Overview
Approval Flows in Formalize allow you to create custom, flexible approval processes where each step is assigned to a specific role or individual approver. These flows help to ensure accountability and control over operational and compliance actions, like completing tasks, publishing policies, and reviewing suppliers or risks.
Approval Flows support both manual and fully automated workflow triggers, along with capabilities like automated reminders, deadlines, timeouts, and dynamic escalations.
How to set up an Approval Flow
Approval Flows sit within the section Operations. To set it up, navigate to Operations -> Approval Flows -> Add approval flow.
Choose your trigger entity and name your flow.
Configure approval steps by adding an Action -> Create approval flow step and selecting the approvers.
Use "Wait for" nodes to define whether a specific approval should only happen after the completion of a previous one, or configure branching, time-bound deadlines, timeouts, automated reminders, and escalation flows to re-route pending approvals if left unreviewed.
Set up logic for approvers by choosing between static, conditional, or replacement approvers, or assign steps directly by role.
Building with the Flow Builder
Creating an approval flow now uses the same flexible experience as configuring workflows.
Choose your trigger: Select the specific element you want the approval flow to work for. Approval flows can be triggered manually or automatically through workflows.
Add actions and conditions: Click on Flow builder to add your steps. You can choose to Create approval flow step or Send email (with customizable email text and support for multiple recipients).
Set your logic: Add a “Wait for” function between steps to create a sequential path (where Step 2 only begins after Step 1 is resolved). Without a "Wait for" node, users in all subsequent steps will be immediately notified.
Where Approval Flows can be used
You can now associate approval flows with:
Policies (Publishing)
Tasks & Questionnaire Responses (Completion)
Entities: Evidence, Incidents, Controls, Suppliers, Risks
Resources: Assets, Contracts, Customers, Employees, Processing Activities, Business Functions, Data Subject Requests
Clear status & system behaviour
Details pages for associated entities and resources display a status label at the top of the page to show the approval state at a glance:
Under Approval: The item is actively in review.
Approved: The approval flow was successfully completed.
Rejected: The approval flow was denied.
The Approver’s point of view
Pending approval requests appear at the top of the Dashboard page, providing approvers with a single, clear overview across all elements. Whenever someone triggers an approval flow, the assigned approvers will receive an email notification prompting them to take action.
If Approved: Policies are automatically published, tasks are marked complete, and evidence or questionnaire responses are finalized.
If Rejected: Tasks and questionnaires automatically revert to In Progress so the owner can make updates.
We hope this article was helpful!
If you have any additional questions, please reach out to us via chat in the bottom right corner of the page — our team is always happy to assist you further.