The Ultimate Guide to Seamless Formstack Documents

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced business environment, automating document generation is essential for efficiency, accuracy, and scalability. Formstack Documents is a powerful tool that streamlines document automation by integrating with Salesforce and various other platforms, enabling businesses to generate contracts, invoices, reports, and other critical documents with ease.

Consider this: According to a survey, 65% of businesses still rely on manual document processes, leading to inefficiencies and costly errors. By leveraging Formstack Documents, organizations can automate document creation, reduce human error, and improve workflow automation within their Salesforce ecosystem. This guide provides a deep dive into Formstack Documents, its architecture, benefits, must-use features, and real-world use cases to help you optimize your Salesforce document generation process.

Generate beautifully designed documents in minutes using data from online forms, CRMs, marketing automation tools, or other business systems. Automate the creation of tailored document templates with embedded merge fields using natural language prompts.Transform the way you work and empower your team with intelligent, effortless document template creation.  

What is Formstack Documents?

Formstack Documents is an incredibly flexible way to generate professional, dynamic documents with data collected or housed in the systems you use every day.  You can upload an existing template in the form of a fillable PDF or Microsoft Document or get started by building a document from scratch in our Documents builder. We offer three ways to build your documents. For highly technical document users, you can feel free to get as custom as you’d like in our Advanced Editor which allows you to use HTML to create and design your documents. If you’ve been a longtime Documents user, you may be familiar with our “Classic Editor” which uses formatted merge fields like {$name} to capture information.  If you’re a fan of no-code software, you’ll probably like our drag-and-drop builder best. This builder incorporates Formstack’s iconic drag-and-drop functionality to allow you to quickly and easily build the documents you need. 

Why Use Formstack Documents?

1. Eliminating Manual Document Creation: Businesses handling high document volumes save hundreds of hours by automating contracts, invoices, and compliance documents.
2. Ensuring Data Accuracy: Automatically pulling Salesforce data minimizes human errors in contracts and client communications.
3. Improving Compliance: Features like audit trails and version tracking ensure regulatory compliance (GDPR, HIPAA). 

Manage Documents with Complex Logic

Similar to the logic available within Forms, documents in Formstack can be generated with conditional sections based on information coming from the record being used to generate the document.  Often companies have multiple templates for a very similar document, simply because there are different versions based on the specific use case. Formstack allows you to manage a single version of a document and use logic to hide or show certain sections of the document based on fields in Salesforce. This makes administrating templates faster and more reliable, as you’re not having to update multiple templates each time, which increases the likelihood of making mistakes. 

Documents for Salesforce:

• Eliminate manual data entry with powerful Salesforce document generation solutions. 
• Level up your Salesforce documents. Eliminate paper and manual data entry from your workflows with a powerful solution for Salesforce document generation. 
• Create, deliver, and sign documents. Documents for Salesforce lets you automate your Salesforce document generation and cut out manual tasks from your workday. Easily produce contracts, invoices, and more and send them for eSignature as part of the Salesforce user experience.

Launching Formstack Documents for Salesforce:

Step 1: Create Your Document

• Begin as you normally would by selecting New Document on the top left and giving your document a title. Then choose “Build from scratch“.

Step 2: Drag-and-Drop Fields onto Your Document

• Use the Insert dropdown to add a list of fields you will need on your form. Select the Insert drop down and choose Merge Fields. Give each merge field a name.

• Once you’ve added the merge fields that you need in your document. You can use the section of existing merge fields on the right-hand side of your document to repeatedly add fields to your document as needed.

Here are a few examples of acceptable fields:

• {$name}
• {$EmailAddress}
• {$Home_Phone}

Here are a few examples that are NOT acceptable

• {$1stName}
• {$email address}
• {$1234}
• {$phone-number}

 

Step 3: Add Modifiers to Your Merge Fields

• Formstack Documents allows users to add modifiers to their merge fields as a way to format the data that is sent to their document. For example, if you have created a document that includes numeric merge fields, but the data comes through without the pretty, formatted numbers that include commas to separate the thousands, you can use modifiers to fix that! 
• You can add a modifier to your merge field by selecting the field in your document and choosing a modifier from the library or set up a custom modifier.

Step 4: Add Images and Logos to Your Document

• Use the Image icon to upload any images or logos you’d like to add to your document.

• You can easily format your image to change the alignment, add a caption, resize, or add a shadow or border.

Switch to Text Mode

• By default, the builder will display in drag-and-drop mode, meaning Merge Fields will be presented in a pill format. If you prefer building or viewing templates in text mode, you can click the “T” icon in the toolbar to toggle text mode on/off as shown below.

Before After Our updated Formstack Documents builder is quicker and easier to use, so you can start automating your most important workflows

Delivery Options

Once you’ve finished with setting up your document template, you’ll want to potentially decide on the destination for the document itself. Formstack Documents has several different delivery options available, from sending the document via email to including it on your CRM of choice like Salesforce – there are a ton of options to consider. For a full list, check out our dedication section on how to set up deliveries here. 

Formstack Sign

Eliminate paper and streamline workflows with Formstack Sign, a digital document signing solution that allows for easy eSignature collection on any device.   Combine the power of Documents for Salesforce with Formstack Sign to create seamless workflows that automate document generation and digital signature collection.

• Mobile Signing: Collect signatures on the go using any device.
• Signer Redirection: Redirect signers as needed to streamline the signing process.
• Auto-Reminders: Send automatic reminders to ensure timely signatures.
• Audit Trails: Maintain detailed records of the signing process for compliance and tracking.

Key Benefits:

1. Automation Efficiency

• How it works: Automatically triggers document creation when Salesforce records are updated.
• Impact: Reduces manual document creation by 80%.
• Example: A real estate company automates contract generation, reducing processing time from hours to minutes.

2. Seamless Salesforce Integration

• How it works: Uses Salesforce workflows and Flow to generate documents dynamically.
• Impact: Ensures all documents reflect real-time Salesforce data.
• Example: A legal firm automates NDA creation linked to Salesforce opportunity stages.

3. Conditional Logic for Smart Templates

• How it works: Includes or excludes content based on field values.
• Impact: Creates customized documents tailored to different customer segments.
• Example: An insurance company dynamically adjusts policy terms based on customer input.

4. E-Signature Compatibility

• How it works: Integrates with DocuSign, Adobe Sign, and HelloSign.
• Impact: Reduces contract turnaround times by 60%.
• Example: A staffing agency uses e-signatures for rapid onboarding.

5. Multi-Format Document Generation

• How it works: Generates PDFs, Word documents, and HTML outputs.
• Impact: Supports versatile document distribution strategies.
• Example: A marketing agency sends branded PDFs directly to clients.

 

Real-World Use Cases:

1: Healthcare Compliance Automation:

• Challenge: Many healthcare organizations struggle with manually creating HIPAA-compliant patient forms, which leads to errors, inefficiencies, and potential compliance risks.
• Solution: By integrating Formstack Documents with Salesforce health records, the system automatically generates accurate and standardized patient forms without manual intervention.
• Results: This automation reduced compliance documentation errors by 75%, ensuring regulatory adherence while improving efficiency in patient data management. 

2: Real Estate Contract Management:

• Challenge: Real estate firms deal with high volumes of contracts that require extensive manual processing, leading to delays and increased administrative workload.
• Solution: Formstack Documents automates the generation of purchase agreements by pulling data directly from Salesforce deal records, ensuring accuracy and speed in contract creation.
• Results: This automation reduced contract turnaround times from 48 hours to just 3 hours, significantly accelerating deal closures and improving client satisfaction.

 

Conclusion:

Formstack Documents is a game-changer for businesses leveraging Salesforce for document automation. From eliminating manual processes to ensuring real-time data accuracy, its seamless integration unlocks tremendous operational efficiencies.

Next Steps: Start by implementing a basic Formstack workflow in your Salesforce environment, test it in a sandbox, and scale from there. By leveraging smart automation, businesses can optimize their document processes, improve compliance, and enhance customer experiences.

Formstack Documents is not just a tool—it’s a strategy for digital transformation. Ready to streamline your document generation process? Implement Formstack Documents today!