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M‑Files workflow automation

Every approval lands with the right person

An M‑Files workflow moves a document from step to step on its own: it tells the next person, hands them the task and records who did what. A contract no longer waits in an inbox, and an approval given by email no longer disappears with the email.

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Three screens from M-Files: a list of corrective actions with the workflow state of each, the working copy of a procedure with its workflow at For Approval, and the version history showing the state each version was in
Examples

Where a workflow earns its keep

  • A contract from draft to signature — The draft gets a legal review and an e‑signature, and the contract is then filed as active. Before the expiry date, a reminder goes out that renewal is coming up.
  • A lead from first contact to closed — In a CRM on M‑Files, an opportunity moves from Lead to Qualified, then to Closed as won or Closed as lost. A lead can stay with its owner until it is qualified, and only then does the rest of the sales team see it.
  • Employee data deleted when its time is up — Sensitive data about an employee is deleted a set period after they leave, for example six months, and someone is notified beforehand. The rule runs from the leaving date, so there is no spreadsheet to keep.
A register of agreements in M-Files with the date each runs to and its workflow state, beside the metadata card of an approved framework agreement
Use cases

What a workflow can be set up to do

The same engine runs every one of these. A state can notify a role, assign a task to a named person or to whoever the metadata names, change who has access, update the record, archive or delete.

Contracts

Draft, legal review, signature and filing as active, with a reminder before the notice date built from a workflow notification or an assignment deadline. With the DocuSign or Adobe Acrobat Sign integration and your own subscription to that service, the signed copy returns to M‑Files by itself.

Invoices and expense claims

An invoice or a claim is assigned to the cost-centre owner named in its metadata, with a deadline and a reminder before it passes, and it moves on once every approver has answered.

Onboarding and offboarding

A new employee's record starts a chain of assignments to IT, HR and the manager, each told when it is their turn. When someone leaves, the leaving date starts the deletion rule for their sensitive documents.

Controlled documents

A procedure goes from draft through review and approval to published. Each state change is logged with the time and the user, and access widens the moment it is approved.

GDPR deletion

A retention rule archives or deletes a kind of document after a set time. A notification or a review can come first, and deletion hides the document before it is destroyed in a separate step.

Projects and cases

Workflows run on more than documents. A project, a case or a sales opportunity carries its stage too, so one list shows what is planned, under way and finished.

Controlled documents

From draft to published procedure

A procedure on its way from the author's Word file to the people who work by it.

  1. Written in Word

    Author

    The author writes the procedure in Word and saves it to M‑Files with its metadata.

  2. Reviewed

    Reviewers

    The reviewers get a task and a notification.

  3. Checked by quality

    Quality

    Quality takes a second look before approval and gets the task the same way as the reviewers.

  4. Approved

    Approver

    The approver moves the document on, and the approval is logged.

  5. Published

    Access widens, and the people who need the procedure can read it.

See a procedure go from draft to published

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When things change

Add a step when the way you work changes

Adding a notification or another approval step is a change of settings, made in a graphical designer. A step can move on by itself once every approver has answered. With the CtrlShare add-on from our development partner CtrlDocs, co-authoring starts when a document reaches review.

  • Notify — Tell the people in a role that something is waiting for them.
  • Assign — Give the task to a named person, or to whoever the metadata names, with a reminder before the deadline.
  • Change access — Let more people see the document once it reaches the right step.
  • Update metadata — Change or fill in metadata on the record as it moves on.
A document workflow from Draft to For review, where the CtrlShare add-on starts co-authoring for reviewers and writers, then For approval and Published
Getting started

Start with one process

A workflow does not need every process mapped first. One approval that stalls today is enough to begin with.

  1. Pick the approval that stalls

    A contract that waits for legal, a procedure approved by email, an invoice that sits with someone on holiday. Write down who touches it and in which order.

  2. Draw it in the graphical designer

    Workflows are set up in a graphical designer rather than written as code: the states, who is assigned at each, what is notified and what changes. Where a case needs more, we script it.

  3. Pilot, then widen

    We run it with one team for one kind of document, adjust the states and the notifications, and add the next process once the first one carries itself. We can start quickly with a pilot.

Workflow set-up is part of every implementation we deliver; what our services cover lists the service areas, and the free 30-day trial comes with basic workflows to try.

Next step

Bring an approval that gets stuck today

Tell us about one approval that stalls, a contract or a procedure. In the demo we run one like it through M‑Files with the tasks, notifications and log entries along the way. We answer the same working day.

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Questions about M‑Files workflows

Do workflows need programming?
No. Workflows are built and changed in a graphical designer. When something needs more than configuration, it can be scripted, and our development partner CtrlDocs builds M‑Files applications and add‑ons.
When does a step move on by itself?
When all the assigned approvers have completed, approved or rejected their assignments, or after a set number of days in the step. Acting on a date in the metadata, such as a contract's expiry date or an employee's leaving date, is part of what we set up. Reminders before a renewal or expiry date are built from workflow notifications and assignment deadlines.
What does the e‑signature step need?
M‑Files integrates with DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat Sign, and the signed document comes back to M‑Files automatically. You need your own subscription to the signing service.
Is there a record of who approved what?
Yes. The event log records each workflow state change with the time and the user, and an electronic signature on a workflow step is added with M‑Files' electronic signatures module.
Is a document deleted by a workflow gone for good?
Not at once. Deleting in M‑Files hides the document from users, and destroying it permanently is a separate step. A workflow can also notify someone or ask for a review before it deletes.
Who can see a document in each workflow state?
Whoever the state says. A workflow state can set permissions, so a draft stays with its author and reviewers, and the moment it is approved the state can open it to everyone who works by it. The rights are set once, in the workflow, and apply to every document that passes through it.
Does a workflow send reminders before a deadline?
Yes. An assignment can carry a deadline, and M‑Files sends an automatic reminder before it passes. A reminder before a contract or certificate date is built the same way, from a workflow notification or an assignment deadline counted from the date in the metadata.
Can a workflow delete documents by rule?
Yes. Retention rules are configured as workflows that archive or delete documents after a set time, and a state can notify someone or ask for a review first. M‑Files and GDPR shows a deletion rule counted from an employee's leaving date.