SpotDraft allows you to customize the approval process for your contracts, ensuring that it aligns with your specific needs and workflow. This guide explains how to use the "Approval Preferences" section in SpotDraft to adjust the settings for various approval types.
What are Approval Preferences?
Approval Preferences in SpotDraft let you define which actions users are allowed or blocked from performing within specific workflows, even if they have the necessary permissions. This helps you:
- Manage Workflow Flexibility: Control which actions are always allowed or blocked when approvals are in progress for a contract.
- Maintain Control: Ensure that the approval process for your contracts aligns with internal policies and guidelines.
How to Set Up Approval Preferences:
- Navigate to the Workflow Manager:
- Go to the "Manage" section in SpotDraft.
- Click on "Workflow Manager."
- Select a Workflow:
- Click on the workflow you want to adjust approval preferences for.
- This will open the workflow details page.
- Go to Approvals Settings:
- On the workflow details page, you'll see a section on the left-hand side labeled "Additional Options."
- Click on the "Approvals" option.
- Configure Approval Preferences:
- You'll see three tabs: "Pre-Send Approvals," "Pre-Sign Approvals," and "Approval Preferences."
- Click the "Approval Preferences" tab. This section allows you to define the settings for different actions.
- Choose an Action: In the "Approval Preferences" section, you'll see a list of available actions, such as:
- Mark for Execution: This action moves the contract to the signing stage.
- Send Contract to Counterparty: This action allows sending a contract to the counterparty for review.
- Download Contract: This action allows user to download a copy of the contract.
- Upload Contract: This action allows users to upload new versions or revisions of the contract.
- Set Approval Preference:
- Next to each action, you'll see a dropdown menu. You can choose the preference for that action:
- Allowed: Users with the necessary permissions are allowed to perform this action. All the actions are allowed by default.
- Blocked: All users are blocked from performing this action.
- Next to each action, you'll see a dropdown menu. You can choose the preference for that action:
- Adjust Settings for Specific Teams or Users:
- To allow specific teams or users to perform that action even if it is blocked for everyone else, click on the dropdown menu labeled "Users still allowed to perform this action" under the desired action.
- This will reveal a list of users and teams. Select the checkboxes next to the teams or individual users you want to exempt from the blocked action.
Example:
You can block the "Download Contract" action for everyone except for users in the "Finance" team, allowing only those users to download the contract.
Skipping Approvals
SpotDraft's approval system allows users to skip certain approvals in specific situations. This functionality is linked to the "Mark for Execution" & “Send Contract to Counterparty” action:
- Pre-Sign Approvals: To block users from skipping pre-sign approvals, block the "Mark for Execution" action. To allow specific users to skip pre-sign approvals, add them to the "Users still allowed to perform this action" list within the "Mark for Execution" setting.
- Pre-Send Approvals: To block users from skipping pre-send approvals, block the "Send Contract to Counterparty" action. To allow specific users to skip pre-send approvals, add them to the "Users still allowed to perform this action" list within the "Send Contract to Counterparty" setting.
- Ad-Hoc Approvals: To block users from skipping ad-hoc approvals, block the "Mark for Execution" action. To allow specific users to skip ad-hoc approvals, add them to the "Users still allowed to perform this action" list within the "Mark for Execution" setting.