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Microsoft Dynamics CRM Workflow for copying addresses

Post Author: Joe D365 |

By default, every new Contact that is created from an Account in Dynamics CRM will have its address mapped from the Account. This is by design to save time when entering new Accounts and Contacts into the MSCRM system. Every now and then, it is necessary to change or update Account/Contact addresses. We could adjust the cascading in the relationships would Sort of work… but we don't ALWAYS want the data to move each time something is changed. Enter the workflow engine!

Here are two very simple workflows that will allow you to copy addressing information from one record to another!

Workflow #1: Copy the Address from the Contact to the Parent Account.

  1. Create the workflow for the Contact Entity.
  2. Choose "On Demand" and Un-Check all of the other boxes on the right. (We only want this to run Manually)
  3. Change the Scope to "Organization" to allow all users with rights access to running the workflow.
  4. Click "Add Step" > Select Update Record > Choose "Parent Customer (Account)" – This tells the workflow that you want to update the Parent Account of the selected contact.
  5. Click "Set Properties" – See Screenshot below to select the dynamic fields.

  1. Save and Close the Workflow > Publish the workflow è You are Ready to Go!
  2. Access a Contact and update the address. (Save your changes)
  3. At the top of the Form, click the Workflow button (See below)

  1. Select your new workflow, click OK > All Done!

Workflow #2: Copy the Address from the Parent Account to the Contact.

This workflow is setup very similar to the previous workflow, with one exception. It copies the address from the Parent Account down to the child Contact. Which means, you can run this workflow on multiple records at once!

  1. Start with the same steps as before, Create the workflow for the Contact Entity.

  1. The only difference is, this time; the update step will be for the Contact. Then Click "Set Properties".

  1. Use the Form Assistant to add the fields from the Parent Customer (Account) that you would like to update on your Contact(s).
  2. When all of the fields that you wish to update have been added, Click OK, then publish your workflow!
  3. You can run this workflow the same way that you ran the previous one, or Access the Account and in the Contact Associated view (Clicking Contacts in the left nav panel while in an Account) select the contacts you want to update then click the workflow icon and run your new workflow! (See Screenshot Below)

Remember: Workflows may take a minute to complete and you may have to refresh your screen (F5) to see your changes if you decide to wait and verify the changes were made.

As always if this doesn't meet your needs please feel free to contact the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Experts at PowerObjects!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

13 comments on “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Workflow for copying addresses”

  1. Hello! Is this possible to do with all the contacts/accounts at the same time? I'd need to change our e-mail from field to another.

    1. Hi Axel,
      Out of the box you can do in batches of 250 since this is the max you can display in a screen. If you have crm on premises, you can adjust a setting and display more rows (slightly unapproved). Otherwise you would need custom code to itterate thru all and execute teh workflow.

  2. This "update contacts with parent account data" be great if it could be automated when an account is changed. From what I can tell, I can only do this for the Primary Contact when I trigger the workflow from the account.

    1. Hi David - to automate this you would have to write a plugin. The simplest approach would be a plugin that runs on the account when any of the address field changes. this plugin would then simply call this workflow in all the related contacts. Let us know if you want a quote on this.

  3. Joe, I understand the reason to use a workflow to "transform" a contact to an account address however I see a lot of CRM installs where workflows are used to copy text attributes from the address entity to the account entity, for example copying AddresLine1, city, state and zip. The account entity already has a lookup for the "Current Address" but the users want to see only certain address attribs on the UI form, so we've added custom attribs to the account entity for city, state, zip. Now whenever the address entity get's change we need to update the account, we end up with too many workflows running and possible data inconsistencies if the workflow doesn't run in time (because it's async). What are your thoughts on using WF as a data replication to keep data in sync like this? Why not use javascript/jquery to get these attribs and show?

  4. joe
    I am not seeing the operator function .. nebie questions just installed crm 2015 onprem . am I missing a comlet ? or did I miss something in my config ?
    i am trying to work with crm and its a lot to learn taking baby steps but frustrated that there seems to be a lot of info based on crm 2011 but not as much on 2015

  5. joe
    I am not seeing the operator function .. nebie questions just installed crm 2015 onprem . am I missing a comlet ? or did I miss something in my config ?
    i am trying to work with crm and its a lot to learn taking baby steps but frustrated that there seems to be a lot of info based on crm 2011 but not as much on 2015

  6. joe
    I am not seeing the operator function .. nebie questions just installed crm 2015 onprem . am I missing a comlet ? or did I miss something in my config ?
    i am trying to work with crm and its a lot to learn taking baby steps but frustrated that there seems to be a lot of info based on crm 2011 but not as much on 2015

  7. joe
    I am not seeing the operator function .. nebie questions just installed crm 2015 onprem . am I missing a comlet ? or did I miss something in my config ?
    i am trying to work with crm and its a lot to learn taking baby steps but frustrated that there seems to be a lot of info based on crm 2011 but not as much on 2015

  8. joe
    I am not seeing the operator function .. nebie questions just installed crm 2015 onprem . am I missing a comlet ? or did I miss something in my config ?
    i am trying to work with crm and its a lot to learn taking baby steps but frustrated that there seems to be a lot of info based on crm 2011 but not as much on 2015

  9. joe
    I am not seeing the operator function .. nebie questions just installed crm 2015 onprem . am I missing a comlet ? or did I miss something in my config ?
    i am trying to work with crm and its a lot to learn taking baby steps but frustrated that there seems to be a lot of info based on crm 2011 but not as much on 2015

    1. Hi Randy - Yeah most blogs still refer to crm 2011 or 2013. The good news is that anything you do in 2011/2013 you can do in 2015. But the screens will look a bit different. In CRM 2015 go to the processes area and create a new process. The Process type will be workflow. Also - if you are crm 2015 on premises and just installed, be sure to install update 0.1 and keep your system current.

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