Note: The article below takes you through how to setup an approval process using a legacy add-on feature for Formstack Forms and would only be available for select accounts that were grandfathered in. If you're looking for the most up-to-date version, please check out this article for how to setup an approval process with Formstack Forms using our Workflows product.
Create a robust form approval process with the use of forms approvers. When an end-user submits a form, the routed approvers can review the submission data to approve, deny, or add notes for their team regarding the status of the submission. Here's how!
Note: The video above features an earlier version of the interface, but the steps demonstrated remain accurate and can still be used to achieve the same results.
Enable form approvals on your forms
From a form’s Settings tab, select Approvals from the available options.
Enter the email address of the individual you want to add as an approver.
If the approver is already a user on your Formstack account and has access to the form, their account email will prepopulate automatically. If the approver does not yet have a Formstack account, one will be created for them when they’re added as an approver.
Only Standard and Admin users can be added as approvers.
You can add an unlimited number of approvers to a form and remove them at any time.
Note: When an approver is removed or deleted, any approval data or comments they’ve added to submissions are also deleted.
Create form approval workflows and logic
Routing logic can be complex or simplified, from one approver needing to approve reimbursement submission of over $25 to a relocation form that will need to be approved by an individual contributor's manager, then their director, then the PeopleOps Manager.
Step 1: Once a form is created, navigate to the approver section (Settings > Approvals), and add approver(s) in Step 1.
Step 2: Optionally, select Add Approval Logic:
Step 3: Fill out the logic. Similar to creating field or section logic, choose whether the data must match all or any of the criteria.
NOTE: Form fields eligible for approver logic include Select Lists, Checkboxes, Number, or Radio Button fields.
Step 4: Once the first step is saved, add additional steps if needed and follow the prompts to add an approver or approval logic.
NOTE: Approvals on a form's submission must be in sequential order.
Email settings for form approvals
While emails will automatically be sent to approvers to review the submission; optionally, set up messages for the end-users when their submissions are approved or denied and keep your team informed of a submission's status for non-encrypted submissions.
From the Settings > Approvals section of a form, scroll to the Email Settings section to customize your Confirmation or Notification Emails. Confirmation emails will be sent to form submitters when their submissions are approved or denied. Notification emails will be sent to address you when a submission is approved or denies.
1. Form Approval Message
Set up a confirmation email to your end-users after their submission has been approved by all Approvers. In the module, customize the subject line, what contents you want displaying like their submission data or a custom message, and set up the email logic.
2. Denial Message
Inform your end-users when their submission has not been approved. From the Denial Message module, customize the Subject Line, the content, and email logic.
3. Notification Message
Keep yourself or others in your organization informed of submissions. From the notification email settings module, customize the subject line, contents, attach files, and email logic. For example, you want to email yourself only when the status is approved, denied, or either:
Review, update, or remove these customized emails at any point from the Email Settings in Approvals or from the Emails & Actions section of your Form's Settings tab.
Approve or deny submissions
Forms enabled with Form Approvals include an Approval Status within the Submission tab view. In this view, you can see if a submission has been approved or denied.
If the submission is waiting to be approved/denied by you, you can click the Approve/Deny buttons on the submission to update the status or check a subset of submissions to bulk approve or deny.
Alternatively, include a comment with your decision. Select a submission to open the details, and post a comment under the Approval Status:
If a submission is denied, regardless if approved in a previous step(s), the whole submission will be denied. Every approver must individually approve the submission.
If all approvers have approved a submission then the status is set and cannot be undone. If the submission is waiting to be approved by other members of your team, you can change the approval status in a pending mode.
Not all integrations will support running after all form approvals have come in and will need to run when the form is submitted. Non-queued integrations including payment processors and any integration that redirects the end user to another site, including file uploads, will run after submitting the form. In cases where these integrations are being used on a form, the Routing Logic option to submit actions will not be available and these integrations will run as soon as the form is submitted. For integrations that are queued, do not redirect or they can be delayed; you can set up Routing Logic rules so these integrations only run after the submission has been fully approved.
Skip submission approvers
If you have multiple approvers, form and account admins have the option to skip an approver when needed.
Step 1: To skip an approver, navigate to the pending submission and click to open the submission's details.
Step 2: Under the Approval Status sidebar, select a user and click Skip: