When Form Meets Function
Let's cut to the chase: forms collect data, approvals make things happen. But between "submit" and "approved," there's usually a black hole of Slack pings, forwarded emails, and "Did you see that form response from Tuesday?" Formly's slick forms get you the data - ApproveThis makes sure it actually gets processed.
This isn't about replacing your tools. It's about making Formly 23% more useful by adding guardrails for compliance, speed for your team, and visibility for managers. Think of it like giving your form submissions a GPS tracker - you'll always know where they are in the approval pipeline.
Why This Combo Doesn't Suck
Formly's good at what it does - capturing leads, survey responses, whatever. But when those submissions need human review? That's where things get sticky. ApproveThis handles the messy part where:
- Three people need to sign off, but only two reply
- Urgent requests get buried under auto-responders
- Nobody can find the original form data once it's in email
Example: A marketing agency uses Formly for client content requests. Without approvals, those requests go straight to designers...who then have to ask "Is this approved by the account lead?" With our integration, the form submission can't move forward until the right people say yes. No more rogue requests.
Real Companies, Real Use Cases
For SaaS Companies: Trial-to-Paid Upgrades
When a customer submits a Formly request to upgrade their plan, ApproveThis can:
- Auto-route to their account manager
- Check if their usage justifies the tier jump
- Add conditional approval from finance if discount's requested
Without this? Sales reps make manual judgment calls, finance finds out later, and deals get stuck in legal review purgatory.
For Manufacturing: Equipment Requests
Factory supervisors submit Formly requests for new machinery. ApproveThis adds:
- Automatic budget checks against department thresholds
- Sequential approvals from safety > procurement > facilities
- Delegation if the plant manager's on vacation
Result: No more $50k purchases approved by someone who just wanted to get the alert out of their inbox.
For HR Teams: Offboarding Checklists
When an employee submits an exit form via Formly, trigger approvals that:
- Require IT to confirm device returns
- Force final sign-off from legal if there's an NDA
- Auto-approve standard requests but flag anomalies
HR isn't chasing down 7 departments - they get a single "All clear" when every team's done their part.
Setup That Doesn't Require a PhD
If you can make toast, you can connect these tools:
- Create a Zapier account (free tier works)
- Trigger: "New Form Response" in Formly
- Action: "Create Approval Request" in ApproveThis
- Map form fields to approval request details
Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields to auto-flag requests over $10k or without required attachments. No coding, just checkboxes.
Why Your Team Won't Hate This
For Finance:
Approval thresholds mean they only see requests that actually need their input. No more $200 office chair approvals clogging their inbox.
For Operations:
Real-time dashboards show exactly where bottlenecks are. Is purchasing sitting on requests? Now you have data, not just complaints.
For External Partners:
Clients can submit Formly requests and approve via email without needing your internal tools. No more "I can't login to your portal" support tickets.
Features You'll Actually Use
We're not here to sell you AI blockchain buzzwords. These matter:
Email Approvals That Don't Suck
Approvers can reject/approve right from their inbox. No logins, no passwords. If they can delete spam, they can handle this.
Vacation Coverage That Works
John in accounting is fishing in Alaska? Requests auto-reassign to his backup. No more "Waiting on John" status for weeks.
Audit Trails That Cover Your Ass
Every approval/rejection is logged with timestamps and reasons. Perfect for compliance audits or settling "But I never approved that!" arguments.
When to Use This vs. Doing Nothing
This integration makes sense if:
- You have >5 approval requests/week
- More than 2 people are involved in decisions
- Errors would cost >$1k
If you're a solopreneur approving your own lunch expenses? Maybe overkill. For everyone else? It's insurance against process breakdowns.
Getting Started Without the Sales Pitch
Free trial lets you test with 20 approvals/month. No credit card needed. If it doesn't save you at least 4 hours/month, cancel. We're cool with that.
Register for ApproveThis or schedule a 10-minute demo. We'll show you how to set up your first Formly workflow, not recite the feature list.
The Bottom Line
Formly + ApproveThis isn't about adding more software. It's about finally knowing:
- Which requests are stuck
- Who's holding things up
- What exactly was approved (and why)
For companies scaling past 50 employees, that visibility isn't nice-to-have - it's what keeps processes from collapsing under their own weight.
Integrate with Formly Integration and get 90 days of ApproveThis for free.
After you create a Zapier integration, please email us at support@approve-this.com with your account name and we'll add 3 months of ApproveThis to your account. Limit one redemption per account.
Learn More
Best Approval Workflows for Formly
Suggested workflows (and their Zapier components) for Formly
Create approval requests for new form responses
After a new form response is submitted via Formly, this integration creates an approval request in ApproveThis to streamline decision-making. It ensures that responses trigger a structured approval process so business policies are consistently enforced. *Note: Customize the approval workflow in ApproveThis to match your specific requirements.*
Zapier Components

Trigger
New Form Response
Triggers when someone submits data to the selected funnel.
Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
You'll ❤️ these other ApproveThis integrations
-
Mailbox Power
Published: April 17, 2025Mailbox Power enables you to engage your customers and stay top of mind with your clients by sending personalized cards and gifts.
-
Realeflow
Published: April 17, 2025Realeflow is a real estate investor CRM + marketing automation tools, all-in-one platform.
-
Distrobird
Published: April 17, 2025Distrobird is an all-in-one sales automation platform that replaces multiple tools with one seamless interface