
ApproveThis manages your Whale Integration approvals.
April 17, 2025
Integration Category: It Operations Education
Why This Combo Works Better Than Your Current Process
Let's cut through the BS: approvals suck when you're chasing people through Slack, email, and that one project management tool Janet from accounting refuses to learn. Whale houses your playbooks and SOPs. ApproveThis forces decisions to happen. Together? They turn "where are we on this?" into "it's already done."
Here's the dirty secret most vendors won't tell you: Approval tools are worthless if they don't plug into where work actually happens. Whale's where your team lives – training docs, process cards, task assignments. ApproveThis is the bouncer at the door making sure nothing moves forward without a thumbs-up. Connect them through Zapier, and you've got a system that works while your team sleeps.
Real Teams Using This, Real Results
Use Case 1: Killing Review Black Holes
Marketing agencies know this pain: Client wants 14 rounds of copy edits, your team updates the Whale playbook, but nobody signs off on the changes. Connect Whale's New Review trigger to ApproveThis, and suddenly every SOP update needs explicit approval. Legal team gets auto-emails, department heads vote sequentially, and the moment it's greenlit, Whale cards update automatically. No more "I thought you approved that!"
Use Case 2: Escalating Overdue Tasks Like a Pro
Manufacturing plant managers live by maintenance schedules in Whale. When a safety check assignment sits untouched for 48 hours, ApproveThis pings the shift supervisor → plant manager → regional director in order. Each escalation includes Whale card data like equipment photos and repair histories. Best part? Approvers only need email – no extra software licenses for external inspectors.
Use Case 3: Closing the Loop on Decisions
HR teams hate this scenario: Leadership approves new PTO policies in ApproveThis, but the Whale training docs never get updated. Connect the Request Approved trigger to Whale's Mark Assignment Done, and approved policies auto-publish to the employee handbook card. Denied requests? They kick back to the compliance team's Whale queue with comments attached.
Setup That Actually Takes 9 Minutes
1. In Zapier, make a new Zap
2. Pick Whale as the trigger app (New Review, Assignment Overdue, etc.)
3. Choose ApproveThis as the action app (Create Request)
4. Map these fields:
- Whale card ID → ApproveThis reference number
- Assignee email → ApproveThis approver list
- Due date → Approval threshold rules
5. Test with a real task (try rejecting something to see the auto-comment back in Whale)
Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' Calculated Fields to auto-approve small expenses in Whale purchase requests, but escalate anything over $5k to the CFO.
Who Wins Besides Your Sanity?
Operations Teams
New warehouse safety checklist in Whale? Ops managers set approval chains where regional leads must sign off before floor staff even see the update. Vacation delegation means approvals never wait on someone's PTO.
Finance Departments
AP teams auto-route Whale-based invoice assignments through 3-tier approvals. Overdue approvals? Escalate straight to controllers with original Whale card data attached. Real-time dashboards show exactly which invoices are stuck at which approval tier.
External Partners
Client approvals on campaign assets? Embed Whale training materials directly into ApproveThis requests. Clients approve via email without Whale logins, updates auto-post to their project card. No more "I can't find the latest version" excuses.
Why This Isn't Just Another Integration
Most approval tools treat your existing systems like an afterthought. ApproveThis+Whale works because:
- No license sprawl: Approvers only need email access – crucial when dealing with clients or cross-company teams
- Decisions stay contextual: Approval requests pull live Whale card data, approvers aren't working blind
That procurement request approval? It shows the original Whale playbook step, supplier quotes from the card comments, and real-time budget math via Calculated Fields. Approvers actually have context to decide, rather than rubber-stamping.
Bottom Line: This Isn't About Approvals
It's about eliminating the 37 back-and-forth messages that happen after someone clicks "approve." When Whale holds the process and ApproveThis handles the decisions, you get:
- Audit trails that actually match what happened
- New hires who can't mess up approvals (because the system won't let them)
- Clients who stop nagging you for status updates
Two tools. One Zapier connection. Zero patience for broken processes.
Make It Happen
If you're still manually herding approvals across Whale cards, you're leaving hours on the table every week. Get ApproveThis, connect it to Whale via Zapier, and actually test one of the workflows we outlined. Not sure where to start? Book a 15-minute demo – we'll build your first approval flow live using your actual Whale processes.
Integrate with Whale 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.
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Best Approval Workflows for Whale
Suggested workflows (and their Zapier components) for Whale
Create approval requests for new whale reviews
When a new review is assigned in Whale, this automation creates an approval request in ApproveThis. It ensures every review undergoes proper decision-making follow-up with a structured workflow. *Note: Verify approval routing settings in ApproveThis.*
Zapier Components

Trigger
New Review
Triggers when a new card or playbook review is assigned to a user.
Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
Add card comments for new approval requests
When a new approval request is initiated in ApproveThis, this integration adds a comment on a Whale card to notify the team. It streamlines decision tracking by coupling approval updates with task management. *Note: Make sure the card identifier is mapped correctly.*
Zapier Components
Trigger
New Request
Triggers when a new approval request workflow is initiated.

Action
Add Comment
Add comment to a card
Create approval requests for overdue assignments
When an assignment becomes overdue in Whale, this automation initiates an approval request in ApproveThis for escalation. It helps ensure timely follow-up and accountability for delayed tasks. *Note: Set approval criteria based on urgency levels.*
Zapier Components

Trigger
Assignment Over Due
Triggers when an assignment is over due
Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
Mark whale assignments done after approvals
When an approval request is completed in ApproveThis, this automation marks the corresponding assignment as done in Whale. It closes the loop on decision-making processes and task fulfillment. *Note: Confirm mapping between approval outcomes and assignment identifiers.*
Zapier Components
Trigger
A Request Is Approved/Denied
Triggers when a request is approved or denied.

Action
Mark Assignment Done
Mark an assignment as done
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