ApproveThis manages your PrintNode Integration approvals.

Why Approval Management Needs a Printing Partner

Let’s cut to the chase: approvals slow things down. Print jobs pile up while managers debate budgets, legal teams nitpick compliance language, or finance leads hunt down purchase orders. ApproveThis fixes the decision-making bottleneck. PrintNode eliminates the physical printer chaos. Together? They turn “approve then print” from a multi-day email chain into a 15-minute automated process.

Here’s the kicker: 43% of companies still handle approvals manually via email or paper forms (yes, paper). That means invoices get lost, contracts print without signatures, and compliance teams develop premature gray hairs. This integration isn’t about cool tech – it’s about fixing the crap that wastes your team’s time.

How This Combo Actually Works

ApproveThis handles the “who said yes” part with customizable workflows, automatic escalations, and email approvals. PrintNode manages the “where does it print” logistics across offices, remote teams, or third-party vendors. Connect them via Zapier, and you’ve got a system where approved requests automatically trigger print jobs to the right printer, in the right location, with zero human babysitting.

Key advantage: Approvers don’t need PrintNode licenses. Your external legal counsel can approve contracts via email without logging into yet another system. Your warehouse manager gets print confirmations on their phone without IT setup. This matters when you’re dealing with cross-team or client-facing processes.

Real-World Use Cases (Not Just Theory)

1. Compliance Teams: Stop Playing Printer Police

Healthcare providers and financial institutions can’t afford unapproved documents floating around. A hospital chain uses this integration to:

• Auto-route patient discharge instructions for doctor approval in ApproveThis
• Print only approved documents to HIPAA-compliant printers via PrintNode

Result: Nurses get finalized instructions faster, and audit trails auto-generate. No more “Oops, I printed the draft version” at 2 AM.

2. Operations Teams: Approval-to-Shipment in One Click

A manufacturing company links ApproveThis purchase order approvals to PrintNode shipping label printers. Now:

• Approved POs trigger custom packing slips
• Denied POs auto-email procurement teams with rejection reasons

Warehouse staff stop waiting for manager sign-offs. Production lines keep moving.

3. HR Teams: Offer Letters That Don’t Embarrass You

One retail company caught an offer letter with the wrong salary… after it was printed and mailed. Now, HR:

1. Creates offer letters in their HRIS
2. Routes them through ApproveThis for legal + hiring manager review
3. Auto-prints via PrintNode only after both approve

Mistakes get caught before they’re en route to candidates. Legal sleeps better.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

Zapier does the heavy lifting. You’ll:

1. Connect ApproveThis and PrintNode to your Zapier account
2. Choose a trigger (e.g., “Request Approved” in ApproveThis)
3. Set the action (e.g., “Print Label” in PrintNode)
4. Test with a low-stakes process first (office supply orders, not CEO bonuses)

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’s calculated fields to auto-flag high-risk requests. Example: If a print job exceeds $5K, require CFO approval before PrintNode touches it.

Why This Isn’t Just for the Office Manager

Finance Teams:

Auto-print approved invoices to your AP department’s printer. Denied invoices? They get PDF annotations showing exactly why, sent back to vendors without awkward calls.

Sales Teams:

Proposals print at regional offices only after local managers approve commission terms. No more overpromising discounts because someone hit “Print” too early.

IT Teams:

New device requests (yes, PrintNode handles those too) auto-print setup instructions to the service desk. Less “Where’s the WiFi password?” More actual work getting done.

The Hidden Perks You’ll Actually Care About

ApproveThis’s vacation delegation stops print jobs from dying because Karen in accounting is on safari. Approval thresholds let you auto-approve small reorders (toner, paper) while flagging big purchases for review. And since everything’s tracked in one dashboard, you can finally answer “Who approved this?!” in under 10 seconds.

PrintNode brings its own firepower: print job encryption, failed job alerts, and granular user permissions. Together, they’re like insurance against “But I thought you checked that!” moments.

When to Consider This Integration

If your company:

• Prints sensitive documents (contracts, compliance reports)
• Has remote teams or multiple office locations
• Wastes time manually routing print jobs

...this isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s a “why are we still doing this manually?” wake-up call.

Getting Started (Without the Sales Pitch)

Test drive with a free ApproveThis trial and PrintNode’s developer plan. Set up one simple Zap – like auto-printing approved meeting agendas. Once you see approvals and printers actually talking to each other, you’ll spot a dozen other processes to fix.

Or skip the DIY and book a demo to see how companies your size automate their messiest approval-print workflows. Either way, stop letting paperwork bottlenecks dictate your team’s speed.