Approval Workflows

Approval workflows bring structure to the sign-off process. Instead of chasing approvals over email or relying on a signature at the bottom of a paper form, Pasco Cloud routes reports through a defined sequence of reviewers — each notified automatically when it is their turn to act.

What Is an Approval Workflow?

An approval workflow is a multi-step sign-off process defined on a template. When a report created from that template is submitted, it enters the workflow instead of being marked as submitted immediately.

Each step in the workflow has a designated approver — either a specific person or a role (such as "project admin"). Steps are processed sequentially: step 1 must be approved before step 2 becomes active.

Not every template needs a workflow. Simple reports like daily diaries or delivery dockets can skip approval entirely — they go straight from draft to submitted. Workflows are most useful for inspections, safety audits, and quality reports that require formal sign-off.

How Workflows Are Configured

Approval workflows are set up on the template by the template creator or administrator. This happens in the template's settings, not in the report itself.

Each workflow consists of one or more approval steps, defined in order. For each step, you specify:

• Step name — a label for the step (for example, "Site Supervisor Review" or "Project Manager Sign-off").
• Approver type — either a specific user or a role.
  • Specific user — a named person who must approve. The default is the report creator, who can change the approver before submitting.
  • Role-based — any user with that role on the project can approve the step. For example, if the step requires a "project admin", any project admin can approve it.

💡 Tip

Set up your approval workflows on the template before publishing it. Once reports are being created from the template, the workflow applies to all new reports automatically. Existing reports keep the workflow from their template snapshot.

The Approval Process

Here is how a report moves through an approval workflow:

1. Creator Submits the Report

The report creator completes all fields and clicks Submit. The report status changes from draft to under review. The first step in the workflow becomes active.

2. First Approver Is Notified

The approver for step 1 receives an in-app notification (and push notification on mobile if enabled). They can see the report in their reports list with an "Under Review" badge.

3. Approver Reviews and Acts

The approver opens the report detail page. An approval banner is displayed prominently on the page with two actions:

• Approve — the approver confirms the report meets requirements. The step is marked as approved and the next step activates.
• Reject — the approver indicates the report needs changes. They can add a comment explaining what needs to be fixed.

4. Subsequent Steps

If the workflow has multiple steps, each subsequent approver is notified in turn after the previous step is approved. The report remains under review until all steps are complete.

5. Final Approval

When the last step is approved, the report status changes to approved. The report creator is notified that their report has been signed off.

ℹ️ Did you know?

Pasco Cloud uses sequential approval. Steps are processed one at a time, in order. Step 2 cannot begin until step 1 is approved. This ensures each reviewer sees the report in its current state, including any context from previous approvals.

Rejection and Resubmission

If any approver rejects a report:

1. The report status changes to rejected.
2. The report creator is notified with the rejection reason.
3. The report returns to draft status — the creator can edit it to address the feedback.
4. When the creator resubmits, all approval steps reset. Every approver reviews the revised report from scratch.

⚠️ Watch out!

Rejection resets all steps, not just the rejected one. This is intentional. When a report is revised and resubmitted, all approvers need to review the updated version — even if their step was previously approved. This ensures nobody signs off on content they have not reviewed.

Role-Based Approvers

When a step uses a role-based approver (such as "project admin"), any user with that role on the report's project can approve the step. This is useful when:

• The specific approver might be unavailable (on leave, off-site).
• Multiple people share the same responsibility.
• You want flexibility without hard-coding a single person.

The first person with the required role to approve the step completes it. Other role holders no longer need to act on that step.

Reports Without Workflows

If a template does not have an approval workflow configured, reports created from it skip the review process entirely:

• The creator fills in the report and clicks Submit.
• The report status changes directly from draft to submitted.
• No notifications are sent to approvers (there are none).
• The report is immediately available as a completed record.

This is appropriate for simpler document types like daily diaries, delivery records, or internal notes that do not require formal sign-off.

Viewing Approval Status

You can check the approval status of any report on its detail page:

• Overview tab — shows the approval workflow as a step-by-step progress indicator. Each step displays its name, approver, and status (pending, approved, or rejected).
• Reports list — the status badge on each report shows draft, under review, approved, rejected, or submitted.
• Notifications — approvers receive notifications when it is their turn, and creators receive notifications when their report is approved or rejected.

What's Next?

• Want to understand how document numbers are assigned? Read Document Numbering.
• Need to generate a PDF? See Report PDFs.
• Setting up templates with workflows? Start with the Templates Overview and The Template Builder.
• First report? Follow the Tutorial: Completing Your First Report.