Approval Workflow

The approval workflow controls how documents move from Draft through review, approval, training verification, and into effect. InnoQualis EQMS supports configurable multi-signer approval chains with electronic signatures, training threshold gates, and structured rejection discussions.

Approval states

State	Description
Not Started	Approval has not been initiated for this document.
In Progress	The approval process is active and signatures are being collected.
Completed	All required signatures have been collected.
Approved - Pending Training	Approvals are complete but the training completion threshold has not been met.
Effective	The document has been made effective and is in use.

Start the approval process

1. On the left sidebar, select Documents.
2. Select a document in Draft status to open it.
3. Select Start Approval in the toolbar.
4. The document status changes to Under Review.

Alternatively, start the approval from the Document Preview Panel:

1. On the document detail page, select the Approvals tab.
2. In the Actions card, select Start Approval Process.

Configure approval settings

Configure approval requirements before or during the approval process.

From the Approvals tab

1. On the document detail page, select the Approvals tab.
2. Scroll to the Configure Approval Settings section.
3. Set the following options:

Setting	Description	Range
Signers	Search and select users who need to sign this document.	At least 1 required
Required Signatures	Number of signatures needed to complete approval.	0 or more (cannot exceed the number of configured signers)
Threshold (%)	Percentage of signers required for approval.	1 to 100
Reminder Interval (days)	Days between automated reminders for pending signatures.	1 or more
Notify on each signature	Send notifications when each individual signature is collected.	Checkbox
Notify on completion	Send a notification when all required signatures are collected.	Checkbox

4. Select Save.

From the document detail toolbar

1. On the document detail page for a Draft document, select Configure Approval in the toolbar.
2. Set the Required Signatures count (1 to 10).
3. Set the Training Threshold percentage (0 to 100). Set to 0 if no training is required.
4. Use the Select Approvers search to find and add approvers.
5. Select Save.

Note

At least one approver must be selected before you can save the approval configuration.

Sign and approve a document

1. On the left sidebar, select Documents.
2. Select a document in Under Review status to open it.
3. Select Approve in the toolbar.
4. In the electronic signature modal, confirm your approval with your signature.
5. After signing, the signatures count updates. When all required signatures are collected, the state advances to Completed or Approved - Pending Training.

Alternatively, sign from the Document Preview Panel:

1. On the document detail page, select the Approvals tab.
2. Review the current approval status: Signatures (collected vs. required), Workflow State, and Training Ready.
3. Select Sign & Approve.
4. In the electronic signature modal, confirm your approval.

Make a document effective

After all approvals are collected and the training threshold is met, make the document effective.

1. On the document detail page, verify that:
   • All required signatures show a green checkmark.
   • The training threshold shows “Ready”.
2. Select Make Effective in the toolbar.
3. The document status changes to Effective.

Caution

The Make Effective button only appears when both conditions are met: all required signatures are collected AND the training threshold is satisfied. If the training threshold is not met, wait for the required percentage of assigned users to complete their training.

Reject a document

1. On the document detail page for a document in Under Review or Approved - Pending Training status, select Reject in the toolbar.
2. In the rejection modal, enter a reason for the rejection.
3. Select Reject to confirm.

Respond to a rejection

When a document is rejected, a Rejection Discussion panel appears with a threaded conversation.

Message Type	Color	Description
Rejection	Red	The initial rejection with reason and comments
Response	Blue	Responses from the document owner or other participants
Escalation	Orange	Requests to escalate the discussion to management
Resolution	Green	Final resolution marking the discussion as closed

1. In the Rejection Discussion panel, type your response in the Add Response text area.
2. Select Send Message.

Escalate a rejection

If you cannot resolve the rejection through discussion:

1. Below the discussion thread, select Escalate to Management.
2. In the dialog, enter the reason for escalation.
3. Select Escalate.
4. The escalation appears as an orange-highlighted message in the thread.

Resolve a rejection

Once the rejection issues have been addressed:

1. Below the discussion thread, select Mark as Resolved.
2. Enter the resolution details describing how the rejection was addressed.
3. Select Mark Resolved.
4. The discussion thread becomes read-only with a “Resolved” badge.

Approve multiple documents at once

1. On the left sidebar, select Documents.
2. Select the checkboxes next to the documents you want to approve.
3. Select the bulk approve action in the toolbar.

Tip

Bulk approval is only available for users with the Admin or QA Team role. The bulk action button appears when one or more documents are selected.

Practical example: approving a batch record template

Scenario: A new batch record template (BR-101) for tablet manufacturing needs approval from three department heads before production can use it.

1. The QA Specialist uploads BR-101 and opens the document detail page.
2. On the Approvals tab, under Configure Approval Settings, they add three signers: the QA Manager, the Production Director, and the Validation Lead.
3. They set Required Signatures to 3, Threshold to 100, and Reminder Interval to 3 days.
4. They check both Notify on each signature and Notify on completion, then select Save.
5. They select Start Approval Process — all three approvers receive an email notification.
6. The QA Manager opens the document, reviews it, selects Sign & Approve, and confirms with their electronic signature.
7. The Production Director does the same the next day. The Validation Lead is traveling and receives an automated reminder after 3 days.
8. After the Validation Lead signs, all signatures are collected and the training threshold shows “Ready” (no training was required for this template).
9. The QA Specialist selects Make Effective to make BR-101 available for production use.

If the document is rejected: The Production Director selects Reject and enters “Section 4.2 missing hold time specification.” The QA Specialist sees the rejection discussion, responds with a revised section, and selects Mark as Resolved once the issue is addressed. The approval process restarts.

Permissions

Action	Required Role / Permission
Start approval process	Admin, QA Team
Configure approval settings	documents.approve permission
Sign and approve	documents.approve permission
Make document effective	documents.release permission
Reject document	Admin, QA Team
Bulk approve	Admin, QA Team