---
schema_version: "1"
id: 5b202074fd81db1e2f6c62d50527fec7cb8178b189b649de0f64c859c4e2c6c5
title: Choose an Automated Approver Throughout a Classic Approval Process
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/approvals_create_automatedfield.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.approvals_create_automatedfield.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 55e912b37c50056af73833364cd53e2129c4500e6b4bef6a44ee3abfd4fa7aef
description: Associate a hierarchy field—such as the user’s manager—with a classic approval process. When selected, the field is available as an assigned approver option for approval steps. You can always select a hierarchy field here but not use it for any approval steps.
products:
  - Flow Builder
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# Choose an Automated Approver Throughout a Classic Approval Process

Associate a hierarchy field—such as the user’s manager—with a classic approval process. When selected, the field is available as an assigned approver option for approval steps. You can always select a hierarchy field here but not use it for any approval steps.

### 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: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class="" id="approvals_create_automatedfield__d3423e54"><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</td></tr></tbody></table>

![Important](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/images/icon_important.png)

Important Try [Flow Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "As your company grows, so does the complexity of your approvals, often requiring input from multiple people in different departments across different time zones. This complexity can mean that you spend more time waiting for each person to complete their review in the right order. Flow Approval Processes helps you coordinate multistep reviews that involve users, systems, and conditional paths."), a modern alternative to Classic Approval Processes. This new feature provides a more flexible, user-friendly flow-based interface, and it can trigger on record changes, supporting Apex extensibility and detailed logging for compliance and audit trails. It supports dynamic routing based on data and business rules, unlike Classic Approval Processes, which are tied to specific objects and offer limited support for processes by using conditions. With Flow Approval Processes, you can monitor submitted records and quickly identify bottlenecks, giving you unprecedented visibility into approval workflows. And, like Classic Approval Processes, Flow Approval Processes don’t consume automation credits or orchestration runs.

Set **Next Automated Approver Determined By** with one of the following options.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:23.094688221709006%">
          <col style="width:76.905311778291%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d112917e88">Option</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d112917e91">Description</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Option" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d112917e88 ">
              <strong class="uicontrol">--None--</strong>
            </td>

            <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d112917e91 ">Approval requests aren’t automatically assigned based on a field. Instead, you
              manually specify a user to approve all approval requests. </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Option" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d112917e88 ">
              <strong class="uicontrol">
                <var>Field</var>
              </strong>
            </td>

            <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d112917e91 ">Approval requests are assigned to an approver from the specified field. You can
              select only a hierarchical relationship field, such as
              <samp class="parmname">Manager</samp>.
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Option" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d112917e88 ">
              <strong class="uicontrol">Use Approver Field of <var>Object</var> Owner</strong>
            </td>

            <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d112917e91 ">
              <p>Available only when <var>Field</var> is selected. </p>
              <p>If selected, the
                first executed approval step sets the approver to the value of
                <var>Field</var> on the record owner’s user record—instead of the
                submitter’s user record.
              </p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">All remaining steps use <var>Field</var>
                in the user record of the preceding step’s approver. </p>
            </td>

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

![Example](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-platform_automation-264-0-0-production-enus/60568438-ec7e-4665-acd1-7c80dcbe60d5/images/icon_example.png)

Example

If you select the Manager field, you can configure any step in this classic approval process to route approval requests to the submitting user’s manager.

If you select **Use Approver Field of Object Owner**, the first step that isn’t skipped is routed to the owner’s manager. All other steps are routed to the previous approver’s manager.

#### See Also

- [Custom Field Types](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.custom_field_types.htm&language=en_US)
- [Considerations for Setting Approvers in Classic Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.approvals_considerations_approver.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "When you specify approvers for a given approval step—or for the only step if you’re using the jump start wizard—keep these considerations in mind.")