1. Overview

Approval workflows enable user to perform approval-related operations directly from the live mode of the application. The live mode provides an interface where an user can submit records for approval, track their status, and recall requests if permitted. On the other hand/Similarly/, approvers can review submissions, approve or reject them, and view their approval history.

To explain approvals in live mode better, let us consider the two types of users involved in the process:

1. Requesters: The users who submits a record in a form configured with approval workflow. The submitted record is automatically treated as an approval request and routed into the approval process.
2. Approvers: The users who are designated to review and either approve or reject the submitted records.

Note: An approver can also be a requester.

When a requester submits a record that meets the approval workflows criteria, it is routed to the designated approver or approvers (based on the configuration) at Level 1 for review. The approvers can access the pending requests in the notification and in the approvals section of the application.

Once the approver (or any approver at that level) approves the record, it moves to the next approval level until it reaches the final level for completion. If any approver rejects the record, the approval process ends immediately and does not proceed to further levels. At each approval level, when a record is approved or rejected, the associated actions configured in the approval workflow will be executed automatically.

2. Approvals section

When an approval workflow is configured in a Zoho Creator application, the users can access a dedicated Approvals section in the live mode of the application from the app menu. This section is only visible to users who have access to the form configured with the approval workflow or to those designated as approvers.

The Approvals section comprises two subsections as listed below:

1. Pending Tasks
   1. For requesters: Displays records submitted by the requester for approval that are currently pending review in the approval process. Records remain here until the approval process is complete, after which they are moved to the Completed Tasks section. Requesters can track the progress of each record through its approval history.
      If the Allow submitters to recall requests option is enabled in the workflow properties, requesters can recall their approval requests, meaning the record is withdrawn and will not proceed further in the approval process.
   2. For approvers: Displays all records submitted by requesters that are pending review by the designated approver at the specified approval level. Approvers can review each record, add comments, and mark it as Approved or Rejected from this section.

Note: If the requester and approver are the same person, the approver can also recall the request to withdraw it from the approval process form the pending tasks section.

For example, when a record is under Level 1 approval, only the Level 1 approvers can view and act on it from this section. Once an approver at Level 1 approves the record, it moves to the Pending Tasks section of the Level 2 approvers, and this continues until all approval levels are completed. However, if any approver at any level rejects the record, the approval process ends and will not proceed further.

1. Completed Tasks
   1. For requesters: Displays all records that have completed the approval process. This includes records that have been approved at all levels or terminated if any approver rejected them or recalled by the requester. Requesters can also view the complete approval history of the submitted records from this section.
   2. For approvers: Displays all records that the respective approver has already reviewed and acted upon. The approval history of each record is also available for reference in this section.

Note: If the requester and approver are the same person, the record moves to the approver's Completed Tasks section as soon as it is approved. Unlike other requester records, it does not remain in Pending Tasks until the entire approval process is complete.

Approvers are notified of pending tasks through the Notifications pane, ensuring timely action. Additionally, any automated actions defined in the workflow, such as sending notifications, updating fields, or triggering integrations, are executed immediately after an approval or rejection.

For example, consider a Leave Management application created using Zoho Creator. An employee submits a Leave Request form for five days of leave, and the record is automatically marked as Pending Approval. At Level 1, the reporting manager receives a notification, reviews the request, and approves it, after which the record moves to Level 2 for the HR team's review. Once HR approves, the employee is notified through the application, the record is marked as Approved, and an automated email is sent confirming the approved leave dates.

3. Approval operations

The operations that can be performed by the approvers and requesters in approval workflows are listed in the table below.

Note: The labels such as Approve and Reject can be modified while adding approvers during the approval workflow configuration. In this explanation, the default labels are used for explanation.

Role	Operations
	Approve	Reject	Recall
Approver	Marks the record as approved and moves it to the next level of the approval process or completes it if no further levels exist.	Marks the record as rejected and stops further processing in the approval flow.	Note: - Applicable only if Allow submitters to recall requests option is enabled in the workflow properties. - An approver can recall the request if the record's submitter and approver are the same. Withdraws a submitted record from the approval process, allowing the user to make changes and resubmit it if required.
Requester	NA	NA

3.1. Approve/ reject a record

Note: This section is only applicable for approvers.

The approvers can review the record submitted by the requester from the following locations:

1. Approvals section
2. Notifications pane

From approvals section:

Web

1. Navigate to the live mode of the application and click on the Approvals > Pending Tasks all the records to be reviewed by the approver will be listed here.
   
2. Click on the preferred record to view its details along with its approval history if any,
   
   1. You can also hover over the record and click on the Review button that appears to view its details.
      
3. After reviewing the record click on the preferred button such as Approve or Reject.
4. Add a comment, if any, in the comment box that appears, and then click Approve or Reject (based on your selection in the previous step) to process the record and execute the associated actions via approval workflow.
   
   The record's approval status and added comments can be viewed in the approval history within the detailed view of the approval record available in the Pending Tasks and Completed Tasks sections.
   
      

Mobile:

1. Navigate to the approval configured application in Creator mobile app and click on the Approvals > Pending Tasks form the app menu. All the records to be reviewed by the approver will be listed here.
   
2. Click on the preferred record to view its details along with its approval history if any.
   
3. Click Review after evaluating the record.
   
4. Add a comment, if any, then select the preferred action such as Approve or Reject to process the record and execute the associated workflow action.
   
   The record's approval status and added comments can be viewed in the approval history within the detailed view of the approval record available in the Pending Tasks and Completed Tasks sections.

From notifications pane:

When a record is submitted for approval a push notification will be sent to the approvers. Approvers can directly review the record form the notification pane in the web or mobile Creator interface as shown in the steps below.

Web:

1. Click the Notifications icon () in the live mode of the application.
   
2. Click on any of the approval notification form the list. The approval record will be opened in the new tab for your review.
   
3. After reviewing the record click on the preferred button such as Approve or Reject. 
4. Add a comment, if any, in the comment box that appears, and then click Approve or Reject (based on your selection in the previous step) to process the record and execute the associated action in the approval workflow.
      

Mobile:

1. Navigate to the Notifications section in Creator mobile app and click on any of the approval notification form the list. The selected approval record will be opened.
   
2. Click Review after evaluating the record.
   
3. Add comment and click on the preferred button such as Approve or Reject to process the record and to execute the associated action in the approval workflow.
   

Note:
- Once reviewed, the record moves to the Completed Tasks section of the approver.
- If the record is approved by the approver, it moves to the Pending Tasks of the next-level approver for review or, if no further approval levels exist, it moves to the Completed Tasks of both the approver and requester.
- If the record is rejected, the approval process ends immediately, and the record appears in the Completed Tasks of both the approver and requester.

3.2. Recall a record

Note:
- The recall option is available only if the Allow submitters to recall requests option is enabled in the workflow properties.
- Only the requester can recall the records they have submitted. However, if the approver is the one who submitted the record (that is, the requester and approver are the same), the approver can also recall the request.

Web:

1. Navigate to the preferred application in Creator mobile app and click on the Approvals > Pending Tasks. All records currently under review in the approval process are listed here.
   
2. Click on the preferred record to view its details along with its approval history if any,
   
   1. You can also hover over the record and click on the View Details button to view its details.
      
   2. If you are an approver, hover over the record and click on the Review button to view its details.
      
3. Click on the Recall button to terminate the approval process. Once recalled the record moves to the Completed Tasks section of the requester.
   The record will be marked as "Recalled by {user}" in the approval history.
   

Note: Only if the requester and the approver are the same, the approver can recall the request.

Mobile:

1. Navigate to the live mode of the application and click on the Approvals > Pending Tasks. All records currently under review in the approval process are listed here.
   
2. Click on the preferred record to view its details along with its approval history, if any.
   
3. Click on the Recall button to terminate the approval process. Once recalled the record moves to the Completed Tasks section of the requester.
   

Note: Only if the requester and the approver are the same, the approver can recall the request.

3.3. View completed approvals

All records that have completed the approval process are stored in the Completed Tasks section. When a requester submits a record for approval, it first appears in the Pending Tasks section for the designated approver to review and for the requester to track. Based on the approver's action, the record is then moved to the Completed Tasks section for both the requester and the approver, as shown below:

For requesters:

The submitted record will appear in the Completed Tasks section only after the entire approval process is completed. This happens when the record is approved at all approval levels, or the record is rejected by any approver or recalled by the requester until then the request will be retained in the Pending Tasks section of the requester. Once the process is complete, requesters can view the detailed approval history of each record in the Completed Tasks section.

For approvers

1. Once an approver reviews the record, it moves to the Completed Tasks section of that approver.
2. If there are multiple approval levels, once the current approver approves the record, it moves to the Pending Tasks section of the next-level approver and the Completed Tasks section of the current approver.
3. If any approver rejects the record, the approval process ends immediately and it moves to the Completed Tasks section of that approver.
4. Approvers can view the detailed history of all records they have reviewed in this section.

To view the completed approvals follow the steps below:

Web:

1. Navigate to the live mode of the application and click on the Approvals > Completed Tasks. All the completed approvals will be listed with the color code for easy identification as shown below.
   1. Green - Approved
   2. Red - Rejected
   3. Grey - Recalled
      
2. Click on a record to view its details along with its approval history.
   

Mobile:

1. Navigate to the Approvals > Completed Tasks in the application from Creator mobile.
   
   All approved records will be listed here with the color code for easy identification as shown below.
   1. Green - Approved
   2. Red - Rejected
   3. Grey - Recalled
      
2. Click on a record to view its details along with its approval history.

4. Related topics

1. Creating and managing approval workflows 
2. Configuring notification actions for approval workflows 
3. Configuring data access actions for approval workflows
4. Configuring Deluge script for approval workflows
5. Configuring integration actions for approval workflows