Software and growth systems for small teams
Build custom approval workflows
An approval request gets buried in chat, someone asks whether it was signed off, and work stalls while the team reconstructs the conversation. A dedicated workflow gives each decision an owner, a status and a record. I build approval systems that reflect responsibility rather than just adding another notification.
Build a business application — from £6,000 for a bounded scope. Requirements and acceptance checks determine the quote.
What the finished solution should accomplish
Move approvals out of scattered messages into a clear workflow with assigned reviewers, decision history and controlled actions after sign-off.
What this could look like in practice
A purchase request might need a team lead below one amount and a director above it. If the amount changes after approval, the decision may need to be invalidated. The design must capture what was approved at the time, including attachments and values, instead of showing an approval badge on a record that has since changed.
Decisions to make before building
Write the states and permitted transitions before designing screens. Define delegation, escalation, rejection and cancellation. Decide what happens when an approver leaves or a request is amended. Separate notification delivery from decision authority: an emailed link still needs an appropriate access check before it can approve an action.
When a simpler option is enough
Existing finance, HR or project systems often include approval features. Use those if they cover the rules and audit requirements. A custom workflow is more useful when requests span tools, depend on unusual thresholds or need to trigger a controlled downstream process after approval.
An initial scope could include
- State model and authority rules
- Requester and reviewer interfaces
- Decision history, escalation and downstream actions
How we would check the work
- Change a material field after approval
- Test delegation and an unavailable approver
- Submit two decisions at once and prevent conflicting outcomes
Can approvals happen directly from an email?
An email can take the reviewer to the correct request. Whether the decision itself can occur there depends on the access and risk requirements. Sensitive actions should confirm identity and show the exact version being approved.
Scope, ownership and working together
You work directly with Joel from discovery through implementation. We agree the outcome, exclusions and acceptance checks before a build. You receive access to the code, deployment and handover documentation. Hosting, third-party services and ongoing support are identified separately; owning the code does not make operating costs disappear.
Build a business application — from £6,000 for a bounded scope. Requirements and acceptance checks determine the quote. Permissions, migration, source-system access and the number of workflows affect scope. Hosting, maintenance and further milestones are agreed separately. Smaller extensions to existing infrastructure can receive a smaller quote.
Related next steps
Have a problem worth solving?
Tell me what you want to change, what is blocking it and the budget you have in mind. We can establish fit and agree the next step by email.
Send a project brief