Using the Rulebook

Overview

The Rulebook is a tool for defining flexible rule criteria that can trigger multiple actions within your Practifi organization when those criteria are met. For firms with established client engagement standards and internal service workflows, the Rulebook provides a way to implement those practices as automated system logic, so your team members don't need to keep track of what needs to happen next. Instead, the system can be built to tell them.

Rules can be configured to evaluate dates, such as upcoming review deadlines, policy expirations, or client anniversaries, or to evaluate changes in record data, such as when a client reaches a new service tier or a deal advances through a stage. When a rule’s criteria are met, the system responds automatically, keeping your team informed and your client workflows on track.

This article outlines how to create a new rule within the Rulebook in your organization. For more information about the Rulebook, please consult our Understanding the Rulebook article.

• Required Permissions
• Accessing the Rulebook
• Creating a New Rule
  • Creating Time-Based Execution Criteria
  • Creating Record-Based Execution Criteria
  • Adding Actions
• Rule-Based Actions for Processes, Task Templates, and Deliverables
• Considerations
  • Validation Scenario

Required Permissions

To create a rule in the Rulebook, you will need the Practifi - Manage Rules permission set assigned to your user profile. The Administrator permission set group has this permission included by default. Without this permission set, you will not be able to view the Rulebook page in the Settings app or create and modify rules. Ensure that this permission set is applied to your user profile before proceeding with using the Rulebook. 

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Accessing the Rulebook

The Rulebook can be accessed through the Settings app:

1. Click the App Launcher in the upper left-hand corner of Practifi.
2. Select the Settings app from the drop-down menu.
3. Once in the Settings app, click the caret on the Navigation menu and select the Rulebook page.
   

On the Rulebook page, you'll find a list of all active and inactive rules created in your Practifi instance. There are also a number of pre-built rules for different scenarios. To learn more about enabling these in your organization, reach out to your Practifi contact.

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Creating a New Rule

Each rule in the Rulebook is made up of two components: a Rule Criteria record, which defines the conditions that cause the rule to execute, and one or more Rule Actions records, which define what happens when those conditions are met. Rule Actions are created from within the Rule Criteria record page.

To begin creating a rule, click the New button on the Rulebook page.

A rule can be configured to run based on a date (time-based execution) or based on field-level changes to a record (record-based execution). The sections below describe how to configure each type.

Creating Time-Based Execution Criteria

Time-based rules are well-suited for date-driven workflows, such as triggering a reminder a set number of days before a policy renewal, or following up a defined period after a client anniversary. These rules are triggered a certain number of days before or after a given date. The field referenced should have a field type of Date.

To set time-based execution:

1. Click the Use time-based execution checkbox to reveal the relevant settings.
2. In the Object field, enter the API Name of the object that contains the records the rule will run for. Use the object's API Name, not its label.
3. In the Target Field field, enter the API Name of the field within that object where the reference date is held.
4. Using the Execute based on field, select either Days before the target field's date or Days after the target field's date.
5. In the Number of Days field, enter the number of days before or after the Target Field's date that you want the rule to run.
6. Optionally, if you want to specify additional conditions so that the rule only runs for a subset of records, go to the Record Criteria tab and add conditions using the Rule Builder that appears there.
   • User Resources for time-based rules reference the Owner of the Rule Criteria record.

Creating Record-Based Execution Criteria

Record-based rules are triggered by changes to a record's data, making them a good fit for workflows that need to respond to updates in real time, such as when a client's status changes or when a new record that meets specific criteria is created.

To set record-based execution:

1. In the Object field, enter the API Name of the object that contains the records the rule will run for. Use the object's API Name, not its label.
2. Using the Evaluate this rule when field, select one of the following options:
   • A record is created
   • A record is created or updated

   • A record is created, or updated to meet the criteria - A record is “updated to meet the criteria” if it didn’t meet the criteria before the update but does meet it afterward. Use this option if you only want to activate the alert once.

     

3. Click the Record Criteria tab and add conditions using the Rule Builder.
   • Unlike with time-based rules, you will likely want to set Record Criteria. Otherwise, the rule will run on every create or edit for the chosen object.
   • User Resources for record-based rules reference the user who triggers the rule by creating or updating the record.

   • Please note:  If you do not add at least one condition on the Record Criteria tab, the rule will not run. If you want to apply a rule to all records on the chosen object, you can use $Record.Name as the resource and Is Not Null as the operator.

Adding Actions

Actions define what happens when a rule's criteria are met. Use the Rule Actions list on the right-hand side of the Rule Criteria page to add actions to your rule, along with any required settings. If you're adding an email or notification action, the settings for controlling recipients will appear once the Rule Action record has been saved.

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Rule-Based Actions for Processes, Task Templates, and Deliverables

The Rulebook enables you to automate alerts for any record in Practifi. For features that use record templates, such as Processes, Task Templates, and Deliverables, automation works best when it is embedded directly within those templates. Process Type, Task Template, and Deliverable Type record pages each include a Rule-Based Actions section that provides an intuitive way to attach automated alerts to a template without configuring them separately in the Rulebook.

To create a rule-based action from within a template:

1. Locate the Rule-Based Actions section on the Process Type, Task Template, or Deliverable Type record page.
2. Click the caret to expand the section.
3. Click the New button to create a rule-based action.

Rule creation and execution work the same way as they do in the Rulebook.

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Considerations

Here are some things to know about working with the Rulebook:

• While there is no maximum number of rules you can build for a given object, we recommend no more than 10 rules per object. This is not a hard limit, so you can add more when required, but having too many rules on an object can cause performance issues.
• There is also no maximum number of criteria or conditions a rule can have, but we recommend no more than 10 criteria per rule. While not a hard limit, defining too many criteria for a rule can cause performance issues.
• The Send an Email action works only for internal users. Email alerts cannot be sent to external recipients.
• Time-based rules are executed overnight outside business hours, with the default schedule set to run at 10:00 p.m. If you wish to modify this, you can update the run time from the Scheduled Jobs section in Salesforce Setup. Salesforce only allows for a maximum of 10,000 notifications to be sent within a one-hour period, and it has no ability to remember which ones were missed, so it can try them again later. This could mean that in certain high-volume scenarios, some notifications for time-based rules will not be sent. We recommend using email actions alongside them to ensure the notification is delivered to the user regardless of whether this limit is reached.
• Rules run on records regardless of how they were created, whether directly in Practifi or through importing a file or using an integration. If you don’t want your rules to run on those records, you can do one of the following:
  • Add criteria that exclude those records from the rule. For example, a rule for Asset records that only runs if the Asset’s Source does not equal “Addepar” would exclude records created by that integration.
  • Inactivate the relevant rules before a data import.
  • Go to Custom Settings in Salesforce Setup, click Manage next to Rulebook Settings and deactivate the Enable record-based execution setting.

• If a rule uses record-based execution, it needs at least one criterion in order to run. Record-based rules without criteria will not be run.

• If your rule contains either the Create a Task or Start a Process action, then it must be run on an object that’s enabled for workflows. Compatible objects are:

  • Asset/Liability
  • Contact
  • Deal
  • Division
  • Entity
  • Financial Product
  • Goal
  • Income/Expense
  • Objective
  • Policy
  • Policy Coverage
  • Retirement Income
  • Service
  • User

• If your rule contains the Post to Noticeboard action, then it must be run on either the Entity object itself or one related to it via a lookup field. Compatible objects are:

  • Access Request
  • Account Team Member
  • Asset Allocation
  • Asset/Liability
  • Asset/Liability Role
  • Attributed Revenue
  • Contact
  • Contact Point Address
  • Contact Point Email
  • Contact Point Phone
  • Content Document Link
  • Deal
  • Deliverable
  • Email Message
  • Envestnet Proposal
  • Envestnet Proposal Registration
  • Event
  • Feed Item
  • Goal
  • Income/Expense
  • Income/Expense Role
  • Installment
  • Noticeboard Post
  • Objective
  • Objective Relation
  • Policy
  • Policy Coverage
  • Policy Coverage Role
  • Policy Role
  • Process
  • Questionnaire
  • Reference Document
  • Relationship
  • Retirement Income
  • Service
  • Stage History
  • Task
  • Topic Assignment

Validation Scenario

When attempting to save a Rule Criteria record, the system performs additional validation. The scenarios below describe each check and the corresponding error message that appears when a check fails.

 

Validation	Checked on	Method	Error message
Object doesn’t exist	Object field	Check the API Name specified in this field against the API Names of objects within the org. If it cannot be located, this error message appears.	The object you've specified can't be located. Confirm that its API Name is being used (not the Label) and that it's spelled correctly.
Object exists but is ineligible for Rules	Object field	Check the API Name specified in this field against the API Names of objects compatible with Rule Criteria (see the full list above). If it isn’t one of them, this error message appears.	The object you've specified can't be used with Rule Criteria. To see a list of compatible objects, check the Practifi Success portal.
Object exists and is eligible, but automation is not enabled	Object field	Check whether the object specified in this field has its automation setting turned on. If it doesn’t, this error message appears.	The object you've specified needs automation to be enabled first. To do that, go to Salesforce Setup > Custom Settings > Practifi Trigger Settings > Manage, and check the object's checkbox (requires administrator access).
Target Field doesn't exist	Target Field field	Check the API Name specified in this field against the existing fields for the specified Object.	The field you’ve specified can’t be found within the nominated object. Confirm that its API Name is being used (not the Label), that it’s contained within the object, and that it's spelled correctly.