ApproveThis manages your Severa Integration approvals.

Two Platforms, One Unified Workflow

Severa’s project management suite and ApproveThis’s approval automation form a natural partnership for businesses seeking to eliminate bottlenecks in project execution and financial oversight. While Severa excels at managing tasks, phases, and invoicing within projects, ApproveThis adds a layer of structured governance by ensuring every critical decision follows your organization’s approval protocols. Together, they create a closed-loop system where project data triggers approvals, and approval outcomes automatically update project records – all without manual intervention.

This integration isn’t just about speed. It’s about creating audit-ready processes. When a phase change in Severa requires executive sign-off, or an approved budget adjustment needs immediate reflection in project timelines, the Zapier-powered connection between these platforms ensures accountability is baked into every step. Teams maintain agility while leadership retains visibility, striking the balance that prevents both micromanagement and operational freefall.

Where Severa Ends, ApproveThis Begins

Severa’s strength lies in its ability to centralize project details – hours logged, phases completed, invoices generated. ApproveThis complements this by managing the human decisions that govern those activities. Consider these intersections:

Project Initiation Guardrails

When a $500K engineering project appears in Severa, ApproveThis can require CTO and CFO sign-offs before the first task is assigned. For a marketing agency, new client projects might need compliance reviews to ensure they align with industry regulations before resources are committed.

Financial Controls in Motion

Phase completions in Severa often trigger invoices or budget releases. With ApproveThis, these financial actions can require validation. A construction firm might auto-route change order approvals to project managers when phases exceed estimated hours, while a consultancy could enforce partner review before final invoices are sent.

Real-World Workflows for Key Teams

Project Managers: Phase Governance

A software development team using Severa phases for sprints can integrate ApproveThis to handle scope change approvals. When a phase’s status changes to “Delayed” in Severa, ApproveThis triggers a review workflow where the PM justifies the delay, and stakeholders vote on extending deadlines or reallocating resources. Approvers receive email notifications with one-click approval options, keeping the project moving even when decision-makers aren’t logged into Severa.

Finance Teams: Invoice Integrity

For businesses managing retainers or milestone billing, the integration ensures invoices reflect approved work. When a Severa invoice reaches “Ready for Review” status, ApproveThis can route it to the client’s procurement team via email. Their approval automatically updates Severa’s invoice status to “Client Approved,” triggering the accounting team to send the finalized invoice. This eliminates the back-and-forth of PDF attachments and spreadsheet tracking.

Operations Leaders: Compliance Safeguards

Industries with strict regulatory requirements (like healthcare IT or public sector contracting) benefit from tying Severa project data to approval audits. A new project tagged “HIPAA-Related” in Severa could auto-generate an ApproveThis workflow requiring legal and compliance sign-off. All decision records, including comments and document attachments, are stored alongside the project in Severa via automated activity logging.

Five Automation Patterns You Can Deploy Today

1. Phase Approval Escalations

Use Case: Architecture firms often face client-driven scope creep during design phases. When a Severa phase exceeds its planned hours by 15%, ApproveThis can auto-create an approval request for additional budget. The workflow escalates unresolved requests to a senior partner after 48 hours, using calculated fields to show cost overruns.

2. Project Kickoff Governance

Use Case: A marketing agency using Severa to track client projects auto-routes all new projects through an ApproveThis checklist. The workflow requires confirmation of signed SOWs, resource availability checks from department heads, and risk assessments for projects exceeding $250K. Approved projects auto-populate Severa templates with pre-approved budgets and timelines.

3. Invoice Exception Handling

Use Case: When a Severa invoice includes line items flagged as “Out of Scope,” ApproveThis triggers a multi-step review. The account manager justifies the charges, then the client’s AP team approves via email. Approved exceptions update Severa’s invoice status and log the approval rationale as a project activity.

4. Compliance Gatekeeping

Use Case: A healthcare IT integrator tags Severa projects by regulatory impact. Projects involving patient data auto-create ApproveThis workflows requiring sign-off from the security officer and legal counsel. Approval grants update Severa’s project status to “Compliance Cleared,” unlocking sensitive data access for engineers.

5. Change Order Management

Use Case: Construction PMs updating a phase’s status to “Delayed Due to Weather” in Severa trigger ApproveThis workflows for schedule changes. Subcontractors approve new timelines via mobile-friendly email links, with responses updating Severa’s Gantt charts and notifying procurement teams to adjust material delivery schedules.

Implementation Essentials

Start by mapping approval choke points in your current Severa workflows. Common candidates include project creation, phase transitions exceeding planned budgets, and invoices with non-standard terms. In Zapier, create a new Zap using Severa triggers tied to these events (new project, phase status change, invoice update). Map critical data points – project ID, phase budget variance percentages, invoice exceptions – into ApproveThis request templates.

Configure multi-step approval logic in ApproveThis: Set thresholds where phase delays under 5% auto-approve but larger variances route to steering committees. Use calculated fields to display cost impacts based on Severa’s time tracking data. Enable vacation delegation so absent approvers don’t bottleneck processes. Finally, set up Zapier actions to push approval outcomes back into Severa – updating project statuses, logging activities, or modifying invoices.

Why This Integration Delivers ROI

For Project-Driven Organizations

Consultancies and agencies reduce non-billable hours spent chasing approvals. A digital studio using this integration cut project launch delays by 70% by replacing email threads with automated approval workflows that included embedded project briefs and resource plans.

For Regulated Industries

Healthcare and financial services firms gain audit trails that link project changes to approval records. A fintech company automated compliance reviews for Severa projects, reducing audit prep time from 3 weeks to 4 days annually.

For Scaling Businesses

Growing teams maintain consistency as they onboard new managers. Approval workflows in ApproveThis enforce checklists – ensuring even junior PMs in Severa follow governance steps that seasoned leaders would manually track.

Getting Started

Begin with a pilot workflow – often project creation or invoice approvals. Use ApproveThis’s pre-built templates for common Severa triggers, customizing fields to match your project data. Train teams on reviewing approvals via email (no new logins required for occasional approvers). Measure time saved versus manual processes, then expand to other use cases.

Ready to transform how your organization governs projects and finances? Book a demo to see tailored examples for your industry, or explore Zapier’s Severa integrations to start building your first automated workflow.