# Approval workflow

Approval diagrams are almost always drawn with only the approve path, which is the path nobody needs help with. The interesting parts are what happens on rejection and what happens when nobody responds.

Draw those explicitly and the diagram earns its place.

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## When to reach for one

* Documenting a review process so people stop asking who signs off.
* Designing an approval before you build it, when the loops are still cheap to change.
* Explaining escalation and timeout behaviour to auditors.

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## How to draw it in Capable

| **Route**   | **Use when**                                                 |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Mermaid     | Quick, diffable, and easy to update when the policy changes. |
| BPMN editor | The approval will be automated, and the notation matters.    |

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## A worked example

An approval with a rejection loop and a timeout:

![Approval workflow](https://help.gocapable.com/images/att1417936899.svg)

The source, which you can paste into a new diagram and edit:

```
flowchart TD
  A([Request submitted]) --> B[Manager review]
  B --> C{Decision}
  C -- Approve --> D{Over threshold?}
  C -- Reject --> E[Return with comments]
  E --> A
  D -- No --> F([Approved])
  D -- Yes --> G[Finance review]
  G --> C
  B -. no response in 3 days .-> H[Escalate to head of department]
  H --> C
```

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## A few things that catch people out

* Draw the timeout. Most real complaints about approvals are about waiting, not about rejection.
* Show who can approve, not just that approval happens.
* Capable Approvals runs this kind of flow for real, with reminders and an audit trail. See [Integrations](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/integrations.html).

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## Related

[Data flow diagramProcesses, stores and what moves between them.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/data-flow-diagram.html)

[Decision treeBranching questions with one answer at the end.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/decision-tree.html)

[ExamplesWorking diagrams you can copy.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/examples.html)

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_Draw the unhappy path too._