How to Create Approval Workflows in Creatio?

Quick Summary

Creating an approval workflow in Creatio involves three main steps: enabling the approval feature for the relevant section, building the approval logic in the Process Designer or Case Designer, and configuring notifications so that approvers and record owners receive timely alerts. The entire setup happens through Creatio’s no-code interface — no programming required. Whether you need a simple single-approver sign-off on a contract or a multi-stage approval chain involving several departments, Creatio CRM gives you the tools to model, automate, and manage the entire approval process.

This article covers every layer of approval workflow setup — from choosing the right designer for your use case to configuring the Approval element, adding delegation rules, setting up email notifications, and processing approvals from the notification center.

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What Are Approval Workflows in Creatio and When Do You Need Them?

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How does Creatio define an approval workflow?

An approval workflow in Creatio CRM is an automated process that routes a record — such as a document, contract, invoice, or order — to one or more designated approvers, captures their decision (approve or reject), and triggers the appropriate follow-up action based on that outcome. When the workflow runs, Creatio creates a new approval record that logs all relevant information: the approver, the approval result, any comments, and timestamps.

According to Creatio Academy, you can approve records in three places: the notification center on the communication panel, the Approvals Freedom UI component on a record’s page, or the Approvals list component embedded in the relevant section view. This flexibility means approvers can action requests wherever they happen to be working in the platform.

When should you use the Process Designer versus the Case Designer?

Creatio offers two tools for building approval workflows, and choosing the right one saves significant setup time:

Tool	Best For	Key Characteristic
Process Designer	Complex approvals with multiple stages, conditional branching, and advanced logic	Full BPMN 2.0 control; handles escalation, re-approvals, and outcome-based routing
Case Designer	Simple approvals without complex conditions or a fixed sequence	Approval triggers automatically when the relevant case stage activates

As a rule of thumb: if your approval process has conditional logic — for example, escalating to a manager when an invoice exceeds a set amount — use the Process Designer. If you just need a straightforward approval step within a stage-based workflow, the Case Designer is the faster path.

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How Do You Enable the Approval Feature for a Section in Creatio?

What is the “Enable approval in section” setting and why does it matter?

Before you build any approval logic, you must activate the approval feature for the specific section where approvals will occur. This step is mandatory — Creatio does not display approval-related options in the Process Designer or Case Designer for a section until you turn this on.

To enable approvals for a section:

1. Open the Section Wizard for the relevant section (for example, Documents, Contracts, or Orders).
2. Locate and check the Enable approval in section checkbox.
3. Save the wizard settings.

When you select this checkbox, Creatio automatically creates a new object in the system — for example, enabling approvals in the Documents section generates an “Approvals in section Document” object. This object powers the approval records and forms the basis for the email notification templates you configure later. Consequently, the order matters: always enable approvals in the section wizard before building your process.

Which sections support the approval feature in Creatio CRM?

Out of the box, Creatio supports approvals across a wide range of standard sections. The Approval element’s Approval section dropdown only shows sections where the approval feature is already enabled. Common sections teams activate include:

• Documents
• Contracts
• Orders
• Invoices
• Leave requests (through the Documents section with a custom type)
• Custom sections created through Studio

This flexibility means approval workflows in Creatio CRM are not limited to predefined use cases — any section can become an approval-enabled workflow with a few configuration steps.

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How Do You Build an Approval Workflow in the Process Designer?

How do you add and configure the Approval element?

The Process Designer is the go-to tool for building approval workflows with conditional logic, multi-stage routing, or escalation paths. You add the Approval element to the process diagram the same way you add any other BPMN element — drag it from the left toolbar onto the canvas.

Once you place the Approval element on the canvas, click it to open the setup area on the right side. The key configuration fields are:

Field	Purpose
Approval purpose	The label shown on the Approvals tab of the record (default: “Approval required”)
Approval section	The section whose records will be submitted for approval
Record Id	The specific record being approved (required field; typically a process parameter)
Approver	The user, role, or dynamically assigned participant who reviews the approval
Approval may be delegated	Checkbox that lets approvers forward the request to another user

The Approver field accepts several assignment types: a specific named user, an organizational role (such as “Financial Department”), or a dynamically computed participant — for example, the employee’s direct manager based on the record’s owner field.

How do you add a Read Data element before the Approval element?

For most real-world approval processes, you need to read data from the record before the approval step — particularly to pass the record owner’s details to the notification configuration. Creatio Academy recommends adding a Read Data element immediately before the Approval element in the process flow.

To configure the Read Data element for a document approval:

1. Drag the Read Data element from the User actions group onto the canvas and connect it to the Start Event.
2. In the setup area, set Which data read mode to use? to Read the first record in the selection.
3. Set Which object to read data from? to the relevant section object (e.g., Document).
4. In the How to filter records? area, add the filter: Id = Document (mapping to the process parameter that carries the record’s unique identifier).
5. Save the element.

This Read Data element retrieves the record owner’s contact details, which you then reference in the Approval element’s notification settings to send result emails to the correct person.

How do you branch the process based on the approval outcome?

After the Approval element, you typically add an Exclusive Gateway that splits the process into two conditional flows:

• Approved path — activates when the approval result is Positive, routes to the next step (e.g., changing the record status to “Approved” using a Modify Data element)
• Rejected path — activates when the approval result is Negative, routes to a different outcome (e.g., returning the record to “Draft” status or notifying the submitter)

This branching pattern transforms a one-step approval into a complete automated decision workflow. Furthermore, if your process requires re-submission after rejection, you can loop the rejected path back to an earlier task element, creating an iterative approval cycle without any custom development.

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How Do You Configure Approval Notifications in Creatio?

How do you set up email notifications for approvers and record owners?

Creatio CRM sends two types of email notifications in an approval workflow: one when the approval is created (notifying the approver that action is required) and another when the approver makes a decision (notifying the record owner of the outcome).

Both notifications configure within the Approval element’s Send email notification area. To set them up:

1. In the Approval element’s setup area, locate the Send email notification section.
2. Click the system setting shortcut button to confirm your Mailbox for sending email with information on approval is configured — this is a one-time administrator step.
3. Select the Notify that approval is required checkbox to alert the approver when a new approval record is created.
4. In the Email template field, click the lookup and select or create an email template. Templates use the approval object created when you enabled approvals in the section wizard (e.g., Approvals in section Document).
5. Select the Notify about the approval result checkbox to send a follow-up email after the approver acts.
6. In the Recipient field, map the recipient to a process parameter — for example, the Owner parameter retrieved by the Read Data element.

Important: Approval notification emails do not require separate Send Email elements in the process diagram. Everything configures directly inside the Approval element, keeping the process diagram clean and easy to maintain.

How do you create custom email templates for approval notifications?

Creatio’s content designer lets you build tailored email templates that include dynamic data from the approval record. For example, a document approval notification can automatically insert the document type, document number, and the name of the user who submitted it.

To create a custom template:

1. Navigate to Email templates and click New.
2. Select the approval object (e.g., Approvals in section Document) as the template’s base object.
3. In the content designer, drag a Text content block onto the template canvas.
4. Position your cursor inside the text block and use the Macros option to insert dynamic fields — for instance, the recipient’s name, the document title, and the submission date.
5. Set the email subject line, save the template, and return to the Approval element to link it.

Custom templates improve approver response rates because they give approvers all the context they need to make a decision directly from the email.

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How Do You Build an Approval Workflow Using the Case Designer?

How does the Approval case element work?

For simpler approval needs, Creatio CRM offers the Approval case element inside the Case Designer. Unlike the Process Designer, the Case Designer organizes workflows around stages — the approval triggers automatically when a case reaches the stage containing the Approval element, rather than requiring you to build conditional flows manually.

A practical example: a leave request approval case might use five stages — Draft, Approval, Completed, Canceled, and Archive. You add the Approval case element inside the Approval stage. When a document moves into that stage, Creatio automatically creates the approval record and notifies the designated approver.

The Approval case element supports the same core settings as its Process Designer counterpart:

• Approval section and Record Id
• Approver assignment (user, role, or manager)
• Approval may be delegated checkbox
• Email notification configuration for both the approver and the submitter

When does the Case Designer save time over the Process Designer?

The Case Designer saves time in scenarios where the approval does not depend on complex conditional logic. If your team needs an approval step that simply sits within a stage and does not branch into multiple outcomes — or if the sequence is flexible and difficult to map in advance — the Case Designer handles it faster with less configuration.

However, for approvals that need to trigger automatically based on field values (such as invoice amount thresholds), route to different approvers depending on record data, or loop back on rejection, the Process Designer’s Approval element delivers the necessary control.

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How Do Approvers Process Approvals in Creatio?

How does an approver action an approval request?

Once a workflow triggers an approval, the assigned approver receives a notification in the notification center on the communication panel. The notification stays active until the approver processes it. From the notification center, the approver opens the approval actions menu and selects one of three options:

Action	Result
Approve	Sets a positive result; the process advances along the approved path
Reject	Sets a negative result; Creatio opens a pop-up for the approver to enter rejection comments
Change approver	Reassigns the approval to a different user or group (only available if delegation is enabled)

After the approver acts, Creatio removes the notification from the notification center, updates the notification count, and triggers the next step in the process — whether that is changing the record’s status, notifying the submitter, or routing the record to another reviewer.

Note: By default, approval comments are optional. However, administrators can make the Comment field required by editing the “Accept approval without comment” system setting (code: AcceptApprovalWithoutComment). This is useful for audit trails where rejection reasons must always be documented.

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Conclusions

Approval workflows in Creatio CRM cover the full spectrum of business needs — from a single-step document sign-off to a multi-department, condition-driven approval chain with escalation logic. The platform gives you two dedicated tools for the job: the Process Designer for complex, branching workflows and the Case Designer for simpler, stage-based approvals, so you always work with the right level of complexity for your use case.

To recap the key steps covered in this guide:

• Enable approvals in the section wizard before building any approval logic — this creates the approval object that underpins the entire workflow
• Choose your tool — use the Process Designer for conditional multi-stage approvals and the Case Designer for straightforward, stage-triggered approvals
• Configure the Approval element with the correct approver, record ID, section, and delegation settings
• Add a Read Data element before the Approval element to retrieve record owner details for notifications
• Set up email notifications directly inside the Approval element — no separate Send Email elements needed
• Branch the process using an Exclusive Gateway after the Approval element to handle approved and rejected outcomes separately
• Manage approvals from the notification center, where approvers approve, reject, or delegate with a single action

As your organization’s approval requirements evolve, Creatio CRM scales alongside them. You can layer additional stages, introduce parallel approvals using the Parallel Gateway, or connect approvals to broader CRM automations — all without writing a single line of code.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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