Provide users with the authority to approve deals.
Prior to designating deal approvers, it is essential to provide these users with the necessary deal approval permissions.Prior to configuring a pipeline approval process, it is advisable to grant approval permissions. It may take a few minutes for users with updated permissions to show up as potential approvers during the setup process.
To add the deal approve permission for a user:
- In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
- In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Users & Teams.
- Hover over a user, then click Edit permissions.
- Click to expand the Deals section, then toggle the Approve permission on.
- Click Save.
Set up deal approval for a pipeline
Users with Super admin permissions can set up an approval stage and assign approvers for each deal pipeline. Once you’ve turned on the approval process, you can also edit the approval stage and which users are approvers.
Before turning on deal approvals, make sure you’ve granted the approvers the Approve deal permission.
- In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
- In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Objects > Deals.
- Navigate to the Pipelines tab.
- Click the Select a pipeline dropdown menu, then select the pipeline for which you want to require approvals.
- At the bottom, click the Pipeline Rules tab.
- 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.
- In the right panel, 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. Users will need to get approval to move a deal past the approval stage, except for moving deals to a closed lost stage.
- Click Next: Add approvers to select which users can approve deals.
- 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.
- 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.
- To add a note to the approvers, enter text in the text box. This is a required field is shown to approvers when a deal needs approval.
- Click Next: Review.
- Review the approval stage and approvers, then click Save.
Once saved, all deals must enter the approval stage and get approval before they can move forward in the pipeline, unless moving directly to the closed lost stage. Any deals already in a stage at the time of set-up the approval stage won’t be subject to 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, your 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.
Please note: a deal’s approval process will not start if there’s no deal owner, the owner is a required approver, or if 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:
Navigate to the CRM > Deals section in your HubSpot account to locate the deal you wish to approve. Progress the deal to the approval stage using manual updates, API integration, or workflows. Once the deal is in the approval stage, a notification is sent to the designated approvers prompting them to review and approve the deal. The deal will display an approval status, such as “Pending approval,” on the deal card in board view or within the Latest Approval Status column in list view.
- 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.
- 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:
- At the top of the deal, in the Approval needed banner, click Approval.
- To view more information about the request, select View Approval Details.
- 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.
- To approve the request to move the deal forward, select Approve. Enter an optional message, then click Approve to confirm.
- To reject the deal, select Reject. Enter a reason why the deal was rejected, then click Reject to confirm.
