Electronic document and approval workflow: how to stop chasing signatures
A document is waiting for the manager’s signature, the manager is away on a business trip, and the accounting department is asking about the invoice for the third time. An electronic approval workflow removes this problem, provided it is well designed.
Where documents get lost
- in the inboxes of people who happen to be away,
- in folders passed between offices,
- in “can you take a look?” messages that never got a reply.
How an approval workflow works in the system
- The document enters the system together with the required data.
- The system knows who should approve it, based on the document type, department or amount.
- The approver sees the document on their task list and receives a notification.
- Every decision, whether approval, rejection or a request for corrections, is recorded with a date and a comment.
- When the workflow is complete, the document moves on, for example to the accounting department.
Rules you need to define
- approval paths for each type of document,
- thresholds above which additional approval is required,
- deputies during holidays and other absences,
- what happens to a rejected document,
- how long the system waits before sending a reminder about a pending decision.
What the company gains
- everyone knows what stage a document is at and who has it,
- decisions are made faster, because nothing gets lost in an inbox,
- management can see where bottlenecks occur,
- the approval history is available for inspections or audits.
The most common mistake
Moving every existing signature path into the system without asking whether all of them are needed. Implementing a document workflow is a good opportunity to simplify the process. If you want to do this in your company, book a consultation.
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