Creating a Workflow for Approvals
This article shows you how to use Contract Hound's Workflow tool.
Workflow is an approvals tool that creates a digital audit trail for important contract decisions. These decisions typically include approval to sign the contract and authorize payment (e.g. for large invoices).
Authorization via email, text message, or phone calls is possible, though not without risk. Messages get lost, and calls can be misinterpreted. Workflow solves those problems with a digital audit trail that creates certainty and removes ambiguity.
Creating a workflow
There are two ways to create a workflow: on a new contract or on an existing contract. The starting point is different, but the implementation steps are the same.
New contract
On the Choose Team Members page, click Enable Workflow.
Existing contract
1. Go to the Contract Details page, scroll down to Workflow, and click edit.
2. Click Continue.
- The Warning message does not display when you create a workflow and upload a new contract at the same time.
3. Create the workflow on the Choose User Contract Access page.
Creating a workflow
Now you're ready to create a workflow. The first step is to assign team members.
1. Add the team member who will review the contract and decide Approve or Reject.
2. Drag that team member's profile card to STEP 1.
3. Click Finish.
- If you create a workflow on a new contract, you can add details to the Browse Contracts page (optional).
Managing the approvals process
Contract Hound adds a field under the Workflow heading on the Contract Details page. The Approval status is Waiting.
- The status changes when the user responds to the approval request.
What the user sees
After you assign a workflow step to a user, Contract Hound emails that person a message.
1. The user opens the message and clicks View Contract.
- A new browser tab opens the Contract Details page.
2. On the Contract Details page, the user clicks the Approval button and selects Approve or Reject.
- Approve changes the workflow step on the Contract Details page to green.
- Reject changes the workflow step on the Contract Details page to red.
Sending a reminder
You can send a new email message that prompts the user for a go-no-go decision.
- Click the arrow and select Send Reminder.
Workflows with multiple approvals
You can create a workflow with multiple users.
There are two methods:
- add multiple parties at the same time to a new workflow
- add a party to an existing workflow
Adding multiple parties at the same time
Ideally, this is the preferred method because it takes less time and avoids some redundancy.
1. On the Workflow page, click the plus (+) to add a new step.
2. Drag a team member's profile card to STEP 2.
3. Repeat steps to add more workflow steps and team members.
4. Click Finish.
Managing the approvals process
Workflows with one party are similar to workflows with multiple parties, except for one difference.
With multiple parties, workflow approvals are completed in sequence. Once the first user approves a contract, Contract Hound sends the next user in line a message with a request to approve or reject. These steps are not completed simultaneously.
- In the image below, the workflow has two users. The first user's status is Waiting. The second user has no status.
- In this image, the first user approves the contract, and the second user's status is set to Waiting.
Dealing with rejection
If the first user rejects the contract, Contract Hound does not send the other user a request for an approval decision.
Adding a user to an existing workflow
If you add a user to an existing workflow, the approvals process restarts. That means Contract Hound deletes any previous Approval/Reject decisions. Users need to submit their decisions again.
1. Open the Contract Details page, scroll down to Workflow, and click edit.
2. Click Continue on the Warning page.
- It says workflow changes cause the approvals process to restart.
3. Add a new step with a new team member, and click Finish.
- Contract Hound adds a step to the workflow and changes the first user's status from Approved to Waiting.
