Approval Workflows

Configure multi-step approval processes for deals, quotes, discounts, and other records.

Approval Workflows in SalesOS enforce governance over critical sales actions by routing records through a structured review process before they can proceed. Whether a rep is offering a discount beyond their authority, submitting a quote for a large enterprise deal, or requesting a non-standard contract term, approval workflows ensure the right people review and sign off before commitments are made.

What Approval Workflows Are

An approval workflow is a set of rules that define when a record requires approval, who must approve it, in what order, and what happens if it is approved or rejected. When a record meets the workflow's trigger conditions, it enters an approval queue and cannot advance until all required approvals are granted.

Approval workflows are distinct from automations. While automations execute actions immediately and unconditionally, approval workflows gate actions behind human review. They are also different from sequences and playbooks, which guide outreach or sales processes -- approval workflows control internal governance and decision-making authority.

Approval Types

SalesOS supports approval workflows for several record types. Each type addresses a different governance need.

Discount Approvals

Control who can offer discounts and at what thresholds. For example, reps can offer up to 10% without approval, 10-20% requires manager approval, and anything above 20% requires VP approval.

Quote Approvals

Require sign-off before quotes are sent to customers. Useful for ensuring pricing accuracy, verifying terms, and confirming that non-standard line items have been reviewed.

Deal Approvals

Gate deal progression at critical stages. For example, require approval before a deal moves from Proposal to Negotiation, or before a deal above $500,000 can be marked as Closed Won.

Contract Approvals

Require legal or finance review before non-standard contract terms, custom payment schedules, or unusual liability clauses are sent to the customer.

Credit and Refund Approvals

Control the issuance of credits, refunds, or write-offs above certain dollar thresholds to prevent revenue leakage.

Custom Approvals

For any process unique to your organization, you can create custom approval workflows tied to custom objects or triggered by field changes on standard records.

Creating an Approval Workflow

Navigate to Settings > Approval Workflows to view and manage all approval workflows. Click New Workflow to open the workflow builder.

Step 1: Define the Trigger

The trigger determines when the approval process is initiated. Configure:

Object Type -- The record type that triggers the workflow (Quote, Deal, Discount, Contract, Order, or Custom Object)
Trigger Event -- When the workflow activates:
- On Submit -- When a user explicitly submits the record for approval
- On Field Change -- When a specific field changes (e.g., discount percentage exceeds a threshold)
- On Stage Change -- When a deal moves to a designated stage
- On Create -- When a new record is created matching the conditions
Conditions -- Filter criteria that must be true for the workflow to activate (e.g., deal value > $100,000, discount > 15%, or region = "EMEA")

Step 2: Define Approval Steps

Each step represents a level of review. For each step, configure:

Step Name -- A descriptive label (e.g., "Manager Review", "VP Sign-off", "Legal Review")
Approver(s) -- Who must approve at this step (more on approver selection below)
Approval Criteria -- Whether all approvers must approve (unanimous) or just one (first-response wins)
Time Limit -- Optional deadline for the approver to respond before escalation occurs
Instructions -- Guidance for the approver on what to evaluate

Step 3: Define Actions

Configure what happens at each outcome:

On Approval -- Actions to take when the record is fully approved (e.g., update status to "Approved", send notification to submitter, advance deal stage)
On Rejection -- Actions to take when any step rejects (e.g., update status to "Rejected", notify submitter with rejection reason, revert stage)
On Recall -- Actions if the submitter withdraws the request before a decision is made

Multi-Level Approvals

Many organizations require records to pass through multiple review levels before final approval. SalesOS supports both sequential and parallel approval patterns.

Sequential Approvals

In a sequential workflow, each step must be completed before the next begins. The record advances through the approval chain one level at a time.

Example sequential flow:

Sales Manager reviews the discount and deal context
Finance verifies margin impact and payment terms
VP of Sales gives final authorization

The record moves to Step 2 only after Step 1 is approved, and to Step 3 only after Step 2 is approved. If any step rejects, the entire process stops and returns to the submitter.

Parallel Approvals

In a parallel workflow, multiple approvers at the same level review simultaneously. This is useful when you need sign-off from multiple departments that can review independently.

Example parallel flow:

Step 1 (Parallel): Legal AND Finance review simultaneously
Step 2 (Sequential): VP of Sales gives final approval after both Step 1 approvers have signed off

Configure parallel approvals by adding multiple approver groups to a single step and setting the approval criteria to "All must approve."

Conditional Branching

For complex scenarios, you can add conditional branches that route the approval to different approvers based on record attributes:

If deal value is between $100K and $500K, route to Regional Director
If deal value is above $500K, route to VP of Sales
If the deal involves a new product line, also require Product Manager approval

Approval Rules and Thresholds

Approval rules define the conditions under which a record requires approval. Well-configured rules prevent unnecessary approvals for routine actions while ensuring proper oversight for exceptional ones.

Threshold-Based Rules

Set numeric thresholds that trigger different approval levels:

Discount Range	Required Approval
0% - 10%	No approval needed
11% - 20%	Sales Manager
21% - 30%	Sales Manager + Director
31% - 40%	Sales Manager + VP of Sales
Above 40%	Sales Manager + VP + CFO

Condition-Based Rules

Beyond numeric thresholds, you can build rules using any combination of record fields:

Deal size -- Larger deals require more senior approvers
Customer tier -- Enterprise customers may require additional review
Product type -- Certain products have fixed pricing and always require approval to discount
Payment terms -- Non-standard terms (Net 60+, milestone-based) require finance approval
Contract duration -- Multi-year contracts may require legal review
Region -- Certain regions have regulatory requirements demanding additional sign-off

Rule Priority

When multiple rules could apply to the same record, SalesOS evaluates them in priority order (set in the workflow configuration). The first matching rule determines the approval path. If no rules match, the record proceeds without requiring approval.

Approver Experience

Notifications

When a record arrives for approval, the designated approver receives:

In-app notification -- A badge appears on the Approvals icon in the main navigation with the pending count
Email notification -- A summary email with the record details and one-click approve/reject buttons
Mobile push notification -- If the SalesOS mobile app is installed

Approval Queue

Approvers access their pending items from the Approvals page in the main navigation. The queue shows:

Record summary -- Key fields of the record awaiting approval (deal name, amount, discount percentage, etc.)
Submitter -- Who submitted the record and when
Priority -- High, Medium, or Normal based on deal value and time sensitivity
Time pending -- How long the record has been waiting
Step context -- Which approval step this is and what other steps have already been completed

Taking Action

For each pending approval, the approver can:

Approve -- Sign off on the record and advance it to the next step (or final approval)
Reject -- Decline the record with a required rejection reason that is sent back to the submitter
Request Changes -- Ask the submitter to modify the record before resubmitting (does not count as a rejection)
Delegate -- Forward the approval to another qualified approver (e.g., if the original approver is out of office)
Add Comment -- Leave notes visible to all participants in the approval chain without taking a formal action

One-Click Actions from Email

The email notification includes secure one-click links for Approve and Reject. Clicking these links processes the action immediately without requiring the approver to log into SalesOS. The rejection link prompts for a reason before processing.

Submitter Experience

Submitting for Approval

When a record meets the trigger conditions for an approval workflow, the submitter sees an Submit for Approval button on the record page. Clicking this button:

Validates that all required fields are populated
Shows a preview of the approval path (who will review and in what order)
Allows the submitter to add a note or justification for the approvers
Locks the record from further edits (unless configured otherwise)
Routes the record to the first approval step

Tracking Status

After submission, the submitter can track approval progress:

Status badge on the record -- Shows "Pending Approval", "Approved", or "Rejected"
Approval timeline -- A visual timeline on the record page showing which steps have been completed, who approved at each step, and which step is currently pending
Notifications -- The submitter receives notifications at each step completion and when the final decision is made

Resubmission After Rejection

When a record is rejected, the submitter receives the rejection reason and can:

Edit the record to address the approver's concerns
Click Resubmit for Approval to restart the workflow
Add a resubmission note explaining what was changed

The record re-enters the approval process from Step 1. The approval timeline preserves the history of previous submissions and rejections for full context.

Recalling a Submission

If the submitter needs to make changes after submitting but before a decision is made, they can Recall the submission. This withdraws the record from the approval queue and returns it to draft status for editing.

Escalation Rules

Escalation rules prevent bottlenecks by ensuring that pending approvals do not sit indefinitely when an approver is unavailable.

Time-Based Escalation

Configure a maximum wait time for each approval step. If the approver does not respond within the time limit:

Escalate to manager -- Route the approval to the approver's manager
Escalate to backup -- Route to a designated backup approver
Auto-approve -- Automatically approve the record (use with caution, typically only for low-risk items)
Notify additional stakeholders -- Send reminder notifications to the approver and alert their manager

Reminder Notifications

Before escalation triggers, SalesOS sends reminder notifications:

First reminder -- At 50% of the time limit (e.g., after 12 hours if the limit is 24 hours)
Final reminder -- At 80% of the time limit
Escalation notice -- When the time limit is reached and escalation occurs

Out-of-Office Handling

If an approver has set an out-of-office status in SalesOS, the system can automatically:

Route to their designated delegate
Skip to the next approver in a group
Hold the approval and extend the time limit until their return date

Audit Trail

Every approval workflow maintains a complete audit trail for compliance and accountability.

What Is Recorded

For each approval workflow execution, the audit trail captures:

Submission timestamp -- When the record was submitted for approval
Submitter identity -- Who submitted and their role
Record snapshot -- The state of the record at submission time (so reviewers can see exactly what was approved, even if the record is later modified)
Step completions -- Who approved/rejected at each step and when
Comments and notes -- All comments left by approvers and submitters
Delegation events -- When and to whom an approval was delegated
Escalation events -- When escalation was triggered and the resulting action
Final outcome -- Approved, Rejected, or Recalled with timestamps

Accessing the Audit Trail

View the audit trail from:

Record page -- Click the "Approval History" section on any record that has been through an approval workflow
Admin > Audit -- System administrators can view all approval activity across the organization, filter by date range, approver, or outcome
Reports -- Build custom reports on approval metrics (average time to approve, rejection rates, escalation frequency)

The workflow triggers but does not send real notifications
Approvals are logged in a test audit trail
You can verify the routing logic without involving real approvers

Analytics and Reporting

Approval Metrics Dashboard

The Approval Workflows settings page includes a metrics dashboard showing:

Average approval time -- Mean time from submission to final decision, broken down by workflow
Rejection rate -- Percentage of submissions that are rejected, by workflow and by step
Escalation rate -- How often approvals exceed their time limits
Bottleneck identification -- Which approvers or steps consistently take the longest
Volume trends -- Submission volume over time, helping you identify when workflows are being over- or under-utilized

Using Data to Optimize

Review these metrics monthly to identify improvement opportunities:

If a workflow has a high rejection rate, consider adding clearer guidance for submitters or adjusting the trigger conditions
If a specific approver is consistently slow, add a backup approver or adjust the escalation timeline
If escalations are frequent, the time limits may be too aggressive for your team's workflow

Best Practices

Start simple and add complexity later. Begin with a single-level approval for your most critical threshold (e.g., discounts above 20%) and expand to multi-level workflows only after validating that the process works smoothly.
Set clear threshold boundaries. Ambiguous rules create confusion. Define exact numeric thresholds (not "large deals" but "deals above $250,000") so both submitters and approvers know exactly when approval is required.
Keep approval chains short. Every additional approval step adds latency to your deal cycle. Limit workflows to 2-3 steps maximum. If you need more than 3 levels, reconsider whether all are truly necessary.
Always configure escalation rules. Without escalation, a single unavailable approver can block revenue. Set time limits appropriate to the urgency (4 hours for time-sensitive deals, 24-48 hours for standard reviews).
Require rejection reasons. Always mandate a written reason when rejecting. This gives submitters clear guidance on what to fix and creates accountability in the audit trail.
Use parallel approvals for independent reviewers. If Legal and Finance need to review the same record but their reviews are independent, configure them as parallel rather than sequential to reduce total approval time.
Communicate approval policies to the team. Document and share your approval thresholds with the sales team. When reps understand the rules, they can structure deals to avoid unnecessary approval delays or proactively get informal buy-in before submitting.
Review and adjust thresholds quarterly. As your business grows, thresholds that once captured edge cases may now trigger on routine deals. Review approval volume and adjust thresholds to maintain the right balance between governance and velocity.
Test workflows before activating. Always use test mode to verify routing logic, especially for conditional branches. A misconfigured workflow that routes approvals to the wrong person erodes trust in the system.
Monitor approval time as a sales velocity metric. Track average approval time alongside your other pipeline velocity metrics. If approvals are adding days to your sales cycle, it is a signal to streamline the process or adjust staffing.

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