Build a custom approval workflow app that shows where every request stands
Describe how your approvals work. Pave builds an app that keeps every request, its reviewer, and its current step in one place, so you always know what's waiting on whom.
Your team owns the approval workflow app, end to end.
You describe it, Pave builds it
Spell out what needs approval, what you collect on each request, and the review stages it passes through. Pave stands up a working app around exactly that.
Yours to shape
Every team approves differently. Add a finance review stage, separate contract approvals from expense requests, or give legal its own request type. The app takes the shape of how your team already approves.
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Governed from day one
Requesters raise requests, reviewers approve or send them back, and a process owner watches the full queue. What each person can do is fixed by their role, so approvals stay controlled even when anyone on the team can submit one.
One builder, every kind of approval.
Fully customizable. Build the whole thing or the one piece you need most. The same app also handles:
Purchase approvals
Purchase and PO requests with the amount, vendor, and sign-offs each one needs.
Expense approvals
Expense claims with receipts attached and a clear approve-or-return decision.
Document approvals
Drafts that pass through review and sign-off before they are final.
Contract approvals
Contracts with the legal and finance reviews they go through, and the file kept on the record.
Vendor approvals
New-vendor requests reviewed and approved before a vendor is set up.
Access requests
System or facility access requests with the approver and the decision on record.
Your data, hosting, and access, already set up.
Every approval workflow app you build on Pave comes with a managed database, hosting, and role-based access already in place. No database to design, no server to run, no separate login tool to bolt on. As more request types, reviewers, and teams come on, the app holds up, because it runs on Quickbase.
Everything an employee onboarding app needs, built in.
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Request forms
Structured intake for each kind of approval, so requests arrive complete.
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Approval stages
Set named stages like manager review, finance review, and legal review. The app tracks which stage each request sits in.
Status tracking
See every request as submitted, in review, approved, returned, or closed, and who holds it now.
Decision records
Run cycle counts, compare counted against expected, and record the variance and who counted.
Comments and attachments
Reviewers leave comments and attach the invoice, contract, or file a decision depends on.
Email notifications
When a request's status changes, the app can email the people who follow it, so an update does not sit unseen.
From a description to a working approval process.
Describe your approvals
Tell Pave what gets approved, what you collect on each request, and the review stages it passes through. Start from a plain description, a spreadsheet of past requests, or an approval form you already use.
Shape it in your own words
What comes back is a working app: request forms, approval stages, reviewer fields, and a status board. Ask it to rename a stage, add a budget-code field, or change what counts as closed. If a change misses, drop back to an earlier version.
Put it to work
Invite requesters and reviewers, set who can approve, and start taking requests. Hosting, data, and access are already handled.
Related use cases
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FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What is an approval workflow app?
An approval workflow app is where a request goes to get a decision. Someone submits it, it lands with the right reviewer, and the record shows what stage it's at and who holds it. Every approval, rejection, and send-back is captured with the reviewer, the date, and the reason.
Can I build my own approval workflow app?
Yes. Describe your current approval process, what you collect on each request, and the stages it passes through. Pave builds the request forms, the stages, the reviewer fields, and the permissions. No code, no dev team. Read more about how Pave works.
Can Pave support multi-step approvals?
Yes. Set named stages like manager review, finance review, and legal review, and the app tracks which one each request sits in. As a reviewer decides, the request moves to the next stage and the next reviewer gets notified. If it sits too long, Pave nudges and then escalates. The request waits at a status while a person decides, and approval routing software handles ensures it gets to the right person.
What should an approval workflow app include?
Approval workflows vary but an app typically includes structured intake for each request type, named stages, status updates, and decision records with the reviewer, date, and reason. You should also be able to view comments and attachments for the invoice or contract the decision depends on, as well as build dashboards for what's pending and what's aging.
How does an approval workflow app connect to existing systems?
Pave offers 350+ native connectors on every plan, across finance, communication, document, e-signature, and HR systems. Set up a connection once and every workflow reuses it. Document approval software notifies the reviewer in your chat tool, ensures an approved contract goes out for signature, and directs an approved invoice straight to your accounting system.
Is the data in my approval workflow software secure?
Yes. Role-based access means requesters raise and track their own requests, reviewers see what's assigned to them, and a process owner watches the full queue. Credentials stay encrypted, connections run server-side, and every change waits behind a draft-to-publish gate. Your IT team sees all of it in one place, on a foundation trusted by enterprises for over 25 years. Learn more about Pave's security and compliance.