Create and manage approval flows
Use the Flows tab to read the list of flows, build a flow step by step, let several groups approve one step in any order, choose how many people approve each step, change or reorder steps, and delete a flow that nothing uses.
An approval flow is the path an expense takes before it is approved: a list of steps, run from top to bottom, where each step is one group of people, or several groups asked at the same time. You build and change flows on the Flows tab of Approval settings, and then pick a flow for a benefit or a category in Benefit settings. This article covers the list of flows, building a flow, the rule on each step, steps with several groups, editing, deleting, and flows that approve automatically.
Open the Flows tab
In the HR menu, open Settings, select Approval settings, then select the Flows tab. The list of flows is on the left, and the flow you select opens in the editor beside it.
Read the list of flows
The list, headed Flows with the number of flows, shows in this order:
- Standard approvers, marked Managed by CLVR. It reviews every uploaded expense that no other flow covers. CLVR keeps it, so you can look at it but not change it.
- Your company's flows, oldest first.
- New flow, to start a new one.
Each flow in the list shows its name, its steps and how many categories use it:
- The steps read from first to last, for example "Manager → HR + Finance → Salary". Groups that share a step are joined with "+" when all of them must approve, and with "or" when any one of them can, as in "HR or Finance".
- The usage reads Not used yet, "Used by 1 category" or "Used by 3 categories". For Standard approvers, these are the categories whose uploaded expenses go to the standard approvers.
A red dot means the flow needs attention.
Select a flow to open it in the editor.
Create a flow
Select New flow at the bottom of the list. A flow called "New flow", with no steps, opens in the editor.
Select the name at the top of the editor and type a name you will recognise in Benefit settings, for example "Manager then Finance". Every flow needs a name: the page won't save a blank one.
Add the steps in the order they should approve. See the next section.
Select Save changes in the bar at the bottom of the page.
A new flow does nothing until a benefit or a category uses it. Its Used by line, at the bottom of the editor, says "No benefits yet. Pick this flow in Benefit settings to use it." See the article on applying an approval flow to benefits and uploads.
Add and order the steps
The editor draws the flow from Expense submitted (a receipt or a store order) at the top to Approved (sent to payroll) at the bottom, with an arrow between each part. Steps run from top to bottom, and each step has to approve before the next one starts.
Above the flow is a row of groups: Manager, HR and each of your own groups. To add a step, do one of these:
- Select a group in that row to add it as the last step.
- Drag a group onto an arrow to put it there.
- Select the + on an arrow and pick a group from the Add step menu.
To add a group to a step that is already there instead, so that both are asked at the same time, drag it onto that step. See "Let several groups approve one step" below.
A group can be used only once in a flow, whether as a step of its own or inside a step with other groups. A group that is already in the flow is greyed out in the row and marked In flow in the menu.
To change the order, drag a step by its handle (Drag to reorder) onto another arrow. To remove a step, select the x on it (Remove step).
Each step shows its number and its group, with the step's rule on the right. A group with nobody in it also shows No members in red under the group's name.
To add your own groups, such as Salary or Finance, create them first on the Approvers tab. See the article on managing approvers and approval groups.
Choose who needs to approve each step
A group with two or more people has a Who needs to approve choice on its card:
- Any 1 of [number] approves: the first approval completes the step. This is what a new step starts with.
- All [number] approve: everyone in the group has to approve.
- At least [number]: you choose how many have to approve. This is offered for groups of three or more people, from 2 up to one fewer than everyone in the group.
Some steps have no choice:
- A Manager step is one person, so it shows Approves alone.
- A group with one person shows "[name] approves".
- A group with nobody in it shows Add members in Approvers.
If people leave a group so that a step's At least number no longer fits, the step changes to the nearest rule that does. At least 2 of a group that is down to two people becomes All 2 approve, and a higher number drops to one fewer than everyone in the group. Check the step before you save.
When a step's rule is met, the people in that step who have not answered yet are skipped, and the expense moves on to the next step. One decline from anyone declines the whole expense, whatever the rule. See the article on how a step is approved and when reviewers are skipped.
Let several groups approve one step
A step can hold more than one group. All the groups in the step are asked at the same time and can approve in any order, so none of them waits for another. Use it when, for example, HR and Finance both need to sign off on an expense.
To put groups in one step, do one of these:
- Hover over the arrow between two steps and select Run together. The step below joins the step above. On a touch screen, Run together is always shown.
- Drag a group from the row above the flow onto a step. The step shows "Run with [group]" while you hold the group over it, and the group joins the step when you drop it. Dropping a group on an arrow still adds it as a new step.
- Drag a step onto another step to run the two together.
A step with two or more groups shows as a dashed purple frame with its step number, an Any order chip and a choice of which groups need to approve:
- All must approve: every group in the step has to meet its own rule before the expense moves on. This is what a step with several groups starts with.
- Any one can approve: the first group to meet its own rule completes the step.
Each group in the frame keeps its own Who needs to approve rule, as described above. For example, one step can ask for any one person in HR and all three people in Finance.
The frame moves as one step. Drag it by its handle onto another arrow, and all its groups move together.
To take a group out of the step, select Move to its own step (the unlink icon) on the group's card. The group becomes a new step right after it. When only one group is left, the frame turns back into a normal step card. A group inside a frame has no x: to remove it from the flow, move it to its own step first, then remove that step.
A group with nobody in it gives the flow a red dot, also when it is inside a step with other groups. When an expense reaches that step, the empty group is skipped and the other groups in the step are still asked.
Save your changes
Everything you change on the page is a draft until you select Save changes in the bar at the bottom. Discard throws away all unsaved changes. You can change several flows and groups and save them together.
Edit a flow
Select the flow in the list, change its name, steps, order, rules or which groups run together, and select Save changes. When you save:
- New expenses follow the updated flow.
- Expenses already part way through the flow keep the people who have already been asked to review them. Each step's rule, and the steps that come after it, are read from the flow as it is saved when someone approves. So a change also reaches expenses that are already waiting in the flow.
- The benefits and categories that use the flow keep using it. You don't need to pick it again.
Delete a flow
Select the flow in the list and select Delete flow at the top of the editor.
In Delete [flow name]?, select Delete. The flow leaves the list.
Select Save changes. Once saved, the deletion can't be undone.
You can't delete a flow that a benefit, a category or your company's default for uploaded expenses uses. The Delete flow button is greyed out. Hover over it to see Can't delete while in use and what uses the flow. The Used by line at the bottom of the editor lists the categories they belong to. Pick another flow for each of them in Benefit settings first, then delete this one.
Flows that approve automatically
Some companies have a flow that approves expenses as soon as they are submitted, with no one reviewing them. In the list it is marked Built in, and the editor shows Approved straight away. You can pick it for a benefit or a category in Benefit settings like any other flow, but you can't rename it, add steps to it or delete it on this page.
A flow saved with no steps also approves every expense without review. The editor warns you in red: "This flow has no steps, so its expenses are approved without anyone reviewing them. Add at least one step."
Troubleshooting
- A flow has a red dot. It has no steps, or one of its groups has nobody in it, on a step of its own or inside a step with other groups. The red text in the editor says which, for example "Finance has no members, so expenses in this flow skip it." Add a step, or add people to the group on the Approvers tab.
- Saving stops with "Give every group and flow a name, then save again." A flow or a group has an empty name. Name it and save again.
- I can't add a group as a step. It is already in this flow, on a step of its own or inside a step with other groups. Each group can be used once per flow.
- I can't find Run together. It shows when you hover over an arrow between two steps. The arrow above the first step and the arrow below the last step don't have it.
- A group inside a frame has no x. Select Move to its own step on the group's card first, then remove the new step with its x.
- There is no At least option. It is offered only for groups of three or more. For a group of two, choose All 2 approve.
- Delete flow is greyed out. A benefit or category still uses the flow. Hover over the button to see which, pick another flow for them in Benefit settings, then delete it.
- My new flow is missing in Benefit settings. Select Save changes on Approval settings first. Only saved flows can be picked.
- I can't change a flow that approves straight away. Flows marked Built in can't be changed on this page.
- I want to change the Standard approvers. CLVR keeps that list. Contact CLVR support.