Purchasing
Purchase requisitions
Fill vendor details from your accounting database with a lookup, then route anything over a set amount to a second approver.
- Lookup
- Approval
Content Central · Electronic forms
Paper forms that file themselves.
Someone fills in a paper form, then someone else types it all in again. Content Central turns the form into a fillable PDF. The moment it is submitted, the page and its data are filed together and the next step starts on its own.
- Handwriting, then retyping
- Typed once, by the person filling it in
- A clerk indexes every form
- The answers become the index fields
- Forms waiting in an inbox
- A rule routes each one the moment it arrives
The problem
Every paper form is handled twice.
Unreadable and incomplete
Handwriting nobody can read, and the blank box nobody noticed until the form was already filed.
Keyed in again by hand
Every answer is typed into another system one field at a time, and every retype is a chance for a typo.
Stuck between desks
The form sits in a tray or an inbox until whoever approves it finds it.
01How it works
One step from filled in to filed.
A capture form is a fillable PDF attached to a document type. Each PDF field feeds the index field with the same name, so there is nothing to map and nothing to index by hand.
- 01
Make the PDF fillable
Use any PDF editor that creates fillable fields. Name each field after the index field it should fill, such as Amount or Department.
- 02
Attach it to a document type
Upload the PDF to the document type. Fields the type does not have yet are created for you.
- 03
Fill it in
Staff choose Capture New, then Form, fill in the fields, preview the finished page and click Finish. Outside people fill in the PDF they were emailed.
- 04
It files itself
The completed PDF becomes the document and the answers become its index fields. No Coding Queue, no retyping.
02Outside people
Send it to anyone with an email address.
Customers, applicants, new hires and vendors do not need an account. Email them the form and they fill it in and click Submit.
- Send the form by hand, or let a workflow rule email it when something happens.
- The Submit button works through an expiring link. You set how long it stays valid; the default is 12 hours.
- Each submission is saved as a new version of the same document, so earlier answers are never lost.
- The document history records every submission with the submitter’s IP address.
- Choose whether people can revise a form they already sent, or lock it by flattening the PDF after the first submission.
03Page and data in step
Change the data and the page follows.
Fields that print on the form stay in sync with the document’s data. Pick how far that goes for each form.
| Always rebuild | Change a field in Content Central and the PDF is redrawn with the new value, saved as a new version. |
|---|---|
| Rebuild until signed | The page stays in step with the data until someone signs it. After that it is never redrawn, so the signature is safe. |
| Never rebuild after capture | The submitted page is kept exactly as it was filled in. Later field edits change the data only. |
04What happens next
A submitted form is the start of the work, not the end.
Workflow rules can watch for capture form submissions, so the next step starts the moment a form is filed.
Workflow
Email the right person, assign the form to a work queue, update fields or drop a copy where another system picks it up.
Approval
Start a multi-step approval, for example a second approver when the amount is over your limit.
Signature
Approvers sign as they approve, at spots you set once. Rebuild until signed keeps that signature on the page.
Lookups and packets
Fill vendor details from your database, and let the form join its packet by a shared key such as Employee ID.
Forms that work well
Start with the form your team retypes most.
HR
New-hire onboarding
Email the forms to the new hire before day one. Keyed on Employee ID, each one joins the onboarding packet as it comes back.
- Outside submitter
- Packet
Local government
Building permit applications
Each application files itself with the applicant and project details as searchable fields, then goes to the right reviewer.
- Workflow
- Approval
Finance
Expense and request forms
Every request arrives typed, complete and searchable by amount, person and date, then waits for a manager to approve and sign.
- Sign on approval
Need something lighter?
Nucleus One has forms too.
Content Central runs in the cloud or on your own servers. If your team wants a lighter cloud app instead, Nucleus One brings online forms, e-signatures, tasks and client portals together, in the browser and on iOS and Android.
About Nucleus OneQuestions about electronic forms
Do I need a special form designer?
No. Capture forms are ordinary fillable PDFs (AcroForm), built in any PDF editor and uploaded to a document type. Field names match index fields by name, and capitalization does not matter.
Can people outside the company fill in a form?
Yes. Email the form from Content Central, by hand or from a workflow rule. The recipient fills in the PDF and clicks Submit while the link is valid (12 hours by default). The submission is saved as a new version of that same document, and its history records the submitter’s IP address.
Is there a public link anyone can open to start a new form?
No. Outside submissions always go back to the document you emailed. There is no public form page or portal. Staff start new forms from Capture New, then Form.
What happens if someone edits the data after the form is filed?
You choose. The PDF can always be redrawn with the new values, redrawn only until it is signed, or never redrawn after capture. Each redraw is saved as a new version.
Can a submitted form start an approval?
Yes. A workflow rule can react to capture form submissions and email someone, start an approval, assign the form to a work queue and more. If an approval stage carries a Signature Definition, the approver signs the form as they approve it.
Bring the paper form you hate most.
We will turn it into a capture form on a live system, submit it, and show it filed with its data and on its way to an approver.
Keep going
More of Content Central
- Content CentralDocument management, in the cloud or on your own servers.
- Workflow automationNo-code rules that move documents for you.
- Approval workflowsMulti-step approvals with deadlines and escalation.
- Electronic signaturesSigning orders, outside signers and signatures on approval.
- Document packetsEvery document for one loan, student or employee, with gaps flagged.
Help library
Read the setup guides
Free live demo
See a paper form become a form that files itself.
Book a free demo and we will show you around, answer your questions and run your real paperwork through it. No cost, no pressure.
- A live tour of the products that fit your work
- Your own documents, set up and shown working
- Your workflow and process, mapped with you
- Straight answers from people who build it
