If you’re drowning in email chains and Slack pings just to get a contract signed off, you’re not alone. Manual approvals are slow, confusing, and—let’s be honest—pretty easy to mess up. This guide is for anyone who wants to stop chasing signatures and actually get work done. If you use Contractbook (or you’re thinking about it), I’ll walk you through setting up a real, working contract approval flow that doesn’t require a PhD in automation.
You don’t need to be a tech wizard. But you do need to be realistic: automation should make life easier, not more complicated. I’ll flag what’s worth your time, what’s just noise, and how to avoid common headaches.
Step 1: Map Your Real Approval Workflow (Don’t Skip This)
Before you even log in, grab a notepad—or open a doc—and sketch out how approvals actually happen in your team. This sounds boring, but it’ll save you loads of pain later.
- Who really needs to approve contracts? (Not just who should—who does.)
- Is it always the same person or does it depend?
- What triggers the approval? (Draft ready? Budget threshold?)
- Does it go in order, or can people approve in any sequence?
- How do you handle rejections or changes?
Pro tip: Don’t try to automate a broken process. If your approval chain is a mess, fix the basics first.
Step 2: Prep Your Templates in Contractbook
Contractbook lets you standardize your contracts with templates. This is key—approvals only work if you’re not inventing the wheel every time.
- Go to Templates and review what you’ve got.
- Tidy up: Remove old versions, clarify wording, and lock any sections that shouldn’t be changed.
- Add Approval Fields: If your template needs spots for “Approved by” or comments, put them in now.
- Set Roles: Make sure each template field is assigned to the right party (sender, recipient, etc.).
Ignore: Fancy formatting and endless template variations. Stick to what you actually use.
Step 3: Set Up Approval Workflows
Now for the main event: actually automating approvals. Contractbook offers built-in workflows (sometimes called “Automations” or “Tasks” depending on your plan). Here’s how to get started.
3.1 Define Approval Triggers
Decide what should start the approval process. Common triggers:
- Contract draft created
- Contract sent for signature
- Certain contract value or type
How to do it: - In Contractbook, go to Automations > Create Automation. - Choose your trigger (e.g., “When a contract is drafted from template X”).
3.2 Add Approval Steps
This is where you tell Contractbook who needs to approve, and in what order.
- Add an action: “Request Approval” (or similar—the naming can change).
- Select your approvers. You can add multiple people; decide if it needs to be sequential or can be parallel.
- Set rules—e.g., “Only approval from CFO if contract value > $50,000.”
- Assign deadlines for responses if you want to keep things moving.
What works: Keep approval steps as simple as possible. Extra layers just slow things down.
3.3 Add Notifications
No one checks Contractbook 24/7, so set up reminders.
- Add actions for email or in-app notifications when an approval is required, granted, or denied.
- Consider a “nudge” reminder if someone hasn’t responded in X days.
Don’t bother: With Slack or Teams integrations unless your team actually uses them. Otherwise, it’s just more noise.
Step 4: Test Your Workflow With a Real Contract
Don’t trust automations until you’ve seen them work. Run a contract through your new process from start to finish.
- Use a dummy contract and involve real approvers.
- Reject it once to see what happens.
- Approve it and check that everyone gets notified.
- Make sure the contract can’t move forward without the right approvals.
Watch for: - Approvers not receiving notifications (check spam folders) - Steps getting skipped if fields aren’t filled out - Approval loops (contract bouncing back and forth endlessly)
If anything’s clunky, go back and fix it now. It’s much easier than after you launch.
Step 5: Roll It Out—But Don’t Force It
Once the workflow works, start using it for real contracts. But don’t make everyone switch overnight—pick a team or contract type first.
- Train your approvers. Show them how to approve or reject (it should be one click, not a scavenger hunt).
- Gather feedback after a couple of runs. What’s confusing? What’s missing?
- Adjust. Automations aren’t “set and forget”—they’ll need tweaks as your process changes.
Reality check: Not everyone will love automation at first. Some will ignore emails or try to “work around” the system. Stick to your guns, but keep the door open for improvements.
Step 6: Monitor and Maintain
Automation is only as good as the attention you give it. Set aside time (maybe monthly) to review:
- Pending approvals: Are contracts getting stuck?
- Skipped steps: Is anyone bypassing the process?
- Feedback: Are approvers hitting roadblocks, or is it just working?
Update your templates and workflows as your contracts or team change. The worst automation is the one everyone ignores.
What to Ignore (For Now)
Contractbook has a bunch of bells and whistles—integrations, analytics, custom scripts. Most of that can wait.
- Integrations with CRMs: Only useful if your team is actually ready. Otherwise, it’s a support headache.
- Advanced metrics: Don’t obsess over time-to-signature unless you’re already running smoothly.
- Conditional logic overload: If you need 10 “if this, then that” rules, your process is probably overcomplicated.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
You don’t need to automate every corner of your contract process to see big results. Start with the approvals that slow you down most, keep the workflow clean, and adjust as you go. If something feels clunky, simplify it—even if it means going back to basics for a while.
Automation’s supposed to help, not add more work. If you keep that mindset, you’ll end up with a setup that actually saves you time (and maybe your sanity).
Good luck—and remember, it’s always easier to tweak a simple system than untangle a complicated one.