Workflow Template
Contract Review and Approval Workflow
Captures a contract submission from an owner, routes it through legal review (with redlines), triggers finance approval for higher-value contracts, has the owner address redlines, then routes for final approval — marking approved contracts ready for signature or returning rejected ones to the owner for revision.
If you've ever lost track of a contract stuck in someone's inbox waiting for legal to weigh in, or finance sign-off got skipped on a big deal, this workflow fixes that. It automatically routes each submitted contract through legal review, sends redlines back to the owner when changes are needed, triggers finance approval for higher-value deals, and moves everything through final approval — with status updates at every step. Your team always knows exactly where a contract stands and who needs to act next, without anyone having to chase it down.
Business Outcomes
- Cuts contract turnaround time by removing manual handoffs and follow-up emails
- Ensures every high-value contract automatically gets finance approval before signature
- Reduces missed redlines and version confusion with a clear revision loop
- Gives full visibility into where every contract sits at any point in the process
- Creates an audit trail of legal, finance, and final approval decisions
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create Contract Recordcreate record
Registers the contract submission as a record.
- 2Set Status: Submittedupdate record
Marks the contract as submitted.
- 3Legal Reviewcreate task
Legal reviews the contract and records redlines or approves as-is.
- 4Persist Legal Review Outcomeupdate record
Persists the legal outcome and redlines to the record.
- 5Route on Legal Outcome
Determines if redlines must be addressed before proceeding.
legal_outcome: "Redlines Required"→Set Status: Redlines Sent to Ownerlegal_outcome: "Approved As-Is"→Check if Finance Approval RequiredDefault→Check if Finance Approval Required - 6Set Status: Redlines Sent to Ownerupdate record
Marks the record as redlines sent and notifies the owner.
- 7Owner Addresses Redlinesrequest external input
Owner reviews legal redlines, revises the contract, and resubmits.
- 8Persist Owner Revisionsupdate record
Saves the owner's revision notes to the record before re-review.
- 9Restart Legal Reviewrestart from step
Restarts the workflow from legal review so the revised contract is reassessed.
- 10Check if Finance Approval Required
Higher-value contracts require additional finance approval.
contract_value: "50000"→Set Status: Pending Finance ApprovalDefault→Set Status: Pending Final Approval - 11Set Status: Pending Finance Approvalupdate record
Marks the record as pending finance approval.
- 12Finance Approval Requestrequest approval
Finance reviews the contract value and terms for approval.
- 13Route on Finance Approval Outcome
Routes based on finance approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status: Pending Final Approvalapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status: Rejected (Finance)Default→End - 14Set Status: Pending Final Approvalupdate record
Marks the record as pending final approval.
- 15Final Approval Requestrequest approval
Final approver signs off on the contract before it is marked ready for signature.
- 16Route on Final Approval Outcome
Routes based on the final approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Mark Ready for Signature and Storeapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status: Redlines Sent to Owner (Final Rejection)Default→End - 17Mark Ready for Signature and Storeupdate record
Marks the contract approved, ready for signature, and stores the final record.
- 18Notify Owner: Approvedsend email
Notifies the owner that the contract is approved and ready for signature.
- 19Set Status: Rejected (Finance)update record
Marks the contract as rejected at finance approval stage.
- 20Notify Owner: Rejected by Financesend email
Notifies the owner that finance did not approve the contract.
- 21Set Status: Redlines Sent to Owner (Final Rejection)update record
Marks the contract as needing revision after final approval rejection.
- 22Owner Revises After Final Rejectionrequest external input
Owner reviews the final rejection feedback, revises the contract, and resubmits.
- 23Persist Final Revision Notesupdate record
Saves the owner's revision notes before re-running legal review.
- 24Restart Legal Review After Final Rejectionrestart from step
Restarts the workflow from legal review so the revised contract is reassessed from the start.
Fields
- Owner Email*
- Owner Name*
- Contract Type*
- Counterparty / Parties*
- Contract Value (USD)*
- Contract Term*
- +8 more fields
Forms
Contract Submission
9 fields
Data Views
Contract Requests
contract_request_ref, contract_type, counterparty_name, contract_value +1 more
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
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FAQs
Do I need developers to set this up?
No. This is a ready-to-use template inside assess.one — you publish it and it's live in seconds. You can adjust steps, approval thresholds, and notifications directly in the platform without any coding or dev involvement.
Can my team customise the finance approval threshold?
Yes, the 'Check if Finance Approval Required' step is fully configurable, so you set whatever contract value triggers finance sign-off. You can update this anytime as your policies change, right inside assess.one.
Is this suitable for a small legal or contracts team?
Absolutely. It works well for a single legal reviewer or a small team, and scales up easily if you add more reviewers or approval stages later. Since there's no setup project, you can start using it immediately and refine it as you go.
Who needs access to this workflow?
Typically the contract owner, a legal reviewer, a finance approver (for qualifying contracts), and whoever gives final sign-off. You control exactly who has access to each step and can add or remove people as your process evolves.
What happens if legal sends back redlines?
The workflow automatically sets the status to 'Redlines Sent to Owner' and notifies them to make revisions. Once the owner updates the contract, it automatically restarts legal review rather than skipping straight to approval, so nothing slips through unchecked.
What happens if finance rejects a contract?
The status updates to 'Rejected (Finance)' and the owner gets notified automatically, so there's no ambiguity about next steps. The owner can then revise and resubmit through the same workflow.
How long does it take to get this running?
Just minutes. You publish the template, adjust any approval logic or notifications to match your process, and your team can start submitting contracts through it right away — no implementation project required.
Can we track approval history for compliance purposes?
Yes, every step — legal review outcomes, owner revisions, finance decisions, and final approvals — is persisted and tracked in the workflow. This gives you a clear record of who approved what and when, which is useful for audits or internal compliance reviews.
What happens once a contract is fully approved?
The workflow automatically marks it 'Ready for Signature,' stores the final version, and notifies the owner. From there, it's ready to move to your e-signature process without any manual status updates.
Ready to use this workflow?
Create a free account and customise this workflow for your business.