---
title: "Approvals Table"
canonical: "https://help.agiloft.com/space/A2508SD/134056675/Approvals%20Table"
format: markdown
---
The Approvals table stores all of the Approvals that are associated with specific Contracts, Sourcing Events, and Supplier Profiles. Approval records contain the notes and interactions that occur during the approval process.
# Record Creation
Approval records are usually generated by clicking Create Approvals on the Approvals tab in the [Contract](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A2508SD/pages/134055370), [Sourcing Event](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A2508SD/pages/134058196), or [Supplier Profile](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A2508SD/pages/134058062) record that requires approval. When Create Approvals is clicked, an Approval record is generated for each [Approval Template](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A2508SD/pages/134061692) included in the selected [Approval Workflow](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A2508SD/pages/134058968). If an Approval Template is Conditional, an Approval record is not generated unless the condition is met. Approval records can also be created ad hoc by clicking the New action button above the Approvals Needed related table in the parent record or by clicking New in the Approval table's action bar. New Approval records have a status of Queued until the approvals are launched from the parent record.
# Approval Process
This section highlights the behaviors of the approval process that are implemented out-of-the-box.
- When the approval process is launched, the Approval record with the lowest Step Number is updated to Pending and the approver or approval team is notified. If there are concurrent approvals for the step, those approvals are also changed to Pending and the approvers are notified.
- Once all Approvals with the lowest Step Number are complete, the system changes the approvals with the next lowest Step Number to Pending and those approvers are notified. This process continues until all approvals are complete.
- If an approval step is set to Auto-Approve, the Approval is updated to Approved and the approver or team is notified of the auto-approval without requiring them to respond.
- Approvers can open the Approval record in Agiloft and click action buttons to approve or reject a record, or they can approve or reject a record by clicking a hotlink in the notification email.
- Approvers can add notes about the approval or rejection in the Approval Notes field. Notes are appended to the Approval Notes field of the parent record.
- If the approver marks the approval as Require Changes, the parent record is not changed, but the users assigned to the parent record are notified, and they can determine whether the changes require restarting the approval process or can continue onward after revising the approval. If they want to restart the process, they select the first Approval step from the parent record and click Relaunch from this Approval. This sets all linked approvals to Queued and relaunches the workflow from the first step. Otherwise, they can select only the step that required changes and click Resend for Approval to restart the process for that step.
- If the approver marks the approval as Permanently Rejected, the status of the parent record is updated to Canceled or Rejected and any Queued and Pending approvals are updated to Not Needed. Users assigned to the parent and approval records are notified of all the status changes.
# Views
The Default View for the out-of-the-box Approvals table shows the Edit icon, ID, Linked Record, Approval Title, Approval Team, Approval Type, Status, and Due Date fields.
In addition to the Default View and other [standard views](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/HELP/pages/43718574), the Approvals table includes other views for displaying approval data in other records:
- **View in Approval Related Tables**: The default view for the Concurrent Approvals related table on the Related Approvals tab in Approval records.
- **View in Contract**: The default view for the Approvals Needed related table on the Approvals tab in Contract, Sourcing Event, and Supplier Profile records.
# Saved Searches
The out-of-the-box Approvals table includes several saved searches that are used by rules. The following saved searches are available in the table menu by default:
- **My Approvals**: Finds all approvals that are not related to Documents where you are the assigned approver or are on the approver team.
- **My Assigned Approvals**: Finds approvals with a Status of Pending where no approver is assigned or where you are the assigned approver or are on the approver team.
- **Pending Approvals**: Finds all approvals with a Status of Pending.
# Charts/Reports
In the out-of-the-box system, the Approvals table includes the following charts and reports:
- **Approvals by Approval Team**: Reports on the percentage of contract approvals assigned to each team. The results exclude approvals with a status of Not Needed.
- **Approvals by Status**: Pie chart that shows slices for the number of Approvals in each status except for approvals whose Status is Not Needed.
- **Average time for approval response by Team**: Reports on the average number of hours each approval team took before they responded to a pending approval.
- The bar chart shows the average number of hours for each team, with a drill down by date first approved or rejected.
- The report lists each team and shows the maximum total average number of hours pending approval as well as the average number of hours to first approval or rejection.
- **Average time to approve by Team, related to Contracts**: Reports on the average number of hours each team took to approve, reject, or request changes to a Contract.
- The bar chart shows the average number of hours by team.
- The report list each team, shows their Average of Total Hours Pending Approval, Average of Hours to First Approve/Reject, and Maximum of Total Hours Pending Approval, and lists each relevant Approval record.
- **Contract Approvals by Approval Team and Status**: Reports on the number of approvals by approval team. The results are segmented by approval status, excluding approvals with a Not Needed status.
- **Contract Approvals by Contract Type and Status**: Reports on the number of approvals by contract type. The results are segmented by approval status, excluding approvals with a Not Needed status.
- **My Assigned Approvals**: Reports on the pending approvals assigned to you.
- The bar chart that shows the total contract amount and start date for all of the Pending contract approvals where no approver is assigned, you are assigned, or are on the approval team. The chart includes a drill down by Contract Type.
- The report shows the total contract amount, start date, and linked record for all of the Pending contract approvals where no approver is assigned, you are assigned, or are on the approval team.
# Fields
In addition to the [standard fields](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A2508SD/pages/134054074/Table+Concepts#standard_fields), the out-of-the-box Approvals table includes the following fields.
| **Field Label** | **Data Type** | **Description** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| All Contract Approval Notes
Contract Assigned Team
Contract Company Name
Contract is Confidential
Contract Amount
Contract Description
Contract Manager
Contract Manager ID
Contract Start Date
Contract Title
Contract Type
Contract ID
People who can view Contract
Contract Requester ID
Roles that can view Contract
Contract Status
Contract Workflow | Link to selected fields from other table: Contracts | If the approval is for a contract, these fields identify the Contract record. |
| All Contract Approvals Needed | Embedded Search Result | The list of all approvals for the contract. For use in the Executive Summary document. |
| Approval / Review Notes | Text | Optional notes about the approval. |
| Approval Files | Link to selected fields from other table: Attachments | The files related to the approval. |
| Approval For | Choice:
- Final Approval
- Pre-Approval | For Sourcing Event approvals, this field identifies whether it's a Final Approval or Pre-Approval. |
| Approval Round | Integer | The number of times this approval has been launched. Increments each time the Status changes to Pending. |
| Approval Running Notes | Append Only Text | The list of notes that have been added to the approval. |
| Approval Team Leader
Approval Team | Link to selected fields from other table: Teams | The team responsible for the approval. |
| Approval Template ID and Contract ID | Compound | For contract approvals, the system uses this field to determine if an Approval Template for this record exists. |
| Approval Template Title
Approval Usage
Assign Approval Based On
Approval Template ID | Link to selected fields from other table: Approval Templates | If Approval Source is Approval Template, these fields identify the template. |
| Approval Title | Short Text | The name of the approval. |
| Approval Type | Choice:
- Approval
- Notification
- Review | For Contract approvals, this field determines the options the approver has:
- When set to Approval, the approver can Approve, Require Changes, or Permanently Reject.
- When Notification, the approval is informational-only.
- When Review, the approver can mark the review complete or require changes. |
| Approved by Email | Choice:
- Yes
- No | Indicates whether the approval was approved via email. Set to Yes when an approver clicks the Approve hotlink in an email. This flag triggers automation that sets the Status to Approved. |
| Approved/Rejected By
Approver/Rejected By Primary Team
Approved/Rejected By Teams | Link to selected fields from other table: People | Identifies the person who approved or rejected the record. |
| Approver Updated File(s) | File with Versioning | Lists any attached contract or sourcing event files the approver updated and attached to the approval. |
| Approver
Approver ID
Approver Primary Team
Approver Working Status | Link to selected fields from other table: People | Identifies the approver for this record. |
| Assign To Variable ID
Assign To Value
Assign To Variable | Link to selected fields from other table: Replacement Variables | Fields that identify the team or role assigned to the approval. |
| Assigned Supplier Manager
Goods and Services
Supplier Profile ID
Supplier Profile Status
Supplier Company Name | Link to selected fields from other table: Supplier Profiles | If the approval is for a supplier profile, these fields identify the Supplier Profile record. |
| Attachment Type for Conversion
Attachment Type for Conversion ID | Link to selected fields from other table: Attachment Types | Indicates the type of attachments provided by the approver. Used in the conversion to Approver Updated File(s). |
| Auto-Approve | Choice:
- Yes
- No | Flag used to identify whether the step is set to automatically approve. Defaults to No. |
| Award Recommended | Embedded Search Result | Visible on Final Approvals for Sourcing Events. Shows any vendor responses where the status is Award Recommended. |
| Button: Approve | Action button | Approves the record. Available only when the approval process has been launched and the Status is Pending. |
| Button: Complete Review | Action button | If the Approval Type is Review, this button marks the review complete. |
| Button: Permanently Reject | Action button | Rejects the record. Available after the approval is launched and the Status is Pending. Requires notes to be added to the Approval Notes field. |
| Button: Relaunch from this Approval | Action button | Restarts the approval process from the selected step. Sets the selected Approval and approvals with the same Step Number to Pending and sets approvals with higher step numbers to Queued. |
| Button: Require Changes | Action button | Requires changes to the record. Available after the approval is launched and the Status is Pending. Requires notes to be added to the Approval Notes field. |
| Button: Resend for Approval | Action button | Restarts the approval process for the selected step. Sets the Status to Pending. |
| Button: Set to Pending Approval | Action button | Sets the Status to Pending. Visible if Related To is Documents and Status is Requires Changes. Meant to provide a way for documents to be reapproved after making the requested changes. |
| Company Documents | Embedded Search Result | Lists any company documents from the Supplier Profile. |
| Concurrent Approvals | Link to selected fields from other table: Approvals | Lists all of the approvals with the same Step Number that can be approved concurrently. |
| Contract Approval Packet Files | Embedded Search Result | Files in the Approval Packet for Contracts. |
| Date Approved/Rejected | Date/Time | Timestamp when the Approval was marked Approved, Permanently Rejected, Requires Change, or Completed. |
| Date Finally Approved/Rejected | Date/Time | Timestamp for the last time the Status changed to Approved, Requires Change, or Permanently Rejected. |
| Date First Approved/Rejected | Date/Time | Timestamp of when the approval was first set to Approved, Permanently Rejected, Requires Change, or Completed. |
| Date First Went to Pending Approval | Date/Time | Timestamp when the Status first changed to Pending. |
| Date of Previous Status Change | Date/Time | Timestamp of when the Previous Status value changed. Used for Status Time records. |
| Document Rejected, Requires Update | Choice:
- Yes
- No | Flag that indicates whether a document was rejected requires changes. |
| Due Date | Date | The date the approval is due. The value is set by a rule that adds 2 working days to the date the approval was launched. |
| Executive Summary | File with Versioning | For contract approvals, this file is automatically generated from a document template when an approval's status changes to Pending. The file contains a summary of the contract, approval, and clause markup information. |
| Executive Summary Template ID
Executive Summary Template File | Link to selected fields from other table: Document Templates | The link to the Executive Summary document template for Contracts. |
| Hours to First Approve/Reject | Elapsed Time | Time in hours between when the approval was set to Pending and when it was first approved or rejected. |
| Linked Record | Text | Links to the source record for the approval. |
| Linked Record ID | Long integer field | Stores the ID of the linked record. |
| Lowest Step ID
Lowest Step Number | Link to selected fields from other table: Approvals | Identifies the lowest step number in the Approval Workflow. |
| Markup Summary | Embedded Search Result | Table of all modified and deleted contract clauses to include in the Executive Summary document. |
| Message | Text | A message to send to the approver. Set to the Default Message from the Approval Template but can be edited. |
| Next Approvals | Link to selected fields from other table: Approvals | Tracks the next approval steps in the process. |
| Next Step ID
Next Step Number | Link to selected fields from other table: Approvals | Identifies the next step number in the approval process. |
| Notify for Auto-Approval | Choice:
- Yes
- No | Flag that indicates whether to send a notification when the approval is set to Auto-Approve. |
| Number of Open Concurrent Approvals | Calculation on Multiple Linked Records | The number of open concurrent approvals. The calculation counts records where the Status is not Approved, Completed, or Not Needed. |
| Previous Status | Choice:
- Queued
- Pending
- Approved
- Requires Change
- Permanently Rejected
- Completed
- Not Needed | This background field is used to capture how long a record spends in one state before it moves to another one. Previous Status typically matches the Status value. When Status changes, the system creates a [Status Time](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/A2508SD/pages/134057995) record for the previous state and then updates Previous Status to match the current Status. |
| Related To | Choice:
- Contracts
- Sourcing Events
- Supplier Profile | Indicates the type of source record for the approval. |
| Roles that can view Approval | Link to single field from other table: Roles | This field is used for confidentiality-related access restrictions. Values are set by the rules when confidentiality settings change in the source contract. Created as a separate field to enable the "overlaps with" operator when creating saved searches. |
| Source | Choice:
- Approval Template
- Document Management
- Ad Hoc Approval | Defines the source of the Approval record. If it's generated from an Approval Template, it's set to Approval Template. If it's manually created from a Contract, Sourcing Event, or Supplier Profile, it's set to Ad Hoc Approval. |
| Sourcing Event Approval Packet Files | Embedded Search Result | Files in the Approval Packet for Sourcing Events. |
| Sourcing Event ID
Sourcing Event Manager
Sourcing Event Manager ID
Sourcing Event Title
Sourcing Event Type
Sourcing Event Status | Link to selected fields from other table: Sourcing Events | If the approval is for a sourcing event, these fields identify the Sourcing Event record. |
| Status | Choice:
- Queued
- Pending
- Approved
- Requires Change
- Permanently Rejected
- Completed
- Not Needed | The current state of the approval.
- Queued means the approval process was launched but previous steps must be completed before this step is sent to the approver.
- Pending means the approval is in process.
- Approved means the record's approved and the step is complete.
- Requires Change means the approver finished the approval and requires changes to the record.
- Permanently Rejected means the approver rejected the record.
- Completed means this was a Review or Notification type of approval and the approval is complete.
- Not Needed means this approval is no longer necessary. |
| Status Time Source Table Approval | Choice:
- Approval
- Contract
- Sourcing Event | Mapped to the Status Time field during the conversion from an Approval Template. |
| Step Number | Floating Point | The number of this approval step in the workflow. |
| Total Hours Pending Approval | Elapsed Time | Records the time elapsed from Date Created to the date of latest edit or report. Excludes time when the Status was anything other than Pending. |
| Unique Approval Identifier | Compound | A combination of template ID, linked record ID, and Related To that is used for matching during the conversion from an Approval Template. It identifies whether an approval for the linked record already exists. If yes, the existing Approval is updated instead of generating a new one. |
# Automation
This section describes the rules that are implemented for the out-of-the-box Approvals table. For details about rule configuration options, see [Rules](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/HELP/pages/43714473) in the Help Guide.
- **Create: Set Linked Record and Linked Record ID (web, API)**: This rule runs when an Approval is created. It sets the Linked Record and Linked Record ID field values.
- **Create: All Sourcing Event Approval Create Actions (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Sourcing Event Approval is created. It performs the following actions:
- Sets Related To to Sourcing Events.
- Appends the Sourcing Event title to the Approval title.
- Sets the Next Step Number, Concurrent Approvals, Lowest Step Number, and Next Approvals values.
- Sets the Approver ID and Approval Team values as needed based on the Assign Approval Based On setting. If no team is selected, it sets Approval Team to the team assigned to the Sourcing Event.
- **Create: All Supplier Profile Approval Create Actions (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Supplier Profile Approval is created. It performs the following actions:
- Sets Related To to Supplier Profile.
- Appends the Supplier Profile title to the Approval title.
- Sets the Next Step Number, Concurrent Approvals, Lowest Step Number, and Next Approvals values.
- Sets the Approver ID and Approval Team values as needed based on the Assign Approval Based On setting. If no team is selected, it sets Approval Team to the Supplier Management Team.
- **Create: All Contract Approval Create Actions (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Contract Approval is created. It performs the following actions:
- Sets Related To to Contracts.
- Appends the Contract title to the Approval title.
- Sets the Next Step Number, Concurrent Approvals, Lowest Step Number, and Next Approvals values.
- Sets the Approver ID and Approval Team values as needed based on the Assign Approval Based On setting. If no team is selected, it sets the Approval Team to the team assigned to the Contract.
- Generates an Executive Summary from the Executive Summary (Executive Summary with variables.docx) document template and converts it to a PDF using Microsoft Word's Save As Adobe PDF.
- **Create: Launch Approval if added mid-process (web, API)**: This rule runs when an Approval is created and other approvals in the workflow have already been launched. It generates the Executive Summary for the new approval and sets the Status to Pending.
- **Create: Notify if Needed for Solicitation Approvals (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Sourcing Event Approval is created and sends notifications to the approvers if necessary.
- **Create: Notify if Needed for Contract Approvals (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Contract Approval is created and sends notifications to the approvers if necessary.
- **Edit: All Supplier Profile Edit Actions (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Supplier Profile Approval is edited and performs the following actions:
- Copies Approval Notes to the parent record.
- If the Status changed to Pending, it increments the Approval Round value, updates the Next Step, Concurrent Approvals, and Next Approvals values, and notifies approvers as needed.
- If the Status changed to Permanently Rejected, it emails the assigned Supplier Manager about the rejection, sets the Supplier Profile to Rejected, and sets any Queued and Pending approvals to Not Needed and notifies the approvers.
- If the Status changed to Requires Change, it emails the Supplier Manager and sets the Supplier Profile Status to Pending Review.
- If the Status changed to Approved, it increases the Number of Approvals value in the Supplier Profile record.
- **Edit: All Contract Approval Edit Actions (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Contract Approval is edited and performs the following actions:
- Copies Approval Notes to the parent record.
- If the Status changed to Pending, it increments the Approval Round value, updates the Next Step, Concurrent Approvals, and Next Approvals values, and notifies approvers as needed.
- If the Status changed to Permanently Rejected, it emails the Contract Manager about the rejection, sets the Contract Status to Canceled, and sets any Queued and Pending approvals to Not Needed and notifies the approvers.
- If the Status changed to Requires Change, it emails the Contract Manager and sets the Contract Status to Pending Review.
- If the Status changed to Approved, it increases the Number of Approvals value in the Contract record.
- Generates an Executive Summary from the Executive Summary (Executive Summary with variables.docx) document template and converts it to a PDF using Microsoft Word's Save As Adobe PDF.
- **Edit: All Sourcing Event Approval Edit Actions (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Contract Approval is edited and performs the following actions:
- Copies Approval Notes to the parent record.
- If the Status changed to Pending, it increments the Approval Round value, updates the Next Step, Concurrent Approvals, and Next Approvals values, and notifies approvers as needed. If it's a Pre-Approval, it sets the Sourcing Event Status to Pending Initial Approval. If it's a Final Approval, it sets the Status to Pending Selection Approval.
- If the Status changed to Permanently Rejected, it emails the Sourcing Event owner about the rejection, sets the Sourcing Event Status to Canceled, and sets any Queued and Pending approvals to Not Needed and notifies the approvers.
- If the Status changed to Requires Change, it emails the Sourcing Event owner. It it's a Pre-Approval, it sets the Sourcing Event Status to Pending Sourcing Event Manager. If it's a Final Approval, it sets the Status to Reviewing Responses.
- If the Status changed to Approved, it increases the Number of Approvals value in the Sourcing Event record.
- **Edit: Approval by Email (web)**: This rule runs when a Pending Approval is approved by email. It changes the Status to Approved.
- **Create/Edit: Set Due Date to Working Day (web, API)**: This rule runs when a Pending Contract or Sourcing Event Approval is created or edited. It sets the approval Due Date to 2 working days from today.
- **TB: Update Demo Data Monthly**: This time-based rule runs every 1 month at 12:00am to update date fields for Demo Data records so they stay current.
- **Edit: (DISABLED) Handle Status Change (rule should always be lowest priority)**: This rule is disabled by default. If activated, it runs when the Status of an Approval moves forward. It creates a new Status Time record and updates the Previous Status and Date of Previous Status Change fields.
# Ownership
Approval records are owned by the user who creates them. Specifically, Creator Login is set to the Login of the user who creates the record. For more information on record ownership, see [Record Ownership](https://agiloft-public.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/HELP/pages/43718158) in the Help Guide.