Approval Workflows

OpenCLM's Approval Workflows engine automates the routing of contracts from authors to reviewers, approvers, and signatories — eliminating manual email chains and missed reviews.

How Approval Workflows Work

When an author submits a contract for review, OpenCLM:

1. Looks up the workflow template assigned to this contract type / department.
2. Creates an Approval Request for each step in the workflow.
3. Notifies the approvers by email and in-app notification.
4. Tracks each approver's response (Approved / Rejected / Delegated).
5. Moves the contract to the next step when the current step is satisfied.
6. Once all steps are complete, marks the contract as Approved and notifies the author.

Workflow Types

Type	How it works
Sequential	Step 2 begins only after Step 1 is complete
Parallel	All approvers in a group are notified simultaneously; all must approve
Any-of	All approvers in a group are notified; only one needs to approve
Conditional	A step is included only if a condition is met (e.g. value > $50,000)

Creating a Workflow Template

Only Contract Managers and Administrators can create workflow templates.

1. Go to Contracts → Workflow Templates (tab in the Contracts view).
2. Click New Workflow Template.
3. Give the template a name and optionally restrict it to a contract type or department.
4. Add steps using the visual workflow builder:
   • Click + Add Step.
   • Set the step name (e.g. "Legal Review").
   • Choose step type: Sequential / Parallel / Any-of.
   • Add one or more approvers: specific users or role-based (e.g. "any user with role Legal Counsel").
   • Set the due-in duration — the number of days the approver has before an escalation is triggered.
   • Optionally add a condition (e.g. contract.value > 100000).
5. Drag steps to reorder.
6. Click Save.

Assigning a Workflow to a Contract

Workflow templates can be applied:

• Automatically — based on contract type or department rule (set by Admin).
• Manually — authors can select a workflow when submitting for review.

Approving or Rejecting

Approvers receive an email with a direct link to the contract. They can also see all pending approvals in the Approval Center.

To respond:

1. Open the contract.
2. Click the Approvals tab.
3. Read the contract and any attached notes.
4. Click Approve or Reject.
5. Optionally add a comment explaining your decision.

Rejection Behaviour

When an approver rejects:

• The contract status returns to Draft.
• The author receives a notification with the rejection reason.
• The workflow resets — the author must re-submit after making changes.

Delegation

If you are unavailable, you can delegate your approval to another user:

1. In the Approvals tab, click Delegate.
2. Select the delegate user.
3. The delegate is notified and has full approval authority for this contract.

Delegation is logged in the audit trail.

Escalation

If an approver does not respond within the configured due-in period:

• An escalation notification is sent to the approver and their manager.
• After a second configurable period, the step can be auto-approved or escalated to an admin (depending on your configuration in Settings → Workflows).

Workflow History

Every contract's Approvals tab shows the full history: who approved, who rejected, when, and any comments — even after the workflow is complete.