How ApproveThis + Reform Automates Approval Chaos (Without the Headaches)

When Forms Meet Approvals: No More Black Holes

Let’s be real: forms are where good ideas go to die. Someone fills out a request, it gets lost in someone’s inbox, and three weeks later, Accounting’s asking why there’s a random charge for 10,000 branded stress balls. Reform fixes the form part – clean, on-brand, easy. But approvals? That’s where ApproveThis comes in. Together, they’re like a bureaucratic superhero duo.

Here’s the deal: Companies between 50-5k employees drown in cross-team approvals. Marketing needs legal to sign off on a campaign. Facilities has to get CFO buy-in for office upgrades. Every department’s waiting on someone else. This integration cuts through that. Reform collects what’s needed, ApproveThis routes it to the right people, and nobody’s chasing down VPs in the parking lot.

How This Plays Nice with Your Wallet (And Your Sanity)

Reform’s strength? Making forms that don’t look like they were designed in 1998. ApproveThis’s thing? Not letting those forms rot in approval purgatory. Zapier’s the glue here – no coding, just connect the dots. Key perks:

• No more approver logins: External vendors or clients can approve via email. They don’t need a Reform account, which Accounting will love when you’re not buying 50 extra licenses.
• Auto-routing based on $$$: Set thresholds so small expenses auto-approve, big ones go up the chain. Reform captures the numbers, ApproveThis handles the rules.
• Vacation mode: Approver out? Requests skip their inbox and go to the backup. No more “Sorry, I was on PTO” delays.

Real-World Stuff That Doesn’t Suck

This isn’t some “digital transformation” buzzword salad. Here’s how teams actually use it:

Marketing Teams: Campaigns That Launch Before the Trend Dies

Scenario: Your team uses Reform for campaign requests. Without approvals, the intern could greenlight a TikTok strategy starring the CEO doing dance challenges. The fix:

1. New Reform submission → 2. ApproveThis pings Legal (is this trademarked?), then Finance (under budget?), then CMO. If Legal says “no”, the request dies before Finance wastes time. Plus, every approval step is logged when the auditors come knocking.

HR: Onboarding That Doesn’t Require 12 Emails

New hire needs a laptop, software access, and a security badge. HR fills a Reform form once. ApproveThis routes hardware requests to IT, software to their manager, badges to Facilities. All teams approve/deny in their own time, no CC’d emails. If IT’s swamped, requests auto-reassign after 24hrs.

Operations: Purchase Orders That Don’t Require a Psychic

Field team submits a Reform request for a new forklift battery. ApproveThis checks: Is this vendor approved? Over $500? Send to Procurement. Under? Auto-approve and notify. Integrate with accounting software via Zapier, and the PO’s created before the supplier even sends an invoice.

Setting This Up Without Losing a Day

If you can use a toaster, you can do this. Zapier’s the middleman:

1. Trigger: New Reform form submission
2. Action: ApproveThis creates request, pings approvers based on your rules
3. Bonus Round: Add a Zap to update Reform when approvals happen – keeps audit trails clean

Pro tip: Use Reform’s calculated fields for things like total budget. ApproveThis can then auto-approve if under threshold, or route to Finance if over. No manual checks.

Why This Beats “We’ll Just Use Email”

Sure, you could forward form responses to Susan in Legal. But then Susan’s on vacation, the email gets buried, and suddenly you’re explaining why a vendor got paid twice. With ApproveThis:

Transparency: Everyone sees where the request is stuck. Is Legal sitting on it? Or did it get lost in their inbox?
Compliance: Approvals are logged with timestamps and reasons. No more “I never saw that” excuses.
Speed: Escalation rules mean requests can’t gather dust. If an approver ghosts, it moves up the chain automatically.

Departments That Stop Dragging Their Feet

Finance: Set approval thresholds in ApproveThis. Reform captures expense amounts – under $1k? Auto-approved. Over? CFO gets it. Integrate with QuickBooks via Zapier and payments happen without manual entry.
IT: New software request form in Reform. ApproveThis routes to IT Sec for compliance check, then to the manager for budget approval. Say goodbye to shadow IT.
Facilities: Office move requests in Reform go to ApproveThis, which checks cost against department budgets. Over limit? Escalate to VP. Under? Book the movers.

No, Really – Your Approvers Don’t Need Another Login

Here’s the kicker: External partners approve via email. Client needs to sign off on a project scope? Send the request through ApproveThis. They click “approve” in their inbox – no account needed. Same for contractors, vendors, or that exec who refuses to learn new software.

Bottom Line: Less Herding, More Doing

ApproveThis + Reform via Zapier is about cutting the crap that slows companies down. It’s not flashy AI, just smart automation for the mundane stuff that wastes time. For 50-5k person companies, that’s gold. Less chasing people, more actual work.

How to Stop Wasting Time Today

1. Sign up for ApproveThis (free trial, no CC required)
2. Connect to Reform in Zapier (takes 5 minutes)
3. Set up your first workflow: Form → Approval → Action
4. Watch your team stop complaining about “waiting on approvals”

Or, if you’re the “talk to a human” type, book a demo. We’ll show you how to make approvals less… painful.