In the evolving landscape of Salesforce automation, keeping up with the newest tools is key. 

Salesforce previously offered two powerful automation tools: Flow and Process Builder. While both tools allow you to streamline complex workflows or automate tasks, Salesforce has chosen Flow as its flagship automation tool moving forward. 

We’ll explore each tool’s uses, benefits, and applications so you can decide whether to migrate your processes to Flow.

Process Builder

Process Builder, Flow’s predecessor, enables you to automate processes quickly but lacks a few useful abilities offered by Flow. Using Process Builder, users can set up triggers based on Salesforce record changes, streamlining tasks like sending automated payment links and email notifications. This tool is useful for automating straightforward, rule-following processes, like automatically updating inventory and setting up follow-up tasks.

Notable Process Builder Features

  • Ease of use: Process Builder’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface and templates make setup quicker than Flow, enabling users to construct workflows visually without extensive technical expertise.
  • Visual design: Process Builder offers a clear graphical interface for visualizing processes.
  • Triggered processes: Simple to moderately complex automation, like sending email alerts when new leads are entered and updating fields when conditions are met, are a breeze for Process Builder.
  • Direct call to Apex: Process Builder can invoke Apex code, which is useful for scenarios where declarative features aren’t enough, like complicated data calculations beyond standard workflows. For example, calculating discounts based on loyalty, purchase volume, promotions, and margins.

When To Use Process Builder

Process Builder is well-suited for rule-based automation such as:

  • Straightforward tasks: Process Builder can handle updates and notifications based on record changes.
  • Linear workflows: Process Builder is ideal for linear processes without loops or complex branching, like sending a welcome email when a new contact is created and setting a follow-up task.

Direct integrations: Process Builder makes it easy to set up basic integrations with other Salesforce apps or external services.

Salesforce Flow

Salesforce Flow manages complex workflows across multiple Salesforce objects. Unlike Process Builder, Flow allows for in-depth customization and logic adjustments such as decision branches, loops, and dynamic interactions, making it possible to automate business processes like payment processing. 

Notable Salesforce Flow Features

  • Versatility: Flow can handle complex logic and multistep processes such as cross-object data aggregation, advanced customer journey automation, and comprehensive project management workflows. For example, Flow can automate customer onboarding by creating accounts, scheduling tasks, and sending welcome emails.
  • User interaction: Flow interacts with users through customizable screens, allowing for real-time input and adaptive responses. During data collection, Flow can validate inputs immediately, provide feedback, and adjust subsequent options based on user responses.
  • Automation of complex scenarios: Flow supports loops, conditional branching, and data manipulation, which are essential for complex automation requirements.
  • Scheduled and record-triggered Flows: Flows can be set to trigger at certain times or when records are created or updated.

When To Use Salesforce Flow

Salesforce Flow is generally the better choice for scenarios that involve:

  • Complex logic: Flow is best for processes that require multiple decision points and conditional branches, like customer service escalations. For instance, Flow could handle complaints by assessing issue severity and customer value, routing cases, and triggering tailored actions.
  • User interaction: Flow will benefit workflows that need to gather information through dynamic forms and screens. Flow could guide customers through interactive screens to troubleshoot issues, collect details, and offer solutions or escalations based on inputs.

Bulk data handling: Flow can update thousands of records across Salesforce objects simultaneously, saving you time and ensuring accuracy.

Choosing Between Salesforce Flow and Process Builder

Salesforce has made the choice for you; choose Flow! As of Salesforce’s Summer ‘23 release, you can no longer create new Process Builder processes. Don’t worry; you can still edit, activate, or deactivate your existing processes. However, we recommend transitioning your processes to Flow using Salesforce’s Migrate to Flow tool if you want to make your processes more versatile.

Review Transition to Flow to learn how you can keep your org’s automation up to date.

Regardless of the tool you’re using, automation can help you capture payments more effectively in Salesforce. For example, using Chargent in Salesforce, you can create a flow to automatically send emailed payment requests to your customers when a deal closes. Additionally, Chargent includes many out-of-the-box Flows to simplify your payment process.

Contact us to learn more about leveraging Salesforce Flows to automate capturing payments in Salesforce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Process Builder and Salesforce Flow Be Used Together?

Yes, Process Builder and Salesforce Flow can be used in conjunction to handle different aspects of your business processes. You can trigger a Flow from a Process Builder action for more integrated workflow automation.

Which Automation Process Is Better at Handling Real-Time Processing?

Salesforce Flow is typically better at handling real-time processing than Process Builder, thanks to functionalities like real-time field updates and instant data synchronization. For instance, Flow can update inventory levels instantly when a sales order is processed or notify customers about changes in their service request status.

Which Tool Is More Efficient in Terms of System Resources?

Process Builder is less resource-intensive compared to Salesforce Flow. Flow, while powerful, typically requires more resources.

Automate Your Payment Processes

At AppFrontier, we’re committed to empowering your Salesforce experience with tools like Chargent that leverage automation to improve your payment processing efficiency. Get in touch with us to explore how we can transform your payment processing systems.