Document approval workflow

You can set an approval workflow for documents inside the document editor. This approval workflow is distinct from the approval workflow on eSign documents. Learn more about approvals on eSigns.

The approval workflow is initiated when the document has been completed and you click on the Conclude document action button on the bottom right corner of the editor. Once the flow is initiated, the document moves from approver to approver in the order you define in the workflow, until all approvals have been received.

Once approved by all, the document is deemed concluded. All of this happens automatically and does not need your intervention.

note

Approval workflows can only be set for documents that have not been concluded yet. Once concluded without an approval workflow, the document will need to be reopened to add approvers, if needed. All added collaborators are notified when a concluded document is reopened.

Create an approval workflow for documents

To set an approval workflow for a document:

• Click on the document in the Documents dashboard. This will open the document in the document editor.
• In the document editor, click on the arrow in the top right corner, below Save to open the control panel.
• Click on Get approvals
• In the Approvals panel, click on Get approvals TODO: IMAGE - CHANGE TEXT TO GET approvals
• The Get approvals popup modal will open up. Click on the Select one or more approvers field.
• Choose one or more approver from the list of approvers.
• If you add more than one approver at Step 1, choose whether the workflow should proceed once approval is received from one of the selected approvers or it can proceed only after all approvals at the step are received.
• If the admin has given you approver permissions, you can add yourself as an approver by clicking on Add myself as approver.
• To add the next step in the approval workflow, click on Add another approver.
• Once you have added all approvers, in the order you want, click on Save.

Example approval workflow:

In the above example, once the document owner clicks on Conclude, this approval workflow will be initiated and proceed thus:

• The document will first go to HL Legal for approval.
• Once approved, it will be sent to both CEO Alphabet Inc. and Legal Team.
• Only when approval from both these accounts is received, it will be sent to CEO DocuX for the final approval.
• Once approved by CEO DocuX, the document will be deemed concluded and will be locked against further changes.
• If at any point an approver does not approve of the content and declines, the document will return back to the owner with the approver’s comments.

Edit document approval workflow

To edit the approval workflow of a document:

• Click on the document in the Documents dashboard. This will open the document in the document editor.
• In the document editor, click on the arrow in the top right corner, below Save to open the control panel.
• Click on Get approvals
• If the document has been sent for approvals already, you will see two options: Edit approvals and Cancel approvals. Click on Edit approvals.
• If the document has not been sent for approvals yet, you will see only one option: Edit approvals. Click on it
• The Get approvals popup modal will open up. You can add or remove approvers, remove steps in the work flow by clicking on the delete icon or reorder the workflow.
• Once done editing, click on Save.

Reorder document approval workflow

Your document is sent to approvers in the order you define in the approval workflow.

For example, the document will be sent for approval to CEO Alphabet Inc and Legal Team only after it has been approved by HL Legal. If HL Legal declines to approve, the entire approval workflow will be paused and the document will return back to the owner.

To change the order in which the document is sent for approval:

• Click on the document in the Documents dashboard. This will open the document in the document editor.
• In the document editor, click on the arrow in the top right corner, below Save to open the control panel.
• Click on Get approvals.
• In the Approvals panel, click on Edit approvals
• In the Get approvals popup modal, click on the icon alongside each step number and drag that step to the position you want.
• You can choose to reorder one or more approvers.
• Once the approval workflow is in the order you want, click on Save.

Cancel document approval workflow

The document owner can cancel the approval workflow at any point after it has been initiated.

If you cancel the approval workflow:

• The set approval workflow will be deleted. You will need to add approvers again.
• Any approvals already received will be lost.

To cancel a document approval workflow:

• Click on the document in the Documents dashboard. This will open the document in the document editor.
• In the document editor, click on the arrow in the top right corner, below Save to open the control panel.
• Click on Get approvals.
  
• In the Approvals panel, click on Cancel approvals.
• A confirmation dialog will appear. Click on Cancel approvals to confirm the cancellation.
• All approvals will be cancelled and the document will return back to your For my action tab.

Approve a document

If you have been assigned as an approver for a document on DocuX, you will see the document in your For my action tab in your Workspace and in your Documents dashboard.

If everything looks correct and valid in the document, you can approve the document. If not, you can decline to approve with your comments around why the document was not approved, so the document owner can make the required changes.

To approve a document:

• Click on the document from the For my action tab in your Workspace or in the Documents dasboard
• The document will open up in the document editor
• Review the document and, if everything looks correct, click on the Approve button in the top right corner of the editor
• A small popup modal will open up for your comments, if any. The approval status and your comments will be sent to the document owner.
• Click on Approve
• The document will now move out of your For my action tab and on to the next stage of the workflow set by the owner.

Decline approval of a document

If you have been assigned as an approver for a document on DocuX, you will see the document in your For my action tab in your Workspace and in your Documents dashboard.

If everything looks correct and valid in the document, you can approve the document. If not, you can decline to approve with your comments around why the document was not approved, so the document owner can make the required changes.

To decline a document:

• Click on the document from the For my action tab in your Workspace or in the Documents dasboard
• The document will open up in the document editor
• Review the document and, if something looks incorrect or in need of further revision, click on the Decline option in the top right corner of the editor.
• A small popup modal will open up for your comment. The decline status and your comment will be sent to the document owner.
• Click on Decline.
• The document will now move out of your For my action tab and will be sent back to the owner.

Questions

Who can approve documents/contracts?

Admins, eSigners, and creators have approver permissions on DocuX. They can review and approve documents if added to a document as an approver by the document owner.

Are approvers different from collaborators?

Collaborators are internal or external users who can view, comment on, or edit documents.

Approvers are internal users—admins, eSigners, or creators who have been added as approvers on a document. They review and approve documents after all collaboration and edits have concluded.

Who can set the approval workflow on a document?

Only the document owner can create an approval workflow for their document.