Automate recurring client requests

Request automations create the same kind of request you already use in CrankHQ, but on a schedule. Each generated request appears in All requests and uses the normal client portal, inbox, reminder, review, and completion workflow.

Before you start

You need:

• An active request template with at least one requested item.
• At least one active client.
• A contact for every selected client who is allowed to receive requests.
• A workspace role that can create request automations. Owners, administrators, and managers can create and edit them.

Set up a request automation

1. Go to Requests.
2. Open Automations.
3. Click Automate requests.
4. Under What should Crank request?, choose the request template clients should complete and enter a recognizable automation name.
5. Under Who should receive it?, select up to 50 active clients. Use the search field to find clients by name.
6. Under When should it happen?, choose whether the request repeats every month, quarter, or year.
7. Choose the first request date.
8. Choose how much time clients receive before the request is due and how often CrankHQ should remind them while it remains incomplete.
9. Leave Request the previous period selected when a scheduled run should request the month, quarter, or year that just ended. For example, an August monthly run requests July documents.
10. Under What should Crank do?, choose Send it automatically or Let me review it first.
11. Optionally open Customize request wording to enter a custom request title or message.
12. Review the What Crank will do summary, then click Start automation.

Automatic sending and draft review

Choose Send it automatically when CrankHQ should create the request, mark it sent, and email the selected request recipient without waiting for your team.

Choose Let me review it first when CrankHQ should create a draft. Drafts do not email the client until a team member reviews and sends them.

What happens on the scheduled date

CrankHQ creates one request for each client in the automation. It copies the current items from the selected template, calculates the requested period and due date, applies the reminder setting, and then advances that client to the next scheduled date.

Each client has an independent schedule. If one client cannot be processed, CrankHQ records the problem for that client and continues creating requests for the others.

Duplicate protection

A client cannot have two active automations using the same template and frequency. When you create an automation, clients who already have that combination may be skipped. This prevents duplicate monthly, quarterly, or yearly requests.