Form Sequences

Some contracts can’t be set up from a single submission, because different people hold different pieces of the information you need. Before a request can proceed, finance might have to confirm there’s budget for it, and a conflicts or compliance check might have to clear. These aren’t approvals to enter into the agreement. They’re prerequisites: separate inputs from separate people that all feed the same contract context.

You can capture some of that directly in one form. When the information has to come from different people, a form sequence routes a separate form to each of them and ties their submissions together, so the values they enter populate the same contract rather than living in disconnected emails.

A form sequence is an ordered list of forms that execute as a workflow. Each form in the sequence is sent to a specific user (or role), and the sequence tracks which forms are completed and which are pending.

Sequences are managed in the Sequences tab on the Manage Forms page.

There are three execution patterns:

Forms are sent one at a time, in order. The second form is only sent after the first is submitted, the third after the second, and so on.

Use when: Each step depends on the previous step’s output. The reviewer needs to see the requester’s answers before filling their portion.

All forms are sent simultaneously. Each recipient can fill their form independently, in any order.

Use when: Multiple people need to provide information, but their answers don’t depend on each other. For example, collecting inputs from legal, finance, and compliance at the same time.

The first form is sent first. Once it’s submitted, all remaining forms are sent simultaneously.

Use when: The initial request needs to be completed before others can respond, but the subsequent steps are independent of each other. For example, a requester fills intake details first, then legal and compliance review in parallel.

Step-through All steps

Step 1 of 3

1

Open the Sequences tab

Go to Manage Forms and click the Sequences tab. Any existing sequences are listed here, then click Add Sequence.

2

Name the sequence and pick a type

In the dialog that opens, enter a Form sequence name, then choose the Type: Linear (one form at a time), Parallel (all forms at once), or Linear first, then parallel. Click Add Form to start adding forms.

3

Add forms and save

Each form you add appears in order. Set a per-form email template, toggle Hide form in summary for internal-only steps, and choose a Pinned form if needed. For linear sequences the order is the order forms run. Click Save when done.

Previous Step 1 of 3 Next

By default, each form in a sequence uses the standard notification email. You can override the email template per form to customize the message each recipient receives.

For each form in a sequence, you can toggle Hide form in summary. Hidden forms are left out of the sequence’s entry summary view. This is useful for internal review forms that the requester shouldn’t see.

Select one form as the Pinned form. This form’s entry is highlighted in the contract summary view, making it easy for approvers to see the most relevant information at a glance.

1. Initiation - A workflow or manual action triggers the sequence. A FormEntrySequence record is created linking all form entries together.
2. Form delivery - Forms are sent to their assigned users via email, based on the sequence type (one at a time for linear, all at once for parallel).
3. Submission - Each user fills and submits their form. For linear sequences, submitting one form triggers delivery of the next.
4. Completion - When all forms in the sequence are submitted, Pactly fires a “form sequence completed” workflow event. This can trigger further actions (e.g., move the contract to “Approved” status).

The sequence itself only defines which forms run and in what order. The recipient of each form is chosen when the sequence is triggered, either on the workflow rule that starts the sequence or in the “Send form” dialog when you start it manually. For each form you pick who it goes to:

• Contract owner - The user who owns the associated contract
• Contract requester - The user who submitted the original request
• Form submitter - The person who submitted the originating form
• Workflow event user - The user who triggered the workflow
• Party role - A person attached to the contract in a given role. The built-in roles are Our Representative, Counterparty, Counterparty Representative, and Signer.
• Specific user - A named Pactly user (or an ad-hoc name and email)

The recipient is resolved once, when the sequence starts, so the same person is emailed each subsequent form as it becomes due.

When you delete a sequence:

• Completed entries are de-associated from the sequence (they remain accessible but are no longer linked)
• Pending entries are deleted (they hadn’t been submitted yet)
• The sequence definition is removed

These options pass data between the forms in a sequence. They’re powerful but rarely needed for a standard sequence, and they’re best set up with your account manager, who can map them to your specific process.

Later forms in a sequence can display values from earlier forms using output fields configured with:

• Show previous sequence result - Display the output from the previous form’s submission
• Sequence entry position - Pull data from a specific form in the sequence (by position number, 1-based)
• Show contract - Display the generated contract document inline

This lets a reviewer see what the requester entered without switching between screens.

If an earlier form in the sequence generates a contract, later forms can pre-fill fields with that contract’s property values. This is configured via the reverse contract property setting on individual fields.

For example, if Form 1 creates a contract with a “Governing Law” property set to “Singapore,” Form 2 can display a pre-filled “Governing Law” field showing “Singapore” for the reviewer to confirm or update.

When a form in a sequence is submitted, any fields with contract property mappings update the existing contract’s properties. This means each form in the sequence can add or modify contract metadata.

• Creating a Form
• Form Actions
• Sharing and Access
• Forms Overview