Workflow Overview

Workflows are automated processes that streamline various tasks and actions within Acorn. They are designed to simplify administrative tasks, enhance user experience, and ensure compliance with training and content requirements.

Workflows help your organisation automate tasks such as:

• Enrolling learners in training
• Setting due dates
• Sending reminders
• Triggering refresher cycles for compliance
• Notifying staff when training expires or becomes overdue

Due Date Workflow

The Due Date Workflow sets a due date for completing training and sends emails leading up to (and after) the due date. Due Date Workflows define when a learner must complete content. They can be used on their own or in combination with Refresher Workflows.

What it can do:

• Assign a due date X days/weeks/months after one of four trigger options:
  • Enrolment
  • Content Creation
  • User Creation
  • Later of User / Content Creation
• Send reminder emails before the due date
• Send overdue notifications after the due date passes

Example: A learner must complete “Code of Conduct” training within 30 days of enrolment. The Due Date Workflow automatically sets the deadline and sends reminder emails (e.g., 28 days before, 7 days before, 2 days before).

Enrolment Workflow

The Enrolment Workflow automatically enrols learners into specified training based on rules you define.

Common uses:

• New starters automatically receive mandatory onboarding courses
• All staff are automatically enrolled into compliance programs
• Specific business units are assigned department-specific training

Example: An organisation wants all new employees to complete “Work Health & Safety” training within their first week. An Enrolment Workflow automatically assigns the course on first login.

Refresher Workflow

Acorn’s Refresher Workflows help organisations maintain ongoing compliance for content that needs to be completed regularly. They do this by expiring a user’s completion after a defined timeframe (e.g., 12 months) or when a cut-off date is set.

Core behaviour:

• A Refresher Workflow expires a user’s completion based on a Refresher Period (e.g., 12 months) or a Cut-off Date.
  • A cut-off date is a specific date and time (e.g., 1 January 2026 at 1:00 pm). All completions before the cut-off date will expire regardless of the refresher period.
• Once a completion expires, the user becomes non-compliant and must re-complete the learning.
• If a user has an active completion when the refresher date is reached, their completion is archived and they are re-enrolled in the course (for content on your own platform only — this does not manage re-enrolment for A2A (Acorn to Acorn) content).
• Cut-off dates cannot be set to a future date.
• Updating a cut-off date to a date in the past immediately expires completions that occurred before that date.

Reminder emails:

• If the ‘Include emails’ setting is turned on, Refresher Workflows send a completion expiry email once the refresh date has passed.
• Refresher Workflows do not send ongoing monthly reminders for overdue learners (an optional monthly resend setting is planned for future development).
• Use the ADD REMINDER EMAIL button to set up email reminders to be sent X time before the completion expiry date.

Cut-off date behaviour:

If a cut-off date is enabled and applied:

• Completions before the date expire immediately.
• Completions after the date remain compliant.

When a cut-off date is set, the platform expires completions on a fixed calendar date and time — regardless of when the user originally completed the course or a refresher.

Cut-off dates are useful when all users need to comply by a set deadline. For example:

• Everyone’s certification must be renewed by 1 January 2026 — only completions from 1 January onward are considered valid; anything completed before that date expires immediately.
• All training completions must reset on a specific end-of-cycle date.
• You can force completions to expire at the selected date even if the normal refresher period has not yet elapsed.

A cut-off date is appropriate when:

• A compliance standard requires everyone’s training to be refreshed by a specific date — the Cut-off Date ensures completion status expires at that deadline.
• An organisation updates its mandatory training schedule or rules — a cut-off date lets you align all users to the new expiry date.
• You want to enforce a single, uniform expiry date instead of each user’s cycle ending on a different date.

Important to know:

• Refresher Workflows do not send reminders based on due dates — only based on the expiry of the last completion.
• Example: A compliance course requires annual renewal. A Refresher Workflow triggers a new enrolment 12 months after the learner’s last completion and sends reminders as the expiry approaches.

Email Workflow

What it can do:

• Send automated email notifications to various user types based on conditions such as:
  • Enrolment
  • Completion (can include certificates)

The Email Workflow can be used on its own for simple alerts, or combined with other workflows.

How Workflows Work Together

It is common to stack multiple workflows on the same course. Each workflow handles a different part of the training process, and together they create a complete learning cycle.

Enrolment + Due Date Workflow

Used for learners who need a deadline.

What happens:

1. Learner is enrolled.
2. Due date is set.
3. Reminder and overdue emails are sent.

Example: On first login, new staff receive onboarding courses with a 14-day completion requirement.

Enrolment + Refresher Workflow

Used when training repeats on a schedule.

What happens:

1. Learner completes the course.
2. Refresher cycle begins.
3. Refresher reminders are sent before the next expiry.
4. On expiry, the learner is re-enrolled.

Due Date + Refresher Workflow

Used for annual compliance or recurring training.

What happens:

1. If the user has an existing completion, they are re-enrolled. If not, you will need to add an Enrolment Workflow or manually enrol the user.
2. The user receives a notification to complete the course.
3. The user has a set amount of time to complete based on the Due Date — this applies only to the first completion.
4. Subsequent completions will use the Refresh period as the due date.

Example: A user is enrolled for the first time; the course is due in 30 days and needs to be refreshed every 12 months. The user is enrolled on 1 January and the due date is 31 January. If the user completes on 20 January, the next “refresh by date” will be 20 January the following year. If not completed by that date, the course will show “Overdue since 20 January [year].”

Important: These two workflow types do not share email triggers. This means:

• Due-date reminders come only from the Due Date Workflow.
• Refresher reminders come only from the Refresher Workflow.

If you want the same reminders for both new starters and returning learners, you must configure reminder emails in both workflows.

Example Scenarios – Owned Content

Below are the most common scenarios we see across our customers.

Scenario 1 – Annual Mandatory Training

An organisation requires all staff to complete “Emergency Awareness Training” every 12 months. They want users to be auto-enrolled with 2 days to complete the course.

Workflows used:

• Enrolment Workflow – Enrols staff automatically.
• Due Date Workflow – Gives them 2 days to complete on first assignment. Trigger: Enrolment.
• Refresher Workflow – Sets a 12-month renewal cycle.

What leaders see:

1. When enrolled: “Due in 2 days”
2. After completing: “Refresh completion by [date]”
3. Once the refresher period lapses: re-enrolled automatically.

Scenario 2 – Missing Reminder Emails for Refresher Courses

A learner had previously completed a course. The Refresher Workflow was active, but only the Due Date Workflow had email reminders configured.

What learners see:

• First-time learners received reminders.
• Returning learners did not receive reminders.
• Only expiry and overdue notices were sent.

How admins resolve: Add the same reminder schedule to both the Due Date and Refresher Workflows.

Overdue Email Sent Immediately

A learner was re-enrolled after the due date threshold had passed. Because Use Latest Enrolment was enabled, the system treated the learner as immediately overdue.

How admins resolve: Disable Use Latest Enrolment in the Due Date Workflow if you do not want retroactive overdue handling.

Example Scenarios – Shared Content (e.g., A2A)

When using shared content, due dates work slightly differently. You can only control what happens on your side of Acorn. As a result, Enrolment Workflows do not apply, and the triggers for the Due Date Workflow are limited.

Scenario 1 – Annual Mandatory Training

An organisation requires all staff to complete shared content “Emergency Awareness Training” every 12 months.

Workflows used:

• Due Date Workflow – Gives them 2 days to complete on first assignment. Trigger: Later of Content or User Creation.
• Refresher Workflow – Sets a 12-month renewal cycle.

What leaders see:

1. When enrolled: “Due in 2 days” (note: self-enrolment will need to be completed).
2. After completing: “Refresh completion by [date]”
3. Once the refresher period lapses: re-enrolled automatically.

FAQ

Q: Why does my Refresher Workflow show “Refresh completion by [date]”?
A: This shows when the next completion is due based on your last completion date. It is not a due date — it is an expiry date.

Q: Why can staff view the refresher course but not complete it before the system re-enrols them?
A: If “Prevent Re-enrolment” is enabled, they cannot self-enrol early. This is expected behaviour.

Q: Why didn’t my learner receive due-date reminders for a refresher course?
A: Due Date and Refresher Workflows do not share reminders. You must configure emails in both workflows.

Q: What if I have different groups or cohorts who need different due dates or refresher rules for the same course?
A: You can create multiple workflows for the same course and assign each to a specific cohort (such as a business unit, location, role, or employment type). For example:

• Cohort A needs to complete the course in 14 days.
• Cohort B needs 30 days.
• Cohort C needs a refresher only.

You can create three workflows and restrict each to the appropriate cohort. Acorn will automatically apply the correct workflow based on the learner’s cohort. Overdue emails always originate from the Due Date Workflow.

Q: Why can’t I edit a workflow that is applied to a course?
A: You must remove it from all courses before editing. This prevents accidental impact on active learners.

Q: Should I toggle on ‘Use Latest Enrolment’ or use the ‘Enrolment’ trigger on a Due Date Workflow for shared content?
A: You should never use the Use Latest Enrolment option or the Enrolment trigger on shared content workflows.

Best Practice Recommendations

• Use both Due Date and Refresher Workflows for annual compliance training.
• Mirror email reminders in both workflows for consistent communication.
• Turn off Use Latest Enrolment unless you specifically want retroactive overdue emails.
• Review workflow timing annually to ensure it aligns with organisational expectations.