Dynamics GP completion emails aren't sending? Here's a workaround for this known issue

Workflows within Dynamics GP help automate components of the approval process for individual documents or batches of documents, helping save time and reduce bottlenecks that may otherwise arise. Workflows act like a chain of dominos: once you activate a flow – through whichever condition you set – the document(s) move through the system, automatically moving from the creator of the flow to the approver (or approvers if there are more than one).

Recently, Microsoft became aware of an issue where workflow completion emails have been failing to send to the originator (or creator) of the workflow. When enabled from the Workflow Maintenance window (under Tools>Setup>Company>Workflow>E-mail Message Setup), emails should be automatically sent to the originator during various steps of a workflow, either as confirmation that a step has been taken (as in the case of the originator submitting or recalling a workflow or the workflow being approved) or to initiate further action (such as in the case of a rejection, delegation, or escalation).

But, despite notifications being enabled in this window, the completion emails do not send. Microsoft is working on this issue, the solution to which they will include in a future release wave.

For now, there is a workaround that will send a simple, plain text notification in lieu of more polished template notifications. Normally, to enable automatic completion emails, you would check the boxes for whatever actions (approve, reject, escalate, etc.) you want to trigger those emails to send. The workaround solution is, quite counterintuitively, to uncheck the boxes you want to send.

For instance, in the image below, we’ve just unchecked “Recall” and clicked “OK.” This means that from now on, an email notification will send after an originator recalls their approval, which will confirm for them that the approval workflow has, indeed, been recalled.

Note that with this workaround, what sends is a simple default email stating the recall has been completed, rather than a more polished template email message that – when this issue is resolved – you could set up to send.

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