By organising your Custom Fields into Smart Forms, you can assign Scores & Weights so that the data provided by internal or external users can instantly provide you with summary grades.

This will allow you to benchmark performance & compliance of your Vendors/Contracts over time and also against other Vendors/Contracts in your Gatekeeper repository.

Once configured, data in Smart Forms can be populated directly in the Repository, via API, or by users within Workflows.

The below article walks through how to configure & use these Smart Forms to get the most reliable insights from your data & processes...

....Our suggestion (covered below) is to embed them in Workflow Forms so you can automate their initial completion as well schedule re-assessments in structured & collaborative processes.

Reporting & Insights Available in Smart Forms

Contract & Vendor Smart Form Tabs

When Scores have been populated in a Smart Form's scored fields, they will be visible within the Vendor record.

You can view these by opening the record & navigating to the Smart Form using the Tab menu at the top of the record:

Pictured below: A Smart Form with the Scores at the top with the metadata groups & fields below

Viewing historical data

You will see a record of all previous scores associated with a record towards the bottom of the smart form.

Selecting 'View Details' will provide a view of the metrics associated with the previous scores.

Smart Form vs Group-by-Group Score

Within a Smart form, the Score Summary and Historical Timeline scores will provide values of the whole form.

However, you can see the component parts of the summary at the top of each Group.

Pictured below: the Top-level Summary Score for the Smart Form which is comprised of the Sum of all the weighted Group scores below

i.e. 82.25 = 22.5 + 25 + 16 + 18.75

Repository Level Scores

Once a Smart Form has been created, you can include the Score Summary for that Smart Form as a field in your Repository view.

This will allow you to compare Scores from multiple records' Smart Forms in a single view:

We recommend storing these in a Saved View so you can easily revisit them later:

Workflow Score

Within a Workflow Card, if any of the records linked to the card (either Vendor or Contract) have a Smart Form, Gatekeeper will display the Current Score* in a Sidebar tab with a link to the Smart Form within the Record itself:

*By "Current Score", we mean the score that has been saved to the Smart Form in the metadata of the Vendor/Contract record.

In a future update, users will be able to see the Current score (i.e. the Score which has been published within the Vendor/Contract record) and the In Progress score (the Score calculated based on input provided during the current Workflow)

Configuration

The below sections will walk through how to create a Smart Form as well as how to configure the specific Scores & Weights required to begin assessing & benchmarking your data

Part 1 - Creating the Smart Form

Option A - Creating a new Smart Form from Scratch

Step 1) Go to Settings > Configuration > Custom Data

Step 2) Hit Add > Smart Form

Step 3) Enter a Title for your Smart Form & select which records it is allocated to (e.g. Contracts or Vendors)

Step 4) Decide whether you want your Smart Form to utilise a Sidebar for simplifying navigation. Useful when you are grouping a lot of custom data groups together under 1 Smart Form.

Step 5) Set the RAG Thresholds

Step 6) Hit ✅ Save to create the new form

Sidebar Layout

Once you have created a new Smart Form, you then need to add Custom Groups to organise the data, followed by the Custom Fields to be scored. This is identical to creating custom fields outside of a Smart Form.

For guidance on how do do this, see the below dedicated guides

📖 Configuring Custom Data: Creating Custom Groups

📖 Configuring Custom Data: Creating Custom Fields

NB. When creating custom fields, the only input types which can be "Scored" in a Smart Form are:

- Yes/No
- Percentage
- Dropdown List ("Single Pick" Only)

Option B - Converting an Existing "Custom Tab" to a Smart Form

If you have a Custom Tab where you have already been collecting data, you can upgrade this to a Smart Form so your pre-existing data can be scored

Step 1) Go to Settings > Configuration > Custom Data

Step 2) Go to the Custom Tabs tab

Step 3) Alongside a Custom Tab, click the Options menu then select Convert to Smart Form

Step 4) Set the RAG Thresholds

Step 5) Hit ✅ Save to confirm the threshold limits & complete the conversion!

RAG Thresholds

RAG stands for Red-Amber-Green and the values you enter dictate that appearance of Smart Form data in Contract/Vendor tabs:

Scores below the "Amber from" threshold will be classed as Red

Between the "Amber from" and "Green from" thresholds will be classed as Amber

Above the "Green from" score results will be classed as Green

Part 2 - Selecting Which Groups & Fields are Scored

Not all groups or fields within a Smart Form need to contribute to the total "Score", some sections may simply be there to provide context & supporting information. Therefore, you must decide which parts of your new Smart Form are "Scored".

Step 1) To begin configuring the Scores, while within the Smart Form, hit Configure Weights

Step 2) For Groups which should contribute to the Score for the Smart Form, check ☑️ Scored

Step 3) Click the ➕ symbol to expand your scored Groups, then check ☑️ Scored for all the Fields which should contribute towards the score for that Group

You will only be able to select fields which fit the Score-able field types (see above)

Part 3 - Assigning Weightings

This is where you can assign how important each Group & Field are to the overall Score which Gatekeeper calculates for the Smart Form.

To ensure a fully-configured Smart Form, Gatekeeper will require all sections to combine to make a Score of 100%:

The Sum of all Scored Fields' Weightings should equal 100 for each Scored Group

The Sum of all Scored Groups' Weightings should equal 100 for the Smart Form

Step 1) To enter the weight for a field/group, simply type in a value (between 1-100) alongside the ☑️ Scored setting

Step 2) When you have entered all weightings (and they add up to 100 for each Group & the whole Smart Form), hit ✅ Save

If every Field in a Group should be equally important, or if every Group in a Smart Form should be equally weighted, hit Distribute Field/Group Weights Equally to save time

⬆️ See above gif where both scored Groups are quickly set to 50% each ⬆️

Part 4 - Assigning Scores to the Available Values

For fields of type Yes/No or Dropdown, you can assign what "score" will be given based on user input

Percentages do not need this since the value entered is the score

Yes/No fields will default to Yes = 100% & No = 0%, but these can be amended

Step 1) Alongside a Scored field, use the ➕ symbol to expand the field, displaying the available options

Step 2) For each of the values which should be a score-able answer, check ☑️ Scored

Step 3) Enter a score out of 100 for each value

Step 4) When finished with all fields, hit ✅ Save

For more information on how certain fields will be scored based on empty values or dependent fields, see the below FAQ section

The Best Ways to Use Smart Forms

This section will cover how to leverage Smart Forms in the most structured & reliable way.

That is, as mentioned briefly in the introduction, Smart Forms can be populated in a variety of ways:

Entering data directly in the Contract or Vendor metadata record
Entering data directly for many Contract or Vendor records (via Bulk Import)
Entering data via API/Integrations

However, the best way to populate them with additional benefits like tailorable & structured processes with automations is by embedding them in Workflow Forms.

Embedding Smart Forms in a Workflow

Step 1) Click to edit the Start Phase of the Workflow & go to the Form tab

Step 2) Scroll to the bottom of the page & hit Add Section

Step 3) Select Predefined, followed by the record type for your Smart Form

Step 4) Alongside Custom Tab dropdown, select the name of your Smart Form to add every Group from your Smart Form

To only embed specific Groups from your Smart Form, select the name within the Custom Data Group dropdown

After the Smart Form is added to the Workflow, you need to then consider where the fields should be Visible & Editable to users on the Workflow as well as where the values will be saved to your Repository (via Create/Update Actions)

The scenario above shows how to embed Smart Forms in a Vendor Onboarding assessment workflow as well as within automated follow-up assessment (i.e. an Annual ESG Assessment)

For more detail on these specific processes, see the below walkthrough guides

📖 Configuring a Workflow Form

⚡️ Gatekeeper Expert - Dynamic Dates

🛠️ Create Your Own - Vendor Onboarding Best Practice Workflow

🛠️ Create Your Own - ESG Best Practice Workflow

Using Smart Forms in Workflows

Smart Form Score Thresholds, the Red/Amber/Green thresholds you associate with your Smart Forms, can be used in many places within workflows, including transition rules, custom form visibility, approval conditions, and conditional ownership.

Recommended Reading:

📖 Configuring Workflow Transitions.

📖 Setting up a Form within a Workflow.

📖 Workflow Phase Approvals.

📖 Workflow Owners Overview

Quick Tips:

1) All smart form workflow conditions operate on the RAG threshold associated with your Smart Form.

2) Workflows can only use scores from the entire Smart Form, not the individual groups within it.

3) Workflows will use the current in-progress score at each phase. When applying these rules, it is important to consider the completion status of the Smart Form dataset.

4) You can use only Smart Forms embedded in your workflow. If you do not see your Smart Form when searching for the 'Score Summary' field, you must embed your desired Smart Form into the current workflow before repeating the steps.

5) When you search for the 'Score Summary', only the Smart Forms linked to your current workflow will appear in the results. If your desired Smart Form does not appear, embed it into your workflow first.

Using Smart Forms RAG Thresholds as Transition Rules

Transition rules dictate the criteria and conditions that guide the movement of a card from one phase of your workflow to another.

Step 1) Select the phase in which you want to transition from

Step 2) Select the Transitions tab

Step 3) Select Conditional

Step 4) Select Add Transition to create a new transition, OR select an existing transition name to edit

Step 4a) If creating a new transition, name the transition ruleset and select Create

Step 5) Under Condition, select +Add

Step 6) Select a smart form field as the condition basis. Search for 'Score Summary' to see all available Smart Forms in your current workflow configuration.

Step 7) Select the appropriate Smart Form

Step 8) Choose an Operator and the required data per your ruleset

Step 9) Set your Transition to and set the status to Live

Using Smart Forms RAG Threshold as Custom Form Visibility

Custom Form Visibility enables you to tailor the accessibility of each form section within a phase, designating which sections are editable, viewable, or hidden based on specific conditions.

Step 1) Select the phase in which you wish to create a custom form visibility rule

Step 2) Select Form

Step 3) Identify the desired Form Section and change the toggle to Custom

Step 4) Select a smart form field as the condition basis. Search for 'Score Summary' to see all available Smart Forms in your current workflow configuration.

Step 5) Select the appropriate Smart Form

Step 6) Click Create

Step 7) Choose an Operator and the required data per your ruleset

Step 8) Ensure your Visibility and Workflow Group are set

Using Smart Forms RAG Thresholds as Approval Conditions

Approval Conditions enable you to establish criteria for the necessary approvers, allowing for the designation of a single approver or multiple owners/rulesets.

❗Before proceeding with conditional approvals, it is recommended to read Workflow Phase Approvals.

Step 1) Select the phase in which you wish to add Approvals

Step 2) Select Approval

Step 3) Under Approval Type, select Parallel

Step 4) Choose your Ownership Rule

Step 5) Select Conditional

Step 6) Select Save

Step 7) Under the created conditional approval ruleset, select +Add

Step 8) Select a smart form field as the condition basis. Search for 'Score Summary' to see all available Smart Forms in your current workflow configuration.

Step 9) Select Create

Using Smart Forms RAG Thresholds as Conditional Ownership

Ownership defines the individuals responsible for executing the necessary actions within a workflow phase. With conditional ownership, you can tailor the rules for assigning these responsibilities. This allows for either a single owner with specific conditions or multiple owners, each governed by their own rulesets.

❗Before proceeding with conditional ownership, it is recommended to read Workflow Conditional Owner Authorisation.

Step 1) Select the phase in which you wish to add Conditional Ownership

Step 2) Select Form Access

Step 3) Under Card Owners, select Conditional

Step 4) Select +Add New Owners

Step 5) Select your Ownership Type

Step 6) Select Save

Step 7) Select Edit Conditions

Step 8) Select +Add

Step 9) Select a smart form field as the condition basis. Search for 'Score Summary' to see all available Smart Forms in your current workflow configuration.

Step 10) Select Create

FAQs & Technical Aspects 👨‍💻

Q: What if I add new options to a dropdown list after assigning the scores?

A: These would be added to the Smart Form by default as un-scored options.

After adding the new option you would need to return to the Configure Weights view to mark it as ☑️ Scored & assign the value:

Q: What if a user selects a dropdown field value which is not scored?

A: If a not-scored value (like "New Option Added Later" in the above screenshot) is selected, Gatekeeper will disregard the field from the scoring calculation & automatically redistribute the weighting assigned to the current field to the remaining fields from the Custom Group

Q: What if a scored dependent field is hidden while a Smart Form is being completed?

A: If a scored field is hidden based on the value entered in another field, Gatekeeper will disregard the hidden field & automatically redistribute the weighting assigned to the hidden field to the remaining fields from the Custom Group

When Scoring/Weighting dependent fields, Gatekeeper highlights these using a icon:

Q: What if scores are amended/populated more than once during a single assessment

A: This is fine. However, Gatekeeper will only capture separate "snapshots" of scores if they occur on different days.

i.e. The Score History Timeline does not show more than one score from the same date

Q: What happens if I embed only one Custom Group from a Smart Form in a Workflow

A: This is also fine, when the specific Group is updated via that workflow, the Smart Form will recalculate the overall score regardless of how much data is changed

Q: Who can complete a Smart Form ?

➡️ Who can Configure groups/fields/weights/scores: Only Configuration level Admins

➡️ Who can populate values in a Smart Form: Technically, anyone

Data entered via the Repository, the API or Workflow Forms will be scored. Therefore, any user who is granted access to populate values via any of these methods will be able to influence a Smart Form's score

Additional Reading 📚

📖 Configuring Custom Data

Read about all the steps for adding Custom Fields to your Gatekeeper data model

📖 Custom Tabs

Learn about the precursor feature to Smart Forms which allows you to segment & organise your Custom Fields (without Scores)

📖 Setting up Workflow Forms

Learn about creating Workflow Forms, including how to add Custom fields so that your users can view & interact with the data which you store in your Contract & Vendor repositories