Automations

Automations are rules your firm sets once: when something happens, Cartenda does something on its own. Use them for the steps you'd otherwise have to remember, such as sending the onboarding packet once a new client signs your advisory agreement.

Each rule reads as a plain sentence, such as "When the Advisory agreement is signed, send them New client onboarding", so anyone on your team can see what it does.

Add a rule#

1. Go to Settings → Automations.
2. Click Add a rule, then choose When, the event that starts the rule.
3. If the event involves a form, choose For which form, or leave it as Any form.
4. Choose Then, what Cartenda should do.
5. Fill in the details for that action.
6. Click Add rule.

The rule starts working straight away for anything that happens from then on. It doesn't reach back to things that happened before you added it.

What can start a rule#

• When your firm marks any submission complete: someone at your firm has finished with what a client sent and marked it complete.
• When anything is signed: everyone who had to sign a submission has signed it.
• When a client sends back any request: a client sent their answers and documents. It also runs when your firm completes a submission it had sent back for changes, since that closes the request too.
• When a prospect becomes a client: someone changes a client group from Prospect to Client.

The first three can be narrowed to one form. For example, "When your firm marks a Risk questionnaire submission complete".

What a rule can do#

• Send a form: sends the form you choose under Form to send to the client. For a client group of several people, it goes to the primary. If the form names roles, each is filled from the primary's client group, as a send from the form fills it, and the client answers any role their group doesn't hold.
• Mark them a client: changes the client group's stage to Client.
• Assign them to a member: assigns the client's people to the member you choose under Assign them to.

Rules can work together. For example, one rule can mark a prospect a client once they sign your agreement, and a second can send your onboarding form when a prospect becomes a client.

Each rule acts once#

A rule acts only once for each thing that sets it off. If a submission is marked complete twice, the rule still sends one onboarding form.

See what your rules did#

Each rule shows how many times it has acted. Under Lately, the page lists recent runs, each marked Done or Skipped.

When a rule is skipped, the reason is shown. For example:

• "The form to send is not open to clients."
• "The client has no email address or cell phone number."
• "They already have this form open."
• "This was that form arriving, so it was not sent again."
• "Your plan is not active, so nothing was sent."
• "This form delivers a document holding a Social Security number, which is only sent by hand."
• "This form delivers a document filled for another client group."
• "The member to assign them to has left."
• "Already a client."

A skipped run isn't retried, because waiting won't fix the reason. Fix the cause, such as publishing the form or adding the client's email address, and then do the step by hand for that client.

Pause or delete a rule#

Use the switch beside a rule to change it between On and Paused. A paused rule does nothing until you turn it on again.

To remove a rule, click Delete. It stops acting from now on, and what it already did stays done.

Who can manage automations#

Automations are for people who can build and change forms: owners and admins, by default. Other members don't see the page.

Related#

• To have other software act when something happens, use webhooks. See The API and webhooks.
• To send a form on a schedule rather than in response to an event, see Sending to many clients, and scheduling.