Setting up Approvers

approvers are stored in a dedicated approver c object, separate from salesforce users this indirection is what lets approvals pro support users, public groups, roles, and dynamic field driven lookups with the same configuration model every approval step points at one or more approvers; if no approver is attached, the step is skipped at runtime this page covers the six approver types, when to use each, and how to create them approver types at a glance type assigns to use when user a specific salesforce user the approver is a named individual (e g , a single cfo for high discount approvals) group a salesforce public group any member of the group can approve on behalf of the group role a salesforce role any user in the role can approve user lookup a user id resolved from a field on the submitted record the approver varies per record (e g , owner managerid ) group lookup a public group resolved from a text / formula field the group varies per record (e g , regional review groups) role lookup a role resolved from a text / formula field the role varies per record note during installation, the setup script creates one user type approver per active salesforce user you usually don't need to create user approvers manually — only group, role, and the three lookup types when to pick a lookup over a static type static approvers (user / group / role) are the right default reach for lookup types only when the approver genuinely depends on the record use user lookup with owner managerid for manager escalation patterns this keeps one approver record instead of one per sales manager use group lookup / role lookup when you route by territory, product line, or customer segment and the mapping lives on the record (as a formula, picklist derived text, or lookup resolved by a trigger) avoid lookups when the resolution logic is complex — use a matrix instead see approval matrices docid\ qpvuhcohzscqbfrbb6i9h step 1 open the approvers tab approvers are managed from the approvers tab inside the approvals pro app if the tab isn't visible, add it to the app via setup → app manager → approvals pro → edit → navigation items step 2 create a new approver click new on the approvers list view fill in approver name for user type approvers, nue recommends matching the salesforce user's name exactly to avoid confusion during audits pick the type fill the type specific field (see below) set receive approval request emails — this controls when the approver is notified if i am an approver or delegated approver (default) only if i am an approver only if i am a delegated approver never click save field mapping by type type required field example value user user (lookup) select the user record group group name pricing committee (the public group's developername ) role role name sales director (the role's developername ) user lookup lookup path ownerid , owner managerid , customapprover c group lookup group lookup api name of a text / formula field containing a group developername role lookup role lookup api name of a text / formula field containing a role developername note for lookup paths, you can traverse one relationship hop (e g , owner manager manager is not supported directly — use a formula field on the record to compute the target user id) step 3 attach the approver to an approval step approvers don't do anything on their own — they must be attached to a step open the approval path that contains the step click the step's name to open the step editor click + new next to approvers search for the existing approver (recommended — avoids duplicates), or click + new approver to create one inline click save a single step can have multiple approvers the resolve on setting on the step controls how individual decisions combine see configuring approval processes docid\ kcmpddjgungd5jvuo8ngj resolution behavior for group and role approvers when a step has a group or role approver, every active user in that group/role receives an approval request what happens next depends on resolve on resolve on behavior first approval the first approval from any member advances the step rejections from other members do not block unanimous approval every member must approve a single rejection rejects the step first approval/reject the first decision wins — approval or rejection (default) democratic approval requires the configured democratic approval percentage of members to agree note democratic approval evaluates dynamically if a 5 member group is set to 50%, the step resolves as soon as 3 members approve — or rejects as soon as 3 reject late arriving decisions on an already resolved step are ignored delegation approvers can delegate incoming approvals to another user — ad hoc or on a schedule (e g , for vacation coverage) users manage delegations from the my delegations button on the approvals pro home page component delegations set here also drive salesforce's standard delegated approver field on the user record the nightly reminderscheduler batch re assigns delegated approvals and returns them to the original approver when the delegation window ends this batch must be scheduled — see installation docid\ hhpczzji79mbppcoxx2bu changing an approver on an active step warning changing the approver assignment on a step that has in flight approvals can disrupt those workflows safe approaches, in order of preference wait for all in progress approvals on the step to complete recall any in progress records, change the approver, then resubmit if neither is possible, create a new process version docid\ azjll0xmtil4tp vobxqa with the updated approver in flight records finish on the old version; new submissions use the new one related configuring approval processes docid\ kcmpddjgungd5jvuo8ngj — how approvers fit into steps, paths, and processes approval matrices docid\ qpvuhcohzscqbfrbb6i9h — for approver resolution that depends on multiple record attributes object model docid\ mvebvizbuokkqryr0cjui — the approver c and step approver c schema