Help centre / CRM

Approval Workflows

Which CRM actions wait for approval, when, and who decides them - level by level, with conditions, policies and fallbacks.

1Overview #

A workflow takes one CRM action - converting a lead, disqualifying one, changing a lead's status, closing a deal as Won or Lost, moving a stage, handing a record over - and makes it wait for approval instead of happening at once.

Everything about how it waits is yours to set: when the workflow applies at all (amount, branch, source, type, territory, industry, or a condition you build), the levels it climbs, who approves at each, how many of them must agree, what a rejection does, and what happens when no level applies.

Used lightly it protects the few decisions that deserve a second pair of eyes. Used heavily it makes the CRM a queue - so hold the actions that carry real money or real risk, and leave the rest alone.

2Who it is for #

Hold a big deal's Won or Lost for a senior's decision.
Stop a lead being disqualified, converted or handed to another branch without a check.
Ask different people depending on the amount, the branch, the source or anything you can express as a condition.
Say what happens when no level applies: let it through, refuse it with your own message, or send it to fallback approvers.
Decide which steps go out by e-mail, on top of the bell and the inbox.

3What it is not for #

Deciding requests. That is CRM > Approvals.
Rights. A workflow asks for a decision; it does not grant or remove anybody's permission.

4Step by step #

Press Add (F3) and name the workflow so an approver will recognise it - "Deals above 5 lakh".
Pick the Action it holds, and a Priority. - When several workflows of the same action match, the lowest priority number wins - give narrow ones a lower number than the catch-all.
Set When it applies: amount range, branch, source, type, territory, industry. - Every box left blank matches everything.
Add a Custom condition for anything those boxes cannot say. - Build it from rules, or write the expression - the same builder the audience of a bulk message uses.
Add the levels. Each has approvers (users, user groups or roles), a completion policy, a rejection policy, and what a rejection does. - A new workflow starts with a Team lead level and a Sales manager level - change them to suit.
Give each level a condition where it should not always apply. - A level whose condition is false is skipped, and the request says so.
Say what happens when no level applies: proceed, refuse with a message, or send it to fallback approvers.
Choose the mail you want on top of the bell, then Save (F5). - Switch Active on when you are ready - a copied workflow starts inactive on purpose.

5The fields #

The workflow
Workflow name - Shown to approvers in their inbox and mail - say what it guards. Up to 100 characters, unique
Action it holds - The one action that waits: convert a lead, disqualify a lead, change a lead's status, reassign a lead, close a deal as Won, close as Lost, move a deal's stage, reassign a deal. A Won or Lost workflow is preferred over a general stage-move one; a Disqualify workflow over a general status one. Eight actions
Priority - Which workflow wins when several of the same action match. Lowest number first. Give narrow rules a lower number. 0 to 9999
Active ? - Off holds nothing from now on. Requests already raised carry on to the end. Switch
Description - Why it exists and who asked for it. Up to 512 characters
When it applies - Every box left blank matches every record. A lead is judged by its own fields; a deal by its amount and source, and by the lead it came from.
Amount from / up to - Only records worth that much. Not negative; 'up to' must not be below 'from'
Branch - Only records of one branch. Any branch
Lead source / Lead type / Territory / Industry - Only records with those groupings. From CRM > Masters
Custom condition - Anything the boxes above cannot say - checked after them, and both must hold. Fields depend on the action: Lead.*, Deal.* and Request.* (what is being asked for). Build it from rules, or write the expression
A level - Repeated for every level, and for the fallback approvers.
Level name - What this level is - "Team lead", "Finance". Shown in the inbox and in mail. Up to 100 characters
Remark needed to approve ? - On, an approval at this level needs a line written too. A rejection always needs a reason, whatever this says. Switch
Complete when - Any one approves, All approve, At least N approve, or More than half approve. How many approvals move the request on. Four policies
N approvals - For "At least N": how many. Fewer approvers than N means all of them. 1 to 99
Rejected when - One rejection, More than half reject, or All reject. It is also rejected once completion can no longer be reached. Three policies
A rejection then - End the request as Rejected; send it back to the previous level on its route; or return it to the requester to resubmit or withdraw. The fallback approvers have no previous level - sending back returns it to the requester. Three choices
Approvers - Users, user groups, or roles - the record owner's team lead, the sales managers, the record's owner. A user group stands for its members at the moment of deciding; a role is worked out per record. At least one per level
Condition for this level - The level is asked only when this is true for the record; otherwise it is skipped and the request goes on. Worked out when the request is raised, and again on a resubmit. Same fields and functions as the custom condition
When no level applies - Every level's condition false - or a workflow with no levels at all.
Then - Let the action go through, Refuse the action, or Send it to the fallback approvers. Three choices
Message to the user - For Refuse: what the person trying the action reads. Blank = a standard message naming the workflow. Up to 256 characters
Fallback approvers - A level in its own right, used only when no other level applies. Required when Then = fallback
The requester
Requester may approve ? - Off (the usual): a requester who is also an approver is left out of that level. Nobody approves their own request. Switch
Returned request may be resubmitted ? - On: a returned request can be sent again, starting at level one. Off: it can only be withdrawn. Switch
Mail - The inbox and the bell carry every step whatever is switched off here. Mail goes through Settings > Mail Accounts to each person's address in User Manager.
Approval request - To the first level's approvers when a request is raised or resubmitted. Switch
Level moved - next approvers - Each time a level completes, or a request is sent back to them. Switch
Level moved - requester - To the requester as it moves on. Switch
Rejection / Rejection - approvers too - To the requester when it is rejected, returned or sent back - and optionally to those who had already approved. Switches
Completion / Completion - approvers too - When the last level approves and the action is carried out. Switches
Record owner too - The lead's or deal's owner gets the requester's mails when somebody else raised it. Switch
Copy rejection and completion mail to - Extra addresses - an accounts desk, a sales-ops mailbox. Comma separated, up to 512 characters

6Rules and integrity #

One workflow decides - For each action, the active workflow with the lowest priority number whose conditions match is the one used - never two at once.
The specific action wins - A Won or Lost workflow is chosen ahead of a general stage-move one; a Disqualify workflow ahead of a general status one.
A level with a false condition is skipped - It is not a refusal. The request simply moves on, and the route panel says the level was skipped and why.
A workflow with no levels does nothing - Unless When no level applies is set to Refuse or Fallback - which is exactly how you forbid an action outright.
Twenty levels is the ceiling - If you need more than a handful, the process is probably the thing to fix.
Switching a workflow off does not free the requests - Those already raised carry on to the end, so nothing is left half-decided.
Setting 252 is the master switch - It turns every CRM workflow on or off in one place.
A copy starts inactive - Copy clones a workflow as "(copy)", switched off, so you can change what differs before it starts holding anything.

7Shortcut keys #

F3 - Add.
F4 - Modify.
F5 - Save.
Esc - Cancel the edit; in view mode it closes the tab.

8If something does not work #

"CRM is not licensed for this company ... Contact your software vendor."

Why: The company's licence has no CRM module.
What to do: Ask your vendor to add CRM, then sign out and in.

"Name: give the workflow a name people will recognise in their inbox." / "There is already a workflow named '...'."

Why: The name is blank, or another workflow has it.
What to do: Name it for what it holds - the approver sees this name.

"Action: pick the action this workflow holds for approval."

Why: No action was chosen, so the workflow would hold nothing.
What to do: Pick one of the eight held actions.

"Amount: the range cannot be negative." / "Amount: 'up to' is below 'from'." / "Priority: 0 to 9999 - the lowest number is tried first."

Why: A number is out of range or a range runs backwards.
What to do: Correct it. Leave the amounts blank for a workflow that holds every value.

"Custom condition: ..." or "Level ... condition: ..." with a parser message

Why: The expression could not be read - an unknown field, a missing bracket, a word where a number belongs.
What to do: Use the builder rather than typing, and Test it against a real record before saving.

"Custom condition: 4000 characters at most." / "Refusal message: 256 characters at most."

Why: The text is longer than the column holds.
What to do: Shorten it; a long condition usually means two workflows.

"Copy to: '...' is not an e-mail address."

Why: A copy-to address is malformed.
What to do: Correct it, or remove it - copies are optional.

"When no level applies: pick what happens." / "Levels: add at least one level - with none, and 'let the action go through' when no level applies, the workflow does nothing."

Why: A workflow with no levels that lets everything through would have no effect at all.
What to do: Add a level, or set the no-level rule to refuse or to fall back.

"Fallback approvers: name who approves when no level applies."

Why: Fallback was chosen but nobody was named to be it.
What to do: Name the fallback approvers, or choose another no-level rule.

"Levels: twenty at most."

Why: A route longer than twenty levels is capped.
What to do: Shorten the route - most need two or three.

"Level ...: name at least one approver - a user, a user group or a role."

Why: A level with no approver would stop every request for good.
What to do: Name a user, a user group, or a role such as the owner's team lead.

"Level ...: an approver is not a user, a user group or a known role."

Why: An approver row holds something the CRM cannot resolve - usually a user or group since deleted.
What to do: Remove the row and name somebody live.

"Level ...: 'at least N' needs N of 1 or more." / "Level ...: it needs N approvals but names only M user(s)."

Why: The level asks for more approvals than there are people who could give them.
What to do: Lower the count, or name more approvers. A user group counts as the people in it.

"Level ...: pick when the level is complete." / "... pick when the level is rejected." / "... pick what a rejection does."

Why: A level's rules were left half-chosen.
What to do: Set all three - they decide how a level finishes and what a No does.

"... open request(s) stand at a level this change removes (or with the fallback approvers) - let them be decided (or withdrawn) first, or keep that level."

Why: Requests already standing at a level cannot be left with nowhere to be.
What to do: Let them finish, or put the level back and change it afterwards.

"'...' has ... open request(s) - they must be decided or withdrawn before it goes." / "That workflow is no longer there."

Why: A workflow with open requests cannot be deleted, and somebody may have deleted this one already.
What to do: Clear the open requests on CRM > Approvals first, then delete.

The workflow does not hold anything, although it is switched on

Why: A workflow applies only where its action, its amount range, its priority and its conditions all match.
What to do: Test the condition against a real record, and check the amount range - a blank range means every value.

Two workflows could both apply

Why: The lowest priority number wins, and only one workflow holds an action.
What to do: Give them priorities that say which you mean.

9For an administrator #

Start small - Hold one action that genuinely needs a second pair of eyes - a large Won, or a hand-over to another branch. Add more only when somebody asks.
Name people through groups and roles - A user group or a role survives somebody leaving; a named user does not.
Test before switching on - Build it inactive, use the condition builder's Test it on a lead / deal, then activate.
Rights - CRM Approval Workflows (and its Levels and Approvers) in User Permissions - View for everybody by default, so only those you trust may change the rules.

10Settings it uses #

CRM: approval workflows on/off (setting 252) - the master switch for every CRM workflow.

This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Approval Workflows screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.

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