What Are Business Process Flows?
Business process flows provide CRM users with a defined way to work through a record. They can help ensure important steps aren't missed and guide users through an organization's established processes. For example, when creating a new Account, your process might require users to:
- Define the Account's Primary Contact
- Assign an Account Lead
- Complete an Account credit check
A familiar example in Dynamics 365 Sales is the Lead-to-Opportunity Sales Process. A business process flow appears as a banner across the top of the record, with each circle representing a stage. When you open a stage, you can see the steps users should complete. The active stage is visually identified, and Dynamics 365 tracks how long that stage has been active. The fields displayed within a stage are fields on the underlying CRM record. That means the data entered through a business process flow can also be used in views, reporting, and automation.
1. Business Process Flows Can Span Multiple Record Types
A business process flow can span up to five record types. This can be useful when you have records designed to work in succession because the process flow can guide users between them. For example, a sales process could connect:
- Lead
- Opportunity
- Quote
- Order
- Invoice
A user could begin with a Lead, advance to an Opportunity, continue to a Quote and Order, and ultimately reach an Invoice while following the same business process flow. This also makes navigating related records easier because the process itself connects them. One important limitation is that the process needs to begin with the record type configured as the starting point. If a process is designed to begin with a Lead, you can't simply start the same process from an Opportunity. You would need another business process flow configured to start with Opportunities.
2. You Can Add Conditional Branching
Not every record should necessarily follow the exact same process. Conditional branching lets you change the stages a user encounters according to information on the record. For example, an Opportunity might have a Type field identifying whether the potential sale involves a standard or custom product. A standard product could move directly to a Review stage. A custom product could add a Design stage requiring someone on the design team to complete an internal review before the sale continues. Fields within a stage can also be required before the user can advance. Requiring a field that controls your conditional logic can help ensure the appropriate branch is selected. Business process flows support up to 30 stages. Although that's a substantial number, complex branching can consume stages quickly because stages may need to be repeated within different branches. If the resulting logic becomes too complicated, a separate business process flow may provide a better solution.
3. You Can Have Multiple Business Process Flows for the Same Record Type
Dynamics 365 can support up to 10 business process flows per table. This provides an alternative when different scenarios require processes that are too different to comfortably represent with conditional branches. For example, Cases in Customer Service might be used for both product repairs and product replacements. A replacement process could contain:
A repair process could contain:
Rather than attempting to incorporate both scenarios into a complicated branching structure, you can create independent business process flows. Users can use the Process command to switch between available processes when necessary. A process can also be abandoned, which deactivates that process on the record.
4. Business Process Flows Can Work with JavaScript
Business process flows can be extended with client-side JavaScript on Dynamics 365 forms. JavaScript allows you to apply business logic that may not be possible through business rules or calculated fields alone. It can also improve the user experience because changes can happen immediately in response to a user's actions. For example, instead of asking a user to manually switch between Repair and Replacement business process flows, JavaScript could automatically switch the process when the Case Type field changes. JavaScript can also respond to business process flow events, such as a stage change. Depending on your requirements, scripts can perform actions such as:
- Switching business process flows
- Hiding or showing form tabs
- Hiding or showing sections
- Controlling fields
- Performing calculations such as percent complete
Unlike background automation, client-side JavaScript can respond immediately on the form without requiring users to refresh the page to see the result.
5. Business Process Flows Can Work with Power Automate
Business process flows can also be combined with Power Automate to automate work as users move through a process. Fields added to business process flow stages are still fields on their underlying Dataverse tables. If a user changes one of those fields from the process flow, Power Automate can respond just as it could when that field is changed directly on the form. For example, a flow could send an email notification when a particular field changes. Business process flows also create their own backend tables. These records contain information about the process itself, including details such as the current stage, previous stages, and how long stages have been active. That process information can also be used to trigger automation. For example, a flow could send an email when a Case reaches a particular stage in a repair process.
Run Power Automate from a Business Process Flow
Automation doesn't always have to run automatically in the background. You can also provide an on-demand button within a business process flow that lets the user decide when to run a flow. For example, a Ship stage could contain a Send shipping notification button. When the user is ready, they could select the button, enter required information such as a tracking number, and run a Power Automate flow that sends the appropriate customer notification. This approach is useful when automation should occur during a particular stage but still requires the user to determine exactly when it's appropriate. Because Power Automate runs in the background, you may need to refresh your form to see an updated status after the flow finishes.
Building More Useful Business Processes in CRM
Business process flows can do much more than provide a simple checklist at the top of a CRM record. They can:
- Span as many as five record types to connect records that work in succession
- Use conditional branching to adapt stages to different business scenarios
- Support multiple independent processes for the same table
- Work with JavaScript to provide responsive, real-time form behavior
- Integrate with Power Automate to automate work and notifications
Used thoughtfully, these capabilities can turn a business process flow into a guided experience that helps users follow consistent processes while allowing Dynamics 365 to handle more of the navigation, logic, and automation behind those processes.
