What you'll build
By the end of this guide, your forms will keep each other up to date automatically. A form submission can create a new record in another form, and a change in one form can update the matching records in another. You'll see how to set up both, how to update only the records you need, all without copying anything by hand.
When to use this
Every time a form is submitted, someone on your team copies the same details into a second form.
A status change in one form should create something new somewhere else, like a task, an account, or a log entry.
Something changing in one form should update matching records in another, like marking a lead as converted.
One form submission should start a chain, not just a single action.
You want a contact selected in one form to carry over, still linked, into another form.
Before you start: pick the right action
Advanced logic has three record actions with similar names. They do different things.
Create record adds a new form submission to any form you choose.
Update record finds form submissions in any form using filters you set, then changes their values.
Update linked record changes only the record connected to this form submission through a linked record, profile, or lookup field.
This guide covers Create record and Update record. If you only need to change the one record already linked to a form submission, see how to update records across forms using logic in Formaloo.
Step 1: Create the forms
Create record and Update record move data from one form into another. So before you add any logic, every form in your workflow needs to exist, with the fields you want to fill. A rule can only map into fields that are already there.
This example uses three forms for a simple sales workflow. Start each one as a new project from Form.
1. Create Sales Leads
2. Create Onboarding Tasks
3. Create Customer Accounts
💡 Build all your forms using Magic Create or MCP before you add logic. A rule can only map into fields that already exist in the other form.
Step 2: Create a record when someone submits
An On Submit rule runs once, the moment someone submits your form. Add a Create record action to it, and each new form submission also adds a new form submission to another form. You choose which fields to fill and where each value comes from: a field from the submitted form, a value you type, or one of the destination field's options.
Example: Every new lead should get a follow-up task in Onboarding Tasks.
1. Open Advanced logic: Open Sales Leads in the editor. In the form settings panel on the right, click Advanced logic.
2. Add an On Submit rule: Click the On Submit tab, then click Add rule. You can also use magic logic.
3. Set the condition: Choose Always.
4. Choose the action: Under Then, select Create record, then choose Onboarding Tasks as the destination form.
5. Add your fields: Under Set these fields, click Add field and map:
Related Account → the Company field from this form
Task Name → type
Follow up callTask Status → Not Started
6. Save: Click Save.
ℹ️ Create record needs at least one field set. You don't have to fill every field in the destination form.
Step 3: Create a record when a form submission changes
An On Update rule runs when someone edits a form submission that already exists. This is useful when the trigger isn't the submission itself, but a change that happens later, like a status moving forward. Set a condition on the field that changes, and Create record adds a new form submission to another form at that moment.
Example: When a lead is marked Won, create their customer account.
1. Go to On Update: In Sales Leads' Advanced logic, click the On Update tab, then click Add rule.
2. Set the condition: Choose Status, then is changed to, then Won.
3. Choose the action: Select Create record, with Customer Accounts as the destination.
4. Map the fields:
Account Name → Company
Primary Contact Email → Email
Originating Lead → Lead Name
Plan → Standard
Account Status → Pending
5. Save: Click Save.
⚠️ Use is changed to, not is. "Is changed to" runs once, at the moment Status becomes Won. "Is" runs on every edit while Status is Won, so you'd get a new account each time someone fixes a typo.
Step 4: Update matching records in another form
Update record doesn't add anything new. It finds form submissions that already exist in another form and changes their values. You tell it which ones to change with a filter, under Where. The filter's value can be a field from the form submission that triggered the rule, so each rule run finds the records related to that specific form submission.
Example: When an account becomes Active, mark the original lead as converted.
1. Open Customer Accounts' Advanced logic: Click the On Update tab, then Add rule.
2. Set the condition: Account Status is changed to Active.
3. Choose the action: Select Update record, with Sales Leads as the destination.
4. Add a filter: Under Where, click +. Choose Lead Name, then is equal to, then pick the Originating Lead field from this form. Click Done.
5. Set the field: Under Set these fields, set Converted to Yes.
6. Save: Click Save.
ℹ️ This part can be a bit non-obvious. The filter's value can be a field from the form submission that triggered the rule. "Lead Name is equal to Originating Lead" means: find the lead whose name matches this account's originating lead.
Update record always needs at least one filter. Without one, it would change every form submission in the destination form, so Formaloo won't let you save it.
Step 5: Update only some of the matching records
By default, Update record changes every form submission that matches your filter. Sometimes you only want a few of them. Switch to A limited number, set how many, and choose how to sort them. Formaloo filters first, then sorts the matches, then updates only the first ones in that order.
Example: Sometimes you only want the first few matches, like moving the first person off a waitlist.
1. Choose which records: In your Update record action, under Which records, select A limited number instead of All records matching filters.
2. Set the number: Under Number of records, enter how many to update.
3. Choose the order: Under Ordered by, pick the field to sort by, like the date someone joined.
Good to know
⚠️ Linked to another record field only work in one setup. Both forms need a linked record field that links to the same third form. For example, Demo Requests and CRM Activities each have a field linked to Contacts. Map Demo Requests' contact field into CRM Activities' contact field, and the new activity is linked to the same contact. If the linked fields point to different forms, the record isn't created.
ℹ️ Whoever edits the rule needs access to both forms. Someone without access to the destination form will see its field mappings with a permission error. Ask them not to change those fields, or give them access first.
Final result
Your forms now stay in sync on their own. New form submissions create the records they need in other forms, status changes update the right records wherever they live, and records stay connected as data moves between forms. Nobody has to copy details from one form to another or update several forms one by one.