Automating Client Intake and Conflict Checks in Salesforce

The Business Situation

Hawthorne Vale Advisory is a fictional 68-person professional services firm delivering tax, transaction advisory, and operational consulting services. Its client acceptance process involves six business development employees, three risk and compliance reviewers, five finance employees, and 12 engagement partners.

The firm processes approximately 80 prospective engagements each month. Some are new clients, while others involve new projects for existing clients. Every engagement must pass through client identity checks, conflict review, scope approval, pricing review, engagement-letter preparation, electronic signature, billing setup, and onboarding.

Salesforce already holds Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, owners, and sales activities. Google Workspace supports documents and shared files. Google Sheets is used for operational tracking, Slack is used for internal communication, and an approved electronic signature platform is used for engagement letters. These tools were not previously connected.

The original process began when a business development employee received client details by email. Information was copied into Salesforce, a spreadsheet, email messages, and an engagement-letter template. Compliance and finance maintained their own notes, making it difficult to determine whether an engagement was ready to proceed.

The representative implementation uses Salesforce as the authoritative system of record. Make coordinates data movement, Google Sheets provides a restricted operational tracker, Slack delivers limited notifications, Google Drive and Google Docs handle document generation, and DocuSign handles electronic signatures. Finance retains human control over setup in the firm’s separate billing system.

Note: This case study is provided as a representative example of the types of AI integration and digital transformation solutions Intelligex designs and delivers. Actual engagements are tailored to each client’s goals, constraints, existing systems, timeline, and available resources, so the approach, tools, and outcomes may vary.

The business needed to change because email was functioning as an informal workflow engine. Missing related-party names could delay conflict review, pricing exceptions could bypass finance, and staff sometimes generated engagement letters before all approvals had been recorded. The process also depended heavily on two experienced coordinators who knew where to look for incomplete work.

The Existing Process

The original process followed this sequence:

1. A prospective client or referral source emailed a partner or business development employee.
2. The recipient forwarded the message to a shared intake mailbox and created or updated an Opportunity in Salesforce.
3. An intake coordinator copied names, scope information, pricing, and billing details into a Google Sheet.
4. The coordinator emailed compliance a list of the prospective client, affiliates, counterparties, and other related parties.
5. A compliance reviewer searched Salesforce and historical records, then returned a conflict decision by email.
6. The engagement partner reviewed the proposed scope and fee in the email thread.
7. Finance reviewed non-standard discounts, payment terms, and payer details in a separate message.
8. An administrator copied approved information into a Google Docs engagement-letter template.
9. The letter was converted to PDF and uploaded to the electronic signature platform.
10. After signature, finance created a customer or project in the billing system and emailed an external billing identifier to the intake coordinator.
11. The coordinator updated the spreadsheet and Opportunity, then notified the delivery team in Slack.

The practical problem was not simply slow data entry. The firm lacked one controlled record showing the current status, responsible person, required next action, approval evidence, document links, and automation health for each prospective engagement.

What the New System Needed to Do

The design also needed a manual override. Authorized compliance, finance, and operations managers could place an intake on hold, reassign work, return it for more information, or retry a failed automation. Each override required a reason and was recorded in Salesforce.

Implementation Approaches Considered

Improving the Manual Process

Standardized email templates and a protected spreadsheet could reduce some omissions. They would not provide transactional integrity, reliable duplicate prevention, controlled approvals, or automatic reconciliation with Salesforce. This option was unsuitable because it preserved the main source of risk.

Using Salesforce Alone

A Salesforce-only design could provide strong control through custom objects, validation rules, Flow, reports, and Salesforce Files. It was technically viable. The firm nevertheless wanted to retain its established Google document workflow and Slack notifications. A Salesforce-only implementation would also have required a larger initial change in user behavior.

Creating a Separate No-Code Database

A standalone database could provide attractive forms and views, but it would duplicate Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, users, and activities. The integration would then have to resolve conflicting edits between two systems. That was unnecessary when Salesforce already held the client and sales records.

Connecting the Existing Stack

The selected approach retained Salesforce as the authority while using Make to coordinate the other tools. It provided enough flexibility for validation, document generation, Slack notifications, signature status, and error handling without creating another master database.

Purchasing Dedicated Software

Dedicated client acceptance and conflict-management software may be appropriate for firms with more complex ethical walls, formal matter management, extensive conflict databases, or substantially higher volume. Hawthorne Vale Advisory first needed a controlled process using systems it already operated.

The Selected Solution

The intake tool is an internal Salesforce Screen Flow launched from an Opportunity. It is not a public form. Business development records the required details during a client conversation or from an approved secure communication channel. Sensitive attachments are uploaded directly to Salesforce Files or a restricted Google Drive location, rather than being attached to internal email threads.

Make is the automation layer because it can connect Salesforce, Google Sheets, Slack, Google Workspace, and the signature service. It also provides schedules, routers, filters, data stores, error handlers, and OAuth-based connections.

Google Sheets was retained because operations employees were already comfortable using filtered spreadsheet views. The tracker is protected and does not contain conflict-party lists, review notes, identity documents, tax identifiers, or full engagement documents.

Human decisions remain central. Compliance clears or rejects conflicts. The engagement partner approves scope and the generated letter. Finance approves non-standard commercial terms and completes billing setup. Make moves information and identifies exceptions, but it does not approve a prospective client.

The separate billing platform was intentionally left outside the initial integration. Its customer and project creation controls varied by service line, and finance wanted to retain human review. The automation creates a controlled billing task and requires finance to record the resulting external billing identifier.

System Architecture and Data Flow

• Intake: An authenticated Salesforce Screen Flow connected to an Opportunity
• System of record: Salesforce custom objects, standard Opportunities, Accounts, Contacts, Tasks, and Events
• Automation layer: Make scenarios using OAuth connections and persistent processing keys
• Document storage: Restricted Google Shared Drive folders, with document identifiers stored in Salesforce
• Notifications: Private Slack channels and direct messages containing minimal information
• Reporting: Salesforce reports and a protected Google Sheets working tracker
• AI layer: Optional structured extraction of candidate conflict parties, always subject to human confirmation

1. Opportunity creation: Business development creates an Account, Contact, and Opportunity in Salesforce. The Opportunity ID becomes the durable relationship key. If creation fails, the user remains in Salesforce and sees the platform validation error.
2. Intake creation: The user launches the intake Screen Flow from the Opportunity. The flow creates one Client_Intake__c record and one or more child Conflict_Party__c records. A unique Opportunity key prevents a second intake for the same Opportunity.
3. Submission validation: Salesforce checks required client, service, scope, pricing, payer, privacy, and conflict-party fields. Invalid records remain in Draft or Returned for Information.
4. Change detection: Every five minutes, Make queries Salesforce records with a SystemModstamp after the last successful watermark and before the current run cutoff.
5. Tracker synchronization: Make validates the Salesforce record, searches Google Sheets by Salesforce record ID, and adds or updates one row. The row number and synchronization timestamp are recorded in Make. A failed update creates an automation error rather than changing the business status.
6. Assignment: When an intake enters Submitted, Make confirms that a compliance reviewer and engagement partner are assigned. It creates Salesforce Tasks and sends limited Slack notifications. Returned Task IDs are retained in Salesforce or the Make processing log.
7. Activity processing: Make reads changed Salesforce Tasks and Events related to active intake Opportunities. It updates last activity, next action, and owner fields in Salesforce and the tracker.
8. Exception detection: If an active intake has no open next-action Task, an overdue review, inconsistent statuses, or an automation failure, Make searches for an existing open exception Task. If none exists, it creates one and notifies the responsible owner.
9. Human review: Compliance records the conflict decision. The partner records the scope decision. Finance reviews engagements meeting the configured pricing or billing thresholds.
10. Document generation: Once all required approvals are present, Make copies the approved Google Docs template, replaces controlled placeholders, stores the document in the correct Shared Drive folder, exports a PDF, and creates an engagement-package record in Salesforce.
11. Draft approval: The engagement partner reviews the generated document and marks it approved in Salesforce. Rejected drafts return to document preparation with comments.
12. Electronic signature: Make sends the approved PDF to DocuSign, stores the returned envelope ID, and changes the letter status to Signature Pending. A scheduled scenario checks envelope status.
13. Completed document: When the envelope is completed, Make downloads the signed PDF, stores it in the Executed folder, and updates Salesforce with the document link and completion time.
14. Billing and onboarding: Make creates a finance Task. Finance creates the client or project in the billing system and records its external ID. Make then creates onboarding Tasks and sends a Slack notification to the delivery owner.
15. Closure: When onboarding checks are complete, Salesforce changes the intake to Active and the Opportunity to the firm’s approved won stage. Rejected or withdrawn records are closed with a reason.

Data Structure

Salesforce holds the relational data. Google Sheets receives only an operational projection. Document files remain in Google Drive and DocuSign, with identifiers and restricted links stored in Salesforce.

Opportunity

The commercial record. One Opportunity has one Client Intake in this design.

Client Intake

The workflow record controlling submission, review, approval, documents, billing setup, and onboarding.

Conflict Party

A child record for each prospective client, affiliate, counterparty, beneficial owner, or other name that must be searched.

Review Decision

A child record containing the review type, reviewer, decision, timestamp, reason, and evidence reference.

Engagement Package

A child record holding the Google document ID, PDF link, DocuSign envelope ID, status, and executed-document link.

Task and Event

Salesforce activities related to the Opportunity. Exception, approval, billing, and onboarding Tasks use controlled types.

Automation Error

A durable manual-review record containing the failed event key, scenario, attempt count, sanitized error, and recovery status.

Workflow Statuses and Ownership

A record moves backward when a reviewer selects Returned, More Information Required, or Draft Rejected. Rejection requires a reason and closes downstream Tasks. Manual Review is triggered by inconsistent statuses, missing ownership, failed document creation, invalid signature status, repeated integration failure, or an attempted override.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Prepare the Accounts and Permissions

1. Confirm required features: Verify that the Salesforce subscription supports custom objects, Screen Flow, field history, API access, reports, and the required user permissions. Confirm that the Make subscription supports the planned operation volume, data stores, schedules, and error handling. Verify Google Shared Drive and electronic-signature capabilities under the firm’s actual contracts.
2. Create a Salesforce integration user: Use a dedicated named integration identity rather than an employee’s account. Grant API access and object permissions only for Account, Contact, Opportunity, Client Intake, Conflict Party, Review Decision, Engagement Package, Automation Error, Task, Event, and required User fields.
3. Create Salesforce permission sets: Separate Business Development, Compliance Reviewer, Engagement Partner, Finance Reviewer, Operations Administrator, and Integration User permissions.
4. Create Google groups: Use groups such as intake operations, compliance, engagement partners, and finance to control Shared Drive folders and the tracker. Avoid assigning files directly to individual users where group-based access is available.
5. Create Make connections: Connect Salesforce, Google Sheets, Google Drive, Google Docs, Slack, and DocuSign using OAuth. Store credentials in Make connections, not in scenario variables or spreadsheet cells.
6. Prepare Slack access: Add the Make Slack application only to the private operational channels that need notifications. Map Salesforce users to Slack user IDs through a restricted Salesforce User field or a protected configuration table.
7. Create testing resources: Use a Salesforce sandbox when available. Otherwise, create a clearly identified test record type, a separate test spreadsheet, a separate Shared Drive folder, a private test Slack channel, and the signature provider’s test environment.
8. Define service accounts and backups: Assign a primary automation owner and backup owner. Ensure the Google and Slack connections do not depend on a departing employee.

Step 2: Build the Intake

Create a Salesforce Screen Flow named Client Intake and make it available as an Opportunity action. The flow receives the Opportunity record ID as an input variable and retrieves the Opportunity, Account, owner, currency, and primary Contact.

The flow uses four screens:

1. Client identity: Legal name, client type, jurisdiction, address, primary contact, signer, and payer.
2. Scope and commercial terms: Service line, detailed scope, expected start date, fee, pricing model, discount, billing terms, and engagement partner.
3. Conflict information: Prospective client name and instructions to add affiliates, counterparties, beneficial owners, and other relevant parties after the initial record is created.
4. Confirmation: A summary, privacy notice, data-accuracy acknowledgment, and Save as Draft or Submit choice.

The flow first searches Client_Intake__c for the Opportunity ID. If a record exists, it opens the existing record rather than creating another. If none exists, the flow creates the intake with Opportunity_Key__c equal to the Opportunity ID. The unique constraint provides a second layer of duplicate protection if two users submit concurrently.

The first Conflict Party record is created from the legal client name. Users add additional parties through a controlled related-list action. The Submit action checks the roll-up count and blocks submission when no confirmed party exists.

Incomplete submissions remain Draft. The confirmation message displays the generated intake ID, current owner, and next required action. It does not claim that the prospective engagement has been accepted.

Because the flow is authenticated and internal, automated spam prevention is not required. If the firm later exposes a client questionnaire, it should use authenticated portal access, rate limiting, explicit sharing rules, and a separate review step before external data reaches the formal conflict queue.

Step 3: Create the System of Record

1. Create the custom Salesforce objects and fields described in the data structure section.
2. Configure the Client Intake Name field as an auto number using CI-{000000}.
3. Mark Opportunity_Key__c as Unique and External ID.
4. Create master-detail relationships for Conflict Party and Review Decision if the firm’s deletion and ownership policies permit them. Otherwise, use required lookups and prevent orphan records with Flow.
5. Create a roll-up summary that counts Confirmed Conflict Party records.
6. Enable field history for status, owner, review status, pricing terms, engagement partner, automation status, billing-system ID, and document status.
7. Create record types or controlled views for New Business, Existing Client New Scope, and Renewal if the workflows differ.
8. Create list views for My Drafts, Unassigned Reviews, Conflict Queue, Finance Queue, Letter Review, Signature Pending, Billing Setup, Automation Failures, and Manual Holds.
9. Create the Google Sheet named Client Intake Working Tracker with a protected Tracker tab, a protected Configuration tab, and a protected Reconciliation tab.
10. Place column headers in row 1 and prevent sorting the physical range. Users should use filter views so Make can continue matching stable rows.
11. Create the Shared Drive folder structure before activating document generation.

Use the Salesforce record ID as the Google Sheets upsert key. Do not use the client name because names can change and are not unique. Protect formula columns and all synchronized columns from manual editing.

The system should retain only one active Engagement Package. If a partner rejects a draft, the old package remains Archived and a new version is created. This preserves the history of what was reviewed.

Step 4: Connect the Tools

Authenticate Salesforce through the Make OAuth connection using the dedicated integration user. The integration user needs read access to relevant Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Users, Tasks, and Events, plus create and update access to the intake custom objects and exception Tasks.

Authenticate Google using an integration identity with access only to the intake tracker, template folder, and engagement Shared Drive. Authenticate Slack through an approved workspace application. Authenticate DocuSign using OAuth, with access limited to the account responsible for engagement envelopes.

Create a Make Data Store for each scenario watermark. Each record contains the scenario name, last successful cutoff in UTC, last run status, and last reconciliation time. Advance the watermark only after all records through the cutoff have either succeeded or been durably written to the automation-error queue.

Create another Make Data Store for processed event keys. The event key uses the source object, source record ID, and Salesforce SystemModstamp. This prevents a duplicate schedule run from repeating the same external actions.

Step 5: Build the Core Automation

Automation A: Intake and Opportunity Synchronization

• Trigger: Scheduled Make scenario every five minutes.
• Conditions: Client Intake or related Opportunity changed after the previous watermark and on or before the run cutoff.
• Actions: Query Salesforce, validate values, calculate a business-field fingerprint, add or update the tracker row, evaluate exception rules, and record the event key.
• Fields updated: Tracker columns, Automation Status, Last Automation Run, Retry Count, and sanitized Error Message when necessary.
• Notification: Only for a new assignment, material milestone, overdue condition, or failure.
• Exception: Invalid status, missing owner, missing due date, tracker failure, or inconsistent approval combination creates an Automation Error and exception Task.

Configure the actions in this order:

1. Set run_cutoff_utc to the scenario start time.
2. Read the previous watermark from the Make Data Store.
3. Query changed Client Intake records ordered by SystemModstamp ascending.
4. Iterate through each record with scenario concurrency restricted so two runs cannot update the same tracker row simultaneously.
5. Validate the Salesforce ID, intake ID, owner, status, and allowed picklist values.
6. Build an event key from object name, record ID, and SystemModstamp.
7. Skip external actions if the event key already exists.
8. Search the Tracker tab for an exact Salesforce record ID.
9. Add a row if no result exists. Update the single matching row if one exists. If more than one row exists, stop that record and create a duplicate-tracker error.
10. Evaluate assignment, approval, next-action, and status-consistency rules.
11. Create any required exception Task only after searching for the deterministic exception key.
12. Write the processed event key.
13. Update the Salesforce automation fields only when their values changed.
14. After all records are complete or durably queued, advance the scenario watermark to the cutoff.

Automation B: Opportunity Activity Synchronization

• Trigger: Scheduled Task and Event queries every ten minutes.
• Conditions: Activity changed since the activity watermark and is related to an Opportunity with an active Client Intake.
• Actions: Resolve the Opportunity to its intake, update last activity, find the earliest open Task, update next-action details, and evaluate whether a replacement action is required.
• Fields updated: Last Activity At, Next Action Due, current action owner, tracker row, and activity event key.
• Notification: Sent when a material Task is assigned, becomes overdue, or closes without another open action.
• Exception: If an active intake has no future action, create a Set Next Action Task assigned to the Opportunity owner.

All intake-related Tasks and Events are related to the Opportunity through WhatId. For each changed activity, Make searches Client_Intake__c by Opportunity__c. If no active intake exists, the activity is ignored.

When a Task closes, Make queries open Tasks for the Opportunity and sorts them by Activity Date. The earliest valid date becomes Next_Action_Due__c. If no open Task exists and the intake is not Active, Rejected, Closed, or Withdrawn, Make creates an exception.

Automation C: Exception Task Creation

• Trigger: An exception condition detected by any scenario or the nightly control scenario.
• Conditions: The intake is active, the exception remains true, and no open Task has the same exception key.
• Actions: Search existing Tasks, create one Task, relate it to the Opportunity, create or update an Automation Error when technical, and update Automation Status.
• Fields updated: Task Exception Type, Exception Key, Intake ID, due date, owner, and Salesforce error fields.
• Notification: Direct Slack notice to the owner and a summary to the private intake-operations channel.
• Exception: If Slack fails, the Salesforce Task remains authoritative and the Slack failure is recorded separately.

Use deterministic exception keys such as:

CI-000184|NO_NEXT_ACTION|2026-07-15
CI-000184|CONFLICT_OVERDUE|2026-07-15
CI-000184|DOCUMENT_GENERATION|EP-000142
CI-000184|TRACKER_DUPLICATE|TRACKER

Before creating a Task, Make searches for an open Task with the same key. Scenario concurrency is limited to one active execution for exception creation. This combination prevents duplicate Tasks after retries or repeated schedule runs.

Automation D: Approval Completion and Draft Generation

• Trigger: Client Intake changes and all required approvals become complete.
• Conditions: Conflict is Cleared, scope is Approved, finance is Approved or Not Required, no Manual Hold exists, and no active Engagement Package exists.
• Actions: Create the Drive folder, copy the approved template, replace placeholders, export PDF, create Engagement Package, and create draft-review Task.
• Fields updated: Drive folder link, package ID, document ID, PDF ID, Letter Status, and Task ID.
• Notification: Engagement partner receives a Slack notice with the intake ID and Salesforce link.
• Exception: Missing template values or failed document operations set Letter Status to Failed and create an operations Task.

Automation E: Signature, Billing, and Onboarding

• Trigger: Letter Status changes to Approved to Send, followed by scheduled envelope checks.
• Conditions: Approved PDF exists, signer name and email are valid, and no envelope ID is present.
• Actions: Create envelope, store envelope ID, poll status, download completed document, create finance Task, and later create onboarding Tasks.
• Fields updated: Envelope ID, Letter Status, Sent At, Completed At, Executed Link, Billing Status, Billing System ID, and Onboarding Status.
• Notification: Internal notifications at send, completion, decline, billing completion, and onboarding readiness.
• Exception: Invalid signer, declined envelope, failed download, or missing billing ID creates a controlled exception.

Make stores the returned envelope ID before sending any downstream notification. If a later update fails, the retry searches by the stored envelope ID rather than creating a second envelope.

Step 6: Add Approvals, Reminders, and Escalations

The representative approval rules are internal assumptions and must be replaced with the firm’s actual policy:

• Every prospective engagement requires a human conflict decision.
• Every scope requires approval by the designated engagement partner.
• Finance review is required when the estimated fee exceeds $25,000, the discount exceeds 10 percent, payment terms exceed 30 days, the payer differs from the client, or an exception is requested.
• The engagement letter requires partner review after generation, even if the scope was previously approved.
• No Slack response counts as formal approval.

Configure Salesforce actions or Screen Flows for Approve, Reject, and Return for Information. Each action creates a Review Decision record containing the review type, prior status, new status, acting user, timestamp, reason, and evidence link where applicable.

Conflict review may run in parallel with preliminary scope preparation, but letter generation remains blocked until conflict clearance. Finance review may run in parallel with partner review after conflict clearance.

The reminder scenario runs each weekday morning:

1. Query active review Tasks due within one day or already overdue.
2. Exclude completed, rejected, withdrawn, and manually held records.
3. Send one reminder per Task per day using a reminder event key.
4. If one day overdue, check the assigned user’s approved delegate.
5. If a delegate exists and is active, reassign or add the delegate according to firm policy.
6. If no delegate exists, escalate to the appropriate team manager.
7. Record the reminder or escalation on the Task and in an automation log.

A rejection requires a reason. Make closes downstream Tasks that have not started, updates the tracker, and notifies business development. A return request changes the intake to Returned for Information and assigns a Task to the business development owner.

Step 7: Add Documents and File Management

Create this Shared Drive structure:

Client Acceptance
  Templates
    Current
    Archived
  Engagements
    2026
      CI-000184
        Drafts
        Sent
        Executed
        Supporting Documents
  Automation Exceptions

Folder and file names use the intake ID rather than a full client name. This reduces unnecessary exposure in search results and synchronization logs.

The approved engagement template contains controlled placeholders:

{{INTAKE_ID}}
{{CLIENT_LEGAL_NAME}}
{{CLIENT_ADDRESS}}
{{SCOPE_SUMMARY}}
{{PRICING_MODEL}}
{{ESTIMATED_FEE}}
{{BILLING_TERMS}}
{{EXPECTED_START_DATE}}
{{PARTNER_NAME}}
{{CLIENT_SIGNER_NAME}}
{{CLIENT_SIGNER_TITLE}}
/client_sign/
/client_date/

Make copies the template into the Drafts folder, replaces every placeholder, and verifies that no text matching {{ remains. If a placeholder remains, document generation stops and creates an exception rather than sending an incomplete letter.

Use these naming conventions:

• CI-000184_Engagement_Letter_v01.docx or the native Google document equivalent
• CI-000184_Engagement_Letter_v01.pdf
• CI-000184_Engagement_Letter_EXECUTED.pdf

The integration user needs edit access to Drafts and Sent folders. Compliance users do not automatically receive access to engagement documents unless policy requires it. The Executed folder is restricted to designated partners, finance, and records administrators.

Generated drafts are never overwritten. A replacement creates the next version. The active Engagement Package points to the current version, while older package records remain Archived.

When the completed envelope is available, Make downloads the combined signed PDF, uploads it to Executed, and checks that the returned file has non-zero size. A missing or empty file prevents the billing Task from being created.

Retention, legal hold, and deletion periods must follow the firm’s documented records policy. The automation should not silently delete engagement documents.

Step 8: Add Reporting and Operational Views

Create Salesforce reports for:

• New intakes created this week
• Drafts older than two business days
• Unassigned conflict reviews
• Conflict reviews due or overdue
• Scope and finance approvals awaiting action
• Returned and rejected intakes
• Signature-pending envelopes
• Billing setup awaiting completion
• Onboarding items by owner
• Automation failures and retry counts
• Average time from submission to conflict decision
• Average time from clearance to signed letter
• Volume by service line, partner, status, and exception type
• Manual-review queue

In Google Sheets, create filter views for My Open Work, Due Today, Overdue, Missing Next Action, Signature Pending, Billing Setup, Recently Completed, and Automation Failed. Users must not directly change synchronized statuses in the tracker.

The operational dashboard is refreshed whenever Make updates a row. Salesforce reports use live Salesforce data. The operations manager owns report definitions and investigates any difference between Salesforce and the tracker.

Set alert thresholds conservatively. For example, a single failed document or signature operation requires review, while tracker delays can be escalated after two consecutive failed synchronization attempts.

Step 9: Add Security and Governance Controls

• Least privilege: Give each role access only to the objects, fields, folders, and Slack channels required for its work.
• Field-level security: Hide conflict notes, identity information, discount rationale, and billing details from users without a business need.
• Tracker minimization: Do not copy related-party names, search results, detailed notes, attachments, tax data, bank data, or full addresses to Google Sheets.
• Slack minimization: Use the intake ID, status, due date, owner, and Salesforce link. Do not send conflict details or engagement documents.
• Shared links: Disable public and unrestricted link sharing for the tracker and document folders.
• Credential storage: Keep OAuth connections and API secrets in platform credential stores. Never place them in Salesforce fields, Sheets, Slack, or scenario notes.
• Activity logging: Retain Salesforce field history, Review Decision records, Make execution identifiers, document IDs, and signature evidence.
• Access removal: Add Salesforce, Google Workspace, Slack, Make, and DocuSign to the former-employee deprovisioning checklist.
• Backups: Include Salesforce metadata and data, tracker configuration, templates, and executed documents in the firm’s backup process.
• Privacy: Collect only information required for client acceptance. Apply the firm’s retention and legal-hold rules.
• AI restrictions: Do not send government identifiers, bank data, tax records, privileged advice, full engagement documents, or protected conflict notes to an AI service unless separately approved.
• Human control: Conflict clearance, client acceptance, pricing exceptions, scope approval, and final letter approval remain human decisions.

Step 10: Deploy and Test

1. Build Salesforce metadata in a sandbox or isolated test configuration.
2. Use separate Make scenarios, data stores, spreadsheet, folders, Slack channel, and signature test account.
3. Create at least 25 sample records covering normal, exception, rejection, and failure paths.
4. Use test users from business development, compliance, finance, and partner roles.
5. Run technical tests before user acceptance testing.
6. Reconcile every test record across Salesforce, Google Sheets, Slack, Drive, and DocuSign.
7. Pilot with one service line and two engagement partners for two weeks or an equivalent representative volume.
8. During the pilot, keep the prior tracker available as read-only reference. Do not permit both systems to accept status edits.
9. Activate scenarios in sequence: tracker synchronization, activity processing, reminders, document generation, signature polling, then onboarding.
10. Document a rollback procedure that disables Make scenarios without deleting Salesforce records or signed files.
11. Assign a launch support owner and a backup owner.
12. Provide role-specific instructions showing where to enter decisions, where not to enter them, and how to report a failed automation.
13. After acceptance, enable production schedules and reset all production watermarks to the approved start time.
14. Monitor every run during the first week and perform a daily Salesforce-to-Sheets reconciliation.

Code and Configuration

No custom application code is required for the core implementation. Salesforce Flow, validation rules, Make connectors, OAuth connections, Google document actions, Slack messaging, and DocuSign operations provide the necessary capabilities. Interface labels may vary by product version, so the configuration below identifies the underlying triggers, conditions, mappings, and actions.

Salesforce Submission Validation

Place this validation rule on Client_Intake__c. It blocks a transition to Submitted when core data is missing.

AND(
  ISCHANGED(Status__c),
  ISPICKVAL(Status__c, "Submitted"),
  OR(
    ISBLANK(Client_Legal_Name__c),
    ISBLANK(TEXT(Client_Type__c)),
    ISBLANK(Jurisdiction__c),
    ISBLANK(Primary_Contact__c),
    ISBLANK(TEXT(Service_Line__c)),
    LEN(TRIM(Scope_Description__c)) < 100,
    Estimated_Fee__c <= 0,
    ISBLANK(TEXT(Pricing_Model__c)),
    ISBLANK(TEXT(Billing_Terms__c)),
    ISBLANK(Billing_Email__c),
    ISBLANK(Engagement_Partner__c),
    Conflict_Party_Count__c < 1,
    NOT(Privacy_Acknowledged__c)
  )
)

Test by attempting to submit a Draft with each required field removed individually. Salesforce should display a message instructing the user to complete the intake rather than permitting the status change.

Ready-for-Letter Validation

This validation rule prevents a user or integration from bypassing approval gates:

AND(
  ISCHANGED(Status__c),
  ISPICKVAL(Status__c, "Draft Letter Review"),
  OR(
    NOT(ISPICKVAL(Conflict_Status__c, "Cleared")),
    NOT(ISPICKVAL(Scope_Approval_Status__c, "Approved")),
    NOT(
      OR(
        ISPICKVAL(Finance_Approval_Status__c, "Approved"),
        ISPICKVAL(Finance_Approval_Status__c, "Not Required")
      )
    ),
    Manual_Hold__c
  )
)

Conflict Party Normalization Formula

Create a formula text field on Conflict Party. This supports deterministic comparison but does not replace broader human conflict searching.

LOWER(
  TRIM(
    SUBSTITUTE(
      SUBSTITUTE(
        SUBSTITUTE(Party_Name__c, ".", ""),
        ",",
        ""
      ),
      "  ",
      " "
    )
  )
)

Test common punctuation and capitalization variants. Do not automatically remove legal suffixes unless the firm has an approved suffix reference table, because removing terms can create false matches.

Representative Salesforce Change Query

Configure the Salesforce query action in Make with a previous watermark and fixed run cutoff. Replace the placeholders with ISO 8601 UTC timestamps generated by the scenario.

SELECT
  Id,
  Name,
  Opportunity__c,
  Opportunity__r.Name,
  Opportunity__r.OwnerId,
  Opportunity__r.Owner.Email,
  Account__c,
  Client_Legal_Name__c,
  Status__c,
  Priority__c,
  Conflict_Status__c,
  Scope_Approval_Status__c,
  Finance_Approval_Status__c,
  Letter_Status__c,
  Onboarding_Status__c,
  Next_Action_Due__c,
  Last_Activity_At__c,
  Automation_Status__c,
  SystemModstamp
FROM Client_Intake__c
WHERE SystemModstamp > {{WATERMARK_UTC}}
  AND SystemModstamp <= {{RUN_CUTOFF_UTC}}
ORDER BY SystemModstamp ASC

Use the Salesforce connector’s pagination support. If the underlying query returns a continuation URL, process every page before advancing the watermark. Keep the selected fields narrow to reduce API consumption.

Representative Activity Query

SELECT
  Id,
  WhatId,
  Subject,
  Status,
  ActivityDate,
  OwnerId,
  Priority,
  IsClosed,
  LastModifiedDate,
  SystemModstamp
FROM Task
WHERE SystemModstamp > {{ACTIVITY_WATERMARK_UTC}}
  AND SystemModstamp <= {{RUN_CUTOFF_UTC}}
  AND WhatId != null
ORDER BY SystemModstamp ASC

For each Task, search Client Intake where Opportunity__c equals WhatId. Ignore activities with no active intake. Configure a corresponding Event query using StartDateTime, EndDateTime, OwnerId, WhatId, and SystemModstamp.

Google Sheets Formulas

Assume column A contains Intake ID, F contains Status, J contains Next Action Due, and C contains Created At. Place these formulas in protected columns.

=ARRAYFORMULA(
  IF(
    A2:A="",
    "",
    IF(
      (F2:F="Active")+(F2:F="Rejected")+(F2:F="Closed")+(F2:F="Withdrawn"),
      FALSE,
      IF(J2:J="",TRUE,J2:J<TODAY())
    )
  )
)

The formula identifies open records with a missing or overdue next action.

=ARRAYFORMULA(
  IF(
    A2:A="",
    "",
    (NOW()-C2:C)*24
  )
)

The second formula calculates age in hours. Spreadsheet locale settings may require different argument separators. Test formulas in the production spreadsheet locale before activation.

Make Data Store Configuration

Data store: scenario_watermarks

Key:
  scenario_name

Fields:
  last_successful_cutoff_utc: date-time
  last_run_status: text
  last_run_id: text
  last_reconciled_at_utc: date-time

Data store: processed_events

Key:
  source_object|source_record_id|system_modstamp

Fields:
  processed_at_utc: date-time
  scenario_name: text
  destination_id: text
  outcome: text

Data store: notification_keys

Key:
  intake_id|notification_type|effective_date

Fields:
  sent_at_utc: date-time
  slack_message_id: text
  recipient_id: text

Purge old processed-event and notification keys according to the firm’s operational retention policy, but retain durable Salesforce approval and error evidence.

Slack Notification Payload

Use plain text rather than Slack markup so messages remain predictable. Map the button URL to the Salesforce intake record.

{
  "blocks": [
    {
      "type": "section",
      "text": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Client intake exception: {{INTAKE_ID}}\n{{EXCEPTION_SUMMARY}}\nOwner: {{OWNER_NAME}}\nDue: {{DUE_DATE}}"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "actions",
      "elements": [
        {
          "type": "button",
          "text": {
            "type": "plain_text",
            "text": "Open in Salesforce"
          },
          "url": "{{SALESFORCE_RECORD_URL}}"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

If Slack returns an invalid-user or channel-access error, create an Automation Error and notify the operations channel if possible. Do not roll back a successfully created Salesforce Task merely because Slack failed.

DocuSign Envelope Request

When using the native Make DocuSign connection, map the same fields into the connector’s envelope action. If the implementation uses an authenticated HTTP action instead, the request pattern is:

POST {{DOCUSIGN_BASE_URI}}/restapi/v2.1/accounts/{{ACCOUNT_ID}}/envelopes

Authorization: Bearer {{OAUTH_ACCESS_TOKEN}}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "emailSubject": "Engagement letter for signature",
  "documents": [
    {
      "documentBase64": "BASE64_ENCODED_PDF",
      "name": "CI-000184_Engagement_Letter.pdf",
      "fileExtension": "pdf",
      "documentId": "1"
    }
  ],
  "recipients": {
    "signers": [
      {
        "email": "{{CLIENT_SIGNER_EMAIL}}",
        "name": "{{CLIENT_SIGNER_NAME}}",
        "recipientId": "1",
        "routingOrder": "1",
        "tabs": {
          "signHereTabs": [
            {
              "anchorString": "/client_sign/",
              "anchorUnits": "pixels",
              "anchorXOffset": "0",
              "anchorYOffset": "0"
            }
          ],
          "dateSignedTabs": [
            {
              "anchorString": "/client_date/",
              "anchorUnits": "pixels",
              "anchorXOffset": "0",
              "anchorYOffset": "0"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "status": "sent"
}

A successful response contains an envelope ID and status:

{
  "envelopeId": "RETURNED_ENVELOPE_ID",
  "status": "sent",
  "statusDateTime": "2026-07-15T15:30:00Z",
  "uri": "/envelopes/RETURNED_ENVELOPE_ID"
}

Store the envelope ID immediately. Never record the OAuth token or document Base64 content in Salesforce, Sheets, or Slack. Test anchor placement with the exact generated PDF because document formatting can change tab positioning.

Deployment and Troubleshooting

• Authorize each connection with the dedicated test identity first.
• Run each Make scenario manually against one test record.
• Inspect Make execution history and Salesforce Automation Error records.
• If a query returns no records, verify UTC formatting, object permissions, and the watermark.
• If Google Sheets creates duplicates, verify exact record-ID matching and scenario concurrency.
• If a document contains placeholders, confirm template spelling and destination-file permissions.
• If an envelope fails, verify signer email, account ID, document encoding, anchor strings, and OAuth authorization.
• After testing, reconnect production accounts, replace test IDs, reset watermarks, and activate schedules.

Failure Handling and Operational Reliability

Transient connector or network errors are retried using increasing delays where the connector supports retry behavior. A representative policy is an immediate retry followed by attempts after approximately five and fifteen minutes. Long delays should use a persistent retry queue rather than keeping one scenario execution open.

The Salesforce Automation Error object acts as the manual-review and dead-letter queue. It records enough information to identify the source event without storing credentials, document bodies, or unnecessary client data.

Recovery is idempotent. Before repeating an operation, Make checks the destination identifier. It searches for an existing tracker row, exception Task, Drive folder, Engagement Package, or envelope ID. A retry continues from the incomplete step instead of recreating completed work.

A nightly reconciliation scenario compares active Salesforce intakes with tracker rows, active packages, signature statuses, and billing Tasks. Differences create reconciliation errors for review.

A Complete Example

A business development manager creates a Salesforce Opportunity for a proposed internal-controls review for the fictional prospective client Redwood Peak Distribution. The Opportunity owner launches the Client Intake Screen Flow.

The input includes:

• Legal client name: Redwood Peak Distribution Ltd.
• Service line: Operations Consulting
• Scope: Review purchasing, inventory, and financial close controls across three operating units
• Estimated fee: $32,000
• Pricing model: Fixed Fee
• Discount: 5 percent
• Billing terms: 30 Days
• Engagement partner: Elena Brooks
• Conflict parties: Redwood Peak Distribution Ltd., Redwood Peak Holdings Ltd., and Orchard Line Logistics Ltd.

Salesforce creates intake CI-000184. The Opportunity ID is written to Opportunity_Key__c, and the unique constraint confirms that no other intake exists for the Opportunity.

The user submits the intake. Salesforce verifies that the scope exceeds 100 characters, the fee is positive, the signer and billing email are valid, the privacy acknowledgment is selected, and three confirmed Conflict Party records exist.

At the next five-minute interval, Make queries the changed intake. It adds one row to Google Sheets, records the row number, creates a compliance Task, and sends the assigned reviewer a Slack notification containing the intake ID, due date, and Salesforce link.

The $32,000 fee exceeds the representative $25,000 finance threshold. Make sets Finance Approval Status to Pending and creates a finance-review Task. The 5 percent discount and 30-day terms do not independently create additional exceptions.

During the conflict search, compliance finds a similar historical name. The reviewer changes Conflict Status to Potential Match and records the search evidence in Salesforce. No detailed match information is copied to Google Sheets or Slack.

The reviewer determines that the historical party is an unrelated company in another jurisdiction. The reviewer records Cleared, the decision time, and a reason. This is a human decision.

The engagement partner approves the scope. Finance approves the fee and terms. Make sees that conflict, scope, and finance gates are complete.

Make creates the folder 2026/CI-000184, copies the current engagement-letter template, replaces all approved placeholders, confirms that no unresolved placeholders remain, exports a PDF, and creates Engagement Package EP-000142.

The partner receives a draft-review Task. After checking the scope, fee, terms, legal name, and signer, the partner marks the package Approved to Send.

Make submits the PDF to DocuSign. The returned envelope ID is stored before the intake changes to Signature Pending. The tracker is updated, and business development receives a limited notification.

Later that day, a sales activity Task is completed. Make updates Last Activity At. It finds no future open Task while the signature remains pending, so it creates an exception Task named Set Next Action for CI-000184. Business development adds a follow-up Task due in two days. The next activity synchronization updates the tracker and closes the exception condition.

After signature, Make retrieves the executed PDF, verifies that the file is not empty, stores it in the Executed folder, and updates the package with the completion timestamp and restricted link.

A finance Task is created. Finance completes billing setup and records external identifier BILL-48291. Make then creates onboarding Tasks for the engagement manager.

When all onboarding Tasks are complete, Salesforce changes the intake to Active. The final record contains the generated intake ID, approval history, envelope ID, executed-document link, billing-system ID, status history, activity timeline, and automation records.

Implementation Cost

All amounts below are representative planning assumptions, not vendor price quotations or verified client costs. Actual subscription charges depend on current contracts, user counts, features, regions, storage, operation volume, and implementation scope.

An internal-only implementation would avoid the optional professional-services allowance but still require process design, configuration, testing, training, documentation, monitoring, and maintenance.

Estimated Time and Cost Savings

The representative calculation uses these assumptions:

• 80 intake records per month
• 62 minutes of current administrative handling per record
• 22 minutes of handling after core automation
• 15 percent exception rate, equal to 12 records per month
• 18 additional minutes for each exception
• 4 hours of monthly maintenance
• $48 loaded hourly labour cost
• $120 monthly incremental software cost
• $11,880 one-time implementation cost including optional professional implementation

Current monthly labour hours: Monthly volume × current minutes per record ÷ 60

80 × 62 ÷ 60 = 82.67 hours

New monthly labour hours: Monthly volume × new minutes per record ÷ 60, plus exception handling and maintenance

80 × 22 ÷ 60 = 29.33 base hours

12 exceptions × 18 minutes ÷ 60 = 3.60 exception hours

29.33 + 3.60 + 4.00 maintenance hours = 36.93 hours

Monthly hours recovered: Current monthly labour hours minus new monthly labour hours

82.67 − 36.93 = 45.74 hours

Estimated monthly labour value: Monthly hours recovered × loaded hourly labour cost

45.74 × $48 = $2,195.52

Net estimated monthly value: Monthly labour value minus recurring tool costs

$2,195.52 − $120 = $2,075.52

Estimated payback period: One-time implementation cost ÷ net estimated monthly value

$11,880 ÷ $2,075.52 = approximately 5.7 months

Recovered time does not automatically reduce payroll. It may provide additional capacity, quicker turnaround, reduced overtime, less administrative work, higher sustainable intake volume, or lower dependence on individual coordinators.

Non-financial benefits include clearer ownership, fewer incomplete submissions, consistent approval evidence, fewer email follow-ups, better reporting, controlled document versions, improved auditability, and a more predictable prospective-client experience.

Readers should replace the workflow volume, handling time, exception rate, labour cost, implementation effort, recurring software cost, and maintenance time with their own figures. Firms should also include the full cost of existing platforms if those subscriptions are purchased solely for this process.

Adding AI to the Automation

AI is optional and should be added only after the deterministic workflow operates reliably. Required fields, exact identifiers, approval thresholds, permissions, duplicate keys, status rules, and billing gates do not need AI.

Useful AI applications include extracting candidate related parties from unstructured scope notes, summarizing long referral descriptions, identifying potentially missing information, categorizing service requests, and comparing a draft scope with a source description.

The core automation already provides intake validation, routing, conflict-review assignments, approval controls, reminders, document generation, signature coordination, activity tracking, exception Tasks, billing setup, onboarding, and reporting. Those benefits do not depend on AI.

AI can assist with unstructured text, but it must not clear a conflict, reject a client, approve fees, determine legal obligations, or authorize an engagement.

The Recommended AI Enhancement

The recommended enhancement extracts candidate conflict-check parties from the approved scope description and related-party notes. It proposes names for human confirmation before they enter the formal conflict queue.

• Trigger: Intake is Submitted and the AI extraction status is Not Started.
• AI input: Client legal name, scope description, and related-party notes from Salesforce.
• System instruction: Extract only explicitly named organizations and people relevant to a conflict check. Do not infer missing names or make a conflict decision.
• Expected output: Structured JSON containing party name, role, jurisdiction, evidence, and confidence.
• Validation: Parse valid JSON, enforce the schema, limit output to 30 parties, and reject blank or overlong names.
• Record update: Create Conflict Party records with Source set to AI Suggested and Confirmation Status set to Proposed.
• Human review: Business development or compliance confirms, edits, merges, or rejects every suggestion.
• Low confidence: Suggestions below the configured threshold remain visible but are marked Low Confidence.
• Prohibited data: Government identifiers, bank details, tax records, privileged advice, protected conflict notes, and full engagement documents.
• Logging: Record provider, model identifier, prompt version, timestamp, token or usage data, result status, and reviewer action without logging prohibited source text.
• Failure behavior: Set AI Extraction Status to Failed and continue with manual party entry.

Use this system instruction:

You extract candidate names for a professional-services conflict check.

Identify only people and organizations explicitly named in the supplied text. Include prospective clients, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, beneficial owners, counterparties, lenders, advisers, vendors, and other parties when the text explicitly connects them to the proposed engagement.

Do not infer names that are not present.
Do not determine whether a conflict exists.
Do not recommend accepting or rejecting the engagement.
Do not provide legal conclusions.
Return output that conforms exactly to the supplied JSON schema.

Use this reusable user prompt:

Intake ID: {{INTAKE_ID}}

Client legal name:
{{CLIENT_LEGAL_NAME}}

Scope description:
{{SCOPE_DESCRIPTION}}

Related-party notes:
{{RELATED_PARTY_NOTES}}

Extract candidate conflict-check parties. For each party, provide:
1. The exact name found in the text
2. The party role
3. The jurisdiction only when explicitly stated
4. A short evidence excerpt
5. Confidence from 0 to 1 that the name and role were extracted correctly

Do not add names that are not explicitly present.

Configure the AI connector or authenticated HTTP action to require this schema:

{
  "name": "candidate_conflict_parties",
  "strict": true,
  "schema": {
    "type": "object",
    "additionalProperties": false,
    "properties": {
      "parties": {
        "type": "array",
        "maxItems": 30,
        "items": {
          "type": "object",
          "additionalProperties": false,
          "properties": {
            "name": {
              "type": "string",
              "minLength": 2,
              "maxLength": 200
            },
            "role": {
              "type": "string",
              "enum": [
                "prospective_client",
                "parent",
                "subsidiary",
                "affiliate",
                "beneficial_owner",
                "counterparty",
                "lender",
                "adviser",
                "vendor",
                "individual",
                "other"
              ]
            },
            "jurisdiction": {
              "type": "string",
              "maxLength": 100
            },
            "evidence": {
              "type": "string",
              "minLength": 1,
              "maxLength": 300
            },
            "confidence": {
              "type": "number",
              "minimum": 0,
              "maximum": 1
            }
          },
          "required": [
            "name",
            "role",
            "jurisdiction",
            "evidence",
            "confidence"
          ]
        }
      },
      "warnings": {
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
          "type": "string",
          "maxLength": 300
        }
      }
    },
    "required": [
      "parties",
      "warnings"
    ]
  }
}

After parsing, Make creates only Proposed Conflict Party records. The formal conflict search filters for Confirmation Status equal to Confirmed. If the AI service fails, returns malformed output, or exceeds the approved time limit, Make records the failure and assigns manual extraction without blocking the overall intake.

Benefits of the AI Enhancement

• Less time reading long scope and referral notes
• Faster initial identification of explicitly named parties
• More consistent role labels for parents, affiliates, and counterparties
• Quicker detection of notes that appear to contain no related parties
• Improved reporting on how often AI suggestions are accepted, corrected, or rejected
• Reduced manual extraction effort for text-heavy submissions

These are specifically AI-assisted benefits. Status control, task creation, reminders, approvals, tracker updates, document generation, signature handling, and billing coordination are benefits of the rule-based automation.

What Remains Rule-Based or Human-Controlled

• Conflict clearance: Compliance must evaluate identity, relationships, prior work, confidentiality, and policy. Extracted names cannot determine clearance.
• Client rejection: AI cannot reject a prospective client or close the Opportunity.
• Scope approval: The engagement partner remains accountable for what the firm agrees to deliver.
• Pricing approval: Deterministic thresholds route exceptions, and finance records the decision.
• Engagement-letter approval: A partner reviews the generated document before signature.
• Billing creation: Finance controls the external billing record and identifier.
• Policy exceptions: Authorized managers document and approve exceptions.
• Final risk acceptance: The responsible human approvers retain decision authority.

Estimating the Additional Value of AI

Assume 60 percent of the 80 monthly intakes, or 48 records, contain unstructured notes that require party extraction.

Without AI: 48 × 8 minutes ÷ 60 = 6.40 hours.

With AI base review: 48 × 3 minutes ÷ 60 = 2.40 hours.

Correction effort: 48 × 12 percent × 3 minutes ÷ 60 = 0.29 hour.

Failure fallback: 48 × 3 percent × 8 minutes ÷ 60 = 0.19 hour.

Total with AI: 2.40 + 0.29 + 0.19 = 2.88 hours.

Additional capacity: 6.40 − 2.88 = 3.52 hours per month.

Labour value: 3.52 × $48 = $168.96.

Net representative value after $12 usage cost and 0.5 hour of monitoring valued at $24 is $132.96 per month.

This estimate assumes every AI suggestion is reviewed. It does not assume that AI eliminates extraction errors, false positives, service failures, or human involvement.

Testing Checklist

Use fictional sample data in the test environment before processing real client or conflict information.

Ongoing Maintenance

The operations systems manager is the primary system owner. A Salesforce administrator is the technical backup. Compliance owns conflict policy, finance owns commercial thresholds, and engagement leadership owns scope and letter templates.

Every configuration change should be tested against the normal, rejection, retry, and document paths. Template updates require a new version identifier so the firm can determine which wording generated each engagement letter.

When to Move to Dedicated Software

The connected implementation may remain appropriate while transaction volume, review complexity, and governance requirements remain manageable. It should be reassessed when one or more of these conditions appear:

• Sustained volume causes API, spreadsheet, or automation-operation constraints.
• Conflict searches require large historical relationship graphs, fuzzy identity resolution, or formal ethical walls.
• Multiple offices require different acceptance policies, currencies, jurisdictions, or approver hierarchies.
• Formal regulatory or audit requirements exceed the available Salesforce and integration controls.
• The firm needs a client-facing portal with secure two-way document exchange.
• Complex engagement letters require clause libraries, contract lifecycle management, or negotiated redlines.
• Billing setup requires real-time integration with several accounting or practice-management systems.
• Exception rates increase enough that maintaining scenarios and mappings becomes a significant workload.
• Users require advanced mobile, offline, or external-party workflows.
• Vendor support, guaranteed recovery objectives, or formal system validation becomes mandatory.
• The Google Sheets projection approaches practical performance or governance limits.
• Security risk increases because too many systems hold sensitive client data.

Relevant categories include professional-services automation, practice management, conflict and client acceptance, governance and risk management, contract lifecycle management, and dedicated workflow platforms. Replacing the current design is not automatic. The decision should compare migration cost, integration needs, policy fit, user adoption, and operating risk.

Implementation Checklist

• Confirm client acceptance, conflict, scope, pricing, signature, billing, and onboarding requirements.
• Document approval thresholds and decisions that must remain human-controlled.
• Confirm Salesforce, Google Workspace, Make, Slack, and signature-platform capabilities.
• Create dedicated integration identities and OAuth connections.
• Define role-based permissions and field-level access.
• Create Salesforce custom objects, fields, relationships, history tracking, and unique constraints.
• Build the authenticated Salesforce intake Screen Flow.
• Configure required fields, conditional fields, attachments, and privacy acknowledgment.
• Create the Google Sheets tracker and protect synchronized columns.
• Create Shared Drive folders, templates, naming rules, and retention controls.
• Map Salesforce fields to Google Sheets, Slack, Google Docs, and DocuSign.
• Create Make watermarks, processed-event keys, notification keys, and error handling.
• Build Opportunity and Client Intake synchronization.
• Build Task and Event synchronization.
• Configure ownership, assignment, approval, reminder, and escalation rules.
• Create deterministic exception Tasks and duplicate checks.
• Build document generation and unresolved-placeholder validation.
• Build partner draft approval and electronic-signature submission.
• Build signature polling, executed-document storage, and billing Task creation.
• Build onboarding Tasks and closure conditions.
• Create Salesforce reports and Google Sheets operational views.
• Apply Slack and tracker data-minimization rules.
• Configure automation logging, retries, reconciliation, and manual recovery.
• Test normal, invalid, duplicate, rejection, timeout, permission, file, notification, and retry paths.
• Run user acceptance testing with business development, compliance, finance, and partners.
• Deploy through a controlled pilot and document rollback procedures.
• Replace representative implementation and savings assumptions with actual figures.
• Add AI only after the core workflow is stable and approved.
• Require human confirmation of every AI-generated conflict-party suggestion.
• Assign primary and backup maintenance owners.
• Define transaction-volume, governance, integration, and security criteria for considering dedicated software.