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Generate recurring records, like monthly visits for a contract
The Create records on a schedule step creates a series of child records linked to a parent record, one for each recurring date between the start and end dates. It runs once per parent record.
Before you start · 1 thing · for owners and managersA “Has many” relation from the parent unit to the child unit
Before you start · 1 thing · for owners and managers
A “Has many” relation from the parent unit to the child unit
- You need: The permission to edit workflows
- A “Has many” relation from the parent unit to the child unit: Link units with relations.
Steps
1
In an automation on the parent unit, such as “Contracts”, press Add a step and choose Create records on a schedule.
2
Under What to create, choose the relation that groups the child records in New records in, such as “Visits”.
3
Under When, choose the parent’s start date field in From and its end date field in until.
4
Choose the interval field in every: a number, in months.
A fraction is turned into weeks.
5
Choose the first date: The first one after one interval (the default), or The first one on the start date.
6
Under On each new record, choose the child record’s date field in Its date goes in.
7
Optional: a serial number field in Number them in, a Name template, and values copied from the parent under Copy across.
8
Under Runs once per record, choose a date and time field in the parent, such as “Generated”, in Mark it done in.
It’s stamped when the records are generated, so it doesn’t happen again for the same record.
How it works
The name template accepts the parent’s fields, plus {{maintenance_date}} for the child record’s date and {{sequence_no}} for its serial number.
Dates are read as days in the run’s time zone.
If creating all the records fails, the “Generated” field is cleared so you can retry.
It works with any trigger linked to a unit, except record deleted.
A Practice run only says what it would create, without creating anything.
If something goes wrong
What you see
Why
What to do
“The linked records were already generated for this record.”
The “Generated” field is stamped.
Clear it if you want to generate again.
No record was created
The dates or the interval are empty or don’t make sense.
Check the start, the end and the interval.
A real example
Shield Security Co.
The situation
Every yearly maintenance contract needs 12 monthly visits entered by hand.
What they did
- A new record is added in “Contracts”.
- Create records on a schedule: the “Visits” relation, from “Contract start” to “Contract end”, every 1 month.
- Name template: “Visit {{sequence_no}} — {{maintenance_date}}”.
The result
12 visits show up linked to the contract within seconds.
A made-up company, to show the idea. The numbers are rounded.
Good to know
The default limit is 120 records per run, and you can set it from 1 to 500 in At most.
Once per parent record.
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If not, we’ll ask what was missing.