Document Lifecycles
A lifecycle describes the stages a document moves through, such as Received, Review and Ready. A move connects two stages and can ask for information, check a condition or start tasks. Your team chooses the stages and rules that fit its work.
Open Workspace Settings → Lifecycles to manage these processes. Publish creates a version for new documents. Make Active chooses the workspace default, and an entity can have its own assignment. Existing documents keep the lifecycle version they started with. The lessons below explain each part using isolated example values.
What a lifecycle is
Your own process
A lifecycle is your own process, so every document follows the same path.
- A default one comes ready, and you can build your own
- Such as: approval, the accountant checks again, then sent on
- Add Lifecycle: a new process, starting with one status and no moves
- Each move can start workflows
- Every move and decision is recorded in the document's activity and history
More actions
⋮ on a row holds Duplicate. It makes an inactive copy of that lifecycle and opens it.
Name
Name is what your team knows the process by, such as Supplier invoice review.
- Description says when this lifecycle is the right one
Statuses
Add Status
A status shows everyone where a document stands in your process. Add Status opens a panel for a new stage.
- The first status is where every document starts
Name
Name is the label people see on the status, such as Awaiting approval.
- Colour and Icon set how the label looks
Lock the Document
Lock the Document stops edits while a document is in this status.
- Only When limits the lock to documents matching its condition
Can Still Edit
Can Still Edit names the people, groups or roles who may edit a locked document.
Who Sees It
Who Sees It holds rules. A rule gives its People an Access level for documents that match When.
Delete
Delete removes the status and every move into or out of it. The first status cannot be deleted.
Moves between statuses
Add Move
A move is how a document goes forward in your process.
- Add Move links two statuses and opens a panel for the move
From and Goes To
From is the status the move starts in, and Goes To the status after it.
- Any Status lets the move start in every status
Trigger
Trigger sets how the move happens.
- Button: a button on the document, its text set in Button Name
- Automatic: the document moves by itself when its conditions hold
Who May Make This Move
Who May Make This Move names the people, groups or roles who may press the button.
Conditions
Conditions decide whether the move can be used for a document. An automatic move happens when they hold.
Test on a Document
Test on a Document checks the condition against one document. The document does not move.
- Matches: the condition holds for that data
- Does not match: the condition does not hold
- Cannot be decided: a value it needs is missing
Ask for information during a move
Ask on This Move
A move can collect what the next stage needs.
- Ask on This Move: fields asked for when the button is pressed
Required Fields
Required Fields must be filled before the document can make this move.
Confirmation Message
Confirmation Message is the question shown before the move happens.
Conditions in detail
Source
Conditions make your setup react to each document's own data. Source is what a condition reads.
- A field of the document
- A table
- An earlier action's result
Operator and Compare against
Operator compares the source with what Compare against sets, such as is over or differs by more than.
- Tolerance: how far apart two values may be
- Value: a number or text typed in
- Field: another field of the same type
- Days ago: a number of days, for dates only
Combine conditions
Combine conditions joins the conditions of a level.
- AND: every condition must hold
- OR: one condition is enough
- NOT: holds when a condition does not
Calculation
Calculation says how a table's lines are checked.
- Any Line: at least one line meets the condition
- All Lines: every line meets the condition
- Sum of, Average of, Smallest, Largest: one number from a column
- Number of: how many lines there are
A workflow start
The same conditions decide which documents start a workflow. Which Documents lists what a document must match.
- With no condition, every document starts a run
A field's setting
A field's setting can follow a condition too. Only when… gives the setting a value only for documents matching When.
- Add a case: adds another
Actions on a move
Action
Actions let a move set off what should happen next.
- Action runs after a move, such as Send Notification or Start Workflow
Name
Name identifies the action's result in later conditions, such as Tell the approvers.
Send Notification
The questions below Action and Name depend on the action's type. Some cards fold more under More settings.
Add Action
Add Action adds another action to the move. Each card can be opened, closed or removed.
Publish and maintain a lifecycle
Publish
Edits wait in a draft, so a half-built change never reaches documents.
- Publish checks the draft and makes it the version for new documents
- Documents already in the lifecycle keep their version
More actions
More actions holds what changes the whole lifecycle, apart from publishing.
- Make Active: makes it the workspace's default lifecycle
- Restore Default: back to the Finpilo default, for customized defaults
- Discard Draft: drops the unpublished changes
History
History lists the published versions, who published them and what changed. Restore Version takes an older one into the draft.
Delete Lifecycle
Delete Lifecycle removes a custom lifecycle that is not active, and Restore Lifecycle brings it back.