What workflows are
A workflow has two halves. When something happens — an invoice arrives, a match fails, it is 6am. Then do this — flag it, ask someone to approve it, send it to Xero. That is the whole idea.
- Why automation is worth it, and what it takes off your desk
- Which of these articles are yours, depending on what you do
- The one rule that catches everyone out
- The words the builder uses, and what they mean elsewhere
01 · Why
Why do we have this?
Most finance work is the same few decisions over and over. Someone opens an invoice, notices there is no PO number on it, and puts it aside for a manager. Nothing about that needs a person — except the manager’s decision at the end.
Workflows take the noticing and the chasing, and leave you the deciding. You will find them under Workflows in the left-hand menu.
02 · What it means for you
If you only answer requests
You never open the builder. Things arrive in My Tasks and you approve, reject, or retry them. That one page is yours, and you can stop there.
If you set Merchaint up
You build the workflows. Everything in this section from Build one onwards is yours, roughly in the order the groups are listed on the category page.
The words we use
| The screen says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Workflow | One piece of automation: one trigger, then steps. |
| Trigger | The thing that starts it. |
| Step | One thing it does. Steps run top to bottom. |
| Table | The builder says table where the rest of Merchaint says module — a table of records. See Modules & records. |
03 · FAQ
Common questions
As many as you like. Most workspaces end up with one per job, rather than one big one — it is easier to switch a single job off when it misbehaves.
Steps inside one workflow run top to bottom. Separate workflows run independently. If two of them try to change the same field, the one with the higher priority wins — see Workflow settings.
Yes, and that is usually fine. Merchaint stops the chain after five hops so nothing can loop forever.
A scheduled workflow can run as often as every 30 seconds. Everything else runs when its trigger fires.