Create a project folder when a client signs on
Each new engagement gets a named OneDrive folder, the standard subfolders, and the scope written in before the kickoff call.
New submission on your client onboarding form
Create a folder in OneDrive named after the client, ready to hold their contracts, briefs and deliverables
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
The folder always gets made eventually. Usually it is made in a hurry, halfway through the first week, by whoever needs somewhere to put the signed contract — and it gets named whatever that person had in mind at the time.
Building it from the scope form fixes the naming and the timing at once. Agencies and studios running several engagements at a time get a workspace that exists before the kickoff call, spelled the way the client spelled it, with the same subfolders every project has.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the Project Scope Request Form template and send its link at the point the engagement is agreed, so the folder is built from the client's own words rather than a note in someone's inbox.
- 2
In Zapier, create a Zap with formformform's New Submission trigger and select the scope form.
- 3
Add OneDrive as the action app, choose Create Folder, and connect the Microsoft account that holds your client work.
- 4
Set the parent path to /Clients and compose the folder name from Company followed by Project Name, so a second engagement for the same client never lands inside the first one.
- 5
Add a Create Folder step for each subfolder the team expects to find — Contracts, Brief, Working, Delivery — pointing each at the folder ID the previous step returned rather than at a typed path.
- 6
Use Zapier paths on Areas Involved in This Project so a design engagement also gets an Assets folder and a research one gets a Data folder, instead of every client receiving the same empty tree.
- 7
Finish with a Create New Text File step in the Brief subfolder carrying Project Objectives, Expected Deliverables and Success Criteria, so the scope sits where the work happens.
- 8
Submit a test scope under a fictitious company, check the tree and the sharing in OneDrive, delete it, then turn the Zap on.
What maps where
Using the Project Scope Request Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | OneDrive |
|---|---|
| Company | First part of the OneDrive folder name |
| Project Name | Second part of the folder name, so two projects for one client stay apart |
| Client Name | Contact line at the top of the brief file inside the folder |
| Project Objectives | Body of the brief file, under the first heading |
| Expected Deliverables | Brief file, under its own heading |
| Project Deadline | Header of the brief file, so the date is visible without reading the scope |
Variations worth knowing
Studios that quote by job number often prefer /Clients/2026-014 to a plain client name, because it matches the invoice. Put a counter or the Zapier submission date at the front of the folder name and keep Company after it, so the listing is still readable by eye.
Add a second Create New Text File step writing a kickoff checklist into the Contracts subfolder, pre-filled with Desired Project Start Date and Project Deadline. The workspace then arrives with the dates already written down rather than sitting empty until someone gets to it.
If something isn't arriving
Each Create Folder step has to take the folder ID returned by the step before it, not a typed path. Rebuild the nested steps by picking that ID out of Zapier's field picker rather than pasting the name.
OneDrive rejects some characters in folder names, and Company often arrives with a comma or an ampersand from the client's own typing. Put a Formatter step in front of the action to strip them before the name is used.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if a client submits the onboarding form twice?
You get a second folder, usually with a number appended, because OneDrive will not overwrite an existing one. A Zapier filter on Project Name is the cleaner fix: let the first submission build the structure and send later ones to a notification step instead.
Can the folder be shared with the client as well as the team?
Yes, though share a subfolder rather than the parent. Put client-facing material in Delivery and share only that, so the internal Working folder stays private. OneDrive handles the sharing; the Zap has no part in who can see what.
Does renaming the folder in OneDrive update the project name on the form?
No. The connection runs one way only — a submission triggers an action in OneDrive, and nothing is written back into formformform. Rename the folder freely; the submitted scope stays exactly as the client entered it, which is what you want in a record.
Related automations
- File each bug report where support can find it
Each bug report becomes a file in a OneDrive support folder, ordered by severity and carrying the screenshot link.
- File every completed waiver in one audit folder
Each completed waiver lands as a dated record in a restricted OneDrive folder, ready for the day someone asks for it.
- File every contest entry for the judging panel
Each entry becomes a file in its category folder in OneDrive, so the judging panel opens a sorted set rather than an inbox.
- Keep a text-file archive of every business inquiry
Every inquiry is written to a dated text file in OneDrive, giving you a searchable second copy of the response.
- Save every job application to a hiring folder
Every application becomes a candidate file in a shared OneDrive folder, named by role and ready for the hiring panel.
- Append every support request to a running log
Every help desk submission appends a line to one shared Dropbox text file, so the team reads the day's requests in order.
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.
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