Can it start from BambooHR, Personio or HiBob instead of a sheet?

Yes, if your HR system has a Zapier trigger for new or leaving employees. Map its fields into the same steps, and the rest of the Zap stays the same.

Why not post the form link in the Slack message?

The link opens the employee’s own form, with everything they have entered, for anyone who has it. Let Formstep email it to the employee alone.

Does the Zap create the accounts as well?

Formstep does not. Where an app has a Zapier action for adding users, add it to the Joiner path; the Slack checklist covers the rest.

What if the new hire does not fill in the form before their first day?

With Expires At set to the start date, the request expires that day and a Zap on Request Expired can tell HR. On Pro and Business, Formstep reminds them first.

Which Formstep and Zapier plans does this need?

Requests and prefill work on every Formstep plan; Formstep emailing the form and reminders needs Pro or Business. Paths and multi-step Zaps need a paid Zapier plan.

Automate employee onboarding and offboarding with Zapier, Slack and Formstep

One row in your people sheet starts it. The Zap works out which accounts the person needs or loses, sends them a Formstep form for the details HR still needs, and posts the checklist to IT in Slack, before the first day or the last.

Published 7 November 2026 · Updated 8 November 2026

Employee onboarding splits one checklist across three teams. HR knows the start date, IT needs to know which accounts to create, and only the new hire knows their legal name, home address and emergency contact.

Offboarding is the same in reverse, with more at stake: an account left open after the last day is a security gap. Formstep asks the employee through a request: a form sent to one person on a private link, with what you already know filled in.

In short: One sheet row becomes an access checklist for IT in Slack, a Formstep form at the employee’s personal address, and a record HR can follow. See the Zaps.

What you need

A Zapier account with the Formstep app, Google Sheets and Slack connected, on a plan with Paths.
A sheet with the columns type, name, personal_email, department, date and manager.
A published joiner form and leaver form in Formstep, as below.

The two forms

Both go to a personal address, since a joiner has no work account yet and a leaver is about to lose theirs. Joiners get the Employee Onboarding template, plus a choice question keyed laptop if IT ships hardware. For leavers, build one form:

Personal email for the final payslip, keyed personal_email
Equipment they have, a checkbox keyed equipment
How it comes back, keyed return_method
Shipping address for a prepaid box, optional, keyed shipping_address
Feedback, optional, keyed feedback

How the Zap works, step by step

1. Log the change in one place

A new Google Sheets row, or your HR system’s trigger, starts the Zap with the person’s details.

2. Build the access checklist

A Formatter Lookup Table turns the department into the accounts it uses, with a fallback for other teams.

3. Split joiners from leavers

Paths by Zapier sends each person down the Joiner path or the Leaver path, by the sheet’s type column.

4. Send the employee their form

Formstep Create Request sends the onboarding or offboarding form to their personal email, with their name filled in.

5. Tell IT in Slack

A private IT channel gets the person, the date and the access checklist. The form link is never posted.

6. Close the loop when they answer

A second Zap on Request Completed tells IT what it needs, like the laptop they picked.

Build the Zap in Zapier

Add the steps in this order. In Create Request, pick your form first: each of its questions then shows up as a field of its own, under the question's title, and whatever you map into it is filled in for the recipient.

Zap 1: one row, one form, one checklist

The Zap in the Zapier editor: 1. Google Sheets, New Spreadsheet Row; 2. Formatter by Zapier, Lookup Table; 3. Paths, split into Joiner and Leaver, each with Formstep Create Request and Slack Send Private Channel Message — The Zap in the Zapier editor. A ! marks a step that still needs setting up. Select it to see it full size.

Google Sheets › New Spreadsheet Row
- Columns: type, name, personal_email, department, date, manager
Formatter by Zapier › Utilities › Lookup Table
- Lookup Key: department
- Lookup Table: Engineering: Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, Linear. Sales: Google Workspace, Slack, HubSpot
- Fallback Value: Google Workspace, Slack
Paths by Zapier › Split into paths: Joiner and Leaver
- Rules: type exactly matches joiner, or leaver
Formstep › Create Request, in each path
- Form: Employee Onboarding, or your offboarding form
- Recipient Email: personal_email
- Prefill: Full Legal Name from name for joiners, Personal Email for leavers
- Expires At: the date
- Delivery: Email: Formstep sends the invitation, or None plus a Gmail step that sends the Request URL
- External ID: onboarding- or offboarding- and the row number
- Test Request: True until you publish
Slack › Send Private Channel Message, in each path
- Channel: your private IT channel
- Message Text: name, department, date, manager and the accounts from step 2

Zap 2: the answers IT needs

The Zap in the Zapier editor: 1. Formstep, Request Completed; 2. Slack, Send Private Channel Message — The Zap in the Zapier editor. A ! marks a step that still needs setting up. Select it to see it full size.

Formstep › Request Completed
- Form: Employee Onboarding, and a copy of the Zap for offboarding
Slack › Send Private Channel Message
- Message Text: the name and the answers IT needs, such as laptop or return_method

Find Formstep in Zapier's app directory. The Zapier guide covers connecting it and testing without emailing anyone.

Why use Formstep for this step

IT hears about it on time. The checklist reaches Slack the moment HR adds the row, so accounts are ready on day one and closed on the last.
The employee types their own details. They confirm their name and add the rest from their phone, with no account.
Personal data stays out of Slack. Address, date of birth and emergency contact stay in Formstep, where you can delete the request later.