Ask for information in a workflow
Add a Request information step that emails a person for documents or an answer, and check their reply before the workflow carries on.
Screenshots are retaken from IQ Entities on every release. Updated 14 October 2026.
Much compliance work waits on someone else: a new director's passport, a shareholder's confirmation, a subsidiary's signed accounts. A Request information step asks them by email, with a secure link to reply or upload, and holds the workflow until you have checked what they sent. The person asked does not need an IQ Entities login. Workflows must be switched on for your organisation.
Add the step
In the workflow builder, choose Add the first step, or add a step after an existing one.
Choose Request information.
Name the step, then write The message they will read: what you need and why, in plain words.
Under Who is asked, choose The person the run is about, or A specific person and search for them. They need an email address on their record.
Under What they send back, choose Documents, A written answer, or both.
Set how long the link works under Link works for, and whether to chase under Chase if they don’t reply. Choose who checks the reply under Reviewed by.
Leave Attach the documents made earlier in this run on if they need to see a document the workflow drew up. It is sent with the email, because a link would not open for someone with no login.
Check the reply
While the step waits, the run shows Waiting for a reply. They can reply to the email or use the link.
When the reply arrives, open the run and read it: the written answer and any documents sent. Choose Accept and continue to let the workflow carry on with it.
If something is missing, choose Ask again, say under What is still missing? what they need to send, and choose Send it back. They get a new email with your note, and the old link and reply address stop working.
If you already have what you need another way, choose Continue without a reply.
Tips from practice
- Write the message for someone who has never heard of IQ Entities: who you are, what you need, and by when.
- Ask for one thing per step. A request for "the documents" invites a reply that has to be sent back.
- Sending a request back restarts the clock on the link, so the person is not chased for a deadline that has already passed.
- To build the rest of the workflow around the request, see Describe a workflow to IQ.