ApproveThis manages your Bonsai approvals.

When Business Management Meets Approval Muscle

Let's get real - if your team's still chasing down signatures via email threads or Slack pings for every contract, invoice, or project kickoff, you're leaving money (and sanity) on the table. Enter the tag team you didn't know you needed: Bonsai's client work engine paired with ApproveThis' approval automation.

Bonsai handles the heavy lifting of proposals, contracts, and invoices. ApproveThis acts as the bouncer at the velvet rope - making sure only the legit stuff gets through, with the right people signing off. Connect them through Zapier, and you've got a self-running approval machine that keeps client work moving while you focus on actual business.

Why This Combo Works for Teams That Outgrew "Just Wing It"

Mid-sized companies (50-5,000 employees) hit a breaking point where "good enough" processes start costing real cash. Missed approvals delay projects. Unchecked spending slips through. Clients get antsy waiting on paperwork. Here's where stitching Bonsai + ApproveThis pays off:

No More Approval Black Holes

Bonsai tracks client-facing actions - signed contracts, paid invoices, project milestones. ApproveThis manages who needs to bless those actions internally. Zapier moves the data between them automatically. Result? Finance knows exactly when to release funds after a client pays. Project managers can't start work until contracts get proper sign-off. Everyone's on the same page without the meeting-about-a-meeting crap.

Client-Facing Teams Stay Client-Facing

Your account managers shouldn't be playing approval traffic cop. When Bonsai triggers an approval in ApproveThis via Zapier, approvers get nudged via email or Slack. They click "approve" without needing to log into another tool. External clients? They sign contracts in Bonsai like usual - no ApproveThis account needed. Less context switching means your team actually talks to clients instead of chasing internal sign-offs.

Three Ways This Duo Saves Your Bacon

1. Contracts That Actually Get Reviewed (Before Work Starts)

Scenario: A marketing agency lands a new client. The sales team gets the contract signed in Bonsai. Zapier pings ApproveThis to route the contract to legal, then the VP of Client Services. ApproveThis uses sequential approvals - legal checks compliance first, then leadership approves the resource commitment. Only then does Bonsai auto-create the project workspace.

Real-world impact: No more "Oh crap, we agreed to what?!" moments two months into a project. Legal gets first look without being CC'd on endless emails. Project teams don't jump the gun.

2. Invoices That Don't Ghost Your Finance Team

Scenario: A client pays an invoice in Bonsai. Zapier triggers ApproveThis to alert the accounting manager. They confirm the payment matches the PO, then approve it in one click. ApproveThis automatically updates the ERP system (via another Zap) and notifies the account lead to check in with the client.

Real-world impact: Finance stops playing detective with payment paper trails. Account managers get alerted to happy clients for upsell opportunities. Late payments get flagged faster because the approval paper trail is airtight.

3. Projects That Launch When They Should (Not When Someone Remembers)

Scenario: An IT consultancy approves a client's scope change in ApproveThis. Zapier instantly creates a new Bonsai project with the approved specs, due dates, and assigned team. Bonsai auto-sends the updated SOW, while ApproveThis notifies the client's main contact that things are moving.

Real-world impact: No more "Wait, did anyone tell the dev team about this?" delays. Clients see action within minutes of approval, not days. Project managers aren't manually recreating data across platforms.

Setting It Up Without Losing Your Mind

Zapier's the glue here, and setup's about as complicated as making toast:

1. Pick your trigger in Bonsai (contract signed, invoice paid, etc.)
2. Choose the ApproveThis action (create request, update project, etc.)
3. Map the data fields once - contract ID → approval ticket, client name → requester, etc.

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields to auto-flag high-risk contracts. Example: If a Bonsai contract value exceeds $50k, route it to senior leadership automatically. No manual checks needed.

Who Wins Besides Your Sanity?

Finance Teams

Approval thresholds mean invoices under $1k get auto-approved if they match the PO. Overages get kicked to the CFO. Vacation delegation prevents "Jenny's out so we can't pay vendors" disasters.

Operations Managers

Real-time dashboards show which contracts are stuck in legal limbo. Approval groups let multiple departments weigh in without 47 reply-all emails.

Client Services

Clients see Bonsai's clean interface for signing. They never see the internal approval sausage-making. Faster approvals mean you deliver updates before clients even ask.

The Nuts and Bolts You Care About

ApproveThis plays nice with Bonsai without turning into an IT project:

• Approvers only need email - no extra licenses for Bonsai or ApproveThis
• Conditional routing handles edge cases (rush fees, international clients)
• Audit trails cover your ass during compliance reviews

Translation: Your people spend time on work that matters, not approval busywork.

Bottom Line: Stop Approving, Start Doing

Growing teams can't afford approval bottlenecks. But building custom workflow automations? That's a full-time job. Using ApproveThis + Bonsai via Zapier gives you enterprise-grade control without the enterprise-grade headache.

Ready to stop herding cats? Get ApproveThis rolling, hook it up to your Bonsai account, and watch approvals handle themselves. Or schedule a demo to see how it plays with your current setup. Either way, your future self (and your annoyed accounting team) will thank you.