template you want to base the new draft on - you can choose one of your own, shared or one of Contractbook's predefined templates. In our example, we will pick "Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)" from the Contractbook templates library:

• Once a new "Employment contract" is signed, a new NDA draft will automatically be generated.
• A new configuration window will appear on the right side of the screen. Here you will be able to define the new draft configuration, including parties and signees details, signature method and flow, and customized recipients' message.
• This can be done in three separate tabs: Details, Data, and Other.
• The configuration of all tabs is descriptively followed in our Create draft automation article in case you need more information about the Data and Other tabs.
• In this article, we will only focus on using the Details tab to automatically display the employment contract Signees' names in the title of the newly created NDA draft and to auto-populate their variables in the new draft's party and signee fields. Here are the steps you need to follow.

How do I utilize the Details tab to use Party or Signee variables in my automation?

• The first configuration type is under the Details tab. Under this tab, you can start by naming the draft, then filling out the parties and signees details.
• For the example we are configuring, we want to display the names of both signees of the NDA directly in the new draft's title by automatically fetching their properties. 
• To do that, you can keep the generic draft's name or manually type in any text input instead of it and then select the data associated with the signees in the exact order you wish them to be displayed following that text input:

• As you can see in the video above, you not only hold control over the type of variable you want to use, but you also have the complete ability to customize the signees this input will be handed from and in which order the data will be displayed in the title of your new draft.

How can I use party and signee variables to auto-populate the party and signature fields of the automatically created draft?

• The next step of the configuration under the Details tab is filling out the parties and signees details.
• You can type in any text input or use variables both from the party and signee fields of the signed contract used in the trigger event step ("Contract is signed") and from any data fields available in the contract. 
  You can search and populate the variables across the party and signature fields. In our example, we will use all relevant to a contract draft's party and signee data fields, including "Hereafter referred to as":

• By using party and signee variables from the contract which has been signed, you can now customize the details of the signees and automatically populate them in the newly created draft as soon as the automation is triggered.
• Here is what the first signee variables of the newly created draft in our automation configuration will look like:

• And here is the second party and associated with it signee for the same contract draft:

• Once you have filled in the details you want to include for a given Party, click Save, and the data will now be connected to this step of the automation configuration.
• Note: Multiple signees can represent one party, and you can customize that by clicking on the blue button called Add signee under the relevant party.

How can I start using my new automation flow?

• Once you have all the tabs you want to customize completed, click on Save to confirm the configuration of the complete automation and then Publish in the upper right-hand corner to set it into active use.
• 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 "Create NDA when an employment contract is signed":

• Note: If you need to make any changes to the automation 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: 

• If you click on the three grey dots next to the status toggle bar, you can open, rename, delete, duplicate or see the activity feed of the automation.
• Remember that the automation must be active (published) for the activities to be available and inactive to be deleted. 

How can I check the result of the automation?

• Before using the automation with others, you can quickly check if it works properly by sending it to yourself (use "Only me" as a signature configuration at the top of the contract draft). Below you can find video guidance on the test performance: 

• Once you have concluded the automation works, you can use it by signing the contract with external parties.
• For the test to be performed, you need to find the template you used in the trigger event of the automation setup, save the template as a new draft, turn it into a contract by sending it to the relevant Signees, and sign it fully.  
• As soon as the contract has been signed, go to your documents overview and check the Notifications under your account. The status of the automation will be listed there as either successful or failed:

• In case the automation has run successfully, you can now find the new draft created with the same properties you have configured under the three tabs of the second automation step. Click on the draft's name from the activity feed to open the draft and review its details:

• The draft is now completely ready for the signature process initiation and includes the specified signees and associated with them variables fetched directly from the fully signed contract, which triggers the automation flow. 

Now that you have tested using party and signee variables across your automations, you are ready to save time, reduce errors and scale your business by automatically creating a new draft ready to be signed by the relevant parties. No more manual work.

If you still need additional information or assistance, reach out to us at any time by contacting our Support Team.