--- title: "How to set up an approval process without email | attendo" description: "How to set up an approval process outside email: stages, requirements to move forward, who approves what, deadlines, approval by link and a full trail." url: "https://attendo.me/en/blog/approval-process-without-email" lang: "en" --- # Approvals without email: an approval process that does not stall Approving by email works until someone asks who approved what, and when. Then the search through other people’s inboxes begins. A well-built approval process answers that question in seconds. - By the attendo team - Published September 28, 2026 - 4 min read **In this article** 1. What goes wrong when approvals live in email 2. The five parts of an approval process that works 3. Approve from a phone, with no user account 4. Examples across departments 5. How many levels 6. What to measure ## What goes wrong when approvals live in email - **The yes gets lost.** It sits in a thread with twelve replies, or in the inbox of someone who has left. - **Nobody knows where it stands.** To find out, you have to ask, and asking slows things down too. - **Things get approved without the data.** The email says “can you approve this?” with no budget, no quotes and no receipt. - **Steps get skipped.** If the email goes straight to the director, nobody checks first whether there was budget. - **There is no deadline.** An approval with no date waits in the inbox while everything else piles up. ## The five parts of an approval process that works ### 1. Named stages For example: request, review, approval and closed. Every request is always in one stage, and anyone can see which. ### 2. Requirements to move forward What has to be there before a request moves on: the amount, the receipt, the quotes or the signature. If something is missing, it does not move. This part alone prevents much of the back-and-forth. ### 3. Who approves what A simple table, written down and known to everyone. It is usually called an approval matrix: | What is approved | Up to | Who approves | | --- | --- | --- | | Materials purchase | $1,000 | Department manager | | Materials purchase | $10,000 | Operations director | | Materials purchase | Over $10,000 | General manager | | Time off | Any length | Direct manager | | Project scope change | Any amount | Project manager and customer | The amounts are an example. What matters is that the table exists and nobody has to guess whom to ask. ### 4. Deadline and backup Every approval has a deadline. If it passes, the approver gets a reminder and, if there is still no answer, it goes to their backup. A vacation should not stop a department’s purchasing. ### 5. A trail for every decision Who approved, when, with which data in front of them and with what comment. Also who rejected and why. That trail is what you show in an audit or a dispute. ## Approve from a phone, with no user account Many approvals stall because the approver does not use the system every day: an executive, a customer or a supplier. Asking them to log in to another app, with a username and password, guarantees the delay. The alternative is a link. The approver gets it, sees the request with its data and approves or rejects from their phone. To count as a trail, the link has to identify them, for example with a code, and record who approved and when. ## Examples across departments - **Purchasing:** a request does not move to approval without the three quotes attached. - **HR:** the manager approves time off from their phone, with the team calendar in view. - **Projects:** the project manager and the customer approve a scope change before it is scheduled. - **Sales:** the director approves a larger-than-usual discount before the quote goes out. - **Maintenance:** the customer approves a repair estimate before the part is ordered. On projects, an approved change is also what justifies a [new baseline](https://attendo.me/en/blog/project-baseline-vs-actual). Without approval, a variance is still a variance. ## How many levels As few as possible. Every level adds days, and after the second or third, people approve without looking because “the last person must have checked.” Two questions help remove levels: - **Has this level ever rejected anything?** If it never rejects, it is not approving: it is signing. - **Could it be a notification instead of an approval?** Often, an executive only wants to know, not decide. ## What to measure 1. **Time from request to decision**, using the median, not the average. 2. **Requests sent back for missing data.** If there are many, the first stage is missing requirements. 3. **Approvals that time out and go to the backup.** If it is always the same person, change the process instead of insisting. If you want to put a number on the time spent chasing approvals today, use the [ROI calculator](https://attendo.me/en/calculators/roi) with your own data. A good [approval process](https://attendo.me/en/glossary/approval-workflow) is boring: the request arrives complete, reaches the right person, has a deadline and leaves a trail. Nobody has to remember anything. Last updated: September 28, 2026 ## How attendo handles it In attendo Flows, Business Process Flow (BPF) shows the stages on the document record, each with its requirements to move forward. The request comes in through an attendo Forms form that creates the document. Approvers get a link and approve from their phone, with a code and no user account, and the record shows who did it and when. A flow checks the business calendar and hands the work to whoever is in. - [attendo Flows](https://attendo.me/en/flows) - [attendo Flows, Business Process Flow (BPF) and AI-Flows](https://attendo.me/en/modules/flows) - [attendo Forms](https://attendo.me/en/modules/forms) ## More on processes and compliance ### Which processes to automate first, and which to leave alone Automating the wrong process costs you twice: the time to build it and the time to undo it. Three simple questions separate what is worth automating now from what is better left alone. 4 min read ### Periodic controls: how to prove they were done Doing a control and being able to prove it are two different jobs. The second one usually surfaces on audit day, when someone spends a week hunting for emails, screenshots and signatures. 4 min read Projects ### Project baseline: spot the drift while you can still fix it Almost every project drifts. The problem is finding out at the wrap-up meeting, when there is nothing left to fix. A baseline lets you see it in week two, not in the final week. 4 min read [All blog articles](https://attendo.me/en/blog) ## Shall we look at it with your operation? Tell us how you work today and we will show you attendo with your own data. If it is not a fit, we will say so. - With your operation, not a generic demo - A real person from our team replies - No cold calls afterwards Would you rather talk first? - Phone [+34 910 053 530](tel:+34910053530) - Email [sales@attendo.me](mailto:sales@attendo.me) - Monday to Thursday 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Friday 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM (Spain time)