Three capture-form workflows that replace paper

By the end of this article you'll have three complete Capture Form designs — a building-permit application, a purchase requisition, and a new-hire onboarding packet — each specified down to the exact fields, workflow rule, and approval process to build.

All three follow one pattern. A Capture Form is a fillable PDF attached to a document type: someone fills it in the browser, clicks Submit, and the filled form becomes a document with every form field saved as searchable metadata. A workflow rule watches for the new document and starts an approval process automatically.

No printing, no scanning, no retyping.

Picture a building department. Someone wants to build a deck, and the paper application that starts everything gets photocopied, walked between desks, stapled to drawings, and — once a month — lost. Here is the electronic version.

The situation. An application must reach plan review, every reviewer must sign off, and staff must answer "where is my permit?" without hunting through folders.

The fields. Create a Building Permit Application document type, then add its fields in the document type's settings under Admin > Catalog:

The form. In the document type's capture settings under Admin > Catalog, upload your fillable-PDF application and map each PDF field to the fields above. Front-counter staff can fill it in the browser as applications arrive — and if you want applicants filling it themselves, see the sharing article linked at the end.

On submit. One workflow rule does the routing: a ContentCapture trigger on Building Permit Application, with an ApprovalProcessStart action that launches your Plan Review approval process. Add an EmailSend action with a receipt template if applicants expect confirmation.

The approval. Build Plan Review with an intake stage (one person confirms the application is complete) followed by the review group — zoning, fire, engineering — set to require All members to approve. Reviewers work from their Approval Queue with Approve and Reject buttons and notes. Rejecting can send the application back to a chosen earlier position for corrections instead of throwing it out.

Why it beats paper. Approval Process Status is a built-in searchable system field, so "where is my permit?" becomes a two-second field search — and search-result columns show status, parcel, and type without opening a single document. Renewals stop slipping too: search Expiration Date with the between operator across next quarter and you have the outreach list.

This is the classic accounting form — the one that used to come in carbon-copy triplicate. An employee wants to spend money, and no document exists yet: the form itself creates the record, which is exactly what a Capture Form is for.

The situation. Purchase requests live in email threads and hallway approvals. By the time the invoice arrives, nobody can prove who approved the spend, against which budget, or whether it was approved at all.

The fields on a Purchase Requisition document type:

On submit. Start with the same pair: ContentCapture on Purchase Requisition triggering ApprovalProcessStart into your Spend Approval process. Then add one workflow rule per approval tier — a ContentField trigger watching Amount that, when it exceeds 5000, uses ApprovalProcessStageChange to move the request to the manager's stage, and a second rule above 25000 that moves it to the controller's stage. Small purchases sail through; big ones climb.

Keep it moving. Enable deadlines on the approval process so every request carries a due date in the queue, reminders re-send automatically, and overdue items escalate to an administrator. That is the built-in cure for the request that sits in someone's queue while the quote expires.

Why it beats the email thread. Approval happens before the money is committed, with the decision recorded on the document. When the vendor's invoice arrives later (by whatever route), one field search on Requisition Number pulls up the approved request beside it — who approved, when, against which GL account. Check requests and expense advances are the same build with two field changes.

The situation. Every hire produces a W-4, an I-9, and a direct-deposit form. Each carries different retention requirements, and none of it belongs outside HR.

The build. Create three document types — W-4, I-9, and Direct Deposit Authorization — each with its own capture form, all sharing Employee Name and Hire Date fields. Then group them with a packet template that marks all three Required: the built-in Packet Completion Status field shows at a glance which hires still owe paperwork, straight from search results.

Retention. Because they are separate document types, each gets its own Retention setting — an enable toggle, a period (such as a number of years), and a processing schedule that deletes documents past their period automatically. Set the periods your policy or counsel requires per form, not one blanket rule.

Permissions. On each of the three document types, grant the HR group its rights — view, search, add, and whichever others apply — and add no one else. Permissions are set per document type, so locking these down doesn't touch anything else in the catalog.

Why it beats paper. No personnel filing cabinet, no annual purge project — completion is a search column and retention runs itself on a schedule.

Any process that begins with "fill out this form and hand it in" fits the same recipe:

Expense reports, maintenance requests, records requests, contract intake, visitor registrations — the fields change, the pattern doesn't.