Dubsado Workflow Errors: The Most Common Hurdles (And How to Fix Them Without Losing Your Mind)

Lauren Barr

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Date Posted

June 20, 2025

If your Dubsado workflows are constantly pausing… throwing red error messages… or just not doing what you swore you set them up to do…

You’re not alone. 👀

And you’re not “bad at systems,” either.

There are a handful of super common workflow hurdles happening right now inside Dubsado that trip up even really organized business owners (and yes, even people who’ve been using Dubsado for a while).

So in this post, I’m pulling out the biggest issues I see over and over again, what’s actually causing them, and what you can do to troubleshoot them quickly.

Because workflows are meant to build trust with your clients (and reduce admin stress for you)… not create a new side hobby called “Why is this paused again?” ✨

The most common Dubsado workflow hurdles

1) There’s no “negative trigger” for unscheduled scheduler appointments

This one is a biggie.

Right now, Dubsado workflows don’t have a negative trigger for:

“Appointment was not scheduled.”

So you can’t automatically nudge someone because they didn’t schedule the way you can with forms.

Workaround:
You can still follow up… you just have to structure your workflow to send reminders until the appointment is scheduled, and then pause/stop the reminders once they book.

It’s a little more manual behind the scenes than we’d like, but it works when built intentionally.

2) Scheduler bookings don’t update the project date automatically

When someone books an appointment (even if that appointment is basically the “project start date” in your mind), Dubsado doesn’t automatically change the project’s start date to match.

This becomes a pain if:

you run sessions/appointments
you use payment plans
your due dates depend on the project date

Best practice:
Set or adjust the project start date after the appointment is booked so your payment plan timing stays accurate.

(Yes, it’s annoying. But it saves you from date chaos later.)

3) Timing errors can pause the entire workflow

This one shows up a lot with event-based businesses (venues, photographers, planners, etc.).

Example: You have a workflow email set to go out “6 months before the project date.”
But then a client books within that 6-month window.

That “6 months before” date is now in the past… and when the workflow gets applied, Dubsado can throw an error and pause the workflow.

What to do:

Build your system so that the client still receives the immediate essentials (welcome email, next steps), even if long-range reminders pause.
Consider splitting workflows:
- Workflow A: booked + onboarding essentials
- Workflow B: long-range reminders (6 months, 12 months, etc.)

That way, if Workflow B pauses, Workflow A still runs smoothly.

And if you don’t want that past-due email to send (because it would be weird), you can manually:

mark that workflow item as completed (skip it)
then unpause the workflow if needed

4) It can be hard to tell what’s paused in Dubsado 2.0

In Dubsado 2.0 (as of Lauren filming in June 2025), paused workflows aren’t always obvious.

You can check by:

opening the workflow
viewing all projects where that workflow is applied
looking at each workflow status

But it’s not the clearest view (especially when projects are archived, because archived projects pause workflows too).

Good news: the Dubsado 3.0 dashboard makes it easier to see paused workflows and errors.

5) Email connection failures can cause workflow errors

If Dubsado loses connection to your email provider (this can happen if you change your email password, for example), emails inside workflows won’t send.

That can trigger workflow errors.

Fix:
Reconnect your email provider in Dubsado, then resend/force the stuck action.

6) Smart field errors can trigger the red error alert

If a smart field in an email (or a template) isn’t set up correctly, Dubsado can flag it and pause the workflow.

If you’re seeing red errors and the message isn’t obvious, Dubsado support can help you decode what’s happening.

Tip: there’s a chat bubble inside Dubsado where you can start with their AI assistant, and escalate to a human if needed.

7) Approval actions can “time out” (Too late to perform action)

If you mark a workflow action as “needs approval” and you approve it too late, you might see an error like:
“Too late to perform action.”

Fix:
Use Force Now to push it through.

And if you’re approving something important, my best practice is:

don’t leave the workflow screen until you’ve seen it actually send
(Refresh to see the checkmark, or pop over to the Emails tab.)

8) Updating workflow templates can overwrite custom client edits

This is one people don’t realize until it hurts.

Once a workflow is added to a project, it becomes a “copy” on that project, and you can customize it for that client.

But if you later edit the workflow template and click:

“Update workflows with this template”

…it can override any client-specific customizations you made.

So if you’re customizing workflows per client:
Be very careful about pushing updates globally.

Also important: if you add a new “send immediately” action to a workflow template and then push updates to existing projects, many of those projects will error out because that “immediate” date is already in the past for them.

9) Canned emails don’t automatically update workflow emails

This one is subtle but SO common.

If you:

create an email in Canned Emails
use it inside a workflow
then later update the Canned Email…

…the workflow email does not automatically update.

That workflow email is basically a duplicate snapshot.

Best practice:
If the email is being sent by a workflow, update it in the workflow.

(You can also update the canned email for future use, but don’t assume workflows will inherit the changes.)

When you want more manual control (without breaking things)

If you’re still learning to trust your workflows, you have a few safer options:

Mark actions as needs approval (so you can review before sending)
Add internal to-dos in workflows for reminders
Avoid pausing workflows unless you’re confident you’ll remember to unpause (because pausing stops everything)

The real reason workflows matter (even if you don’t automate everything)

Even if you’re not ready to automate every single step of your client process…

Having something automated is a non-negotiable for most service providers.

At minimum, your client should get:

a “you’re booked” confirmation
reassurance and clarity
what happens next (and when)

Because that immediate next-step communication builds trust, reduces buyer’s remorse, and makes your process feel professional and supportive.

And that’s the whole point. Systems that serve you and your clients. 🤍

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