Workflow templates

Most of your firm's work repeats: a VAT return every quarter, year-end accounts, a new-client onboarding pack. A workflow template captures how you run one of those processes, so each new workflow starts with the right email threads, a prepared first message on each, and the todos your team works through.

Templates live under Workflows → Templates. Everyone in the workspace can create, edit and use them.

What a template sets up

Each workflow created from a template gets:

• a name and description - which can include the client's name and the date, filled in for you
• a due date, a set number of days after the workflow's date
• tags
• one or more threads, each with its subject, recipients, the mailbox it sends from and an optional prepared first message
• a list of todos, each with an optional due date and default assignee

Everything is copied into the new workflow. Editing or deleting a template later never changes workflows already created from it - they're yours to adjust individually.

Create a template

1. Go to Workflows, open the Templates tab and click New template.
2. Give it a Template name your team will recognise, such as VAT return. Names must be unique.
3. Fill in the Each new workflow section:
   • Workflow name - the name each new workflow is given. Leave it blank to use the template name. You can include variables, for example VAT return - {{contact.name}} - {{formatDate date "MMM YYYY"}}.
   • Description - notes for whoever picks the workflow up.
   • Due date - the number of days after the workflow date that it's due. Leave it blank for no due date.
   • Tags - choose from your workspace's tags. Only owners and admins can create a new tag here.
4. Add the threads and todos the process needs.
5. Click Create template.

As you work, the Creates panel on the right shows what a new workflow would look like, filled in for a sample contact. It's the quickest way to check your names and dates read well.

Add threads and first messages

Each thread is a separate email conversation on the workflow - for example, one to collect documents and another to confirm submission. Click Add thread for each one, then set:

• Subject - required. Variables work here too.
• Send to the client contact - on by default. When it's on, the client contact chosen when the workflow is created is added as a recipient.
• Also send to - contacts who should be on this thread every time, such as a colleague at the client or a third party.
• Send from - which of your mailboxes the thread uses. You'll only see this if your workspace has more than one mailbox connected; otherwise the thread uses your default mailbox.
• First message - the email to prepare as a draft. It supports simple formatting: start a line with - for a bullet point, wrap words in **double asterisks** for bold, and leave a blank line between paragraphs.

For example:

Hi {{contact.firstName}},

It's time for your VAT return for the quarter ending {{formatDate date "MMMM YYYY"}}. Could you send over:

- bank statements for the quarter
- sales and purchase invoices
- any receipts for expenses over £50

Many thanks

Use the arrows on each thread card to reorder threads, and the bin icon to remove one.

Add todos

Todos are the steps every workflow like this goes through. Click Add todo for each one and set:

• a title, such as Reconcile bank statements
• optional details
• Due … days after the workflow date (blank for no due date)
• a default assignee, or leave it Unassigned

Due dates count calendar days, including weekends. When a workflow is created, anyone assigned a todo (other than the person creating the workflow) is notified as usual.

Fill in names and dates automatically

Wherever you see the Insert variable button, you can add placeholders that are filled in when each workflow is created. Pick one from the menu, or type it yourself between double curly brackets.

To show the date your own way, use formatDate with a format in quotes:

The available pieces are YYYY and YY (year), MMMM, MMM, MM and M (month), DD and D (day of the month), dddd and ddd (weekday), and HH and mm (24-hour time). Dates use your workspace's timezone.

When a field contains a variable, a Preview box appears underneath it showing the result. If something's wrong - a misspelt variable or a missing }} - you'll see the problem in red under the field, and the template can't be saved until it's fixed. Variable names are case-sensitive: {{Date}} won't work.

Start a workflow from a template

1. Click New workflow - on the Workflows page or on My work.
2. Under Start from, choose the template. (From a template's own page, Use template opens this dialog with it already chosen.)
3. Choose the Client contact if asked. This appears when the template uses the contact's details or has threads marked Send to the client contact. It's required when the template uses contact variables.
4. Check the Workflow date. It defaults to today; every date in the template and every due date counts from it. For a quarter's VAT return, for example, you might set it to the quarter end.
5. Check the Name. It's filled in from the template and updates as you change the contact or date, until you edit it yourself.
6. Click Create.

You're taken straight to the new workflow. In the thread list, each thread with a first message shows that a draft is ready to review. Open it and you'll find the message in the reply box with your signature, under a notice saying the template drafted it and nothing has been sent. Edit it if you need to, then send it, or click Discard draft.

If a thread is marked Send to the client contact but you didn't choose a contact, the thread is created without them; add recipients before you send.

Edit or delete a template

Open the template from the Templates tab, make your changes and click Save changes. Only workflows created afterwards are affected.

To delete one, open it and use Delete template at the bottom of the page. Workflows already created from it stay exactly as they are.

Good to know

• Templates and schedules are different tools. A template is a starting point you use by hand. To create workflows automatically on a timetable - every month, for each client on a list - use a schedule. Schedules don't use templates.
• AI assistants can use templates too. If you've connected Claude or ChatGPT, you can ask it to start a workflow from one of your templates. See Use Mighty from Claude or ChatGPT.