---
schema_version: "1"
id: 4ad368e63971830192cdf91d6664c37637754264ad7eef17bff14c0f000b0ba6
title: Smart Approvals and Rule-Based Auto-Approvals
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/ind/264-0-0/approvals_smart_or_rule_based_approvals.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ind.approvals_smart_or_rule_based_approvals.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: ba5f50ce40bc614c7efef275e25dbfda9d52da81dc0bffa2402647c7917e6360
description: Smart Approvals and Rule-Based Auto-Approvals speed up resubmissions by auto-approving steps that don’t need another manual review. They differ in how the auto-approval decision is made and the level of control you have over that decision.
products:
  - Revenue Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Smart Approvals and Rule-Based Auto-Approvals

Smart Approvals and Rule-Based Auto-Approvals speed up resubmissions by auto-approving steps that don’t need another manual review. They differ in how the auto-approval decision is made and the level of control you have over that decision.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions where Advanced Approvals is enabled</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Considerations for Auto-Approvals

Smart or Rule-Based Auto-Approvals trigger only when a user resubmits a previously recalled or rejected record. Also, the previous submission must have reached at least 2 steps, with at least 1 of those steps approved.

A completely approved submission can't be recalled. Any subsequent submission is a new request rather than a resubmission, making it ineligible for auto-approval.

## Understanding Smart Approvals

Smart Approvals uses each approval step’s existing entry conditions to decide whether the step can be auto-approved on resubmission. If the values that satisfied a step in the previous submission still satisfy it on resubmission, Smart Approvals skips the manual review for that step.

Use Smart Approvals when your approval steps already rely on entry conditions and the resubmission decision depends on whether those same conditions are still met.

## Understanding Rule-Based Auto-Approvals

With Rule-Based Auto-Approvals, you can define custom logic such as flows or Apex to determine whether a step is automatically approved on resubmission. Optionally, use the Get Previous Related Record Details invocable action to compare the current submission with a prior submission. Define any business logic that you need, and pass a boolean value as the final auto-approval decision.

Use Rule-Based Auto-Approvals when your auto-approval decision depends on logic that step entry conditions can’t express, such as cross-field comparisons.

## Smart Approvals vs. Rule-Based Auto-Approvals

Here’s how Smart Approvals and Rule-Based Auto-Approvals differ.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:30.000000000000004%">
          <col style="width:35%">
          <col style="width:35%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d139217e110">Capability</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d139217e113">Smart Approvals</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d139217e116">Rule-Based Auto-Approvals</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Capability" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e110 ">Setup</td>

            <td data-label="Smart Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e113 ">In the approval step’s properties, select <strong class="uicontrol">Use Smart
                Approval</strong>.</td>

            <td data-label="Rule-Based Auto-Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e116 ">
              <ul>
                <li>In the approval step’s properties, select <strong class="uicontrol">Set custom logic for
                    auto-approvals</strong>.</li>

                <li>In the Approve Step field, enter a boolean value.</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Capability" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e110 ">Comparison logic</td>

            <td data-label="Smart Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e113 ">Reevaluates the step’s existing entry conditions against the previous
              submission.</td>

            <td data-label="Rule-Based Auto-Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e116 ">Uses any logic that you define, including cross-field or cross-submission
              rules.</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Capability" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e110 ">Skip conditions support</td>

            <td data-label="Smart Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e113 ">Supported. Use the Smart Approval Skip Conditions field to exclude specific conditions
              from evaluation.</td>

            <td data-label="Rule-Based Auto-Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e116 ">Not applicable</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Capability" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e110 ">Sample use case</td>

            <td data-label="Smart Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e113 ">A discount or quantity stays within an approver’s tier on resubmission.</td>

            <td data-label="Rule-Based Auto-Approvals" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d139217e116 ">The discount delta between submissions is below a threshold.</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

- **[Smart Approvals](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ind.approvals_smart_approvals.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    To eliminate approval bottlenecks, Smart Approvals routes requests by auto-approving pre-qualified data changes and not reviewing unchanged data. When a record is resubmitted for approval, Smart Approvals compares the new conditions against the previous submission. If the values remain within the defined range, it skips re-approval.
- **[Rule-Based Auto-Approvals](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ind.approvals_define_custom_logic_auto_approvals.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Set your own rules and conditions on specific fields for auto-approving resubmissions. Compare the current submission’s record details against the previously submitted record so that only significant changes require manual review.