Playbook: Approvals desk

Approval requests get lost in email threads

The problem

Purchase requests, discounts, days off, expense claims — they travel by email, get forwarded, sit in someone's inbox while they're away, and nobody can say what is waiting on whom. The person approving wants one screen; the person waiting wants an answer.

What you end up with

An internal app with two views. Requesters see their own requests and the status of each. Approvers see everything waiting for them, with the context they need to decide, and approve or reject with one tap and an optional comment.

What it needs

• Access level: App Builder access.
• Instance: connected, if the requests relate to ERP documents or if you want approvals written back.
• Pro app: yes, if requests live in the app itself rather than in ERP — they need table storage.
• Sharing: the app shared with requesters and approvers.

Build it step by step

1. In the App Builder:

   Build a Pro app called "Approvals". It has two views. As a requester I see my own requests and their status. As an approver I see everything waiting for my decision.

2. Describe one request type properly before adding more:

   Start with purchase requests. A request has a title, a supplier, an amount, a currency, a reason, and an optional attachment. Store requests in the app's own table.

3. Define who approves what:

   Anything up to 1000 is approved by the team lead. Above that it also needs the finance manager. Show the approver only what is theirs to decide.

4. Make deciding fast:

   Approve and Reject buttons on the row itself. Rejecting requires a comment. Show the requester's previous requests so the approver has context.

5. Close the loop:

   Notify the requester as soon as a decision is made, and notify the approver when something new is waiting.

6. Share it with the team.

Try it

Log in as yourself and raise a request, then have a colleague open their view. The question to answer is: could they decide without asking you anything? If they'd need to ask "what is this for?", add that field.

Variations

• Days off — same structure, different fields, plus a calendar view.
• Discount approval — pulled from the order the salesperson is working on.
• Write back to ERP — the approval changes a document state rather than only a row in the app.
• Agent assist — an agent pre-checks each request against your rules and adds a recommendation before a human decides.

Where it can go wrong

• Silent queues. Without notifications it becomes another place nobody looks. Notify on both sides.
• Absent approvers. Decide up front what happens when someone is on holiday — a deputy, or escalation after N days.
• Everything at once. One request type, working well, beats five half-finished ones.
• Audit. Keep the decision, the comment, the person and the timestamp. You will be asked about it eventually.