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Approvals

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In this lesson, you will learn:

  • What an approval is and where it’s stored
  • The states an approval can be in
  • How approvers approve or reject
  • How admins set up approvals

1 Asking for a “yes”

Some work needs permission first. Before SNWR buys Sam a new laptop, his manager has to say yes. Before a big change goes live, the change board has to agree. These are approvals. ✅

Key term: Approval

A request for one person or group to approve or reject a task. Each approval is a record in the sysapproval_approver table.

Key term: Approver

The person who must decide: approve or reject.

2 How an approval flows

An approval flow for Sam's request for a new laptop, RITM0010021. Step 1: Sam submits the request. Step 2: an approval record is created for his manager, Beth Anglin, with state Requested. Step 3: Beth approves from email, the portal, the mobile app, or the platform. Step 4: the approval state becomes Approved and the request moves on to fulfillment. If Beth rejects, the state becomes Rejected and the request stops.
Figure 1. Request, approve, then the work moves on. A rejection stops it.
Approval state What it means
Requested Waiting for the approver to decide
Approved The approver said yes
Rejected The approver said no
No longer required The approval isn’t needed anymore, for example the request was cancelled

3 How approvers decide

Approvers can say yes or no from almost anywhere:

  • 📧 Emailreply or click a link
  • 🌐 PortalMy Approvals
  • 📱 Mobileone tap

In the platform, they can go to Self-Service > My Approvals, open the approval, and click Approve or Reject. It’s good practice to add a comment, especially when rejecting.

4 The admin’s side

  • Most approvals today are created by flows in Workflow Studio, with an “Ask for Approval” step (Chapter 28).
  • Approvals can go to a person (like the requester’s manager) or a group.
  • Rules decide what counts as approved: for example, “anyone in the group” or “everyone must approve”.

💡 Good to know: Managers often approve requests. That’s why the Manager field on user records must be correct (Lesson 6.1).

⭐ Remember: Approvals live in sysapproval_approver. States: Requested, Approved, Rejected, No longer required.

5 Let’s try it: find approvals

  1. Type sysapproval_approver.list in the All menu filter and press Enter.
  2. Group the list by State. How many are Requested?
  3. Open one that’s Requested. Look at the Approver and Approving fields.
  4. Open Self-Service > My Approvals. Do you have any?

6 Quick recap

  • An approval asks someone to approve or reject a task
  • Approvals are stored in sysapproval_approver
  • States: Requested, Approved, Rejected, No longer required
  • Approvers can decide by email, portal, mobile, or in the platform
  • Flows usually create approvals

7 Check yourself

Think of your answer first. Then tap to check.

1 Which table stores approval records? Show answer

sysapproval_approver.

2 An approval is waiting for a decision. What’s its state? Show answer

Requested.

3 Approvals keep going to the wrong manager. What should you check? Show answer

The Manager field on the requester’s user record.

Nice work! You finished this lesson. 🎉

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