Access Processes in Power Apps

*You must be an akoyaGO Admin User with a System Customizer Role to access Power Apps. 

1. Open Power Apps from the top waffle in akoyaGO or make.powerapps.com.


 

 
2. Select your foundation's akoyaGO environment. It should not be the default environment. If you are not viewing All Solutions, make sure to choose All.


3. Once you have selected your akoyaGO environment, choose Solutions > Objects > Processes.

    
 
Components of Workflow

  Create CRM Process Workflow

1. From PowerApps, choose +New > Automation > Process > Workflow.
 

 
 
2.  Give your workflow a unique Display Name (see number two in the image below.) The Display Name should be descriptive of the automation; for example, Create Activity for Staff when Grant Approved or Notify Fundholder when Payment is Sent. Consider establishing a naming convention for your organization.
 
3. Choose the Table (aka Entity) where the Process will be created. Each workflow must be set to a single table. You cannot change the table after the workflow is created, so make sure you are setting this accurately. This is the table (or entity) where the workflow can be run if it is an on-demand flow. Please find additional info on demand flows below. If you are unsure what table to choose and this will be an automated workflow, consider where your trigger will be. For example, if you want this workflow to be triggered when you update the Original Grant Amount on Request, Request would be your table, etc. 


4. Choose if this is a Background workflow vs. real-time workflow. Background workflows allow for wait conditions and are recommended unless you need the flow to run immediately (real-time).


5. Select if you are starting from a Blank workflow process or a template. Templates are included in our out-of-the-box solution for processes like Recurring Gifts and Scheduled Distributions. You can use these templates as a starting point, add any customizations, and activate them. 
 


6. Once you have assigned these initial properties, your process workflow will be created. Your workflow is not created until you click save from the screen above. You will now assign additional properties and begin building.
 

  Set Process Properties

Once you have created the workflow, you are ready to assign properties and begin building.

You will see this screen. The top half is where you will set properties, and the bottom half is where you will build. 
 


 
1. Activate As - your options here are "Process" or "Process Template." Choose “Process” to initiate automation right away. Or you can select “Process template” to create a template that you can use if you have several similar workflow processes to create and want to define them without duplicating the same logic.
 
*Note if you choose "Process Template," you are creating a template only. You would still need to create a Process using this template for any automation to occur.

2. Available to Run - Select As an on-demand process if you want users to be able to run this workflow manually at any time they choose. This will add the flow to the list you see in akoyaGO CRM when you choose "Flow" in the top navigation bar from a view or record. If you do not select As an on-demand process, users will not be able to manually run the flow and it will only run from a trigger that you define.
Select "As a child process" to allow the workflow to be started from another workflow.

3. Workflow Job Retention - If this is selected, the workflow job will be automatically deleted once it is complete. This only refers to the specific job, not the entire workflow. We recommend you keep this selected to save storage space.

4. You will see the Entity (Table) and Category based on what you selected when creating the workflow process. These cannot be edited. If you chose the wrong table/entity, you need to start over.

5. Scope - We recommend you set this to Organization, so workflow logic can be applied to any record in the organization. Otherwise, the workflow can only be applied to a subset of records that fall within the scope.

6. Start when - this is where you can define your automatic triggers for the workflow. If you want this flow to be an on-demand (manually run by the user) workflow only, you can leave this section completely unchecked.

If you want the workflow to start automatically, your options are:

• Record is created – on initial save of a new record in the specified table​
• Record status changes – “Status” changes to Active or Inactive​
• Record is assigned – “Owner” field changes​
• Record fields change – can specify to run when certain fields are modified on the record. If you are checking this as a trigger, you must specify the field(s) by clicking Select next to this option. ​
• Record is deleted – when a record in the table is deleted

  Add Steps to CRM Process Workflow

1. Now that you have set all properties in the top half of the screen, you are ready to begin adding steps. Steps are a unit of business logic within the workflow. They can include conditions, actions, other steps, or a combination of these elements.

To add a step, click Add Step and choose the type of step you want to insert. (More information on the different types of steps is included below.)



 
2. This will insert a step. Where it says Type a step description here and add a short description of what the step will include to help you organize your workflow process.

The different types of conditions you can include in your workflow are:

• Check Condition: A logical "if-<condition> then" statement.​ You can check the current values for the record that the workflow is running on, any of the records linked to that record in a many-to-one relationship, or any records created by earlier steps. Based on these values you can define additional steps when the condition is true.​ For example, If the gift commitment is >$100 and the fund is endowed, send an email to the fundholder.
• Conditional Branch: A logical "else-if-then" statement; the editor uses the text "Other, if <condition> then:" For example, Otherwise, if gift commitment is <$100 and fund is endowed, send email to foundation staff.
• Default Action: A logical "else" statement. The editor uses the text "Otherwise:" For example, Otherwise, send create an activity for foundation staff. 
• Wait Condition: Enables a background workflow to pause itself until the criteria defined by the condition have been met. The workflow starts again automatically when the criteria in the wait condition have been met. For example, wait until 30 days before the report's due date to send a reminder. 
• Parallel Wait Branch: Defines an alternative wait condition for a background workflow with a corresponding set of additional steps that are performed only when the initial criteria are met. You can use parallel wait branches to create time limits in your workflow logic. They help prevent the workflow from waiting indefinitely until the criteria defined in a wait condition have been met.
   

• Create Record: Create a new record for a table and assign the values you choose to the new record fields.
• Update Record: Choose the field(s) that will be updated.
• Assign Record: Sets a user as the owner of the selected record.
• Send Email: This will auto-send an email. You must set what the email will look like (from scratch or using an email template) in this step. Please note for emails, you also have the option to include a Create Record record and choose Email as the record you are creating. This will create a draft for you to review and send vs. the Send Email step, which will automatically send an email.
• Start Child Workflow: Stats another workflow process that has been configured as a child workflow.
• Change Status: Set the record as inactive/active.
• Stop Workflow: Can set the status of Successed or Cancelled and specify a status message.
   

When inserting an action step, you must choose what record you want the action to take place on. This can be the record the workflow is running on, any of the records linked to that record in a many-to-one relationship, or any records created by earlier steps.

Once you have set your Process Properties and built all condition(s) and action(s), the last step is to Activate your workflow so you can test it and confirm it works as expected. The Workflow will not run or be available to run on-demand until you activate it. Activating the workflow is like turning it on. 

If you need to make any changes to the workflow, you must deactivate it. Workflows cannot be edited when they are activated.