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Find answers to common questions about TaxReceipt.app

Overview

Approval settings (labeled Compliance Approvals in the app) let a run's owner or an org admin require a review step before the run is allowed to proceed. Unlike most settings in Organization Settings, this one is per run, not per organization -- each run configures its own approval requirements, so one run can require sign-off while another doesn't, and a run can gate any combination of its three gates (Import Approval, PDF Approval, Email Approval) independently.

Enabling Approvals

Approvals are turned on from the run's setup, either while creating a new run or by revisiting an existing run's settings:

  1. On the setup step that lists workflow options, toggle Enable Team Approvals ("Require another team member to review and approve before sending").
  2. If the organization doesn't yet have another active team member beyond the owner, the wizard shows that first and points to inviting teammates or purchasing additional team-member seats before approval configuration can continue.
  3. Once at least one other team member is available, the Configure Approval Requirements step appears, letting you set up which of the three workflow steps require approval.

Configuring Approvers

For each step you want to gate -- Import Approval, PDF Approval, or Email Approval -- configure independently:

  1. Toggle that step on.
  2. Click Add Approver and select from the organization's active team members. There's no role restriction -- any active team member can be designated as an approver for a step, not just Owners or Admins.
  3. Add as many approvers as you want, then choose the Approval Requirement for that step:
    • Any One -- the first response (approve or reject) settles it.
    • All Required -- every designated approver must approve.
    • Threshold -- a specific number (X of N approvers) must approve.
  4. Set the Reminder Interval (how often, in days, unresponsive approvers are re-emailed) and Max Reminders (how many reminders go out before the run's owner is notified to resolve it directly). Defaults are every 7 days, up to 4 reminders.

Removing an Approver

Remove an approver from a step's list at any time. Removing the last approver does not disable the gate itself -- the step still blocks when it runs. With no one assigned to review it, the request just sits unresolved, so add at least one approver back (or turn the step off) to avoid stalling the run.

How It Works

When a step is gated, the workflow becomes:

  1. A team member completes the gated step (finishes the import, generates the PDFs, or reaches the point of sending emails).
  2. The app automatically creates an approval request for that step -- there's no manual "submit" action -- and blocks the run from moving past it.
  3. All approvers designated for that step receive a notification email.
  4. An approver reviews it and Approves or Rejects, either from the emailed link (no login needed) or in-app under Approvals.
  5. If approved (and the requirement -- Any One, All Required, or Threshold -- is met), the run continues automatically.
  6. If rejected, the run's owner sees the rejection reason and can fix issues before the step runs again, which creates a new approval request.

See Approvals for the detailed reviewer-facing workflow, including how reminders and escalation work.

When to Use Approvals

Approvals are recommended when:

  • New team members are learning the system and you want oversight on a specific step.
  • Your organization's policy requires sign-off on official tax documents before they're generated or sent.
  • Large runs (hundreds of receipts) warrant a second pair of eyes.
  • Multiple people work on a run but only specific individuals are authorized to move it forward.

Disabling Approvals

Turn Enable Team Approvals off from the same run settings to remove the requirement for future steps. A step that already has a pending approval when you disable the setting is unaffected -- it still needs to be resolved (approved or rejected) before the run continues past that step.

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