Note: This is an AppExchange App that is available in both Free and Paid versions.
Efficient Approval Management with Salesforce Flow Approval Processes and Enhanced Approval Requests Pro
Salesforce Flow continues to evolve as the preferred automation tool for many orgs, and with the recent introduction of Flow Approval Processes, a new era of approval automation has begun. If you’re already using Flow or are looking for more flexibility and transparency in your approval workflows, it’s time to take a closer look at this powerful new capability.
What are Flow Approval Processes?
Flow Approval Processes are Salesforce’s next-generation alternative to Classic approval processes. They allow you to build and manage approval logic using Flow Builder, offering more flexibility in designing approval paths that can adapt to complex business requirements. Approval requests can be submitted from a record-triggered flow or screen flow, and you can define stages, assign approvers dynamically, and configure what happens after a request is approved or rejected.
Once an approval request is submitted through a flow, it shows up as an “Approval Work Item”. Users can approve or reject approval requests directly from the Work Guide component on Lightning record pages, or from the “Approval Work Items” list view accessible via the dedicated Approvals apps. Both options provide guided experiences and help approvers take action quickly.
Why Flow Approval Processes?
Compared to Classic approval processes, Flow Approval Processes offer several advantages:
- Visual Design: Approvals can be designed and updated visually in Flow Builder.
- Dynamic Routing: You can define approvers based on logic rather than fixed user lists or hierarchies.
- More Extensible: You can customize what happens during and after approvals using Flow actions.
- Better User Experience: Guided experiences through the Work Guide make it easier for approvers to take action.
These improvements bring more control and transparency to the approval process. But what if your organization requires even more?
Where the Standard Experience stops
Salesforce’s native Flow approval experience, as shown in the first screenshot below, allows users to create list views that show basic details about each approval work item, such as the related record name, the object type, the approval step, and the creation date. However, some common needs remain unaddressed:
- What if you want to view key details of multiple approval requests in one overview? The standard list view does not support displaying fields from the related record. This means crucial approval decision information, like the amount of an expense or the associated account, is missing.
- What if you have a long list of approval requests and want to approve, reject, or reassign multiple at once? The only option is to handle requests one by one using the “Review” row action. Bulk actions are not supported.
- What if your organization uses both Classic and Flow approval processes? Can you manage all approval requests in one place? No. There is no unified view that lets users work with both Classic and Flow approval requests together.
Figure 1: Assigned Approval Work Items in the Salesforce Approvals app.
Take your Flow Approvals to the next level
This is where Enhanced Approval Requests Pro comes in. Available on the AppExchange, this managed package complements both Flow and Classic approval processes by providing a centralized and highly efficient interface for approval management.
The second screenshot shows how the same approval requests are displayed in the Enhanced Approval Requests Pro table. Users can build their own approval list views that not only include work item fields, but also fields from the related record, such as amount, discount, type, and account name. This provides the full context needed to make informed approval decisions without leaving the table. Approvers can also filter, sort, and select multiple items for mass actions like Approve, Reject, and Reassign, which significantly improves efficiency.
Figure 2: Assigned Approval Work Items, including related record information, in Enhanced Approval Requests Pro.
Enhanced Approval Requests Pro enables users to:
- View all approval work items (from Flow and Classic) in a single table view.
- See important related record information without navigating away.
- Approve, reject, or reassign multiple requests in one go using bulk actions.
- Configure custom filters and layouts tailored to different business roles.
With the latest version of the app, Enhanced Approval Requests Pro supports approval requests from Flow Approval Processes. Organizations can now benefit from Flow’s dynamic and customizable approval logic, while giving approvers a complete, centralized view to manage all requests more efficiently. This combination enables fast, accurate decision-making and brings order to even the most complex approval processes.
What’s next?
We’re actively working on expanding the capabilities of Enhanced Approval Requests to make approval management even more powerful and flexible. Two key roadmap items are:
Support for Mass Actions via the Work Guide
As mentioned earlier, Salesforce provides two standard ways for users to act on Flow approval requests:
- From the “Approval Work Items” list view, using the Review action. (See Figure 1.)
- From the Work Guide component on Lightning record pages.
One advantage of the Work Guide is that it allows admins to enhance the approval experience, for example by adding additional input fields like a required rejection reason.
While the Work Guide offers powerful customization options, due to its complexity it is not yet supported for mass actions in Enhanced Approval Requests Pro. However, we are actively exploring ways to make this possible and aim to include support in a future release.
Flow Approval Support in Enhanced Approval Requests Free
In addition to Enhanced Approval Requests Pro, we also offer a free version: Enhanced Approval Requests Free. This version provides the ability to mass approve or reject approval requests and is currently available for use with Classic approval processes. While it does not include advanced features such as customizable list views or the ability to display fields from related records, it offers a straightforward solution for organizations that need basic mass-approval functionality.
We are planning to expand Enhanced Approval Requests Free to support Flow-based approval requests as well. This will enable organizations that are using Flow approvals, but are not yet ready for the Pro edition, to still benefit from faster and more efficient handling of Flow approval requests.
Want to see it in action? Visit the AppExchange listing or learn more at forcelutionapps.com.
