Articles on: Workflows

How to set up an approval workflow

Use a workflow to send each new submission to an approver, such as a line manager, and then do something different depending on their decision. In this guide you'll build a timesheet approval: the manager approves, rejects or asks for changes, and approved timesheets are emailed to your office.


Available on: All plans. Each run counts toward your plan's workflow run limit. You'll need: a published form and a connected email account.


Important: Approval emails are sent from your own email account, never from Formester. Until you connect Gmail, Outlook or SMTP, the Approval and Send email steps can't run. See How to Connect Gmail, Outlook or SMTP to Send Form Emails from Your Own Address.


Before you begin


  • Add an email field to your form for the approver, for example Line manager email. Each submission is then sent to the manager the employee entered.
  • Add an email field for the person submitting, for example Employee email, if you want to send change requests back to them.


Start the workflow


  1. Select Workflows in the left menu, then select Add Workflow.
  2. Select Form submitted, then select Continue.
  3. Under Selected form, choose your form, then select Create trigger. The workflow editor opens with the Form submitted step on the canvas.



    Form submitted settings with a timesheet form selected


Add the Approval step


  1. Select Add step, search for Approval, and select it. The step appears on the canvas with Approve and Reject outcomes.
  2. If the Approval step isn't joined to Form submitted, drag from the dot under Form submitted to the top of the Approval step.
  3. Under Outcomes, select Add outcome and name it Request changes. Each outcome becomes its own path on the canvas.
  4. Under Approvers, open the list and choose Line manager email under Submission values.
  5. Under SMTP Integration, choose your connected email account.



    Approval step with three outcomes and Line manager email as the approver


  1. Under Email body, keep All answers (table) so the approver sees the submission. To let the approver correct the submission themselves, type @, search for edit, and select Edit submission link.



    Approval email body with All answers and Edit submission link


  1. Under Comment, choose whether approvers can add a comment: Optional, Required or Don't ask for a comment.


Send approved submissions to your office


  1. Drag from the dot under Approve onto an empty part of the canvas, then select Send email.
  2. Under To, enter your office's email address and press Enter.
  3. Under SMTP Integration, choose your connected email account.
  4. Enter a Subject, for example "Approved timesheet".
  5. In Body, type @ to insert the approval details: Decided by, Decided at and Comment. Then insert All answers (table).


Send change requests back to the employee


  1. Drag from the dot under Request changes onto the canvas, then select Send email.
  2. Under To, choose Employee email under Submission values.
  3. Choose your SMTP Integration and enter a Subject.
  4. In Body, insert Comment and Edit submission link, so the employee sees what to fix and can update their submission.



    Workflow with Approve and Request changes paths each sending an email


  1. Select Publish. You'll see "Workflow published successfully".


An outcome with nothing connected, such as Reject here, ends the run.


Check it works


  1. Submit your form, entering an email address you can check as the line manager.
  2. Open the approval email and select Approve. A page opens showing the submission, with Approve selected under Your response.



    Approval page with the Your response dropdown, Comment box and Confirm button


  1. Add a comment if you like, then select Confirm. You'll see "Thanks, your response is recorded".
  2. Check that your office received the approved submission with the approver's details.
  3. In the workflow, select Runs to see each run and its status.


What approvers see


  • Approvers don't need a Formester account. They only see the submission in their email.
  • If several approvers are listed, everyone gets the email and the first person to respond decides.
  • To make approvers sign in, turn on Require approvers to sign in. Only members of your organization can then respond, signed in with the email the request went to.


Good to know


  • Each approval link works once. After a decision, opening it again shows "This request is no longer active".
  • The approval page shows the answers as they were when the request was sent. Edits made through the edit link don't appear there, but later steps use the updated answers.
  • When an employee updates their submission after a change request, the approval doesn't restart on its own.

Updated on: 14/10/2026

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