⚡️ Vendor Portal Expert - Request Forms ⚡️

   Take Control

   Estimated Read Time: 8 minutes

    Estimated Configuration Time: 20 - 30 Minutes

☑️     Requires: Vendor Portal

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Sections in this article:

• Introduction
  • Example Diagram
• Configuration
  • Configure the Start Phase
  • Configure a Custom Status Field
  • Configure the Trigger
  • Add a Vendor AutoAction Phase
  • Add a Vendor AutoAction on the Done phase
• Workflow Build Video Walkthroughs
• Retroactively Add Request Forms for Active Vendors
• Add the Request Forms to your Vendors' Gatekeeper Lifecycle
• FAQ

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Introduction

This article outlines how to create a self-serve workflow form for your Vendor Portal users. While you may prefer to control the initial tasks or forms, such as Onboarding and Due Diligence Assessments, there may also be value in enabling vendors to proactively submit requests when needed.

The guidance below uses the example of a simple vendor details update request, but this method could be applied to more complex processes such as contract requests, PO or invoice payment requests, and sales partnership or recruitment referrals.

Watch the video below to learn more:

 

Example Diagram

The diagram below shows the workflow that will be used as an example in this article:

 

Configuration

Configure the Start Phase

Click on your start phase to edit it, then apply the following settings in each section the configuration.

Form Access:

• Authorisation Type: Vendor Portal
• Assign Card Owner to: All Vendor Users

Form:

• Add a Vendor Portal Guidance Form Section

• Add the predefined Vendor Core Data form section
• Add any other metadata required for your workflow, for example a vendor update request form may require any relevant Custom Data sections, while a contract request form would require the predefined Contract Core Data form section

Transitions:

• On submission: Send to next phase of workflow

Configure a Custom Status Field

Adding a custom status field will allow you to:

• Control which vendors can access the form

• See on the vendor record whether the form is currently open for input or has already been submitted

• Trigger the workflow in bulk to make forms available to all vendors (see Retroactively Add Request Forms for Active Vendors for more details)

To do this:

1. From the navigation menu, expand Settings then click Configuration.
2. Click Custom Data.
3. Open (or create) a Vendor Custom Group where you want to add your field.
4. Click Add New Custom Field.
   
   1. Enter a label, for example [Workflow Name/Request Form Name] + Status
   2. Select the Type as Dropdown list
   3. Enter the Options, for example:
      1. Request Form Available ✅
      2. Request Form Being Processed ⏳
      3. N/A
5. Click Save.

 

Configure the Trigger

The next step is to configure a trigger so that the workflow is initiated and appears on the Vendor Portal when required.

1. From the navigation menu, click Workflows.
2. Expand the 3 dots on the relevant workflow then select Workflow Triggers.
3. Click ➕ ADD TRIGGER.
4. Enter a name, then click Create.
5. Click ➕ ADD and configure the condition with the newly created Custom Field, then click Create.
6. Change the Trigger Status from Pipeline to Live

Add a Vendor AutoAction Phase

To ensure that the custom status is applied to vendors, an AutoAction phase needs to be added to the workflow.

1. Add a new phase to the onboarding workflow, e.g. ⚙️ AutoUpdate Status ⚙️
2. Reorder the phases to position this straight after the Vendor Portal Form phase.
3. Configure AutoAction | Update Vendor on the new phase with the following settings:
   1. Submit Card on Action
   2. Edit AutoAction Values: Set the custom status field to Form Being Processed ⏳
4. Configure the transition from your Vendor Form phase to this new AutoAction phase.

Add a Vendor AutoAction on the Done phase

Depending on your workflow, you may have an AutoAction already on the Done phase. If so, you simply need to update the setting for what this AutoAction does to include the new custom status field.

1. Click to edit the Done phase of the workflow.
2. From Actions, select the ⚙️ AutoAction | Update Vendor checkbox.
3. Click Edit AutoAction Values.
4. Select the Request Form Available from the custom status field dropdown.
5. Click Save.

 

Workflows Build Walkthroughs 

Watch the below video to learn about setting up a Vendor Update Request Workflow:

 

Watch the below video to learn about a Contract Request Workflow for vendors:

 

Retroactively Add Request Forms for Active Vendors

Once the workflow and status fields have been set up, you can bulk trigger all pre-existing vendors, so that new and old vendors will have access to the new forms.

1. Click Vendors from the navigation menu.
2. Click Export then select CSV | All Pages.
3. Edit the CSV file and populate the custom status field value for all vendors to trigger the workflow.
4. Return to Gatekeeper and click Add, then select Bulk Import.
5. Click Choose File to locate your import file, then click Upload.
6. Review the Summary then click Import Data to finalise the import.
   

Watch the video below to see a walkthrough of these steps:

 

Add the Request Forms to your Vendors' Gatekeeper Lifecycle

After configuring a Vendor Portal Form and making it available to all current Vendor Portal users, you can ensure it is automatically available for any new vendors added to Gatekeeper using workflows. To do this:

1. If not already included, add the custom status field to your vendor onboarding workflow form.
2. In the vendor onboarding workflow, enable the AutoAction | Update Vendor on the Done phase if it isn’t already active.
3. Select the Edit AutoAction Values checkbox, and set the value for the custom status field to Form Available ✅.

 

FAQ 💬

Q: What happens if a vendor’s data is changed elsewhere while using the Vendor Data Update Request Form is in progress?

A: Although rare, changes made through another workflow or directly in the repository can cause inconsistencies. The data in the form will not automatically reflect these updates.

To manage this, you could use the manual Update Vendor action. This allows you to review each field and identify discrepancies.