How approval flows work

What an approval flow is

Every document in Nordflow follows a defined sequence of approval steps called a flow. Each step is assigned to a group — a set of users who are responsible for approving at that point. The document moves to the next step only after the current group’s approval requirement is met.

How routing works

Nordflow decides which group handles each step based on values on the document lines: the cost center, dimension, project, amount, or other attributes. When a line carries a dimension value of 108, for example, the system routes that line to whichever group is configured to handle dimension 108. This means two lines on the same invoice can go to two completely different groups in parallel.

Approval requirements within a group

A group can be configured so that approval by any one member is enough, or so that every member must approve before the flow advances. You can check which applies by hovering the group’s step on the flow strip — the tooltip shows whether all members are required or just one.

What the flow strip shows

The horizontal strip at the bottom of every document detail page is a live view of the document’s flow. Completed steps sit to the left, the active step is highlighted, and upcoming steps sit to the right. Hovering any step reveals the group members, their action status, and the routing reason — the value that caused the document to be directed to that group.

Parallel flows

When a document has lines tied to different groups, Nordflow runs those flows simultaneously. Each group sees and approves only the line relevant to them. The document moves out of the parallel section only after all parallel flows have completed.