--- schema_version: "1" id: a7c29c2be3c78e8feaebcfbfc47dcdcecf564d182eb8fb71224ad6e3563692a6 title: Automate Your Approvals with Flow Approval Processes collection: admin version: current locale: en-us portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/automate_automated_approvals.md canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 source_site: help.salesforce.com content_type: documentation content_hash: d5feb17dc384bd96c60ca71bdf9d9cb327d50e53c8357093699a3e99d603e3fc description: 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. products: - Flow Builder - Salesforce Platform release: "264" --- # Automate Your Approvals with Flow Approval Processes 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. ### Required Editions
View supported editions for Flow Approval Processes.
## Flow Approval Processes Use Flow Approval Processes to create multistep review processes for records. A flow approval process is a sequence of stages, each containing one or more steps, that enables you to review a record submitted for approval. A stage can contain approval steps or background steps. Use decision elements in flow approval processes to determine the path to run based on conditions. Each approval step in a flow approval process assigns an approval work item to a user, group, or queue. Background steps complete actions that are related to an approval submission but require no user interaction. Before activating a flow approval process for an object, a Salesforce admin places the Orchestration Work Guide Lightning App Builder component on the page layout for the type of record to be reviewed. When someone submits a record for approval, or when a qualifying record is created or updated, the associated flow approval process runs. Approvers and their delegates receive an email notification with a link to the record. An approver or delegate with edit access to the record can open it and complete the assigned action in the Orchestration Work Guide. Alternatively, an approver or delegate can approve or reject the work item by replying to the notification with the specified keyword. If the notification doesn't include enough detail to make an informed decision, approvers and delegates can view the record before replying. ## When to Use Flow Approval Processes Use Flow Approval Processes when a record requires reviews from multiple approvers or actions across multiple systems. - Get input from people both inside and outside your company. - Interact with internal and external systems. - Use logic to build paths that address possible scenarios for approvals. - **[About Flow Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_about.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** Review Flow Approval Processes permissions, editions, limitations, considerations, and entitlements. - **[Get Started with Flow Approval Processes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_get_started.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** Review resources that are available to help you learn about Flow Approval Processes. - **[Flow Approval Processes Concepts](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_concepts.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** Learn about what a flow approval process is made of and how it relates to orchestration runs, flows, approval submissions, and approval work items. - **[Build a Flow Approval Process](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_build.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** It’s easier to automate an approval process when you understand how the approval pieces fit together. Before you create a flow approval process, talk to your stakeholders to understand the requirements. You can save draft flow approval processes without knowing all the required information, but you must specify all associated flows and configuration details before you can activate and run your flow approval process. - **[Troubleshoot Approval Submissions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_troubleshoot.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** When an approval submission fails, the orchestration run associated with it fails and sends a fault email. To view details about a failed approval submission, use the orchestration run fault email. - **[Deploy a Flow Approval Process](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_distribute.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** After you’ve designed and tested your flow approval process, you’re ready to put it to work. - **[Manage Approval Submissions and Approval Work Items](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_manage.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** Manage approval submissions and approval work items with list views. Recall an in-progress approval submission. Reassign approval work items that have been assigned but not completed. - **[Complete Approval Work Items](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automated_approvals_complete_approval_work_items.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** When someone submits a record for approval, the flow approval process assigns approval work items to the designated approvers for each step. You can find your assigned work items from an email notification or from the Approval Work Items list view. How you access your work item determines which completion methods are available to you. - **[Flow Approval Processes Reference](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.automate_automated_approvals_ref.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** Bookmark this page for quick access to information about flow approval process elements, resources, events, and more.