Approval workflows

Approval workflows let the right team members review quotes, invoices, and credit notes before they move forward. You can use them to control when a quote can be sent to a customer or when a draft invoice or credit note can be finalized.

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Approval workflows

Approval workflows let you define custom rules that require review when a quote, invoice, or credit note meets specific criteria. Each workflow can contain multiple approval steps with individual or role-based approvers.

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Configure approval workflows

To set up approval workflows:

1. Go to Settings > Approvals
2. Open Approval workflows
3. Click Create workflow to add a new approval workflow
4. Under Applicable flows, select the actions that should trigger the workflow
5. Configure the workflow rules and approval steps
6. Save the workflow

You can create multiple approval workflows. When an action matches multiple workflows, Hyperline applies the workflow with the highest priority (lowest number).

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Applicable flows

Choose one or more flows for each workflow:

• Quote for new subscription
• Quote for subscription update
• Quote for one-off invoice
• Invoice finalization
• Credit note finalization

Invoice and credit note workflows apply when someone manually submits a draft document for finalization from Hyperline or through the API. If no matching workflow applies, Hyperline finalizes the document immediately.

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Rules

Rules determine when an action requires approval. You can combine multiple conditions using AND/OR logic. When you select more than one applicable flow, Hyperline only offers conditions supported by every selected flow. Changing the applicable flows removes any condition that is no longer compatible. For quote payment method conditions, subscription quotes use the customer’s payment method, while one-off quotes use the payment method selected on the linked invoice. Via the API, Quote attachment maps to the has_attachment field. Use eq with false to require approval when no attachment is present, or eq with true to require approval when one is present.

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Approval steps

Each workflow can include one or multiple approval steps. Steps are processed sequentially—a request must complete all steps before it is fully approved. For each step, you can configure:

• Step name: A descriptive name for the approval step (e.g., “Sales Manager Review”, “Finance Approval”)
• Approvers: Select individual team members or roles. For quote flows, you can also use the Manager of quote owner option (see below)
• Approval requirement: Choose whether all approvers must approve or if any approver can complete the step
  • All approvers: Every selected approver must approve before moving to the next step
  • Any approver: Only one approval from the selected approvers is needed

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Manager of quote owner

Rather than naming approvers explicitly, a step can require approval from the manager of the quote owner. Hyperline resolves that manager every time approval is requested, from the manager set on the owner’s member profile — see Set a member’s manager. This keeps a single workflow valid across an entire sales team: every quote is routed to its own owner’s manager, instead of maintaining one workflow per team. The resolved manager is notified and reviews the quote like any other approver. You can combine this option with individual approvers and roles on the same step. Good to know:

• Changing the quote owner while the quote is pending approval re-routes the step to the new owner’s manager.
• Changing a member’s manager while a quote is pending approval hands the step to the new manager, who is notified.
• A quote owner can never approve their own quote through this option, since a member cannot be their own manager.
• If the quote owner has no manager and the step also names members or roles, those approvers still decide the step.
• If the step that cannot resolve is followed by a step with approvers, the quote opens on the first step somebody can decide.
• A manager whose membership is archived or deactivated counts as no manager.

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Notifications

When an approval request is created, Hyperline automatically notifies the relevant approvers:

• Email notifications: Approvers receive an email when their approval is needed
• Delegated approver notifications: If an approver has an active delegation, the delegated approver also receives the approval request email
• Slack notifications (optional): You can connect a Slack channel to each approval workflow. When approval is needed at any step, a notification is sent to the configured channel with details about the resource, requester, workflow step, and approvers

Configure Slack notifications in the workflow settings by selecting the channel where notifications should be sent. Learn more about Slack integration. Approval request notifications can also be delivered through each user’s personal notification channels. Users can manage these from Profile > Notifications, including Slack DMs when Slack is connected. Slack DMs include details about the resource and actions to Approve, Reject, or Open in Hyperline. Quote notifications also include the quote PDF in a thread. Learn more about profile notifications.

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Workflow priority

If you have multiple approval workflows, you can set their priority order. When an action matches multiple workflows, only the workflow with the highest priority (lowest number) is applied. To adjust priority, drag and drop workflows in Settings > Approvals > Approval workflows.

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Approval delegations

Approval delegations let an approver temporarily give another active team member the ability to approve or reject requests on their behalf. Use them when an approver is out of office or when another team member needs to cover approvals for a defined period. A delegated decision counts as a decision from the original approver, while Hyperline also records which user actually approved or rejected the request.

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Create an approval delegation

To create a delegation:

1. Go to Settings > Approvals
2. Open Delegations
3. Select the original approver whose approvals should be delegated
4. Select the new approver who should receive the delegated approvals
5. Choose the delegation start and end dates
6. Add a reason, if needed
7. Save the delegation

Approvers can create or revoke their own delegation from the Profile tab on their profile page. Team members who can manage approvals can create or revoke delegations for other approvers from Settings > Approvals > Delegations.

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How delegated approvals work

During the delegation period, the delegated approver receives requests assigned to them through the delegation, alongside requests assigned to them directly. When the delegated approver approves or rejects a request:

• The workflow treats the decision as coming from the original approver
• Hyperline records who acted on behalf of the approver
• The same All approvers and Any approver step rules still apply

If a delegated approver is covering more than one approver for the same approval step, Hyperline asks them to choose which approver they are acting on behalf of before they approve or reject.

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Manage delegation periods

Delegations are time-bound. A delegation only applies between its start and end dates, and you can revoke it before the end date if it is no longer needed. Keep these rules in mind:

• Expired and revoked delegations no longer grant approval rights
• Inactive users are excluded from delegated approval filters and notifications
• An approver cannot have overlapping active delegations for the same period
• Past delegated decisions remain in the approval history after a delegation expires or is revoked

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Approval process

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For invoice and credit note creators

When you submit a draft invoice or credit note for finalization and it matches an approval workflow:

1. The document moves to pending_approval instead of being finalized
2. The document page shows the workflow that was triggered, the current step, and the approval history
3. If the request is approved, Hyperline finalizes the document automatically
4. If the request is rejected, the document moves to changes_requested

After a rejection, edit and save the document to submit a new approval request. You can also delete the document if you no longer need it.

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For quote creators

When you create a quote that matches an approval workflow:

1. After validating the quote, it automatically moves to Pending approval status
2. You’ll see which approval workflow was triggered and which step is currently active
3. You receive email notifications when:
   • Your quote is approved and ready to send
   • Your quote is rejected with a reason from the approver
   • An approver requests changes (quote moves to Change requested status)

If your quote is rejected or changes are requested, you can:

• Edit the quote to address the approver’s feedback, then resubmit for approval
• Void the quote if you decide not to proceed

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For approvers

When a quote, invoice, or credit note requires your approval:

1. You receive an email notification (and a Slack notification if configured)
2. Open the resource from the email or Slack link. For quotes, you can also use the Need your approval filter in the quotes list. For invoices and credit notes, filter the invoice list by Pending approval.
3. Review the resource details and approval history
4. Click Approve or Reject:
   • Approve: The request moves to the next approval step. After the final step, Hyperline approves the quote or finalizes the invoice or credit note.
   • Reject: You can provide a reason or comment. The resource moves to Changes requested, and the creator is notified.

If you receive a Slack approval request, you can approve or reject directly from Slack. If another approver has already acted, the Slack message updates to show the current approval state.

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Quote statuses

Quotes in the approval process can have the following statuses:

• Pending approval: The quote is waiting for approval at one or more steps
• Change requested: An approver rejected the quote and requested changes. The quote creator must edit the quote or void it
• Approved: All approval steps are complete. The quote can now be sent to the customer for signature

You can filter quotes by these statuses in the quotes list, and use the Need your approval filter to quickly find quotes waiting for your review.

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Invoice and credit note statuses

Invoices and credit notes in the approval process can have the following statuses:

• pending_approval: The document is waiting for approval at one or more steps. It remains unfinalized.
• changes_requested: An approver rejected the request. Edit and save the document to resubmit it, or delete it.

After the last step is approved, Hyperline finalizes the document and moves it to its normal post-finalization status. You can filter the invoice list by Pending approval or Changes requested.

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Simple quote approval permission

When the approval workflows feature (described above) is not enabled, Hyperline provides a dedicated quote approval permission. When a user without this permission creates and validates a quote (from the UI or a CRM), the quote moves into a Pending approval state and requires another user with the approval permission to approve it before it can be sent for signature. In this flow, Hyperline does not offer automatic notifications to users with the quote approval permission when a quote requires approval. However, you can set up dedicated notifications (email, Slack message, etc.) using external workflow tools like Zapier or custom code. Hyperline provides a dedicated webhook event — quote.approval_requested — triggered whenever a quote is saved and requires approval.