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Review Process

Last updated: 09.03.2026 • Reading time: ~10 minutes

The Review Process enables multi-person approval workflows for documents before they are finalized and posted. Documents must be released for review and approved by assigned reviewers before completion. This ensures quality control, compliance requirements, and collaborative decision-making in document processing.

What is the Review Process?

The review workflow allows you to:

  • Send documents to one or more reviewers for approval before finalizing
  • Distinguish between required and optional reviewers to control approval logic
  • Track review status and comments in real-time
  • Receive email notifications when documents need review or when actions are taken
  • Maintain full transparency with review history and audit trail

The review process integrates seamlessly with Smart Processing and activates automatically when configured in process templates.

Prerequisites

How the Review Workflow Works

When the review process is activated for a template, the document processing workflow includes these steps:

  1. Process Document – User processes document and prepares draft as usual, validating data and correcting any issues
  2. Release for Review – Instead of completing immediately, user selects Release for Review to send the document to assigned reviewers
  3. Document Status Changes to "To Review" – The document is locked for completing and assigned to the current user as document owner (To update the draft just release it again)
  4. Reviewers Receive Notification – All assigned reviewers receive email notification (if configured) with document details and review link
  5. Review Actions – Each reviewer opens the document and performs one of these actions:
    • Approve – Confirms the document is correct and can proceed
    • Reject – Declines the document with a mandatory comment explaining the reason
    • Add Comment – Provides feedback or asks questions without changing approval status
  6. Overall Status Calculation – The system automatically determines the overall review status:
    • Rejected – If any reviewer (required or optional) rejects the document
    • Waiting Review – If one or more required reviewers have not yet approved
    • Approved – All required reviewers have approved (optional reviewers can still be pending)
  7. Complete Processing – Once the status is Approved, the reviewer will automatically complete the process of the document.

Understanding Reviewer Types

Reviewers can be configured as required or optional to control the approval logic:

Reviewer Type Behavior
Required Reviewers Must approve the document before it can be completed. If any required reviewer has not approved or has rejected, the document cannot proceed.
Optional Reviewers Provide additional oversight but are not mandatory. Their approval is recorded but does not block completion. Documents can be completed even if optional reviewers have not yet responded.

This distinction allows you to build flexible approval workflows where critical stakeholders must approve while keeping others informed without blocking the process.

Review Statuses

The review process uses these statuses to track document progress:

Status Description
To Review Document has been released for review and is awaiting reviewer action
Waiting Review One or more required reviewers have not yet approved (or only optional reviewers have responded)
Approved All required reviewers have approved; document can now be completed
Rejected At least one reviewer has rejected the document; requires correction and re-submission

How to Access Your Reviews

As a reviewer, you can access documents waiting for your review in several ways:

1. Role Center Cues

Your Role Center displays dedicated cues for quick access:

  • My Review Entries – Shows only documents assigned to you for review
  • All Review Entries – Shows all pending reviews (typically visible to administrators)

These cues display the number of pending reviews, allowing you to see at a glance when action is needed.

2. Review Entry List

Open the Review Entry List page to see all your review tasks. This page offers filtering options:

  • Filter by Review Status – Show only approved, rejected, or pending reviews
  • Display Only My Reviews – Toggle to show only reviews assigned to you

From this list, select Review Document to open the document directly in the process worksheet.

3. Process Worksheet

When working in a document that is under review, the Reviewers field in the Review group shows the current status. Click the drilldown to open the Review Overview page with all details.

Performing Review Actions

The Process Worksheet displays dedicated review actions when a document is under review. These actions are shown as promoted buttons in the Review group.

Review Actions Available

Action Who Sees It Description
Release for Review Document owner Sends document to reviewers (visible before review starts)
Approve Assigned reviewers Approves the document
Reject Assigned reviewers Rejects the document with mandatory comment
Reviewers Everyone Opens Review Overview showing all reviewers and their status

Approving a Document

When you receive a review request:

  1. Open the document from your Review Entry List or via the email notification link
  2. Review the document carefully:
    • Check all extracted fields and values
    • Verify any remarks or warnings have been addressed
    • Review the document preview if needed
  3. If everything is correct, select Approve from the Review actions
  4. The system records your approval and updates the overall status
  5. You receive confirmation:
    • If all required reviewers have now approved: "Document is fully approved and will be completed"
    • If other required reviewers are still pending: "Your approval has been recorded. Waiting for other reviewers."

Rejecting a Document

If you identify issues with the document:

  1. Open the document from your Review Entry List
  2. Review the issues you've identified
  3. Select Reject from the Review actions
  4. A dialog appears requesting a comment
  5. Enter a detailed comment explaining:
    • What issues you found
    • What needs to be corrected
    • Any specific requirements or guidance
  6. Confirm the rejection
  7. The document status immediately changes to Rejected
  8. The document owner receives a notification (if configured)

Comment is Mandatory

You cannot reject a document without providing a comment. The system displays an error if you try to submit an empty comment. Always provide clear, actionable feedback.

Adding Comments

You can add comments at any time to discuss details without changing the approval status:

  1. Open the Review Overview page (via the Reviewers drilldown or from the review entry)
  2. Select Add Comment from the actions
  3. Enter your comment text (questions, suggestions, clarifications)
  4. Save the comment
  5. The comment is immediately visible to:
    • All assigned reviewers
    • The document owner
    • Anyone else who can access the document
  6. If Send Mail on Comment is enabled in the notification setup, other reviewers receive an email notification

Comments create a discussion thread that provides full transparency and helps resolve questions collaboratively.

Review Overview Page

The Review Overview page is your central view for the entire review process on a specific document. Access it by clicking the Reviewers drilldown in the Process Worksheet or from a review entry.

What You See

Reviewer List

The main section shows all assigned reviewers with:

  • Reviewer name (user ID)
  • Current status with color indicators:
    • Green: Approved
    • Red: Rejected
    • Yellow: Pending
  • Whether the reviewer is required or optional

Review Comments FactBox

The right side shows the Review Comments FactBox with the complete discussion:

  • All comments in chronological order
  • Comment author and timestamp
  • Comment text

Common Scenarios and Tips

Scenario: High-Value Invoice Approval

Situation: Your organization requires additional approval for invoices over €10,000.

Solution: Configure a template rule that adds required reviewers (e.g., Financial Controller, CFO) when the invoice amount exceeds the threshold. Standard invoices go through default reviewers only.

Scenario: Multi-Department Approval

Situation: Some documents need approval from multiple departments.

Solution: Use template rules to dynamically add reviewers based on document properties. For example:

  • Vendor Category = "IT" → Add IT Manager as required reviewer
  • Vendor Category = "Marketing" → Add Marketing Director as optional reviewer

Scenario: Document Needs Revision

Situation: A reviewer finds issues and the document needs to be corrected.

What happens:

  1. Reviewer rejects the document with a detailed comment
  2. Document status changes to Rejected
  3. Document reverts to the document owner for correction
  4. Owner makes corrections in the draft
  5. Owner releases for review again
  6. Review process restarts with fresh reviewer assignments