Jira logo

Create an assigned Jira task for every new hire's IT setup

A completed onboarding form creates an assigned setup Task in the IT project, with equipment and access needs listed in the description.

When this happens

New submission on your "New employee onboarding" form

Do this

Create a Jira issue of type Task in your IT project assigned to the IT lead, with the hire's name in the summary and their equipment needs in the description

One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.

Provisioning a laptop and a dozen accounts before someone's first morning is a scheduling problem, and it begins with knowing what the new hire actually needs. The form collects that once from the hiring manager, and Jira holds the work, dated to the start date.

Ops and people teams run this alongside the checklist they already have. Managers fill in the form the week an offer is accepted; IT sees the equipment and access list appear on the board without chasing anyone for a reply.

Setting it up

  1. 1

    Publish the IT setup form and share it with hiring managers rather than with new starters — the answers are about equipment and access, not personal onboarding.

  2. 2

    In Zapier, set the formformform "New Submission" trigger to that form and pull a sample so the equipment and software checkbox answers come through as text.

  3. 3

    Add "Create Issue", pick the IT project, and set Issue Type to Task.

  4. 4

    Compose the summary from a fixed prefix and the hire's name, so the board reads "IT setup: Dana Okafor" rather than a bare name with no context.

  5. 5

    Map the start date to Jira's due date, running it through a Formatter date step first so it arrives as YYYY-MM-DD.

  6. 6

    List the equipment and day-one software answers in the description on separate lines. Checkbox answers arrive comma-separated and are easier to work through when split up.

  7. 7

    Set the assignee to your IT lead by choosing them from the Zapier dropdown, which stores the Jira account ID rather than a display name.

  8. 8

    Test with a fake starter dated two weeks out, confirm the due date and assignee are correct, then enable the Zap.

What maps where

Using the New Employee IT Setup Request as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.

Form fieldJira
New Employee Full NameJira issue summary, after a fixed prefix
Start DateDue date on the issue
Equipment NeededDescription, equipment list
Software Access Needed on Day OneDescription, accounts to create
DepartmentComponent or label on the issue
Manager NameDescription, as the person to confirm with

Variations worth knowing

One issue per system

Replace the single Create Issue action with several — laptop, email account, VPN — all in the same project. One submission fires them all, and IT closes them individually instead of tracking a long checklist inside one issue.

Assign by office location

Use Zapier paths on the office location answer so hires at each site get a task assigned to the local IT contact. Remote starters route to whoever ships hardware, with the same description either way.

If something isn't arriving

The due date is blank, or a day out.

Jira expects YYYY-MM-DD. Run the start date through a Zapier Formatter date step before mapping it, and set the Formatter timezone to the one your Jira site uses, otherwise the date can shift overnight.

The assignee field will not accept the IT lead's name.

Jira Cloud assigns by account ID, not display name. Choose the person from the dropdown in the Zapier action so the ID is stored, and re-pick them if they ever change email address or account.

Frequently asked questions

Can one form create tasks in more than one Jira project?

Yes. Add a second Create Issue action to the same Zap pointing at a different project — facilities for the desk, IT for the laptop. Both fire from a single submission, and each carries its own summary and assignee.

What if the start date changes after the form is submitted?

Edit the issue in Jira. A submission is a snapshot taken when someone pressed submit, and no later change on either side updates the other. Resubmitting the form would create a second task rather than amend the first.

Is a form the right place for details about a new hire?

Keep it to what IT needs: name, work email, department, start date, equipment. Anything more sensitive belongs in your HR system rather than a Zap, since every mapped answer passes through Zapier on its way to Jira.

Related automations

Build the form first

The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.

Start free