What an approval workflow is
An approval workflow is a rule set that decides who must sign off a document, and in what order, before it can be exported. It sits between document capture and export, so a document cannot reach your accounting software until the right people have approved it.
👉 What does an approval workflow control?
A workflow controls only the sign-off step. It does not change how a document is captured, and it does not replace your accounting software. It simply decides whether a captured document is allowed to be exported yet.
👉 Can I export a document without approval?
Once approval is enabled on a folder, documents cannot be exported to your accounting software until they are approved. You can still bulk export to file. Admins can use Skip approval and Export to bypass approval when they need to. Learn more about exporting when approval is enabled.
The end-to-end flow from Ready to Export
Every document moves through the same lifecycle, and each state shows as a label on the document. Knowing the order makes the rest of the feature easy to follow.
👉 What stages does a document go through?
A document moves through six states, in order:
Ready - the document has been captured and is ready to be submitted.
Submit for approval - you, or the system, send the document into its matched workflow.
Awaiting approval - the document is now with its approvers, waiting for a decision.
Approve or Reject - each assigned approver acts on the document.
Approved - once the last approver approves, the document is fully approved.
Export - the approved document is exported to your accounting software, manually or automatically.
👉 What happens if a document is rejected?
Rejecting sends the document back to be fixed and resubmitted. The approver must give a short reason, and once the document is resubmitted it re-enters the flow from the start.
Learn how to submit a document for approval and how to approve or reject documents.
The building blocks of a workflow
A workflow is made up of a few simple parts. Knowing these names makes every other approval article easier to follow.
👉 What parts make up a workflow?
A workflow is built from these parts:
Workflow (also called a path) - one rule set. A folder can have several, and they run top to bottom, first match wins.
Default path - the catch-all path that exists in every folder with approval. It cannot be deleted, so there is always a path to catch a document.
Condition - determines when a path applies, based on one or more attributes: e.g. total amount, supplier, currency, coding (ledger account, tax, etc.)
Stage - lettered A, B, C and run in order. A stage triggers either Always or from a total amount upward.
Approver - the named person on a stage who approves or rejects.
👉 What happens if I change the workflow after a document is submitted?
A document captures its workflow, including its approvers, at the moment it is submitted. Editing the folder's workflow later does not change documents already in flight; only documents submitted afterwards use the updated workflow.
Learn more about setting up a workflow and how documents are routed.
Roles and permissions
What you can do in an approval workflow depends on your role. There are three roles.
👉 Who can do what in an approval workflow?
Each role has a different level of access:
Admin - full control: submit, approve, approve as admin (override assigned approvers), reassign, reset, edit workflows, see the Exceptions tab, and export.
User - can submit, approve when assigned to a stage, and export, but has no admin tools.
Approver-only - a new role that can only see and approve or reject documents assigned to them. They cannot submit and cannot export.
See the full breakdown in roles and permissions in approval.
What happens to your existing folders at launch
You do not need to do anything when approval workflows launch. A Default path is created automatically for every folder that already uses approval.
👉 Do I need to set anything up when this launches?
You do not need to set anything up. Your existing settings and the people you have invited are inherited, so your current setup keeps working. You can adjust paths and stages whenever you are ready.
For the full picture of what is different from the previous version, see approval workflows: what's changing.
Frequently Asked Questions
👉 Will I get a notification when a document is waiting for me?
Notifications are not part of this version yet; they are planned for the future. For now, to find documents waiting on you, open the Approvals module and go to the Awaiting tab.
👉 Can I put a document on hold or park it?
There is no hold or parked status. A document is only ever Awaiting approval, Approved, or Rejected. The Exceptions tab exists for documents that get stuck for a technical reason, but that is involuntary, not a deliberate hold.