Status Workflows: Setting Up Multi-Level Approval Workflows

If the single-level approval workflow isn't enough for your client(s), then you can always go for a layered multi-level approval. Note that there is a prerequisite to create a single-level approval workflow in the Status Workflows first. 

To set up a multi-level approval workflow for a specific client, follow these steps:

If you haven't already, please read and follow these steps before setting up a multi-level approval.

Step 1: Import Existing Statuses for a Specific Client

Before we can set multi-level approval workflows for individual clients, you need to ensure that you're happy with your current status workflow rules at the global level. These are found in the Partner > Settings > Status Workflow section (on the right-hand column under Configuration).

Once you're satisfied with those, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Partner > Clients
2. Find the client you wish to create multi-level approvals for
3. Use the 3 blue-dot menu next to their company name and View that company
4. Select the Status Workflows tab at the top
5. Select the Import option
   
   

At this point, you will see the exact same settings that are established at the global Partner level. These company-specific Status Workflows will take precedence over the global ones for this client.

Now that we have a base to work off of, we'll create our multi-level approvals for this client in this menu.

Step 2: Creating a Multi-Step Approval Workflow

To create multi-step workflows, we'll need to add more rules than just the single Approve/Deny. We need to keep 2 main factors in mind for this process:

• Which statuses will trigger the next approval step
• Which statuses are flagged to be highlighted in the Support > Support Tickets area

Selecting Approval Statuses

Following immediately after the directions in step 1, you should be seeing the imported statuses for a specific company. Now:

1. Select the first Approval status you've imported for the client
2. Change the PSA Status entry to be the next approval level 
   1. If this doesn't already exist in the PSA, you'll need to create it.
3. In our example, we'll use "Level 1 Approved - Pending Level 2"
   
   
    
4. Leave the 
   • This should be the first status indicating that the ticket is waiting approval.
      
5. Do NOT select the option to Send email requesting approval on selection
   • The first notification email will be triggered from the ticket itself, not the status.
      
6. Change the approver audience to the appropriate team member(s)
   • You can either do this with Roles or lists of user emails
   • In a specific approval flow, you're typically going to target specific people that are eligible to see all tickets (either full admins or limited access admins).
      
7. Select Submit at the bottom to submit changes to the status workflow override.

Now, you should have something that looks like this for your specific company:

 

The secret to success is ensuring that you always have two statuses for each approval step - one to approve and move it to the next level, and one to deny it at that level. 

Follow a similar logic to end up with something like this, with various approvers listed along the way as your needs demand it:

In this example, we've got a 3-step approval process that escalates the tickets twice before ultimately sending it on as a status for the MSP to take care of - New (Client Approved).

Aside from the very first approval step, you'll want to ensure that each subsequent approval steps have the following options triggered:

• The Send email requesting approval on selection. option toggled on
  • This will ensure that the next approvers get the email letting them know that it's their turn to approve.
• A different user email (or set of user emails)

Note: When using a Token such as @DefaultApprovers with multiple users' email addresses, such as a multi-step approval process, the Approvers who have approved a step will not be included in the additional step's email.

Flagging Approval Statuses

Like you may have done in the single-level approvals, you'll want to set your approval trigger statuses as a "Ticket Waiting" status - this will ensure that CloudRadial will flag this status as needing attention, which will do the following:

• Make the status appear orange in the Support > Support Tickets area (for better visibility)
• Allow the ticket with the trigger status to show up under the Waiting tab (for better ticket organization)

To do so:

1. Navigate to Partner > Settings > PSA (at the right-hand column, under Setup)

2. Navigate to the Ticket Settings section and find the Statuses for “Ticket Waiting” box

    
3. Enter in your status that triggers the approve/deny workflow
   • Once again, this is the "Waiting on Internal Approval" status, in our example
     
     
      
4. Select Submit at the bottom to save your settings. 

Now, tickets will be highlighted for better visibility.

 

Step 3: Creating a Multi-Approver Workflow

With all the steps above set, you can now trigger your custom multi-level approval workflow.

When a ticket requires first requires approval, you must trigger the approval process by invoking your custom status workflow. Here's how:

1. Create a ticket in either the Problem Reports or Service Request areas
   • For general details on how to create tickets, please see this video.
2. On the Routing tab, find and check the Is approval and email notification required? box
   • This will notify the approvers that there's a ticket for approval in the portal.
   • It will also trigger the status workflow setting.
     
     
      
3. Set the PSA Status with your same @DefaultApprovalNeeded token that we created in the single-level approval documentation
   • Here's a quick link to it, if you need a refresher. 
   • You can also simply write in the status as-is, without a token - but it's recommended to use a token for future flexibility.
4. The Approver List, if left blank, will use the status workflow approvers we defined earlier.
   • Since you built out your multi-level flow before, you should leave this blank.
   • If you write in any specific email(s), the approval workflow will only notify those listed people.
5. Select Submit at the bottom of the ticket to finalize your settings. 

All set! Now that your approval statuses are set up with a multi-level flow, you only need to repeat step 3 for any tickets that require approval. 

HaloPSA Workflow Support

Approve, Mark Resolved, and Escalate workflow actions are fully supported for HaloPSA tickets. Status and priority updates are applied immediately in Halo when a workflow action is triggered from the portal.

Key details for HaloPSA:

• When a ticket is resolved through the portal, the closed-ticket flag (Hasbeenclosed) is set correctly in HaloPSA
• If a workflow action fails (ticket not found, invalid status, API failure), a clear error message is returned to the user
• Workflow actions use the same status workflow configuration as other PSAs - no Halo-specific setup is required beyond the standard integration