Note: If your process contains certification actions, go through this checklist to ensure a successful roll forward.
Note: Only Workspace Owners, Content Managers, and Copy Managers can copy files—if you need to copy a file, contact a Workspace Owner. To find a Workspace Owner, see Find members and admins.
You can roll forward processes by copying them, so that you can reuse them for recurring events, like quarterly reporting workflows. You can copy a process at any time, even if it's already started.
If you typically set your task due dates relative to a specific schedule (ex: you have a recurring task that needs to be completed by the 5th business day of a two-week cycle), configure business days before copying to make it easier to update task due dates in the new copied process.
Note: Workiva Calendars, Calendar-related features (such as using business days in processes), process templates, process monitoring charts and insights, and the process copy summary card are currently only available in some of our Financial Reporting and Financial Services solutions.
Roll forward a process
To roll forward a process, you’ll need to copy the process file:
- Go to the Files page and find your process.
- Right-click the process file and select Copy.
- Confirm your selection and click Next.
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Select your copy settings.
Note: To maintain all references to files in your process, make sure to select Links and Process References.
- Name your new folder and click Copy.
Learn more about copying files and folders.
Review the copied process
Review the process’s copy summary card
After copying a process and opening the copied process file, you’ll see a Process copy summary tile in the Overview left-hand panel. This tile will give you insights from the last time this process ran:
- Late tasks: Any tasks that were completed past their due date the last time this process ran
- Canceled tasks: Any tasks that were canceled the last time this process ran
- Added tasks: Any tasks that were added after the last time this process started
Click the arrow next to Late tasks, Canceled tasks, or Added tasks in this tile to view the corresponding actions in the actions list.
You can also click View details to compare more details between processes and see recommendations to help inform how you set up your next process.
Review the process’s settings and actions
Additionally, open up Settings in the toolbar to review and update the following process settings:
- Under the General tab:
- The Process name
- The Start order
- The Close process type
- The Permissions
- Under the Calendar tab:
- The Calendars that have been added to the process’s calendar
- If business days have been configured in the original process, update the values for the First business day, Last business day, Working days, and any Exceptions according to your business’s schedule for the copied process.
Then, in the Process tab, for all actions in the copied process, review and update the following (you can bulk edit these fields to help save time):
- The action’s Title
- The assignees and approvers
- Check for any suspended users and replace them with active users
- The action’s Due date and Approval due date. If business days have been configured in the original process, and you’ve already updated the Calendar settings with your new business days for the copied process, the action’s due dates will have updated automatically. Ensure they are correct according to your business’s schedule for the copied process.
- The action’s Tags
Use the Export feature in the process toolbar to cross-reference action titles, assignees and approvers, and other fields.
Your process is now ready to start again.