Solution: Approval workflows
Approvals get stuck in email and nobody knows where
Every request goes through one form, reaches the right approver with the context they need, and moves on with one click. Reminders and escalations stop anything from stalling.
Sounds familiar?
Signs this is costing you time
Purchase requests, time off, discounts, contracts, expenses, content: growing businesses approve dozens of things every week. Most of these approvals run on email and chat. Requests get buried, approvers ask for details that were never included, and nobody can tell whether something is waiting on them or on someone else.
The fix is usually not a new enterprise system. It is a clear, simple workflow that fits how your team already works.
Good approval workflows are also fair. Everyone submits requests the same way, approvers see the same information every time, and decisions are recorded, which protects both the people asking and the people deciding.
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Approval requests are buried in long email threads.
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Requesters chase approvers to ask about status.
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Approvers ask for information that should have been in the request.
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Work stops when an approver is on leave.
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Nobody can show who approved what, and when.
Before and after
How it works today, and how it works after
How it works today
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A request is sent by email or chat, in any format.
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The approver asks follow-up questions.
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The request waits while the approver is busy or away.
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The requester follows up several times.
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The decision is buried in a thread, hard to find later.
How it works after
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A short form collects everything the approver needs.
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Rules route the request to the right person based on amount or type.
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The approver approves or rejects in one click from email, Slack or Teams.
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Reminders and escalations fire when a request waits too long.
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Every decision is recorded with who, when and why.
What we build
What we build
Request forms
Routing rules
One-click decisions
Reminders and escalation
System updates
Audit trail
In practice
What it looks like in practice
An illustrative walk-through, not a client story.
A construction company handles material purchase requests from site managers. Previously, requests were sent by WhatsApp photo or email, the office manager forwarded them to a director for anything above a limit, and suppliers were often called before approval arrived.
Now site managers fill in a short form on their phone: supplier, items, amount, project and a photo of the quote. Requests under the limit are approved by the project manager; larger ones go to a director. Approvers tap approve in Slack. Approved requests create a purchase order and a line in the project budget automatically. If a request waits more than a day, the backup approver is notified.
Models and tools
AI models and MCP servers that usually fit
We choose models by task, data sensitivity and cost, and test them on your real examples before we commit. These are common starting points, not a fixed recipe.
How we build it
The services behind this solution
Most solutions combine two or three of our services. These are the ones this one usually needs.
Business process automation
Map a process that runs on email and spreadsheets and turn it into software with clear steps and owners.
Internal tools
Custom software for your own team: trackers, approval flows and back-office systems that replace spreadsheets.
Web applications
Custom browser-based software for the work your team does every day, from booking tools to operations systems.
Industries where it fits best
Honest limits
Limits and human checks
Automation makes a good approval process faster; it cannot fix an unclear one. If nobody agrees who approves what, the first step is to write those rules down. We often find approvals that can be removed entirely, which saves more time than any software.
AI plays a small role here. It can summarize a long request, check that attachments match the form or suggest a category, but the decision stays with a person. We avoid AI approving anything on its own, because approvals exist precisely to put human judgment in the loop.
Keep exploring
Services, industries and case studies
Related services
View all related services- Business process automation Map a process that runs on email and spreadsheets and turn it into software with clear steps and owners.
- Internal tools Custom software for your own team: trackers, approval flows and back-office systems that replace spreadsheets.
- Web applications Custom browser-based software for the work your team does every day, from booking tools to operations systems.
- SaaS Product Development MVPs, subscription platforms, admin panels and multi-tenant products, planned to grow past the first launch.
- Automation and Integrations CRM, payment and API integrations, MCP connections and workflows that stop people copying data by hand.
- MVP development A first version with just enough features to put in front of real users and learn what to build next.
Solutions
View all solutions- Onboarding automation Every new hire gets the right accounts, documents, training and check-ins on time, tracked in one place.
- AI automation and integrations Connect the tools you already use so data moves once, correctly, and AI reads the parts that arrive as text or documents.
- Scheduling automation Let customers book, change and confirm appointments themselves, by web, chat or phone, with reminders that cut no-shows.
- Email triage Sort a shared inbox by topic and urgency, pull out the key details and draft replies for a person to send.
- Internal help desk assistant An assistant in Slack or Teams that answers policy and how-to questions from your handbooks and opens tickets when needed.
- Payroll automation Turn pay rules, attendance and leave into tested software so the monthly run becomes a review and payslips go out in one batch.
Industries
View all industries- Construction and facilities Job tracking, maintenance requests, inspections, quotes and proof-of-work photos for builders and facility teams.
- Professional services Client portals, proposal drafting, knowledge assistants and internal tools for consultancies, agencies and firms.
- Manufacturing Quality inspection, production dashboards, quoting tools, knowledge assistants and legacy system modernization for manufacturers.
- Property management Tenant portals, maintenance tracking, owner statements and inbox automation for property managers.
- Tax and compliance services Client portals, document checklists, case queues and deadline tracking for tax preparers and compliance firms.
- Vacation rentals Booking websites, owner and guest portals, turnover scheduling and guest messaging for rental operators.
Case studies
View all case studies- Facility management platform Every request, inspection and cost for every building now lives in one place, with a clear owner and status.
- Payroll system for an IT services company Payroll is calculated from recorded inputs, reviewed once and sent as payslips in a single batch, with every change logged.
- Tax filing service platform Clients upload documents and see where their case stands, and staff work from one queue with deadlines and reminders.
- Vacation rental operations system One calendar per property, cleaning tasks created from bookings, and owner statements built from the same records.
Guides and articles
View all guides and articles- How to write a software requirements document Write a clear requirements document that gets accurate estimates and fewer surprises during the build.
- How much does it cost to build a web app? What drives the cost of a web app, how complexity changes the budget, and how to keep spending under control.
- Fixed scope vs time and materials How fixed-price and time-and-materials contracts work, their risks for each side, and which suits your project.
- How to choose a development partner What to look for in a software development partner, the warning signs, and how to compare proposals fairly.
- Questions to ask before hiring a software agency Twenty questions that reveal how an agency works, who owns what, and whether they are the right fit.
- What is AI-accelerated development? How software teams use AI to plan, code, test and document faster, and where people still make every decision.
AI models
View all ai models- General purpose All-round language models for writing, summarizing, support, extraction and most everyday business tasks.
- Claude Haiku 4.5 Anthropic's fastest and lowest-cost Claude model, with near-frontier intelligence for high-volume and real-time work.
- GPT-6 Luna OpenAI's most efficient model for focused, high-volume tasks, with vision, tool calling and structured outputs at the lowest price level in the family.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 A newer open-weight Mistral model for agent and coding work, with image input, tool calling, structured outputs and a 256K window.
- GPT-6 Sol The middle model of the GPT-6 family, positioned for complex coding and agentic workflows at a mid price level.
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite Google's lowest-cost current Gemini model for high-throughput work such as sub-agent tasks and document parsing.
MCP servers
View all mcp servers- Communication Servers for chat, email, SMS and phone, so AI can read messages, draft replies and send notifications.
- Productivity Servers for notes, tasks, projects, calendars, spreadsheets and design tools used across the business.
- Slack Slack's own hosted MCP server lets AI search messages, read channels and threads, look up people, draft or send messages and create canvases.
- Microsoft Teams Microsoft's Teams MCP server, part of its Work IQ preview, lets AI list and read chats and channels and post messages and replies.
- Gmail Google's own Gmail MCP server lets AI search and read threads, manage labels and create drafts. It has no send tool.
- Developer tools Servers for code hosting, version control, files, containers, error tracking and documentation lookup.
Glossary terms
View all glossary terms- Workflow automation Workflow automation uses software to move work through a series of steps, such as routing, approvals and notifications, based on rules and events.
- Business process automation Business process automation uses software to run a multi-step business process, such as approvals or onboarding, from start to finish with less manual work.
- Webhook A webhook is an automatic message one system sends to another's web address when something happens, such as a payment or a new order.
- Automation Automation is using software to perform a task or process with little or no human effort each time it runs.
- Backend The backend is the part of an application that runs on servers, storing data, applying business rules and serving the frontend through APIs.
- Claude Code Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool, which works in a developer's terminal, IDE, desktop app or browser to read code, run commands and make changes.
FAQ
Questions about approval workflows
Have a question that is not here? Ask us directly.
Not always. Simple flows can run on tools you have, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, or a no-code platform. Custom tools make sense for complex rules, high volume or integrations. See business process automation.
Yes. Approvers can approve or reject from a message, and the decision is recorded in the workflow system.
Backup approvers and escalation rules take over automatically after a set time, so requests do not stall.
Often yes, or it can feed your existing purchasing or accounting system. See internal tools.