Managing Approval Report Templates

1. Understanding Approval Reports

An approval report is a report that, once submitted, is approved or rejected step by step by approvers in a set order.
Before creating a template, take a moment to review the key terms used in approval reports.

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Approval line
The approval steps and CC members a report must go through. It is set in the template and can have 1 to 7 approval steps.

Approver
A member who approves or rejects the report at each step of the approval line.

CC member
A member added to the approval line who can view the report and follow its approval progress. CC members cannot approve or reject reports.

Recipient
A member who has been given permission to view an individual report. Members are automatically added as recipients when @mentioned in a comment, and recipients are managed separately from the approval line.

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2. Creating an Approval Report Template

1. Go to Dashboard > [Report].
2. Select the approval report box where you want to add a template.
3. Click [Add template].

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3. Entering Template Information

General settings

Basic info

Template name (Required)
Enter a name for the template.

• You can enter up to 50 characters. The name must be different from other templates in the same report box.

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Writing guide (Optional)
Enter guidance that members can refer to when writing a report.

• You can enter up to 500 characters.
• Use the editing tools to format the guide however you like.

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Report creation rules

Report creation basis
Choose whether reports are created by member or by workplace.

• Create reports by member: Select this when each member needs to write their own report.
• Create reports by workplace: Select this when reports are written for each workplace. You can select all workplaces in the company or specific workplaces.

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Authors
Set which members will write reports using this template.
You can choose from all members in the company, specific groups and job titles/positions, or specific members.

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Required submission date
If a report needs to be written on a recurring basis, set a required submission date.

• You can choose a recurrence of daily, specific days of the week, or specific dates.
• Once a required submission date is set, the report appears on the [Today's Task] screen of the members set as authors.
• If a member clocks out without writing that day's report, a warning message can be shown to remind them to complete it.

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Submission rules

Submission location
Set where reports can be submitted from.

• Anywhere: Reports can be submitted from anywhere, regardless of the assigned workplace.
• Only at the workplace: Reports can be submitted only from registered workplaces.

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Title required
Require a title to be entered when writing a report.

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Submission deadline
Once the submission deadline passes, the template is automatically deactivated and can no longer be used to write reports.

• Reports that have already been written will not be deleted.

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Approval line settings

The approval line consists of the approval steps a report must go through and the CC members who follow its approval progress.

You can also choose whether authors are allowed to edit the approval line. For details, see 4. Setting Up the Approval Line below.

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Additional settings

Set the statuses, colors, and icons used for reports.

• Statuses are used to categorize submitted reports by purpose. You can create up to 10 statuses.

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Report fields

Use sections to organize report fields, and enter the type, title, and description for each question.
Add the items you need using the [Question], [Title], and [Section] buttons at the bottom of the screen.

• Question: Select a field type and enter the question's title and description.
• Title: Enter a title and description for the item, and attach photos or documents if needed.
• Section: Enter a section name and description to divide the report fields.

You can set whether each question is [Must answer], drag and drop to reorder questions, and copy or add questions.

💡 You can choose from 17 question types, including Single text, Multiple choice, Checklist, Member, Signature, Date/Period, and Photo.

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Convenience features

Save draft
Fill in the template in advance, save it as a draft, and activate it later when you're ready to use it.

• You can save a draft even if not all required fields are filled in.

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Load existing template
Load the settings and report fields of a template you have used before, then edit them as needed.
If the new template is similar to a previous one, use this feature to create it quickly.

• Admins can load templates from all report boxes. Leaders assigned as report box operators can load templates only from the report boxes they operate.
• When you load a standard report template, the approval line settings are left blank and only the other items are loaded.

⚠️ Loading a template overwrites everything you have entered so far with the content of the loaded template.

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Preview
Before adding the template, preview the screen members will see when writing a report.

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4. Setting Up the Approval Line

In the template, go to [General settings] > Approval line settings to set the approval steps, CC members, and whether authors can edit the approval line.

Setting approval steps

Set the approval steps a report must go through. You can add up to 7 steps, and at least 1 step is required.

1. Click the [Edit] button for the approval steps.
2. Click [Add step] to add as many steps as you need.
3. Select each step and set its approval completion condition, approvers, approval label, and approval request notification.
4. Click [Save] to finish.

Approval completion condition
When a step has multiple approvers, set what it takes for the report to move on to the next step.

• Any one approver (Default): The report moves to the next step as soon as one of the approvers approves it.
• All approvers: Every approver at that step must approve before the report moves to the next step.

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Approvers
Specify the members who will approve or reject the report at that step. You can combine multiple options.

• Author's leader and admins (Default)
• Everyone in the author's group
• Specific groups and job titles/positions
• Specific members

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Approval label
Choose the name of the approval button shown to approvers: [Approve], [Agree], or [Cooperate].

• Only the button name changes. The approval process works the same way for every label.

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Approval request notification
Approvers are notified when it's their step's turn.

• App push notifications are sent by default, and you can also enable email notifications.

💡 If there are two or more steps, you can drag and drop them to change their order.

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When approvers are determined

Approvers set as Specific members are fixed when the template is saved.
For the other options (Author's leader and admins, Everyone in the author's group, and Specific groups and job titles/positions), approvers are determined when the report reaches that step.

• If no members meet the conditions when the report reaches a step, that step is automatically approved, and the reason is shown in the approval line.

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When the author is also an approver

Authors are automatically excluded from the approvers of reports they submit.

• The approval proceeds with the remaining approvers.
• If no approvers remain after excluding the author, that step is automatically approved.

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Setting CC members

Specify the members who will follow the report and its approval progress. CC members are notified when the report is submitted and when the final approval decision is made.

1. Click the [Edit] button for CC members.
2. Select who to add as CC members. You can combine multiple options.
   • All members in the company
   • Author's leader and admins
   • Everyone in the author's group
   • Specific groups and job titles/positions
   • Specific members
3. Click [Apply] to finish.
   • If you select [All members in the company], you cannot combine it with other options.
   • App push notifications are sent to CC members by default, and you can also enable email notifications.

💡 CC members are determined when the report is submitted, based on who meets the conditions at that time, and are saved to the report. Changing the CC settings in the template later does not affect reports that have already been submitted.

⚠️ CC members set in the template cannot be removed from individual reports by anyone. To change CC members, edit the template. The changes apply to reports submitted after the edit.

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Allowing approval line edits

Choose whether authors are allowed to edit the approval line.

• ON: Authors can also add or remove approval steps, change approvers, and add CC members.
• OFF: Authors cannot edit the approval line.

💡 Admins and Leaders assigned as report box operators can always edit the approval line, regardless of this setting. Turn this ON if you need to cover for absent approvers or proxy approvals.

⚠️ Changing this setting takes effect immediately, even for reports already in the approval process.

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5. Editing an Approval Report Template

You can edit not only a report template's basic and additional information but also its approval line and report fields.

1. Go to Dashboard > [Report] and select the approval report box that contains the template you want to edit.
2. In the [Template] tab, select the template you want to edit to open its details.
3. Click the More [⁝] button in the upper-right corner > [Edit].
4. Add or delete items or change the details as needed, then click [Save] to finish.

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6. How Template Edits Affect Reports in Progress

Even if you edit a template, reports already in the approval process keep the report fields and approval line they had when they were submitted.
However, some changes apply to reports in progress right away, so check them before editing.

Changes applied immediately to reports in progress

• Template name: The new template name is also shown on reports in progress.
• Allow approval line edits: Authors' permission to edit the approval line is granted or revoked immediately, even on reports in progress.

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Changes applied only to reports submitted afterward

• Report fields
• Approval steps, approvers, and approval completion conditions
• CC members

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Deactivating a template

• Approvals for reports in progress continue as usual.
• Authors can no longer write new reports or edit reports they have already submitted.

💡 To change the approval line of a report that has already been submitted, edit the approval line in that report instead of in the template.

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7. Deleting an Approval Report Template

You can delete templates you no longer use.

⚠️ Deleting a template also deletes all reports written with it, including reports still in the approval process. If you need to keep existing reports, deactivate the template instead of deleting it.

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