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Approvers Guide for Approvers

Approvers Guide for Approvers

By Rebekah Finley
Apr 02, 2025

If an individual has listed you as an approver on their form submission, you will receive an email notification that your approval action is required. 

Email Overview:

  • The email subject line will says "Approval Action Required" and will contain the form title, Employee Name, and Employee VID.
  • The body of the email is a snapshot of the submission.
  • This email will also have any files that the individual attached to their submission and a PDF version of their submission.  (This may be at the top or bottom of your email, depending on your email settings.)
  • In the email you will see two buttons: “Approve” in green and “Deny” in red.


 Test Email Example:

NOTE: If you receive the error message "(warning) Invalid Task Complete Request, Outcome Not Found", try clearing your browser cache, using an incognito window, or using a different browser to submit your action. 

If you still receive the error after trying these solutions, please take a screenshot of your console log report of your screen where you are encountering the error. Please send a copy of this screenshot to pafs@vcu.edu. 

How to Get a Console Report from Most Common Browsers

Reminder Emails

You may receive "Reminder" emails if your approval action has not been submitted within 2 days of your first "Approval Action Required" email. Please use the "Approve" or "Deny" buttons on the most recent "Reminder" email to submit your approval action. These "Reminder" emails are limited to 3 rounds, so please be sure to submit your approval action within a timely manner.

Denying a Submission

If the form needs correction, hit “Deny”. You will be directed to a new page where you will provide your signature and comments regarding the reason for your denial. You are able to change your approval action on this page.

Once your action is submitted, the individual who submitted the form will receive an email notification that their form has been denied, along with a PDF version of their form containing the Approval Activity History where they can view your comments. They will be asked to edit their form and resubmit it for approval. Once they have resubmitted their form, the approval process will restart. 

Approving a Submission

If the form is ready to be approved, hit “Approve”. You will be directed to a new page where you will provide your signature and comments. You are able to change your approval action on this page.

In the “Your action required” page, you may select your response, provide any comments necessary, and provide your signature via Type or Draw. Then hit “Submit”.  

Approval Action Page Examples
 Approval Action Page:


 Type or Draw Signature:
Approval Action Timeline

There is no expiration date set on approval actions. However, you will receive an automatic Reminder email every two days. These Reminder emails are limited to three tries. 

Should you not be able to submit your approval action, please contact the individual who submitted the form. They will be able to edit their submission and remove and/or replace your email with another user. Do not forward your approval action email to another person. Their approval will be logged as your’s on the form’s Approval Activity History. 



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