Create workflows overview

Important

Customers using Human Resources, the functionality noted in this article is currently available in both the stand-alone Dynamics 365 Human Resources and the merged Finance infrastructure. Navigation might be different than noted while we make updates. If you need to find a specific page, you can use Search.

This article explains how to create a workflow.

Open the workflow editor

The module that you're working in determines the types of workflow that you can create. Follow these steps to select the type of workflow to create and open the workflow editor.

  1. Open the module that you want to create a new workflow for. For example, to create a workflow for purchase requisitions, click Procurement and sourcing.
  2. Click Setup > [Module name] workflows.
  3. On the list page that appears, on the Action Pane, click New.
  4. On the Create workflow page, select the type of workflow to create, and then click Create workflow. The workflow editor appears. You can now use the following procedures to design the workflow.

Drag workflow elements onto the canvas

The Workflow elements area of the workflow editor contains the elements that you can add to your workflow. To add elements to the workflow, drag them onto the canvas.

Connect the elements

To connect one workflow element to another, hold the pointer over an element until connection points appear. Click a connection point, and drag it to another element. Be sure to connect all the elements.

Configure the properties of the workflow

Follow these steps to configure the properties of the workflow.

  1. Click the canvas to make sure that no workflow element is selected.
  2. Click Properties to open the Properties page for the workflow.
  3. Follow the procedures in the Configure workflow properties article.

Configure the elements of the workflow

Configure each element that you dragged onto the canvas. For information about how to configure each workflow element, see the following topics:

Resolve any errors or warnings

The Errors and warnings pane at the bottom of the workflow editor shows messages that have been generated for the workflow. To find the element where an error or warning occurred, double-click the error or warning message. You must resolve all errors and warnings before you can make the workflow active.

Save and activate the workflow

When you're ready to save and activate the workflow, follow these steps.

  1. Click Save and close to close the workflow editor and open the Save workflow page.

  2. Enter comments about the changes that you've made to the workflow, and then click OK.

  3. If all errors and warnings have been resolved, the Activate workflow page appears. Select one of the following options:

    • To activate this version of the workflow, click Activate the new version. When a workflow is active, users can submit documents to it for processing.
    • If you don't want to activate this version, click Do not activate the new version. You can activate the workflow later.