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Seraf Integration

ApproveThis manages your Seraf Integration approvals.

April 17, 2025

Integration Category: Business Intelligence

When Approval Management Meets Fund Intelligence

Approval bottlenecks cost investment firms more than time – they create friction in high-stakes decision cycles. Seraf provides the infrastructure for managing portfolios and investor communications, while ApproveThis adds precision to the human decisions powering those investments. Together through Zapier, they create closed-loop processes where critical approvals trigger actions in Seraf, and Seraf events automatically route for stakeholder review.

Why This Integration Changes the Game

Fund managers using Seraf deal with time-sensitive capital calls, LP consent requests, and compliance deadlines. ApproveThis introduces structure to these approval processes without forcing external LPs or co-investors into new platforms. Key advantages:

  • License-Free External Approvals: Limited partners can review capital call requests via email without needing Seraf logins
  • Decision Audits: Every approval/denial in ApproveThis automatically logs notes in Seraf with context

This integration shines for venture capital firms, family offices, and PE funds managing frequent investor consents or cross-portfolio compliance deadlines.

Real-World Workflow Accelerators

1. Capital Call Approvals with Context

The Problem: General partners often waste days chasing LP signatures via PDF attachments, delaying fund deployments.

The Fix: When Seraf flags an upcoming capital call date, ApproveThis automatically:

  • Routes approval requests to LPs via email with embedded payment details
  • Escalates unanswered requests to backup contacts after 48 hours
  • Updates Seraf with approved amounts and timestamps

Who Wins: Emerging VC firms closing seed rounds can secure LP commitments 62% faster (based on aggregated customer data).

2. Compliance Gatekeeping

The Problem: Missed regulatory filing deadlines lead to fines, but internal reminders get buried in inboxes.

The Fix: Seraf’s compliance calendar triggers multi-tiered approvals in ApproveThis:

  • Legal team reviews filing drafts
  • CFO approves associated fees
  • Upon dual approval, Seraf auto-schedules auditor notifications

3. Portfolio Company Onboarding

The Problem: New acquisitions often stall during KYC/document collection phases.

The Fix: When ApproveThis greenlights a deal, Zapier automatically:

  • Creates a Seraf company profile
  • Attaches approved contracts to the Seraf record
  • Schedules investor update meetings in Seraf’s timeline

Technical Setup Made Simple

Connecting ApproveThis and Seraf takes under 15 minutes through Zapier. Here’s the blueprint:

  1. In Zapier, choose Seraf as your trigger app (e.g., "New Important Date Created")
  2. Select ApproveThis as your action app ("Create Request")
  3. Map Seraf’s date details to ApproveThis’ approval template fields
  4. Add conditional logic if needed (e.g., "Only route approvals over $500K to partners")

Pro Tip: Use ApproveThis’ Calculated Fields to auto-calculate management fees or carried interest percentages based on Seraf’s deal size data.

Department-Specific Wins

Deal Teams

Accelerate portfolio company distributions by tying Seraf’s payment dates to ApproveThis’ threshold rules. Example: Auto-approve sub-$250K disbursements to CFO only, larger amounts require partner consensus.

Investor Relations

Automate capital call workflows where Seraf initiates requests and ApproveThis handles LP consents. Vacation delegation ensures summer months don’t delay fund closes when partners are OOO.

Legal/Compliance

Configure Seraf to trigger document retention policy approvals in ApproveThis whenever portfolio companies reach maturity milestones. All decisions log as Seraf notes with audit trails.

Why This Combo Beats Native Tools

While Seraf manages investor data beautifully, its native approval capabilities lack:

  • External approver support without license costs
  • Multi-tiered conditional routing (e.g., regional approvals for global funds)
  • Email-based approvals with mobile-friendly responsiveness

ApproveThis fills these gaps while keeping all decision records synced to Seraf.

Getting Started

Fund managers ready to eliminate approval delays can:

Final Word

In private markets where speed separates top performers from also-rans, ApproveThis + Seraf provides the infrastructure for decisive action. It’s not about replacing human judgment – it’s about empowering that judgment with context and immediacy.

Next Step: If you manage more than 10 approval-dependent events monthly in Seraf, request a live demo showing how to shave 3+ days off critical path timelines.

🥳

Integrate with Seraf 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 Seraf

Suggested workflows (and their Zapier components) for Seraf

Create approval requests for new important dates

When a new important date is created in Seraf, this automation sends an approval request via ApproveThis to ensure proper review of critical dates. If additional review criteria are needed, adjust your filter steps accordingly.

Zapier Components

Seraf Logo

Trigger

New Important Date

Triggers when a new important date is created in Seraf.

Action

Create Request

Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.

Create notes for new approval requests in Seraf

When a new approval request workflow is initiated in ApproveThis, this integration automatically creates a note in Seraf to log important details. Adjust fields as needed to align with your approval process requirements.

Zapier Components

Trigger

New Request

Triggers when a new approval request workflow is initiated.

Seraf Logo

Action

Create Note

Creates a note in Seraf.

Create companies for completed approval workflows in Seraf

When an approval request is approved or denied in ApproveThis, this automation creates a company record in Seraf for streamlined tracking or onboarding. Adjust mapping fields as required to suit your organizational processes.

Zapier Components

Trigger

A Request Is Approved/Denied

Triggers when a request is approved or denied.

Seraf Logo

Action

Create Company

Creates a company in Seraf.