ApprovalFlow is an online document approval system to review and approve documents, promotional material and artwork. Users upload documents to a secure, cloud-based environment and then use a structured, sequential workflow to manage document approvals.
Each reviewer can add annotations to a document. ApprovalFlow locks annotations to each user, which ensures compliance and traceability. The comments bound to a specific user cannot be removed or altered by other reviewers.
ApprovalFlow uses three easy steps to approve documents. Upload a document, add comments and markup and submit it for review. The approval options include - approved, approved with changes and resubmit. When a reviewer selects the resubmit option, the review cycle reverts back to originator.
The email automation system notifies the next reviewer when it is their turn to review and approve the document. A final version of the document is uploaded once all the reviewers have approved the document. An expiry date is assigned to the document. When a document nears the expiry date, the originator is automatically notified that the document needs to be updated and resubmitted for review.
ApprovalFlow's structured approval workflow offers several benefits.
ApprovalFlow improves compliance by providing a structured digital workflow and a detailed audit trail. Traditional wordprocessors use "track changes" to manage version edits. When a reviewer accepts all changes, the comments are lost, and it becomes unclear what changes were made by users. The annotation view in ApprovalFlow enables users to add comments and markup to documents directly in the browser. These comments are locked to individual users, which offers full traceability from an audit perspective.
ApprovalFlow's digital workflow speeds up the approval process. With drag-and-drop functionality, users can add new documents with ease. The automated email notification system alerts reviewers when it is their turn to approve a document.
ApprovalFlow removes the need to print, store and archive physical documents, which results in cost savings. The digital workflow in ApprovalFlow ensures that the entire document review and approval process is managed within the browser, without the need to download and re-upload documents.
The automated notification system and timeline feature optimise collaboration between team members. The notification system alerts reviewers when it is their turn to approve a document. The timeline feature in ApprovalFlow tracks all user interactions and keeps users informed every step of the way.
With ApprovalFlow, users approve documents in three easy steps. Upload a document, add comments and markup and submit it for review. The email automation system notifies the next reviewer when it is their turn to review and approve the document.
The new document wizard enables the originator to set up and configure a new document review cycle. The originator adds basic information related to the document. Next, the originator selects the reviewers that need to approve the document. Finally, the document and related references are uploaded. The document is then processed using a structured, sequential review process.
ApprovalFlow has several user management features to ensure that the document approval process runs smoothly. Use the skip function to bypass reviewers that become unavailable. Replace reviewers with the delegation function. The originator of the document can also add reviewers at the start of a new review cycle.
ApprovalFlow is all about compliance, and version control is core to the document review process. The originator uploads a new document for each round of review. Comments and markup applied to the earlier versions are locked. Auditors, therefore, have a detailed chronological record of every user action related to the document review.
ApprovalFlow supports three image formats, including PDF (portable document format), Jpeg, and Png. The platform also supports video and audio formats in the form of Mpeg4 video and Mp3 audio.
Each new document is assigned a unique document number. The document number is comprised of the product name, country code and a sequential five-digit number. Example: ABC-AU-00001
The unique document number is configurable in the general settings page. It is possible to turn off the product and country code and only use the sequential document number.
There may be instances where a reviewer becomes unavailable. In these cases, the approval process becomes blocked. The skip function in ApprovalFlow enables the originator of the document to skip reviewers. The skip function triggers an update to the timeline to ensure traceability of the approval process.
There may be times when the review of a specific document is no longer required. The withdraw function in ApprovalFlow enables the originator to withdraw the document. When the withdraw function is triggered, the timeline is updated, and the document is moved from active documents to completed documents.
The recall function enables the originator to stop the current review cycle. New information may require changes to the document. Instead of wasting the reviewers time with an incorrect version of the document, the originator recalls the document and resubmits the updated version. When the recall function is triggered, the timeline is updated, and the review step reverts to the originator.
In addition to the skip function, there is also a delegate function. The delegate function enables the originator to delegate a reviewer role to another user. The originator selects a reviewer and assigns the role to a different user in the system.
ApprovalFlow has several reporting functions, which makes it easy to track how individuals are using the system. The user dashboard provides a real-time snapshot of utilisation data. The metrics include the number of active and completed documents and the average number of documents processed per month.
The reporting dashboard provides a rollup of all users. The dashboard tracks the total number of active and completed documents. Reporting data is downloadable in a Comma-Separated Value (CSV) file.
At the end of a review cycle, the originator may need to share a PDF version of the marked-up document with stakeholders or external agencies. The export function in ApprovalFlow packages all comments and markup elements, added to the document, and generates a downloadable PDF file, ready to be shared with others.
ApprovalFlow offers a monthly subscription software (SaaS) as a service model.
Customers pay a fixed monthly fee and have a dedicated server instance. Please contact our sales team at: sales@approvalflow.net to for pricing information.
ApprovalFlow is hosted on Amazon EC2 with additional backups hosted on Amazon S3 Glacier. AWS is a leading provider of cloud hosting solutions.
ApprovalFlow encrypts customer data in transit and at rest. All customer data is encrypted in transit over public networks to protect it from unauthorised disclosure and modification.
Interested in a demonstration? Our team is ready to schedule an online demo at your earliest convenience.
When compliance matters.
ApprovalFlow offers a suite of digital solutions tailored to the requirements of life-sciences companies. It uses an enterprise-grade, cloud-based platform, accessible from anywhere in the world. The platform combines the latest web-based technologies with easy-to-use interfaces to manage approval workflows.
COMPLIANCE
ApprovalFlow promotes compliance by providing a structured online workflow to approve documents.
AUDIT-READY
Ensures that companies are audit-ready with detailed audit logs.
SPEED
The web-based approval workflow reduces review cycles.
