Ready-made ideas

Nine workflows built to quote, invoice and get paid without chasing anything by hand. Cord orders them for your business, and each one is created as a draft so you can review it before publishing.

How to use an idea

There are three ways:

In the Workflows list, under Ideas to get started, click Use on the idea.
Inside the editor of an empty workflow, in Start with an example, click Customize this workflow. If the draft already had steps, Cord asks Replace what you have? before replacing them.
With Slack, Teams or HubSpot connected, its page in Settings › Integrations shows the ideas that use it.

Every way creates a draft with the idea’s name, trigger and steps, with the texts in your account’s language. Nothing runs until you click Publish, and before that you can click Test to see what it would do with the latest real event. Change whatever you want: amounts, days, texts or recipients.

Collections that step upSep 22, 10:15An invoice has been past due for daysInvoices1102 failedActive

The invoice goes out when you get paidyesterday, 17:32A quote is paid in fullPayments0Draft

Ideas to get started

For your industry: constructionStart the work when the deposit arrivesWhen the client pays the deposit, it creates the task to start the work and tells you the remaining balance. Nobody starts without money, and nobody waits once it has arrived.A partial payment arrivesUse

You chose “collect payments online”Payment reminder 3 days before the due dateThree days before an invoice is due, it sends the client Cord’s payment reminder with the button to pay. If they already paid or their reminders are paused, nothing is sent.An invoice is about to be dueUse

+3You chose “collect payments online”Collections that step upThree days past due it reminds the client to pay; at 10 it writes more firmly; at 20 it looks up everything they owe you, alerts you and leaves you a task to call them.An invoice has been past due for daysUse

You chose “collect payments online”Push an invoice to get paidYou run it from an invoice, or several at once: it sends the client the payment reminder and, if they haven’t paid after 3 business days, leaves you a task to call them. If they pay sooner, it stops there.You run it from an invoiceUse

+3You chose “follow up on quotes”Don’t let a quote go coldIf the client opens the quote within 2 days, it leaves you a task to call while it is warm. If they don’t, it emails them; and if there is still no decision after 5 days, it alerts you with what that client already owes you.A quote is sentUse

+4Because you run the businessYour Monday: collected, overdue and who to callEvery Monday at 9 it sends you last week’s collections, what is overdue and what you have left to close; and for each charge that crossed 30 days overdue that week, it leaves you a task to call the client.On a fixed scheduleUse

"Ideas to get started" section at the bottom of the Workflows list, for a construction company that chose to get paid online and follow up: first the ideas for its industry and its goals, with the reason on top; each card with its chain of steps, its description, the event that starts it and the "Use" button.

Ideas for your business

Ideas are ordered using what you answered when you created your account:

First, the ones for your industry: for example, “Start the work when the deposit arrives” if you are in construction, manufacturing or services.
Then, the ones for the goals you chose (quote faster, collect payments online, issue invoices, follow up on quotes, control margins or automate collections), in the order that matters to your role: Finance gets invoicing and collecting first; Sales, quoting and following up.
Then the ones for your role, and finally the rest.

Each card says why we suggest it, for example “You chose “collect payments online””, “Because you work in Finance / Admin” or “For your industry: construction”. If you did not answer those questions, you see all nine in the order of this page.

Each idea is also built for your account when you use it:

Team alerts go out through Slack if you have it connected; if not, through Teams; and if not, by email to the account owner.
With HubSpot connected, “The invoice goes out when you get paid” also leaves the note on the Deal.
“Large quotes go to the owner for approval” only appears if your plan includes internal approvals and you do not work alone: without a team there is nobody to ask.

At a glance

Idea	Trigger	Needs	Suggested first if
Don’t let a quote go cold	A quote is sent	Client with an email	You chose “follow up on quotes” or “quote faster”, or you work in Sales
Reminder 3 days before	An invoice is about to be due	Invoices with a due date, client with an email	You chose “collect payments online” or “automate collections”, or you work in Finance
Collections that step up	An invoice has been past due for days	Invoices with a due date, client with an email	You chose “automate collections” or “collect payments online”, or you work in Finance
The invoice goes out when you get paid	A quote is paid in full	Nothing extra	You chose “issue invoices”, or you work in Finance
Your Monday	On a fixed schedule	Nothing extra	You run the business or work in Finance
Push an invoice to get paid	You run it from an invoice	Client with an email	You chose “collect payments online”, or you work in Sales or Finance
Last call and close-out	A quote is about to expire	Quotes with a validity date, client with an email	You chose “quote faster”, or you are in distribution or manufacturing
Start on the deposit	A partial payment arrives	Quotes with a deposit	You are in construction, manufacturing or services
Owner approval	A quote requests internal approval	Scale plan or higher and a team	You chose “control margins” or you run the business

1. Don’t let a quote go cold

So no quote gets lost in silence.

Which business: agencies, firms, industrial suppliers or any team that sends many quotes a week and has no time to check one by one who opened them.

Trigger: a quote is sent.
Wait until the Current quote status is Viewed or Approved (two rules joined with Or), with a 2-day limit.
If it happens: create the task “Call {{cliente}} while {{folio}} is warm”, due in 1 day. The client has seen it: it is time to call.
If the time runs out: email the client with the subject “Any questions about {{folio}}?” and the message “Hi, we are following up on quote {{folio}} for {{total}}. If anything needs adjusting, reply to this email and we will sort it out.”
Then wait until the status is Approved or Rejected, with a 5-day limit. If the client decides, the run ends there.
If there is still no decision: look up the client’s balance and alert you: “{{folio}} went a week without a decision”, with the open balance with you ({{cliente_saldo}}, of which {{cliente_vencido}} is overdue).

Needs: the client with an email on file. The email to the client uses your plan’s sending quota.
Adapt it: change the time limits, or remove the client email if you want the follow-up to stay within the team.

2. Payment reminder 3 days before the due date

To collect before the date, not after.

Which business: recurring services, retainers and any business with receivables where the client pays on time if reminded.

Trigger: an invoice is about to be due. It happens every day while there are 1 to 30 days left and the invoice is still open with a balance.
Condition: Days until due equals 3.
If the condition is met: Remind the client to pay, Cord’s reminder with what they owe, when it is due and the button to pay. If there is no balance left or their reminders are paused, it is not sent.

Needs: invoices with a due date and the client with an email.
Adapt it: change the 3 to the days you want, or add a second condition to also remind them on the due date.

3. Collections that step up

To chase the money with judgment, not with a single email.

Which business: distributors, wholesalers and services that invoice on 30 or 60-day credit and need an even collections process.

Trigger: an invoice has been past due for days. It happens every day while it stays open with a balance, for up to 90 days.
Multiple branches, one per stage, by Days past due:
- Day 3: Remind the client to pay, with the button to pay.
- Day 10: email the client more firmly, with the subject “Invoice {{numero}} is 10 days past due”, asking them to confirm when they will pay and offering to review the invoice if anything needs correcting.
- Day 20: look up everything the client owes you, alert you with “{{cliente}}: 20 days past due” (the total open, the overdue amount and across how many documents) and leave you the task “Call {{cliente}} about invoice {{numero}} ({{saldo}})”.
Otherwise it does nothing: on the other days the run ends with no steps.

Needs: invoices with a due date and the client with an email.
Adapt it: change the day of each branch, or add a fourth one at 30 with an approval to decide whether to stop credit. More in Multiple branches.

4. The invoice goes out when you get paid

So no paid sale is left without an invoice.

Which business: any business that invoices when it gets paid, and in Mexico anyone who issues the CFDI as soon as the client pays.

Trigger: a quote is paid in full.
Action: Invoice the quote, the same as clicking Invoice, with your country’s rules. If the quote was already invoiced, it does not issue another one.
With HubSpot connected: Add a note in HubSpot with “{{cliente}} paid {{folio}} for {{total}}. The invoice was issued in Cord.”

Needs: nothing extra; in Mexico, your invoicing setup ready to stamp.
Adapt it: add a team alert or a delivery task after invoicing.

5. Your Monday: collected, overdue and who to call

To start the week knowing how much came in, how much is still owed and whom to call.

Which business: owners and finance leads who want the week’s number without opening the app.

Trigger: on a fixed schedule, every week, on Monday at 9 (in your account’s time zone).
Look up what was collected in the last 7 days, overdue receivables and the open pipeline.
Alert you with “Your week in Cord ({{fecha}})”: what was collected and across how many payments, what is overdue and how many days the oldest one is past due, and what is left to close in quotes.
For each overdue charge, up to 20: if Days overdue is between 30 and 36, leave you the task “Call {{item_cliente}} about {{item_folio}}: {{item_saldo}}, {{item_dias_vencido}} days overdue”. That way each charge asks you for a call only once, on the Monday of the week it crosses 30 days.

Needs: nothing extra.
Adapt it: make it monthly on day 1, or change the 30 days to whatever your credit policy says. More in For each.

6. Push an invoice to get paid

For when you decide an invoice can no longer wait.

Which business: anyone who sells on credit and prefers to decide case by case whom to press, without building an automatic sequence for every invoice.

Trigger: you run it from an invoice, or from several at once. See You run it.
Ends early if… the Current invoice status is Paid: as soon as the client pays, the run ends.
Action: Remind the client to pay.
Wait 3 days, business days only.
Action: leave you the task “Call {{cliente}}: {{numero}} is still unpaid ({{saldo}})”, due that same day.

Needs: the client with an email. Running it requires the Collections permission.
Adapt it: change the days of the wait, or add a second reminder before the task. More about the goal in End early: the goal.

7. Last call and quote close-out

To close the loop instead of leaving quotes open forever.

Which business: anyone quoting prices that change (materials, imports, exchange rates, seasons) who cannot honor an old quote.

Trigger: a quote is about to expire. It happens every day while there are 1 to 30 days left and the quote is still sent or viewed.
Condition: Days until it expires equals 2.
If the condition is met: email the client with the subject “Quote {{folio}} expires on {{vence}}” inviting them to approve it from the link.
Wait until the status is Approved or Rejected, with a 2-day limit.
If the time runs out: expire the quote (the client can no longer approve it from the link) and alert you: “{{folio}} expired without an answer”.

Needs: quotes with a validity date and the client with an email.
Adapt it: remove the Expire the quote step if you prefer to close it by hand.

8. Start the work when the deposit arrives

So nobody starts without money, and nobody is left waiting once it has arrived.

Which business: construction, workshops, made-to-order manufacturing, events or consulting: anything that charges a deposit before starting.

Trigger: a partial payment arrives.
Condition: the Payment type is Deposit.
If the condition is met: create the task “Start the work for {{folio}} ({{cliente}})” due in 1 day, and alert you: “A deposit of {{monto}} arrived. Remaining balance: {{saldo_pendiente}}.”

Needs: quotes with a deposit. See Deposits.
Adapt it: assign the task to whoever starts the work in Assignee.

9. Large quotes go to the owner for approval

So a small approval waits for nobody, and a large one does not go out without the owner’s sign-off.

Which business: sales teams where a discount or a large amount needs the owner’s sign-off, but most requests are small.

Trigger: a quote requests internal approval.
Condition: the Total is less than the amount you choose, in your business’s currency.
If the condition is met: Approve the internal request; the quote goes out to the client.
If the condition isn’t met: Ask for approval from the account owner, with one day to decide and the message “{{folio}} for {{cliente}} ({{total}}) needs approval. Reason: {{motivo}}”. With Slack connected, they are also notified there.
If approved: approve the internal request. If rejected or time runs out: tell the team that {{folio}} was not approved and that it stays pending on the quote for someone to review.

Needs: internal approvals, which come with the Scale plan or higher, the Approvals permission to publish it, and someone else on the team.
Adapt it: the amount is your business’s decision, so the idea arrives with the value empty and cannot be published until you type it. If you sell in several currencies, add one rule per currency joined with Or. More in Ask for approval.

Combining ideas

An idea is a starting point, not a limit. For example, you can add to “Collections that step up” a branch at 30 days that asks the owner for approval and, if they give it, pauses that client’s reminders; or add to “Your Monday” a condition so it alerts you only when the overdue amount goes over a set amount. Whatever shares a trigger fits in a single workflow, and on the Free and Starter plans that also saves active-workflow slots.