Document Approvals

✅ Document Approvals

"Make it official, keep it auditable."
Collect approval traces for policies, risks, and other critical documents.

Document approvals provide an auditable record of which manager or stakeholder approved which version of a document (e.g., policies, risk acceptance, meeting minutes).

When a new version is assigned and the document type has an approval workflow configured (e.g., policies and procedures), the approval stages appear with Approve and Reject buttons.

1️⃣ Approving or Rejecting a Document

If no user is pre-assigned for the first stage, you will see Approve and Reject buttons to move between approval phases.
On your first approval/rejection, you will be prompted to configure two-factor authentication (2FA) via QR code (Authy, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator).
Once set up, future approvals require only the 6-digit code.

⚠ Caution: Once enabled, 2FA is required for login as well. Do not lose access to your authenticator app. You can remove 2FA from your profile page if necessary.

2️⃣ Configure Approval Stages and Notifications

Approval stages can be customized per document using the Configure approval stages option.

Stage & approvers – Assign who can approve/reject each stage. Approvers receive an automatic invitation once the stage is reached. If no user is configured, anyone can approve this stage.
Notify list – Select users or external contacts to be informed when a stage is reached (view-only).
Add Stage – Insert new phases as needed.
Final approval notifications – Define who gets notified when the document is fully approved.
Approval type – Choose Static (no edits during approval) or Dynamic (allow edits during approval).
Disallow same user for multiple stages – Prevents one person from approving multiple phases.
Save resets current approvals – Resets all existing approvals of this version to stage 1.
Copy from – Import stage setup from another configuration.
Align approval workflow – Ensure workflow matches the default document type setup.

📌 Any changes here reset the approval flow for the current version (but version number stays).

3️⃣ Default Approval Stages by Document Type

You can define default approval workflows for all documents of a certain type in Document Types & Templates.

Show approval stages – Activates static approval phases, where no edits are allowed during approval.
Dynamic stages – Allows updates during approval (useful in quality management or when you have to keep collecting information during the approval flow).
Modify stages – Opens the same configuration screen as above.

4️⃣ My Document Approvals

Each user can view their pending approvals in My Document Approvals.

5️⃣ Document Review Requests

From the More button in document view, select Request document review.

These review tasks appear in My Compliance under Tasks.
Great for ad-hoc approvals or peer reviews.

6️⃣ Best Practices

🔐 Enable 2FA early to streamline approvals.
👥 Use groups instead of individuals when assigning approvers.
📩 Set up notifications so stakeholders stay informed without needing approval rights.
🚨 Prevent conflicts of interest by disallowing the same user across multiple stages.
📝 Document your approval policy for auditors.

🎯 Visual Checklist

[x] 2FA configured for approvers
[x] Approval workflow assigned
[ ] Notifications set up for key stakeholders
[ ] Document type defaults aligned
[ ] Pending approvals checked in My Document Approvals
[ ] Review requests tracked in My Compliance

Updated on: 02/09/2025

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