---
title: "Approval Workflows"
description: "The whole point, end to end — someone asks, the right person signs off, and everyone can see what happened. One request's full life: submitted through a form, routed to its approver, decided."
category: "Getting started"
updated: 2026-08-27
canonical: https://approvethis.com/docs/manuals/approval-workflows
---

# Approval Workflows

A request's full life runs from the form a requester fills out to the moment an approver signs off. This guide walks both halves of that trip: submitting through a published workflow's form, then opening the resulting request as the approver and deciding it. It's written for Requesters submitting work and Administrators who act on it. You'll need a published workflow with a form already in place — the example screenshots use the `Purchase Requests` workflow.

**Who this is for:** a Requester or an Administrator.

> **Prerequisite:** Sign in with one of these roles: Requester, Administrator.

> **Getting here:** It starts at the flow's form — from its shared link or the dashboard's New Request button. The approver's half happens on the request itself, reached from any list that shows it — the flow's Requests tab, My Approvals, or the approval email.


## Submit a request through the flow's form

Submitting through the form is how work enters a workflow: the fields you fill in become the request the approver reviews. Each submission counts against your workspace's monthly request volume, which is set by your workflow tier (25–1000 per month).

1. Sign in as the requester.
2. In **Item**, enter a short description of what you're requesting — the example uses `Team offsite venue deposit`.

   ![In Item, enter a short description of what you're requesting — the example uses Team offsite venue deposit.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s1-01.png)

3. In **Amount**, enter the figure the approver needs to see, such as `1200`.

   ![In Amount, enter the figure the approver needs to see, such as 1200.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s1-02.png)

4. Click **Submit**.

   ![Click Submit.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s1-03.png)


> **Success cue:** The page thanks you for your submission with **Thanks for filling out the Purchase Requests**.

## Approve the request

A submitted request sits with its approver until someone decides it, and that decision is what closes the loop for the requester. Opening the request from the workflow's list lets you read the submitted values before you approve.

1. Sign in as the admin.

   ![Sign in as the admin.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s2-01.png)

2. Click the workflow holding the request you need to review — **Purchase Requests** in the example screenshots.

   ![Click the workflow holding the request you need to review — Purchase Requests in the example screenshots.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s2-02.png)

3. Click **Table** to list the workflow's requests.

   ![Click Table to list the workflow's requests.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s2-03.png)

4. Click the request you're reviewing; the example row is **Team offsite venue deposit**.

   ![Click the request you're reviewing; the example row is Team offsite venue deposit.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s2-04.png)

5. Click **Approve**.

   ![Click Approve.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/approval-workflows/screenshots/approval-workflows-s2-05.png)


> **Success cue:** The request page then reads **You Approved This Request**.

> **What happens next:** From here the approved request keeps working for you — download a tamper-evident record with [Approval Certificates](https://approvethis.com/docs/manuals/approval-certificates.md), discuss it in [Comments](https://approvethis.com/docs/manuals/workflow-comments.md), or — had it been denied — fix and resubmit it with [Revisions](https://approvethis.com/docs/manuals/request-revisions-versioning.md).