Ask a client to approve something

An approval asks the client to say yes or no to something, such as a purchase or an after-hours change window, and records who answered and how. The client answers in the portal, with a signature. This page shows how to ask, how to follow the answer, and what the client sees.

Before you begin

• The portal is on for the client, and the people who will answer are active portal users with Respond to approvals. See Turn on the portal for a client.
• The permission you need depends on where you ask: ticket:write on a ticket, project:write on a project, and clientportal:manage for a general approval. Choosing who to ask needs clientportal:read.
• A record can have one open approval at a time.

Ask for approval

1. Start from the record the approval is about:
   • A ticket: inside the client’s workspace, open the ticket and select More > Request approval.
   • A project: open the client’s project and select Actions > Request approval.
   • Anything else: on the client’s Client portal tab, select Approvals > Request approval.
2. In What they are approving, enter a short title, such as Replace the front desk workstation.
3. In Details, explain what you need. The client sees it above the approve and decline buttons.
4. Optionally, enter an Amount and its Currency, and an Answer by date. The request expires after that day.
5. Under Who to ask, choose:
   • Everybody with a role, then the Role. It defaults to the Approver role. Whoever holds the role when they answer can respond.
   • Named people, then tick the people.
6. Under Decided by, choose The first answer, or Everybody asked (one decline declines).
7. Select Send for approval.

The people asked are notified, by default at once.

How the client answers

The client opens the request from Approvals in the portal or from the email, and selects Approve or Decline. To sign, they type their full name (and can draw a signature), tick that they agree, and select Sign and approve or Sign and decline. A decline needs a reason. The portal asks them to confirm who they are first when they have been idle.

With Everybody asked, the request shows who has approved and who has still to answer. It is approved when everyone asked has approved.

Each answer is kept as a signed record that cannot be changed: who answered, the name they signed, how they signed, their comment, and when.

Follow the outcome

• The outcome is added as a note on the ticket or project the approval was about.
• On the client’s Client portal tab, Approvals lists every request with its status: Waiting, Approved, Declined, Withdrawn, or Expired. Open one to see each signed answer.

To take back a request that is still open, select Withdraw.

Quotes and milestones

You do not need an approval for a quote or a project milestone. A sent quote and a client-visible milestone that needs acceptance appear in the client’s Approvals inbox on their own, and the client accepts them there or on the quote or project page, exactly as through the link you email. See Sales pipeline and quotes and Projects.

Verify

The request shows Waiting on the client’s Approvals list, and then the outcome once the client answers.

Next steps

• Handle starter and leaver requests
• Using the client portal: approvals and quotes