Require approvals for deals

You can set up an approval process for a deal pipeline so that all or specific deals must be reviewed and approved before progressing down the pipeline. When pipeline approvals are turned on, an approval stage is added to the selected pipeline. Applicable deals must enter the approval stage and get approval before they can moved forward in the pipeline. Also, users will be unable to create deals past the approval stage. This includes deals created from workflows.

Each pipeline can have a unique approval stage with up to three approvers. For example, you may have one sales process that needs approval from a sales manager before closing and another sales process that needs both legal and manager approval before sending a contract.

For additional help setting up the approval process, refer to the video walkthrough shared in the HubSpot Community.

Grant deal approval permission to users

Before you can assign deal approvers, you'll need to give these users deal approval permissions.

Please note: it's recommended to grant approval permission first before setting up a pipeline approval process. It may take several minutes for users with updated permissions to appear as available approvers in the set-up process.

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Users & Teams.
3. Hover over a user, then click Edit permissions.
4. Click to expand the Deals section, then toggle the Approve permission on.

5. Click Save.

Set up deal approval for a pipeline

Users with Super Admin permissions can set up an approval stage, set approval conditions, and assign approvers for each deal pipeline. Once you've turned on the approval process, you can also edit the approval stage, approval conditions, and which users are approvers.

Before turning on deal approvals, make sure you've granted the approvers the Approve deal permission.

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Objects > Deals.
3. Navigate to the Pipelines tab.
4. Click the Select a pipeline dropdown menu, then select the pipeline for which you want to require approvals.
5. At the bottom, click the Pipeline Rules tab.
6. In the Add approval process for deals row, toggle the switch on. If it's already turned on, click the edit edit icon to edit the process.

   

7. Set up the approval stage. The approval stage will be highlighted and called Pending approval by default.
   • To change the stage's name, click the stage name text box, and enter a name.
   • To set the stage's probability, click the probability dropdown menu, then select a percentage.
   • To change the position of the stage, click and drag the stage to the desired position in the pipeline order. 
8. Click Next to set approval conditions.
9. By default, All deals is selected, which means all deals, regardless of their property values, must be approved. To set conditions for when deals must be approved, select Deals that meet specific conditions, then select criteria. Only deals that meet the selected criteria must go through the approval process.

   

10. Click Next to select which users can approve deals.
11. To select approvers, click the Add approvers dropdown menu, then select the checkboxes of users you want to be approvers. You can add up to three approvers per pipeline.
12. Select whether approval is required from All approvers or Any one of the approvers. If you select All, all selected approvers must approve a deal before it can move forward in the pipeline. If you select Any, only one approver must approve the deal before it can move forward in the pipeline.
13. To add a note to the approvers, enter text in the text box. This is a required field shown to approvers when a deal needs approval.

    

14. Click Next.
15. Review the approval stage, any conditions, and approvers, then click Save.

Once saved, applicable deals must enter the approval stage and get approval before they can move forward in the pipeline. This requirement does not apply in the following scenarios:

• A deal moves from a non-approval stage directly to a closed lost stage.
• A deal already in a stage when an admin configures the approval process. 

Please note: while not recommended, Super Admins can turn off an existing deal pipeline's approval process by toggling the Add approval process for deals row switch off. If the approval is turned off, the approval stage will become a normal stage and all approvals will be cancelled regardless of their status. You can't undo the action if you turn off an approval process, so if you want to reinstate approvals, you'll need to set up a new approval stage.

Request approval for a deal

If you're a user moving deals through a pipeline, applicable deals must enter the approval stage and be approved before they can move down the pipeline. For the deal approval process to start, the deal must have an owner and the deal owner must not be the only approver or an approver when all approvers are required.

A deal’s approval process will not start if any of the following are true: there's no deal owner, the owner is a required approver, or any assigned approver has lost deal approval permission or been deactivated. In this scenario, a Restart button will appear on the deal card in board view with a description of the error and next steps.

To request approval:

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to CRM > Deals.
2. Move the deal to the approval stage. You can update the deal stage manually, via API, or via workflows.
3. Once a deal is in the approval stage, approvers are sent a request to approve the deal. The deal will have an approval status (e.g., Pending approval) that appears on a deal card in board view, or in the Latest approval status column in table view. If the approval process has conditions that the deal doesn't meet, the status will be Approval not needed and you can move the deal forward.

4. To view more information about the approval process, on a deal card in board view, click Details > View approval activity.
   • On the Approval tab, view approval notes, the users who need to approve the deal, and changes to the approval status.
   • Click the Comments tab to view or add comments. To add a comment, enter text in the comment box, then click Comment.
5. Once an approver has approved, rejected, or requested changes to the deal, the deal owner will receive a notification in HubSpot and via email.
   • If the approver requested changes, view the comments. If needed, make changes and reply to the approver's comments so they can approve the deal.
   • If approved, the approval status will change to Approved and you can move the deal forward to the desired stage.
   • If rejected, the approval status will change to Rejected and the deal can only be moved to a closed lost stage.

Approve or reject a deal

If you're an approver for a deal pipeline, you'll receive a notification in HubSpot and via email when a user requests deal approval.

• To view the deal from your notifications, navigate to your notifications in HubSpot or your email, then click the notification or CTA to go to the deal.

• To view all deals waiting for approval, filter your deals by Latest Approval Status contains exactly pending. Click the name of a deal included in the view.

On a deal record, to approve or reject the deal:

1. At the top of the deal, in the Approval needed banner, click Approval.
2. To view more information about the request, select View Approval Details.
3. To request changes prior to approving, select Request changes. Enter text in the comment box, then click Comment. The user that requested the approval will be notified.
4. To approve the request to move the deal forward, select Approve. Enter an optional message, then click Approve to confirm.

5. To reject the deal, select Reject. Enter a reason why the deal was rejected, then click Reject to confirm. Once a deal is rejected, it can only be moved to a closed lost stage. 

Once a deal is approved or rejected, the deal's Latest Approval Status value will be updated to indicate the decision. If a deal was approved or rejected but shouldn't have been, a Super Admin can restart the approval process.

Please note: if you move a previously approved/rejected deal to a stage prior to the approval stage, the Latest Approval Status value will be automatically cleared. In this case, the deal will need to go through the approval process again.

Restart approval for a deal

If a deal was incorrectly approved or rejected, a Super Admin can restart the approval process. Only Super Admins can restart approvals, even if other non-admin approvers are set for the pipeline.

To restart the approval process:

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to CRM > Deals.
2. Move the deal to the approval stage or to the stage before the approval stage.
3. In the dialog box, click Yes to confirm.

The deal's Latest Approval Status will be reset and the deal must to go through the approval process again before progressing in the pipeline. 

View approval history

Users with Customize record page layout or Super Admin permissions can add a right sidebar CRM card and a preview sidebar card to show the approval history. Then, users can see the individuals involved in the approval process, along with the timeline of events.

Configure the pipeline approvals card

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Objects > Deals.
3. Click the Record customization tab.
4. Click your desired view's name.
5. Hover in the right column, then click the addIcon add icon.
6. In the right panel, click the Card library tab, then on the Pipeline Approvals option click Add card.
7. In the upper right, click the X.
8. In the upper right, click Save and exit. 

Use the pipeline approval card

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to CRM > Deals..
2. Click the name of the record.
3. In the right sidebar, navigate to the Pipeline approvals card.

Configure the preview panel pipeline approval card

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Objects > Deals.
3. Click the Preview customization tab.
4. Click your desired view's name.
5. Hover between cards, then click the addIcon add icon.
6. In the right panel, click the Card library tab, then on the Pipeline Approvals option click Add card.
7. In the upper right, click the X.
8. In the upper right, click Save and exit. 

Use the pipeline approval preview panel

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to CRM > Deals..
2. Hover over a record and click preview.