See how easy it is to set up approval workflows
Set up a process so everyone reviews your document before it’s sent out.
automated document approval workflows
Ensure accuracy and cut document creation time by 50%
Stop chasing down key stakeholders and sending countless reminder emails. Automate the approval process and define a clear path for every document you create.
Over 50,000 customers use PandaDoc approval workflows to wow their buyers
What is a document approval workflow?
A document approval workflow is a process created by your team to review and approve documents like contracts, proposals, and more. Automating approval workflows guarantees the document is reviewed by the right people and meets all requirements.
Automate the process by assigning approvers at the template level and setting approval orders to designate who receives the document at each point in the process.
Create a seamless document approval process
Make sure the right people review your document at the right time
Set up an approval order in your template to ensure the right people are looped in automatically. To have the same person review a document at different stages, you can add them as an approver multiple times.
Customize approval processes
Set up an automated internal workflow with designated approvers before sending to recipients. Designated approvers receive a document only when certain conditions are met, such as a specific document value or when adding a discount.
Notifications & audit trails
Reviewers receive an email notification when a document is ready to approve. Audit trails and latest activity tiles track a document’s approval status, so you always know where you are in the process.
Improve communication and collaboration
Approvers can leave comments directly in the document. If a document is rejected, the sender must make edits and resend for review. Documents never go to clients before they’re ready and bottlenecks are identified and easily eliminated.
Keep documents moving
Set up an approval order
Need someone’s sign off before you can move to the next step? Approval orders let you send the document to one person at a time, in the appropriate order. With conditional approvals, designated approvers receive a document only if conditions are met such as document value, line item discount, or total discount.
Send your document for review
Once your document is ready, click send to get approval. The document status will change and team members will receive an email notification to approve or reject the document.
Lock sensitive content & track changes easily
Once the approver rejects or approves the document, the sender will receive an email notification along with any comments. With content locking and user permissions in PandaDoc, you can safeguard important documents to ensure only the right people can access and edit them.
See how document approval workflows help your team streamline business operations
"PandaDoc is making this so much more efficient than it once was. The Hiring Packages are a breeze to send to candidates… this would’ve been a time-consuming administrative burden if it weren’t for PandaDoc."
Director of Business Systems & Processes
Create error-free client-ready documents
Proposals and quotes
Get proposals out the door faster. Conditional approvals ensure the right people sign off on product discounts and pricing so you never have to second guess a quote.
Financial documents
Ensure expense reports, payroll forms, and purchase orders are approved by the right people. Enhance accuracy and streamline business processes.
Contracts
Contracts have specific legal regulations and requirements. Enhance compliance and security through approval groups, audit trails, user permissions, and content locking.
Create custom approval workflows
for your teams
Streamline your document workflow
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Frequently asked questions
What do approvals allow me to do?
Many documents require approvals from multiple people before they’re considered ready to send. Approval workflows let you set up an automated internal process that connects all necessary users with a document before it’s sent to the intended recipient. You can send business documents to internal team members both before and after the document is finalized by enabling signing orders and adding necessary coworkers as final recipients.
How do I set up an approval order?
Start by going into the PandaDoc template you’re using to create your document. You’ll see an ellipsis at the top of your template. Click that symbol, then click “Setup Workflow” and toggle “Approved” to the ‘on’ position.
A popup window with a list of the people in your organization will appear. Select anyone who needs to approve the final document or add a specific approval group to send to an entire team at once.
How does a document get approved?
If you turn on document approvals and assign reviewers, then the approval process begins as soon as the document creation process is done. After the document is created and the approval workflow is enabled, the reviewer will automatically receive a notification email with a link to the document.
PandaDoc’s document workflow approval software allows the reviewer to immediately view the document and determine whether to approve or reject it. They can also provide additional feedback, edits, or comments directly within the document so the creator can easily make adjustments. If the document is approved, the reviewer can also forward it to other approvers or to the final recipient.
Once a document is approved, what happens?
What happens after a document is approved is entirely up to you. You can choose whether document approval automatically sends the document to the final recipient or if the person who created the document should be notified first. This gives you complete flexibility and control over what happens with your document after it has been created, approved, or sent. Unlike with other open source workflow software options, you can make sure your workflow is entirely secure from end to end.
Can I customize approvals in different documents?
Yes, you can select specific, custom approval designations in every document and template you create. With PandaDoc’s approval routing software, you can avoid complicated processes or accidentally sending documents to the wrong recipient.
To customize workflows, repeat the process to set up a designated order with as many approvers as needed.
What if someone is out of the office when approval is needed?
PandaDoc’s cloud-based workflow software makes it easier than ever to get documents approved. If your designated approver is out of the office, t can review and approve documents in real-time from any device, anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection.
What is the document approval cycle?
A document approval cycle defines the step-by-step process for a single document, from creation to completion. These steps can vary by organization and you can determine the best process for your team. A document approval cycle usually includes the following steps:
- Document creation
- Document review
- Accepted or rejected
- If the document is rejected, the creators make the necessary revisions
- If approved, the document moves to the next step–if no other reviews are required, the document is sent to the client or customer