Documents are uploaded to Disk, messaged to the manager, forwarded to the lawyer, who sends edits via email. The approval chain gets lost, document versions are confused—familiar? Bitrix24 business processes replace this unstructured correspondence with a formalized route. We, a team of engineers with 10+ years in Bitrix (over 50 approval implementations), set up a process that reduces document approval time by 3x compared to manual exchange. Guarantee: 6 months of free support after setup.
How the approval process works
Approval in Bitrix24 is implemented via the 'Assignment to User' action (CBPUserTypeActivity) in the business process designer (see Bitrix24 documentation). This is the key element: the process pauses, the approver receives a notification in the work feed with action buttons (Approve / Reject / Revise). The full history is stored: who approved, when, with what comments. Data is written to b_bizproc_workflow_log and b_bizproc_task.
Why business processes are better than manual approval?
Manual approval via email and chats leads to losses: up to 30% of contracts get lost, average approval time is 5–7 days. Bitrix24 business processes provide transparency: every step is logged, approval time is reduced to 1–2 days. Additionally, deadlines are automatically tracked and reminders are sent.
What approval routes can be configured?
Sequential approval — one after another. Lawyer → CFO → CEO. Each next person receives the task only after the previous one finishes. Implementation: three 'Assignment to User' blocks in sequence with conditions after each. If someone rejects, the 'Rejected' branch notifies the initiator.
Parallel approval — all at once. All approvers receive tasks simultaneously, the process waits for all responses. Used for formal signatures where order doesn't matter. Implementation: a 'Parallel Actions' block with a 'Assignment to User' in each branch.
Conditional approval — the route depends on document parameters. For example, a contract up to a certain threshold requires only department head; above that, the CFO is added; for even higher values, the CEO too.
Comparison of route types
| Route type | Characteristic | Example use case |
|---|---|---|
| Sequential | Strict order, each after previous | Lawyer → CFO → CEO |
| Parallel | All at once, wait for all | Formal signatures without dependency |
| Conditional | Route depends on sum/document type | Contract up to a certain threshold – only department head |
Voting types
In the 'Assignment to User' block, voting type can be set:
- Unanimous — all must approve.
- Majority — >50% 'for' votes sufficient.
- First voter — as soon as one clicks, result is fixed.
This affects behavior in parallel approval: with 'majority', the process does not wait for all approvers' responses.
Integration with Disk documents
Files for approval are uploaded to the disk module. The business process is attached to a folder or file: Disk → [Folder] → Settings → Business Processes. When the BP is launched for a file, the task displays a link to the file with preview. Comments on approval are attached to the file's history.
File versioning during approval: uploading a new version via Disk → [File] → Upload new version creates a new version without losing the old one. Version history is linked to records in b_disk_version.
Notifications and reminders
The approver receives a notification in the Bitrix24 activity stream and via email (if notification rules are set). Reminders for unanswered tasks are implemented via a 'Wait' block with repeated notification. Standard scheme: wait 24 hours → send reminder → wait 24 hours → escalate to higher manager.
What is included in the business process setup?
We provide a full cycle of work:
- Route design according to your organizational structure.
- Configuration of all BP blocks, voting types, conditions.
- Integration with Disk and attachment to documents.
- Setting up notifications, reminders, and escalations.
- Testing the process on real documents.
- Documentation and administrator training (2–3 hours).
After setup, you receive a ready-to-use process with a 6-month free support guarantee. For example, for a manufacturing client, we configured a conditional approval process that cut the average approval time from 4 days to 1.5 days, reducing email overload by 70%. Get a consultation — discuss your scenario.
Setup timelines
| Task | Time |
|---|---|
| Simple sequential approval (2–3 stages) | 3–4 h |
| Approval with conditional route | 5–7 h |
| Parallel + sequential with reminders | 1 day |
A typical contract approval process with three levels of approval takes 1 business day including documentation and admin training. Contact us to discuss your scenario — we will estimate the project and offer an optimal solution.