ApproveThis manages your Outlaw Integration approvals.

When Contracts Meet Approvals: Why This Combo Matters

Let's be real: contracts are where good ideas go to die in red tape. Legal wants everything perfect, sales needs signatures yesterday, and finance won't budge without three layers of sign-off. This is where ApproveThis and Outlaw become your new power couple. Outlaw handles the contract lifecycle, ApproveThis slashes approval bottlenecks – together, they turn "waiting on legal" into an actual workflow instead of a company meme.

What Each Tool Brings to the Table

Outlaw's Game: Contracts that don't suck. Drafting, redlining, e-signatures – it's all there. But when you need five people to OK a pricing change or a new vendor clause, that's where things stall.

ApproveThis' Move: It's the traffic cop for decisions. Legal, finance, whoever – they get clear requests, can approve via email (no new logins), and you're not stuck chasing people down. Bonus: approvers don't need an Outlaw license. External counsel? Just CC them.

Why This Isn't Just Another Integration

Most "integrations" just shuffle data. This one actually fixes broken processes. Example: A sales rep updates a contract in Outlaw. Instead of Slack-bombing VPs for approval, ApproveThis routes it based on deal size. Over $50K? Auto-add the CFO. Legal only gets looped in if there's a non-standard clause. Everyone else stays out of the weeds.

Real Teams Actually Using This

Mid-Sized SaaS Companies: Sales ops auto-triggers contract reviews when deals hit certain thresholds. Legal only sees exceptions, not every renewal. Closes deals 22% faster (actual client metric, but we can't name them).

Manufacturers with 100+ Suppliers: Procurement teams set approval chains in ApproveThis based on contract value. Outlaw updates supplier terms only after internal sign-off. No more rogue discounts.

The Three Workflows You'll Actually Use

1. "Contract Changed? Freeze Everyone Until We Sign Off"

How It Works: Outlaw detects edits to a live contract → ApproveThis pings the right people based on what changed. Add a new liability section? Legal gets it first. Bump the payment terms? Finance jumps in.

Why It's Better Than Email: Version control. All comments and approvals are tied to the exact contract draft in Outlaw. No more "I approved the wrong PDF" excuses.

2. "New Deal? Generate the Contract Automatically… But With Guardrails"

How It Works: Sales team submits an approval request in ApproveThis → Once greenlit, Outlaw auto-generates the contract with pre-approved terms. No more copying old docs and hoping for the best.

Stop Leaking Money: Example: A client wanted custom SLAs. Old process: sales made verbal promises, legal had to retroactively fix contracts. Now, any non-standard terms require pre-approval before the contract even exists.

3. "Approved? Push Updates Without Breaking a Sweat"

How It Works: Final sign-off in ApproveThis → Outlaw updates contract status, notifies signers, and kicks off e-signature flows. No manual toggling between apps.

Audit Trail Bonus: Every approval in ApproveThis timestamps who said yes/no and why. If a client questions a clause later, you've got the paper trail.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

Zapier's the glue here, but don't overcomplicate it. Here's the 80/20:

1. Pick Your Triggers: Start with one workflow. "When contract updated in Outlaw" → "Create approval request in ApproveThis" is the easiest win.
2. Map Fields That Matter: Pull contract ID, change summary, and who initiated it into ApproveThis. Skip the fluff – approvers won't read a novel.
3. Set Escalations: In ApproveThis, add rules like "If no response in 48 hours, notify department head." Prevents logjams.

Pro Tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields for auto-approvals. Example: Contract edits under $10K value? Auto-approve with a finance CC.

Department-Specific Wins

Legal Teams: Reduce "urgent" requests by 60%+. How? Sales can't generate contracts until approvals are done. No more backdoor pressure to rush reviews.

Finance: Tie approval thresholds to contract values. Over $100K? Requires VP sign-off. Integrate with your ERP so approved contracts auto-create POs.

Operations: Vendor contracts auto-renew only if ops lead approves. No more auto-renewing that crappy SaaS tool everyone hates.

What You’re Not Thinking About (But Should)

External Approvers Done Right: Clients or vendors need to approve a change? Add them as guests in ApproveThis. They get emails, click approve, done. No guest logins for Outlaw required.

Vacation Coverage That Works: ApproveThis auto-reassigns approvals if someone's OOO. No more "Sorry, waiting for Jane to get back from Bali" holds.

Bottom Line: This Isn’t About Software

It's about making sure contracts drive business, not block it. ApproveThis + Outlaw via Zapier turns approvals from a bottleneck into a process that actually… works.

Get Started (Like, Today)

If you're already using Outlaw, adding ApproveThis takes maybe 2 hours. Zapier handles the heavy lifting. Book a 15-minute demo and we'll build your first workflow live. Or just grab a free trial and connect the dots yourself. No "sales journey" nonsense.