---
title: "Email-to-Workflow"
description: "Give a workflow its own email address. Anything sent to it becomes an approval request automatically, and emailed documents can be parsed so their values land on the request's fields."
category: "Ways requests arrive"
updated: 2026-08-27
canonical: https://approvethis.com/docs/manuals/email-to-workflow
---

# Email-to-Workflow

Some approvals arrive as email in the first place: a vendor sends an invoice, a colleague forwards a quote. A workflow in ApproveThis can be given its own inbound email address (a Mailbox), and every message sent to that address opens a new request automatically. This guide covers creating an email-triggered workflow and pointing it at a document processor so that emailed attachments are parsed and their values land on the request's fields. It's written for Administrators, and Mailbox settings live inside the workflow builder.

**Who this is for:** an Administrator.

> **Prerequisite:** Sign in as an Administrator.

> **Getting here:** Create a new workflow (the + beside Approval Workflows in the sidebar, or any New Flow button) — the setup walks you through what needs approval and how requests arrive, and picking email as the arrival is what mints the workflow's own inbound address.

## Create a flow with its own email address

Requests that originate in someone's inbox otherwise have to be retyped into a form by hand. Giving the workflow its own address means the sender just emails it, and the request exists — available on all tiers.

1. Sign in with your Administrator account.
2. Open the new workflow builder at `https://app.approvethis.com/flows/new`.

   ![Open the new workflow builder at https://app.approvethis.com/flows/new.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s1-01.png)

3. Choose the starting point that matches the kind of approval you're building — the example screenshots use **Invoice approval**.

   ![Choose the starting point that matches the kind of approval you're building — the example screenshots use Invoice approval.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s1-02.png)

4. Click **Continue**.

   ![Click Continue.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s1-03.png)

5. Select **An email** as how requests will reach this workflow.

   ![Select An email as how requests will reach this workflow.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s1-04.png)

6. Click **Continue**.

   ![Click Continue.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s1-05.png)

7. Click **Review** to look over the workflow before it's created.

   ![Click Review to look over the workflow before it's created.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s1-06.png)

8. Click **Create & test**.

   ![Click Create & test.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s1-07.png)


> **Success cue:** The workflow's own inbound address appears under **Mailbox address** — that's what senders write to.

## Choose a document processor for emailed attachments

An emailed invoice or receipt is a PDF, not form data, so someone has to read it and key the numbers in. Selecting a processor has ApproveThis extract the document's values and map them onto the request's fields; the available processors are Invoice, Receipt, ID Document, Health Insurance Card, Contract, and Layout.

1. Click **Test & publish**.

   ![Click Test & publish.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s2-01.png)

2. Click **Settings**.

   ![Click Settings.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s2-02.png)

3. Open the **Attachments** tab.

   ![Open the Attachments tab.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s2-03.png)

4. Under **Document processing**, pick the processor that matches the documents this workflow receives — such as **Invoice** for vendor billing.

   ![Under Document processing, pick the processor that matches the documents this workflow receives — such as Invoice for vendor billing.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s2-04.png)

5. Click **Save**.

   ![Click Save.](https://approvethis.com/docs-assets/manuals/email-to-workflow/screenshots/email-to-workflow-s2-05.png)


> **Success cue:** **Attachment settings saved.** confirms the processor is now attached to the workflow.

> **What happens next:** Email the address and the message becomes a request — subject, body, sender, and attachments captured onto its fields, routed like any other request. With a document processor set, values extracted from attachments land on matching fields automatically. Until you publish, requests route back to you for testing.