Salesforce Document Automation Overview

6 min read

Nikita R.

Media-savvy content creator, with a curiosity for all Salesforce experiences.

Updated: May 24th, 2024

When working in Salesforce, having a doc u ment automation process to generate documents and work with them directly in your CRM platform is helpful. The correct document automation process can support you when creating, working with, and distributing your various documents faster so that you can focus on sales, marketing, customer services, and other initiatives in your business.

Automation Process for Document Generation

Join us in the article below as we discuss how you can automate the creation of your documents using Salesforce and third-party applications.

Automate Document Creation in Salesforce

There are many methods or tools found in Salesforce that you can use to create documents. However, if you are looking for other options, you could create documents in Salesforce with third-party integrations or external services. Let’s consider a few options when creating documents automatically in Salesforce.

1. Salesforce Document Automation Tools

You have two options if you would like to use the Salesforce automation tools provided by Salesforce to automatically create documents.

To start, you get the Process Builder. This tool lets you automate many business processes, such as creating documents. You can use the Process Builder to create documents by defining actions and criteria. Once you are happy with your copy, you can use Salesforce to generate the document using the “Create a Record” action. Your fields in the generated document will populate from related records.

You could also use Salesforce Flow as an option to create documents automatically. This tool gives you more advanced automation options to help you build complex document generation processes. Document automation and Flow automation generously supports using multiple elements and actions in your document generation process.

2. Apex Solution for Document Creation

If you are familiar with the Apex programming language and need a highly customized automation process for creating a document in Salesforce, then we suggest this route. Use Apex code to create triggers or classes that generate documents depending on events and conditions.

3. Third-Party Applications for Salesforce

You could also use a third-party application as an option to create documents automatically in Salesforce. These third-party apps are dedicated to automating document generation processes and can be found on the Salesforce AppExchange. Many of these applications have simple interfaces and provide templates that you can use to create documents quickly. However, not all applications are the same or provide the highest software quality. Some reliable options for creating documents in Salesforce include Titan, Conga Composer, and DocuSign Gen for Salesforce.

Document Automation in Salesforce: Which Automation Tool do I use?

Salesforce provides many automation tools, but your chosen ones depend on your project requirements. Other factors that you need to consider before choosing an automation tool include the complexity of your project, the user experience that you need to deliver at the end of the day, and your staff’s technical skills to use the tools. Consider using Workflow Rules or Process Builder tools for simple automation in Salesforce. If you have a complex process to build, you must use multiple Salesforce tools. In specific cases, you should use Apex Triggers or Flow to help you create custom solutions for your project.

Who wouldn’t want a quick reference Here is a short list of the automation tools available on Salesforce.

Tools	Description
Workflow Rules	This Salesforce tool is used to automate standard procedures. Workflow Rules can easily update fields, email alerts, or create tasks.
Process Builder	This Salesforce tool creates workflows with an easy-to-use interface. You can use the Process Builder to automate business processes as it can manage complicated events that include creating records, updating records, or calling Apex code.
Flow	This Salesforce tool lets you build custom user experiences by automating processes. Use Flow to collect data and guide users on interactive screens.
Apex Triggers	Apex Triggers are code snippets that execute when an event happens in Salesforce. Use Apex Triggers to create custom automated processes that support complex data manipulation and logic.

There are many more tools available in Salesforce for your automation needs. Feel free to chat with us if you want to know more, or head to Salesforce’s website for a complete list of automation tools and capabilities.

Salesforce Document Creation in Lightning Experience

To create a document in Salesforce’s Lightning Experience, follow the guide below that was referenced from their Salesforce help article.

1. Click the + button on a Lightning page and select New Document from the menu.

2. Now, you can add your content to your new document. Make sure to expand your new document to add and edit content. You can go ahead and use @ to add the names of colleagues you would like to mention, folders, documents, spreadsheets, and even checklists.

New Document: Salesforce Image Sourced from Help And Training Community

3. “Where are documents in Salesforce Lightning?” Your document will be saved to your Private folder in Quip and the Quip Section under your Files tab.

4. If you want to share your document, click on Link & Share.

5. If you need to link a record to your document, choose your Object type and provide a name for it. Remember to set your Synced Sharing to enabled so that users with access to the record can view and work with the document.

6. Save your action!

Salesforce Flow Documentation with PDF

You can harness the power of the Salesforce Flow Builder to export a Quip document to PDF when a record linked to that document has been changed or updated. The Salesforce Flow Builder is available in Lightning Experience, and if you want to create PDFs from updated records automatically, follow our guide below.

1. Create a custom field, and you can label it Generate_PDF as an example. This custom field is for the object you want to export as a Quip document.

2. To export the Quip document as a PDF, click on Objects and Fields > Object Manager > Account > Fields & Relationships > New.

1. To create a new Flow, open the Flow Builder and select New Flow.

2. Choose Record-Triggered Flow in the dialog box that appears and then click on Create.

3. Fill in your fields, which include Object, Trigger the Flow When, Condition Requirements, Fields, Operator, Value, When to Run the Flow for Updated Records, and Optimize the Flow for, before clicking on Done.

4. In the Flow Builder, add your “Export Quip Document to PDF” action.

5. Now, connect the start of your flow to the action.

6. Click on Save and then activate your flow.

Microsoft’s Power Automate Document Generation

Power Automate is an application from Microsoft, previously known as Microsoft Flow, that you can use to automate document creation in Word for Salesforce.

You gain a few advantages when a file is created with Power Automate. Let’s dive into them here:

Power Automate can create a document from a template automatically, initially a manual and repetitive task. This upgrade helps your teams become more productive.

When you automate contract creation in Word with Power Automate, you can be certain it will be consistent with all your other documentation. Your documents will always follow the templates and guidelines that you created. This automation ensures your documents look professional and contain accurate data free from copy-pasting errors.

Power Automate can integrate with many other applications in your business operations, such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Salesforce, and more.

Connect your Microsoft Power Automate with Salesforce to streamline workflows, transfer data, and automate business processes. Use a Salesforce and Microsoft Power Automate integration to increase the productivity in your business with automation and elevate your customer experiences.

FAQ

If you are a regular on our blogs, you know that we often leave you with a few popular questions and answers. Here are our top 3 questions regarding Document Automation.

Salesforce Intelligent Document Automation: What is IDA in Salesforce?

It stands for Intelligent Document Automation Salesforce and is a solution used for automating documentation in the healthcare industry.

What is Document Assembly vs Document Automation?

First, use Document Automation to create templates. Then, choose Document Assembly to use those templates to generate documents.

What is Document Automation used for?

It’s used to create documents that are transformed into templates. These templates are stored and used at any time for creating new documents automatically.

Automate Document Generation with Titan

If you are looking for a point-and-click app, that can generate documents from Salesforce, look no further! Discover Titan, a powerful no-code Salesforce platform to automate any business process you can imagine across any industry.

With us, your documents are 100% secure and compliant with HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO, GDPR, and other leading frameworks. Start automating your Salesforce document generation processes for every use case today. Contact Titan on one of our social media channels below.

We hope to see you soon!

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Disclaimer: The comparisons listed in this article are based on information provided by the companies online and online reviews from users. If you found a mistake, please contact us.