Compliance Report

Updated a few days ago

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3 min read

Overview


This is an automatic action that generates a compliance report for each file processed by the workflow and uploads it to a chosen cloud location. The report contains the permanent record of the file's processing history, the actions performed on it, approvers, timestamps, etc.

The compliance report is a portable proof of what happened to a file, and it's used for audit trails, regulatory record-keeping, dispute resolution, or simply handing evidence of process to a customer or auditor who has no access to the product itself.


Rules

 

  • One report is generated per file processed by the workflow. The report is saved as a separate file in the chosen location, regardless of how the workflow handles the original file.
  • A report records the details on the:
    • Document Details (basic details such as file name, workflow, status, etc)
      • Please note that the report describes the file's status as of the moment it runs, but a report generated with Compliance Report placed last will show the file's own status as "Completed" even though the workflow, strictly speaking, hasn't finished yet (the Compliance Report itself is still being generated at that point)
    • Extracted Data (metadata that is read/supplied with the file)
      • Collected with Fill in a Form, Supply Information, External XML Data, and AI Data actions
    • Actors (people involved in document processing - uploaders / data suppliers / approvers / signers / digital signers)
    • Processing Timeline (file history)
      • This is pretty much a copy of the File History, just presented in a table
      • Please note that if the action is placed after the Merge and Split actions, it won't show the history of the original files before Merge/Split actions
    • Decision Evidence (condition computation)
    • Outputs (export locations - emails or cloud storage)
      • This includes not only the export locations of the original files processed in the workflow, but the side-products - exported CSV files or compliance reports before the current action
      • It excludes the currently running compliance report
    • Report Verification (short details about the report generation engine)
  • The subtitle of the report is in the format “Workflow name · Organisation name · File name”
  • File Name specifies the name of the generated report file.
    • The file name may include dynamic metadata variables (e.g. the original file name, an invoice number, a date).
    • The default file name is the original file name followed by " - Compliance Report".
    • Maximum number of characters for a new file name is 100.
    • Characters : “ # % * : < > ? / \ | ~ & ゛ဧ $ are forbidden when you try to put them directly in the text field for File Name. If you use metadata value for File Name, then the aforementioned characters are replaced with "-" because Windows doesn't allow using them in file names.
    • Enter character is replaced with space
    • Day and month metadata are padded with leading 0 if needed (like 08, 09, 10)
  • Export Format lets the user choose the format of the report.
    • PDF produces a human-readable document. This is the default.
    • JSON produces a machine-readable file, useful when the report is consumed by another system.
    • It also alters the cost of the action. PDF format costs 2 credits, and JSON costs 1
      • As soon as the user switches between these two options, they will see the live update of the total workflow cost
  • Upload location lets the user specify the export location of report files
    • It can be any of the supported cloud drives - SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox.
    • The upload location works like the aggregate of all of Willow's cloud drive actions (check them for more details)
      • It lets the user browse the location on the cloud drive
      • It lets them choose to create a subfolder at the location (if needed)
      • It lets them upload with the default user credentials or their own
    • The report file location is not in any way linked to the upload location of the files processed by the workflow.
  • Organisation language is used when generating a report
  • It’s strongly recommended to place this action last in the workflow. The report only covers what happened up to the point the action runs, so any actions placed after it will not be included in the report. If the action is not the last one in the workflow, it is marked with a warning and the message "Place this action last to generate a complete compliance report".
  • Compliance Report action's record in File History will have the link to the chosen location on the cloud drive where the report was exported.

 

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