In this article, you will learn about some of the most frequently asked questions relating to Workiz Automations.
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You can control exactly who receives specific automations by adding conditions to your automation rules.
For example, you may only want to send out an automation if a client has a certain tag, a job has a specific job type, the job still has a due amount, and more. You can also set automations to run only when certain conditions aren’t true — like skipping clients with specific tags or ignoring certain job types.
To learn more about adding conditions to your automation rules, please see this article.
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Conditions are rules that determine when or to whom an automation runs. They let you set specific requirements — such as a client having a certain tag, a job being a specific type, or an invoice having a balance due — before the automation is triggered. In short, conditions help you control which automations apply and ensure they only run in the right situations.
To learn more about adding conditions to your automation rules, please see this article.
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When creating automations in Workiz, you'll have the option of applying conditions using "AND" or "OR" logic.
- AND conditions mean all requirements must be true for the automation to run.
- Example: The job type is plumbing AND the client has a tag of VIP
- OR conditions mean any one of the requirements can be true for the automation to run.
- Example: The job type is plumbing OR HVAC
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To see a list of all of your active automation rules:
- From the navigation bar, select Automation Center
- Select My automations
- Review the list of active automations (i.e., the rules toggled on)
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To update the message your clients receive for a specific automation, go to the Automation Center and locate the automation that sends that message.
- From the navigation bar, select Automation Center
- Select My automations
- Select the rule you want to edit
- Select Preview/edit message
- Select Update automation
Please be aware that updating an automation will automatically make it active.
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Automations that send text messages will count toward your phone plan usage. Automations that send only emails won’t affect your phone plan.
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Short code is dynamic placeholder text that allows Workiz to intelligently generate text within your automation templates. When adding short code to your messages, Workiz will automatically pull the information you already have stored in your Workiz account.
For example, you may use the {...}first_name option to automatically generate your client's first name based on the job details you already have saved, or {...}account_business_name option to automatically display the business name you have saved in your account settings.
To learn more about using short code in Workiz, please see this article.
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To update the business details you have saved in certain automations, you will first have to determine whether those details were entered as short code or plain text.
- From the navigation bar, select Automation Center
- Select My automations
- Select the rule you want to edit
- Select Preview/edit message
- Review the text within the message
If your business details were entered as short code, (e.g., {...}account_business_name, {...}account_address, etc.), you will need to edit the information you have saved in your account settings page.
If your business details were added as plain text in the automation message editor, we recommend replacing them with the dedicated short code options. This ensures your business information stays up to date automatically.
You can keep the plain text version if you prefer, but note that any future updates to your business details in account settings won’t be reflected here automatically.
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New and updated automations apply to existing jobs, leads, estimates, invoices, etc. — but only when something changes that matches the automation's criteria (e.g., status, tag, etc.) after it's created or updated.
For example, if you add an automation that triggers when a job's status changes to Done, it won't run for jobs already marked as Done. It will only trigger the next time a job (new or existing) is updated to Done.
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To see the automated messages that have been sent from your account, go to the Message Center. Any message sent via automations will have an "AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION" label underneath.
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No, importing jobs, leads, or other data will not trigger any automations. Imported data can only trigger an automation if it’s modified after the import to meet your rule’s conditions. For example, importing completed jobs won’t automatically trigger a “When a job is done” automation — but updating imported jobs to Done afterward would.
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Yes, you have full control over when your automations are sent. Each automation is tied to a specific trigger event — for example, when a job moves into a certain status or when an estimate is sent. You can decide when the action should occur relative to that trigger event — such as immediately, 2 days before, or 5 hours after.
You can also manage the delivery window for messages, choosing whether they send 24/7 or only during specific hours.
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If parts of your automated messages appear blank, it’s likely that they include short codes (dynamic placeholders) without matching data. For example, your message may include a field for the assigned technician’s name, but the message was sent before a technician was assigned. Or it may include a job date, but the invoice that was sent wasn’t connected to a job and doesn’t include a service date.
There are several reasons this can happen. Review your automations in the Automation Center to identify which short codes may be missing data. To learn more about short codes and common scenarios that can result in blank messages, please see this article.
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The ability to create invoices through automations is available only on the Ultimate plan. To access this feature, you’ll need to upgrade your plan.
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If your automation isn’t sending on time, it’s likely due to the delivery window you’ve set for it. When automations are restricted to specific hours, they may not trigger immediately — even if the rule logic says they should.
For example, if your automation is set to trigger immediately but your delivery window is limited to 8 a.m.–5 p.m., any events that occur outside that window will be delayed until the window opens again.
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If your automation isn’t being sent, it’s important to identify what’s happening. First, determine whether the message is not being sent or not being delivered.
A sent message is one that successfully left the system. A delivered message is one that was actually received by your recipient.
All sent messages can be viewed in your Message Center, where each one includes a status to help you understand its delivery progress. Messages labeled Undelivered will often include a brief note explaining why they failed — for example, an issue with the recipient’s contact information.
In some cases, undelivered text messages may be related to your text message registration. Accounts that haven’t completed registration cannot send texts to U.S.-based numbers. It's also possible that your messages failed because your text plan has reached its limit or we were unable to process the payment for your Workiz subscription.
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To change the URL in your automated messages, find the automations that send this message and update them.
- From the navigation bar, select Automation Center
- Select My automations
- Select the rule you want to edit
- Select Preview/edit message
- Select Update automation
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Yes, disabling an automation rule will remove it from your account limit so you can create another one in its place.
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No, additional automations rules cannot be purchased. To access more rules, you will need to upgrade your Workiz subscription.
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Not all automations are designed to run more than once.
Some, like webhook automations or those triggered when something is rescheduled, can run multiple times.
Most others — for example, automations that trigger whne a job reaches a certain status — will only run once.
That means if the automation has already triggered, changing the data later to meet the same conditions again won’t cause it to run a second time.
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If your automation is set to trigger after a completed call, it will only run for incoming calls — not for calls your team makes.
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Workiz automations make it easy to follow up with clients based on the status of their estimates — whether they’ve been sent, approved, or declined. However, when estimates are part of a sales proposal, automations behave a little differently to make sure they only trigger when it makes sense.
A sales proposal contains multiple estimates, but the client ultimately approves only one. Because of that, Workiz is designed to honor the proposal’s context and avoid sending unnecessary or confusing messages.
If you have an automation rule that says, “Send a reminder if an estimate is sent but not approved,” it will behave differently depending on how the estimates were created and approved:
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When the client approves and estimate through the client portal
Workiz automatically updates the remaining estimates in the proposal to Declined. Once that happens, automations that target “sent but not approved” or “declined” estimates will not be sent — since the proposal has already been resolved. -
When your team manually approves an estimate in Workiz
The remaining estimates are not automatically updated to Declined. Because of this, any other estimates in the proposal may still match automation rules (for example, “sent but not approved”) and trigger follow-ups you didn’t intend.
If you’re approving estimates manually from the Workiz dashboard, make sure to update the status of the remaining estimates in the proposal to Declined. This ensures that your automations reflect the correct context and no unnecessary messages are sent to your clients.
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When the client approves and estimate through the client portal