Use a custom approval flow for a benefit or a category's uploads
Route a single benefit's requests, or a whole category's uploaded expense reports, through an approval flow you choose instead of the default.
Most benefits and uploads follow a sensible default: some are approved automatically, others wait for manual review in the HR inbox. When a single benefit or a whole category needs different handling, you can route just that benefit, or that category's uploaded expense reports, through one of your approval flows without changing anything else. Both are set on the Benefit Settings page: the per-benefit control is the Custom approval column of the benefits table, and the per-category control is a switch in the Upload Expense Report card. This article covers both.
Before you start
Custom approval reuses the approval flows you have already built, so you need at least one. Create them on the Approval Flows page first. Until a flow exists, the per-benefit Custom approval checkbox and the per-category switch both stay disabled, and hovering either shows the reason: "Set up approval flows before enabling custom approval."
Custom approval for an individual benefit
Open Benefit Settings and expand the category that contains the benefit. Each benefit row has a Custom approval column with a checkbox and a flow selector that reads Default until you choose one.
Tick Custom approval on the benefit's row.
Pick a flow in the selector next to the checkbox. The list shows the flows you created on Approval Flows.
Select Save Changes at the bottom of that category to apply the change.
From then on, every request for that benefit runs through the flow you picked, while the rest of the category keeps its own behaviour.
What "Default" means
When Custom approval is off, the benefit uses its built-in default, which depends on the benefit:
- Auto-approved by HR: requests clear automatically.
- Manual review in the HR inbox: a person reviews each request before it is approved.
Hovering the unchecked Custom approval checkbox shows which default applies to that specific benefit, so you can decide whether a custom flow is worth adding.
Remove a custom flow from a benefit
To send a benefit back to its default, untick Custom approval on its row and select Save Changes for that category. This removes the benefit's custom mapping, and the next request follows the default again.
Custom approval for a category's expense uploads
When an employee uploads an expense receipt against a category, the resulting report is sent through an approval flow. By default that is your company's standard flow, but you can override it per category so a specific category's uploads follow a flow you choose.
Open the category you want to change and look at its Upload Expense Report card, the one described as configuring how this category appears when employees upload expense receipts. On the right side of the card you will find the Enable custom approval flow switch.
When the switch is off, its helper text describes what the company default does for this category, for example "Default: approved by standard approvers." or a line naming the standard flow and its steps. That tells you what uploads use today before you change anything.
Turn on Enable custom approval flow.
An Approval flow selector appears. Open it and pick the flow you want this category's uploads to follow. The placeholder reads Select approval flow.
Select Save Changes. A confirmation appears, for example "Wellness settings have been updated successfully."
From then on, every expense report uploaded against this category runs through the flow you chose, while other categories keep using the company default.
To send a category's uploads back through the standard flow, turn Enable custom approval flow off and select Save Changes. This removes the category's custom mapping, so its uploads follow the company default again. The helper text under the switch shows that default, so you can confirm what they will use.
Per-benefit custom approval and per-category upload approval are independent. Use the Custom approval column in the benefits table to route a single benefit, and the Enable custom approval flow switch in the Upload Expense Report card to route a whole category's uploaded expense reports.
Troubleshooting
- The checkbox or switch is greyed out. You have no approval flows yet. The tooltip "Set up approval flows before enabling custom approval." confirms this. Create one on Approval Flows, then come back.
- Saving failed with "Select an approval flow". Custom approval is enabled but no flow is chosen. Pick a flow in the selector, or turn custom approval off, then save again.
- The change did not take effect. Make sure you used the Save Changes button at the bottom of the same category you edited. Each category saves on its own. For category uploads, the change applies only to reports uploaded after you save, not to ones already in review.