Once you've created the approval rules through the Setup window, you can further configure them through the Approval Settings window. This window provides a set of configuration options organized into five tabs: Entry Criteria, Notifications, Comments, Other Settings, and Update Actions.

Entry Criteria

This tab enables you to define the conditions that trigger an approval process. 

  1. Add rule criteria in the Rule Criteria section. Select a field name from the Field Name pull-down, assign it a logical operator from the Operator pull-down, and provide an appropriate value to create a testable rule. For example, you can pull down the Total Contract Value field type, assign a "greater than or equal to" logical operator, and a numeric value to qualify a rule.
  2. Click the plus icon (+) to create additional rule criteria. Multiple rules must be separated by Boolean operators (Approvals adds " AND " by default. You can also use the OR operator.) For example, "Contract value is greater than or equal to 1000000 dollars AND Location is Chicago." XOR, NAND, XNOR and NOR operations are not supported: use the rule criteria logic to support these logical operations (for example, for a NOR relation negating the previous example: "Contract value is less than 1000000 dollars AND Location is not Chicago").

Notifications

This tab enables you to configure email templates to notify users at each stage of the approval process. Different templates can be set for assignment, reassignment, escalation, cancellation, reminders, and errors. Each template type is customizable and can be activated as needed, ensuring users receive timely and relevant information.

FieldTemplate Type Description
Assignment Email TemplateNotify users that they must decide on an approval request.
Reassignment Email TemplateNotify users that an approval request task initially assigned to them has been reassigned.
Escalation Email TemplateNotify users for auto-escalation notifications. Configuration is required to activate this feature.
Cancellation Email TemplateNotify users that an approval request has been canceled.
Notify Only Email TemplateNotify users without requiring action.
Reminder Email TemplateNotify users for automatic reminders of approvals awaiting action.
Error Email TemplateNotify users about errors in the approval process.

Comments

This tab enables or disables comments at such stages of the approval process as submission, approval, rejection, and recall. You can define whether comments should be mandatory or optional for each action, providing clear expectations for users submitting, approving, or rejecting requests.

FieldToggle Type Description
Submission Comments EnabledAllow the input of comments when submitting the approval request.
Submission Comments MandatoryMake submission comments mandatory when submitting a request.
Approval Comments MandatoryMake comments mandatory when approving a request.
Rejection Comments MandatoryMake comments mandatory when rejecting a request.
Recall Comments EnabledAllow the input of comments when recalling an approval process.
Recall Comments MandatoryMake recall comments mandatory when recalling an approval process.

Other Settings

This tab provides configuration options that streamline the approval process consolidating approvals and notifications, enabling the continuation of approvals even after rejection, and specifying a backup admin user. These settings help streamline the approval process and ensure actions are completed even if certain steps are skipped or approvers are unavailable.

FieldDescription
Consolidate ApprovalsToggle on to group related approvals into a single step.
Consolidate NotificationsToggle on to combine related notifications into a single email.
Continue Pending Approvals on RejectToggle on to continue the approval process even if an approver rejects the request.
Backup Admin UserEnter to search and specify a backup admin approver. If not specified here, the default backup admin in configuration settings is used.

Update Actions

This tab enables you to define actions that occur during initial submission, final approval, or final rejection. For each action, you can select fields, assign values, and add descriptions. You can add or delete actions to customize the approval process.

When you have entered all configurations, click Save to activate the approval flows.