Repeat steps for each company

Much company secretarial work is the same job done for every company in a group: check the registers, chase the accounts, raise the annual review. A workflow does it once per company with three steps: Find records to choose the companies, a Condition to stop when there is nothing to do, and For each to repeat the steps that follow for every company found. Workflows must be switched on for your organisation.

Find the companies

1. Add a Find records step and choose Companies under Find.

2. Narrow the list with the filters: Only this company’s group keeps the company the run is about and every company it controls, Status (any of) keeps, say, only active companies, and Jurisdiction (any of) keeps those registered in the places you choose. Leave Name or number contains empty to use the filters alone.

   

Only this company’s group needs a run about one company, so set the workflow to ask for One company, chosen each time (see Choose when a workflow runs). People can be found too, but only by name.

Stop when there is nothing to do

1. Add a Condition step after it.

2. Under Look at, choose An earlier step’s result and the Find records step.

3. Under Carry on when, choose found at least (number) and enter 1 as the Value.

4. Under Otherwise, choose Stop the workflow here, or Skip ahead to a later step and the step to skip to.

   

A condition can also test an answer given when the run started, or ask IQ a yes or no question about an earlier step's result with IQ reads it and answers a yes/no question. When the material is inconclusive, IQ answers no.

Repeat steps for each company

1. Add a For each step, then add the steps it should repeat straight after it.

2. Under Repeat over, choose The records an earlier step found and the Find records step, or Every entity in the group the run is scoped to.

3. Set How many of the following steps repeat, and Most records to process (up to 100). Anything beyond the limit is left out, and the run says so.

   

On the canvas, the repeated steps sit in a frame under the loop. Inside it, Insert data quotes the company of that pass, so a task title such as "Check the registers of" followed by the company's name names each company in turn.

Read the run

The run lists the repeated steps once per company, each labelled with the company's name.

Tips from practice

• Start with a small Most records to process and raise it once a run has done what you expected. A loop that sends email or raises tasks does so for every company found.
• A loop cannot contain another loop. Split the work into two workflows instead.
• A Request information step inside a loop over people asks each person in turn; see Ask for information in a workflow.
• To start the run and follow it, see Run a workflow and follow it.