Approval flows and thresholds

Approval flows are available in our Premium and Pro plans.

Approval flows help you control how application and budget change requests are reviewed before changes are made in your workspace.

They allow you to require either one or two approvers, with approvals triggered based on budget thresholds and the selected payment method.

As a SaaS Admin, Approval flow settings can be configured in Settings > Workspace Settings > Preferences.

There, you can choose the approval levels you need:

   Approval flow
   Dual approval flow

And configure the approval triggers:

   Application with budget: Always
   Application with budget: Threshold
   All application requests (with or without budget)

When using both Single and Dual approval, keep the following configuration rules in mind:

   Dual approval set to Always
   Dual approval set to a threshold
   'Require approval for all application requests' enabled in Dual approval

For practical examples of how to configure approval flows for different governance needs, see: Approval flow case studies.


Approval levels

Approval levels determine how many approvals a request must receive before it can be completed.

Before activating approval flows, set up teams and assign each user the correct role to ensure requests are routed to the right person.

Approval flow

When Approval flow is turned on, application requests require one approval from:

  • An Admin, or
  • A Team Manager

Dual Approval flow

When Dual approval flow is enabled, application requests require two approvals:

  1. First-level approval (Administrator or Team Manager)
  2. Second-level approval (a designated Second Approver)

You must assign a Second Level Approver when enabling Dual approval.

Dual approval typically requires requests to be reviewed by a first approver and then a second approver before they are completed.

Exception

If a request is created directly by the assigned Second Level Approver, the approval flow will be automatically cleared.

In this case, the request does not go through the first level of approval.

Example: If the designated Second Approver submits a new application request themselves, the system will automatically approve the application without requiring an additional first-level approval.


Approval triggers

Approval triggers determine when a request enters the approval flow.

You can configure the following trigger types:

Application with budget: Always

All application requests with a budget or payment method will require approval.

Application with budget: Threshold

Approval is required only when the request exceeds a defined budget threshold.

You must enter a numeric value greater than 0.

All application requests (with or without budget)

When this option is enabled, all application requests, regardless of whether it's paid or free, will go through the approval flow.

This includes:

  • Free tools
  • Applications without a selected payment method

If this option is disabled, approval is triggered only according to the selected Always or Threshold configuration.

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How Single and Dual approval settings work together

When Dual approval is enabled, requests generally go through Single approval first, followed by a second level of approval (see exception). 

The following rules ensure requests follow a consistent approval path:

Dual approval set to Always

If Dual approval is enabled and set to Always, Single approval must also be set to Always.

Dual approval set to a threshold

If Dual approval uses a threshold:

  • Single approval may also use a threshold
  • The Dual approval threshold must be the same or higher than the Single approval threshold

'Require approval for all application requests' enabled in Dual Approval

If “Require approval for all application requests” is enabled for Dual approval, it must also be enabled for Single approval.

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