Auto-approval is a per-contact setting that skips the approval workflow completely. When you flag a supplier or customer contact for auto-approval, every document from that contact is approved instantly by the system - no stages, no approvers, no manual action.
How auto-approval works
Documents from a flagged contact bypass the workflow entirely, regardless of which workflow the folder uses. The system approves the document the moment it is submitted, without evaluating conditions, routing, or stages.
👉 What does a document approved this way look like?
It shows clear signals that no workflow ran:
Status: Approved
Decision recorded by: Approved by system
No approver checkmarks
Footer: "Approved automatically by the system - workflow not applied."
Turning on auto-approval
👉 Where do I turn on auto-approval?
Auto-approval is a per-supplier setting, not a folder or workflow setting. Turn it on or off for a contact from the document view, under Automation, without opening folder-level approval settings. Once enabled, every new document from that contact - in any folder with approval - is approved automatically by the system.
Seeing which documents were auto-approved
There is no badge on the submit card and no separate "pill" for auto-approval, so it is not shown on the workflow match card when you submit manually.
👉 How can I tell a document was auto-approved?
You can identify it in three places:
On the document - the Approved by system decision and the footer "Approved automatically by the system - workflow not applied."
In the audit trail - the automatic approval is recorded there.
In Approval settings - admins can see the full list of suppliers with auto-approve on, the quickest way to audit which suppliers bypass the workflow.
The limit: it overrides everything
👉 Does auto-approval follow my approval workflow?
No. Auto-approval overrides routing entirely. It does not matter which workflow the folder uses, which conditions are set, or how many stages a path has - if the contact is flagged, the document is approved by the system and no workflow runs. Use it for contacts where approval adds no value, such as a recurring utility provider with fixed amounts and a consistent supplier match.
Frequently Asked Questions
👉 Can I still export a document that was auto-approved?
Yes. It has status Approved, so it exports normally. If you have auto-export enabled on your Default path, it also exports automatically after auto-approval. See Auto-export after approval.
👉 What if the document still needs review sometimes?
Remove the auto-approval flag from the contact, and the document will route through the folder's normal workflow again. See How documents are routed.
👉 How does an approver know a document was auto-approved?
In the Approvals module it appears under Approved with Approved by system as the decision, the footer visible when opened, and no approver checkmarks. See Approving and rejecting documents for how a normal approved document looks in comparison.